Wednesday 27 January 2010

Hope for Haiti and For Me

It has been two weeks since the ground began to shake in Haiti.  My family and I have watched the pictures flood our TV set,  death and destruction that I have trouble comprehending.  We have read first hand accounts of people who were on the ground when it happened, we have made and help collect donations, we have followed the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief reports as they have worked in the capital, we watched the telethons, we have had conversations about what is  happening with the orphans and we have prayed and prayed.  Throughout each day, there have been many times and moments, when God has turned my attention once again back to this nation and it's people.  A nation and a people that I did not know much about until disaster struck.  My heart aches.  My eyes continue to well with tears at strange moments.  At times I admit it has become too much.  Too many visuals, too many broken lives, too many children without parents and too much darkness.  But today I read a story and then another and another that rang with true hope.

My friend Leeann, was scheduled to leave on mission trip to Haiti for five months in early February.  The airlines have just announced that all commercial flights are on hold until at least February 18th but God has a plan and He was already putting it into motion before the earth began to shake.  I read LeeAnn's blog this morning.  It was great to be reminded that God is always working.  God is always working everywhere and we can trust Him.  He is working here for His people in Haiti and He is working in Haiti for His people here.  His all encompassing love astounds me again and again.  It is wonderful to read about the way that He has been stirring in Leeann's heart and prompting her to obedience.  It is marvelous to read about her love for children that she has not yet met.  It was a great way to start my morning.  I would encourage you to start following her journey as she attempts to live out in Haiti what she has learned about Christ.

While I was on Leeann's blog I decided to read some blogs of the people that she is going to be with at Mission of Hope.  One of those blogs is Embracing Hope written by Diana Wiebe.  She is working as a teacher for the children of a couple of families who felt God's call to help with an orphanage and a hospital at the Mission of Hope for Haiti.  She has been there since the fall of 2008.  Her blog is not only encouraging but awe inspiring.  Leeann will be working with Diana and assisting her in teaching the children.  As I read her post called The Loveliest Sound, I was flooded with my own praise for my God that continues to overwhelm me with the way that He shows himself through His people.  I want to encourage you to read this post about some of the Haitian people's response to the circumstances.  It was a good reminder for me.

So there it was after days of feeling the heaviness of this sea of despair I was reminded to fix my eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:8).  God has not abandoned Haiti or it's people.  God is right there in the thick of it and His light is throwing back the darkness.

This morning was also a reminder that I need to be vigilant in the plan that He has for me.  There are people that He is calling to Haiti like LeeAnn, Diana and others.  And maybe He is starting to work in my heart to go but He already has me going places for Him today.  Right here, in my home with my kids, with my husband, with my neighbours, with my friends and with the people that I meet as I live my life in Milton.   Today,  He will set in my path and in yours,  lives that need to hear about and see His true hope in action.  Today, we will all have an opportunity to exalt His Name by the way we treat those around us.   Think about it, today is full of astonishing possibilities.  Lives that you know could be changed today.   I was overwhelmed just thinking about it.  I wanted to get going but these are tasks that cannot even begin to be accomplished without Him.  So I started my day today with Psalm 25:3-5 as my prayer.

Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths;
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.

May this be my prayer and my praise everyday.

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