Friday, July 4, 2008

A light in the darkness

God is so good to us! It is neat how He places us where we need to be for His glory and purposes. Sometimes it is hard to see why we are where we are, but eventually as we continue to seek and trust Him we are able to see Him unfold His purposes.

I have been able to share times in His Word with Yenni (one of my uncle's maids) and they have been some very sweet times. Yenni is a believer, but a young one in the faith, and I feel like she is really listening and desiring this time in His Word together. We usually meet outside on the front porch after she is done with all the house work and after I put the girls to bed. I have enjoyed "mentoring" her and helping her understand what His Word is trying to tell us. We have conversations about the meanings of passages and how that applies to us today. It has been so neat and my heart is so full after these times together. We end our time praying together and sometimes we just sing praises to Him.

My heart sometimes hurts for people who don't have anything...who are "poor" in material things. Maids here don't make a lot of money (usually about $150 a month for fulltime help) and they work really hard. Most of the time they are treated very poorly and often taken advantage of. What amazes me most though is the servant and loyal hearts that they have toward their patrones (employers).

All this truly makes me grateful for what we have and it makes me more generous. I think seeing how other people live and how they make it makes us want to give more and spend less on us. I also realize that even though these people might not have much materially, they are much more devoted to the Lord and so their hope is in Him. I know that one day we will all be in heaven with our Lord and we will all be happy(no more suffering or pain, etc)...I cannot wait! I love how God is the same and loves all of us the same. He cares about Yenni and her struggles and he also cares about us and our struggles. He is so good to all of us.

Last weekend also as we were talking with my aunt and uncle and they were sharing with me how there was something different about us and they asked me what it was. I told them it was the Lord in our lives. We had been wondering whether we were of any influence in their lives. We realized that we are having an influence because of Christ in us and not anything of ourselves. Unbelievers are always watching us and hopefully Christ shines through us enough for them to see a difference and for them to desire that which we possess. They also commented on how Matt and I relate to each other and the peace that they see in our lives. I was truly taken aback because my aunt and uncle don't open up and share personal things very often, but they had been talking about it to themselves.

God is good! He is faithful. We are willing vessels and we want to serve Him and be a light in the darkness. We trust that He will continue to shine through us and give us more opportunities like the ones He has given us so far.

Our aunt and uncle have been so generous and kind to us while we have been here at their house these past two weeks. They have truly taken us in as one of their own children and have done everything to make us feel comfortable and at home. We were hesitant and did not know what to expect when we came here, but it has been a great experience, especially for Rebekah who has been spoiled more and more lately by her great aunt. They love her so much!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's awesome that you are able to be such a light to them! Praise God!

TheCeiba said...

Enciende una luz, dejala brillar! La luz de Jesus, que brille en todo lugar, no la puedes esconder, no te puedes callar, ante tal necesidad. Enciende una luz, en la oscuridad! - es un canto que nos encanta. Y ustedes juntos son una luz super brillante. Sigan adelante!!! El miércoles nos pasamos a su casa!