January 30, 2011
AH! Today! Such a great day! The Lord totally refreshed me and washed over me with his joy!
Church this morning was fantastic! The pastor talked about being “courageous” and “bold.” Such a great reminder! He also talked about having to purposefully put yourself in a position to be used by God. This relates to a lesson I learned this summer. I entitle it “Belay on.”
Here is the story of “Belay on.” (now is the time for jammies and popcorn!) Whenever someone did something great in the Bible, it was not comfortable. Think the virgin-yet-pregnant Mary liked walking around with the future SAVIOR OF THE WORLD IN HER TUMMY and hearing everyone gossip about her and accuse her of being a you-know-what?! Think Esther had a pre-party to celebrate defying death by breaking the law to try to save her people from mass genocide?! Doing the impossible was NOT easy. Most of the time, it was horror-movie scary! But they CHOSE to choose God and His will above their own fears, insecurities, and desires. Any rock climbers in the house? I’m sure you already know this, but I’ll recap just in case ;). Before you start climbing, you say to the person who is spotting you, “On Belay?” If they are good to go and ready to catch you if you fall, they reply, “Belay On.”
I choose to constantly ask God what I can do for His kingdom. I say, “On Belay?” And listen closely for Him to urge me, “Belay On.”
I decided my personal them for this experience shall be thus:
Love Selflessly.
Had great talks with Morgan and Deb today! Such a therapeutic walk through the woods! (I’m thinking of writing a musical about it. Can’t you see it now?!)
Then I enjoyed a beautiful talk with one of my favorite nursing majors, the lovely Kara. She shared a miraculous story that I am going to relay because it BLOWS MY MIND! Kara works at a clinical site that visits people with AIDS to give them spiritual support. The issue? 90% of the people she visits speaks Zulu, not English! Therefore, she goes with another nurse who is fluent in both languages. One particular house visit was quite unique. The woman Kara was visiting was BAWLING! Kara says she could practically feel her agony. The Zulu nurse took out her bible and read to the woman. After reading for a while, the nurse asked Kara to pray. At first, Kara was hesitant—she didn’t even know WHAT in the heck to pray for!!! But she decided to pray anyway. She prayed that the woman would rely on God, her hope would be renewed, and that God would give her strength. The nurse starts beaming! Kara asked, “What happened? Did I do something wrong?” “No,” the nurse replied. In fact, Kara had done the exact opposite. Kara prayed almost the exact words of the prayer the woman had been reading from the Bible. The woman was reading Isaiah 40:31: “Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” God prayed through Kara. She learned that in her absolute weakness, God was able to use her for a miracle. Can I get an AMEN?!?!!?!?!? I think this is the best thing EVER!!!!!
My other favorite part of the day was worship practice. I get to make music with amazing people! It is going to be wonderful indeed! Best quote of the night, also by Kara: “I just go where the music takes me.” At first, I was quite taken with this wonderful phrase for its beauty. But THEN I got to thinkin’ about the music I hear here. I hear the music of the waterfall, of birds, monkeys (I saw about 20 today. NO JOKE! It’s monkey season! If you catch one, you get to keep it!) (NOT. I wish. J ), and the people. South African culture is HUGE on singing! They sing when they’re happy. They sing when they’re lamenting. They sing when they get together. They sing when they work. Their lives are spent making music. And I want mine to be that way as well J.
Ps: I watched Pride and Prejudice with about 15 girls last night. Best thing EVER. Where are you, Mr. Darcy?! AHEM the point of that was to explain I am quite influenced by the lovely language of Jane Austen. Hence:
‘Twas a glorious day, indeed!
I am having a Hallelujah moment. Feel free to join me J.
Hallelujah! Such a joy to read your blogs daily. xoxo
ReplyDeleteI thought of you as a story was related in church today. Guest speaker Mike Beaux (pronounced "bose") was talking about how we need to be willing to sacrifice all we have for the Lord (even our precious children), remembering they are all the Lord's to begin with. He had to remind himself of this as he said goodbye to his 17-year-old daughter as she went to serve the Lord in Haiti for a year (this was a few years back). He talked about bawling in the airport as he watched her plane fly away, but also about the peace he received when remembering that she was the Lord's and being used for HIS purposes. Internet service was spotty, but one night his daughter told him of the best night for her yet.
ReplyDeleteShe was by herself at her home base camp that evening when a desperate man had run in looking for her. She had accompanied a friend of hers, a nurse, the night before as her friend helped a Haitian woman deliver a baby. The man assumed Katie (I'll call her that...can't remember her real name) was also a nurse and came to get her to deliver his baby. No one was there but Katie, the situation was desperate, and she had no choice but to grab a flashlight and go with him.
She entered the woman's hut near to panic. She was only 17, had nothing but a flashlight, and had no idea how to deliver a child. The woman was naked and screaming and looking to Katie for help. Katie was praying the Lord would help remind her of every single detail from the night before, when a Voodoo witch doctor lady walked into the hut. The pregnant woman was terrified. Katie could feel the deep presence of evil in the room. The witch doctor stared at her, and the pregnant woman's eyes got huge. The witch doctor began circling the lady and chanting. She spread an ointment on the woman's belly and mumbled incantations, and again on her forehead. The witch doctor hatefully stared at Katie and kept chanting over the woman. Katie didn't know what to do. She was only 17, she was out of her element, she had no words...She just stared back at the evil woman, and then...
"Our God...is an awesome God
He reigns from heaven above...
...with wisdom, power, and love
Our God is an awesome God."
She sang stronger and stronger.
The witch doctor glared at her...then panicked and ran out! Katie delivered that baby that evening and they all prayed together over the newborn child, rejoicing that it had most certainly been born with the blessing of the strength of the Lord and NOT under the Voodoo curse of evil.
(It's at this point, of course, that I'm/all of us in church are crying and cheering.)
Mike finished the story by saying, "Way to ripple girl, way to ripple." He alluded to an earlier illustration of jumping whole-heartedly into a pool and creating wave after wave, ripple after ripple and that THAT should be the way we respond to the Lord when He invites, "Follow me." We shouldn't ease in toe by toe. No way! We should dive in and make waves, spreading His word/will/love, with ripple effects lasting far beyond what we can see. What waves had Katie made that night? Who would that child grow up to be? Who would he effect? How would the ripple keep going?
And so Lauren, I say to you, "Way to ripple, girl. Way to ripple."
"cravers" and "blemo"
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