Hope for the Orphan

Happy Bolivian Mothers' Day! 

This week I received my first ever mothers' day card! 

It was a touching reminder that my job here isn't just to make sure that the tias don't get mad and that the children get fed and don't get hurt... 

No, my job here is to glorify God by showing the love of Christ to these precious children, most of them will never know a mother other than tias. I am called to be the best tia that I can possibly be, for the glory of God and through His strength. 

With it being winter here, the nights get rather chilly, it has been hard to get out of bed in the mornings, especially since I have been going to bed really late. Thus, my Bible time keeps being slighted. 

I cannot be the tia that God has called me to be for this year if I am not getting in His word. Just as my body will not function properly if I am not drinking water, so also must I drink deeply of the Living Water if I expect to be walking in the good deeds that He has prepared for me here.

I cannot love in His love, have patience when I'm frustrated, or rejoice when I really would rather not; if I am not refreshing myself in His truth. 

Matthew 4:4

Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" 

John 4:13-14

Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Galatians 2:20

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 

Abrahan kissing my cheek, Marcella asking me to read from the little Bible, (she kept turning the pages only giving me time to read the title.) And Pablo dogpiling on top of Abrahan... It was painful but so very fun. I love the kids so much. When I first came, it was the natural, "These kids are so cute." Then, "Wow, these kids are so difficult." 

   Now, God is growing in me a real love for these kids, even though they occasionally spit in my face, pee all over me, hit me, call me names or just flat out disobey me with no regard for the fact that I am speaking to them. 

He loves them. 

He knows their names. 

He knows their stories. 

He has ordained that I would be able to be apart of their lives for a year.

Will it make a difference in their lives? Only God knows. 

One thing I do know, they are making a difference in my life. 

Every little hug, random kiss, crazy hairdo, and makebelieve meal... They touch my heart. 

These children are beloved by God, though they were abandoned by their families. As the adopted children of our Heavenly Father, are we not commanded to care for the orphans? And doesn't that make perfect sense? We have been so loved, so forgiven, so freed, should we not have a heart for the orphan, the widow, and the sojourner to know the same? 

My mother prayed for victory in the lives of my siblings and myself when my biological dad left us. That has impacted me so greatly. I am not bound by my past, neither are these precious children.

 I long for them to see that. 

These children do not have mothers to love them and pray for them, will you join me in being their prayer warrior?

My prayer for each of them is, first of all, that they come to know Christ; the one who loves them despite their sin, that He died for them, and wants to forgive and adopt them as His own if they will turn from their sins and follow Him.

Secondly, I pray that instead of being filled with anger as they age, that God would work in their hearts and give them forgiveness to those who have hurt them, and an overwhelming love and compassion for others who are hurting. 

Thirdly,  I don't want them to go through life as survivors. I want to see them become victorious warriors for Christ. To not be bound by the chains of their past, but to rejoice in their Savior and to be filled with passion for His glory.

John 14:18

"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."

Psalm 10:14

 But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted; you consider their grief and take it in hand. The victims commit themselves to you; you are the helper of the fatherless.

Psalm 5:11

But let all who take refuge in You be glad, Let them ever sing for joy; And may You shelter them, That those who love Your name may exult in You.

Bless the Lord, Oh My Soul

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

I had a couple days this week that I was sure I would never be able to write a blog post today that had any sort of joy. One day, in particular, I got back from school and went into the baby house, the cook asked me if I was okay and I promptly burst into uncontrollable sobs. 

Through the kindness of our heavenly Father and His many blessings, I can write with thankfulness and honesty this afternoon, 'it is well with my soul.'

One of my favorite words that I have learned so far in Spanish is 'misericordia' or mercy... 

God is great in mercy, and His faithfulness reaches from beyond the depths of the earth and surpasses the height of the heavens. 

        Psalm 136:1-9,23,26

 "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,

    for his steadfast love endures forever.

Give thanks to the God of gods,

    for his steadfast love endures forever.

Give thanks to the Lord of lords,

    for his steadfast love endures forever;

to him who alone does great wonders,

    for his steadfast love endures forever;

to him who by understanding made the heavens,

    for his steadfast love endures forever;

to him who spread out the earth above the waters,

    for his steadfast love endures forever;

to him who made the great lights,

    for his steadfast love endures forever;

the sun to rule over the day,

    for his steadfast love endures forever;

the moon and stars to rule over the night,

    for his steadfast love endures forever;

     It is he who remembered us in our low estate,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

                    Give thanks to the God of heaven,

                       for his steadfast love endures forever."

He says, "I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish." 

Jeremiah 31:25

"I will bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted about all things your name and your word. On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased." 

Psalm 138:2-3

"Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness." 

Romans 6:13

"Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." 

Matthew 11:28

"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."

1 Corinthians 10:13

Throughout the week and in the message this morning, I have been challenged and convicted of my need to love my Savior more, to worship Him, and to be thankful in all things.

One of the first things that brought my need for thankfulness in prayer to my attention, was earlier this week when I sat down to eat with the kids. I didn't pray over my meal and little Jose Luis looked at me in shock, 

"Tia! You didn't pray!" 

I was embarrassed to be chastised so when I was supposed to be the missionary, truly God can use anyone for His purposes!!!

 "Do you want to pray with me?" I asked. 

He smiled and nodded, he put his hands together and began to sing the prayer that the children always sing before their meal, but then he paused and looked at me, the normally naughty little five-year-old stopped singing and simply thanked God for the food that He had provided and for the day that He had given us. 

I was touched... Jose Luis had never done anything like that before!

 I was convicted of how often I forget to pray before a meal. 

Being on my own and in a different language I don't normally have anyone to pray out loud with for most of my meals, and so I forget to do it all together. 

My Lord forgive me! Are my prayers really only from a heart that wants others to hear? 

Jesus needs to be my everything, no matter where I am, no matter who can hear. Have I become like the Church in Ephesus, forgetting their first love? Doing good deeds but forgetting the one who prepared those deeds and gave them the ability to walk in them? (Ephesians 2:8-10)

Revelation 2:2-5

“‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent."

Is all I have really Christ, or do I think that I also have fine words, good deeds, etc?

If all was taken away, would I still rejoice?

If heaven was filled with my loved ones and yet without my Lord, would I still want to go?

If I never have a family of my own, will my Savior be enough? 

If I'm faced with death or simple teasing, hardship in grand proportion, or in small, would I remain true to Christ who gave Himself for me, or would I love myself more?

I cannot "rejoice in the Lord always," if my eyes are fixed on myself. 

Until I love Him more, more than life itself, my joy can never be full. For, in HIM ALONE is true joy and contentment found. 

Matthew 10:37

"Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me."

I don't love Him like that... and yet it is commanded that I must... He is to be my all. 

Psalm 86:11

"Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name."

Despite my selfishness and failure to worship and love Him for who He truly is, our God is great in mercy and steadfast love. 

1 John 1:9

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

2 Timothy 2:13

"if we are faithless, He remains faithful- for He cannot deny Himself."

Hebrews 12:1

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us."

Hebrews 12:3

"Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted."

Praise be to God for His 'misericordia,' His never-ending faithfulness, His steadfast love, and His unfailing grace, and His compassion towards His children. 

Psalm 103

Lamentations 3:22-23

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."

                

This Week in Bolivia

  After church today I went with Kayla and Josue to get pique at a fundraiser event. It was very good and very filling!!!

 This week I worked up the courage to pull out a book of Bible stories, a couple of the little ones and I read it for maybe fifteen to thirty minutes one day. A couple days later Marcella asked to look at the book again. She refused to let me read to her and just made up what she thought was happening on each of the pages. It was really cute! 

 I finally went to the Cristo! However, I did it the hard way. TJ was going at 6:45 am before Bible study and he offered that anyone could come if they wanted... I was the only one who volunteered... I now know why! I didn't realize how much energy it takes to climb stairs... There are 1,500 steps to get to the top of the Cristo, and the number of stairs doesn't get any smaller when you have to go down again! Nevertheless, going down was much easier, I could actually have a conversation then and didn't need to take any breaks. Going up was torturous. 

I got a few pictures though. I want to go another time (but take a taxi up the mountain) and bring my nice camera and take pictures of the flowers and creatures along the path too. 

 I didn't realize how big Cochabamba was until I saw it from the top of the Cristo... I don't feel quite so bad about not knowing my way around the entire city yet!

Psalm 23:1-3

"The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want. 

He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 

He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake."

Psalm 23 was my favorite Psalm when I was little, I memorized it and read it often. After knowing it for so long, it lost its meaning and became easy to scan over in reading through the Psalms because "I already knew it."  It came to mind though yesterday as I have been continuing to think about contentment and it held new meaning instead of being just a childhood favorite. 

"I shall not want..." 

Ephesians 2:10

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."

I can want so many things: the tias to be Christians, the children to have respect for authority, someone to share life with, the children to all love God and love me... 

My ultimate purpose here on earth is not to get married, convert all the tias to Christ and to the American method of raising children, it's not to be loved by the children, it's not to be an important part of a ministry of business, not to buy a house, it's not to homeschool, it's not to have a lot of friends.

No, my purpose is to walk in the good works that my Savior has prepared so that I glorify Him. It is to follow my Shepherd along the path that He has planned. 

My purpose is to "glorify God and enjoy Him forever." 

Not plodding steps of drudgery, but joyfully walking with my Lord who loves me and gave His life for me. 

Psalm 16:2

"I say to the LORD, 'You are my Lord, I have no good apart from you.'"

Psalm 17:5

"As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness, when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness."  

It's not enough to be resigned... I need to rejoice and be thankful in my Savior. 

Psalm 103:1-5. 10-14, 17-18

"Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and all that is within me,
    bless his holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits,
who forgives all your iniquity,
    who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
    who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's."

"He does not deal with us according to our sins,
    nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
    so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to his children,
    so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
 For he knows our frame;
    he remembers that we are dust."

"But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,

    and his righteousness to children's children,

18 

to those who keep his covenant

    and remember to do his commandments."