One less orphan

I knew coming to Guatemala that I would get to have lots of cultural experiences. However, I never thought I'd have to experience a Guatemalan funeral. Julio was just a baby when he went on to be with the Lord. We met him at the orphanage. As soon as I met Julio, I knew why he was there. See, Julio was born with a cleft palate, and his mother looking on his physical deformity didn't want him. Reminds me of someone else I know, Isaiah prophesied what the Messiah would look like: He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him (53:2a).

However, his story is more tragic than that, not only did his mother not want him, she took him to the local garbage dump, and left him there. As soon as he was born, he was literally thrown away. The person who was supposed to love him and treasure him, thought of him as garbage. Fortunately, the people at the basurero thought more of him and took him to the orphanage. There he received so much love, from the staff and from several teams. A medical team of doctors from the US had come to Guatemala to do free surgeries. His first surgery went really well. The team had come back for the second surgery and it seemed that all would be well. However, during the night, liquid filled his lungs and he was gone. As I was struggling to find peace with the loss of this precious baby boy the Lord reminded me, that Julio is in a much better place. He will no longer be rejected by men because of what he looks like. Julio never had the opportunity to be loved by a mother and a father here on this earth, but he will forever be in the presence of the Heavenly Father. Julio is no longer an orphan. He is in his Daddy's arms, and will never be hurt by this world again. To be honest, I'm a little bit jealous. The Lord says that He makes all things work out for our good and His glory. Just like God received glory through the death of His Son, I know He will receive glory through the death of this precious child. The medical team that operated on Julio was not a "Christian" medical team. I am praying that through his death they may come to find the One who can give eternal life. 

At some point after the funeral, one of my teammates started singing Beautiful Things by Gungor, I want to share some of the lyrics with you:

All this pain
I wonder if I’ll ever find my way
I wonder if my life could really change at all
All this earth

Could all that is lost ever be found
Could a garden come up from this ground at all

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

All around
Hope is springing up from this old ground
Out of chaos life is being found in You

That's exactly what the Lord wants to do! What the world sees as garbage, the Lord sees as treasure, and He takes us and refines us and makes us beautiful.

There is now one less orphan on this earth; but Julio never really was an orphan. He may not have been wanted by his biological mother, but he was never forgotten by his Heavenly Father, and neither are we.

Seasons

A few days ago, during team time, we asked the Lord what we needed to surrender so that we could fully be present for our last month in Guatemala. I realized that I had been trying to lead on my own strength, and I was so tired. I cannot do this own my own. I desperately need Him. Ever since the Lord showed me this I have had Desert Song by Hillsong stuck in my head. The song goes like this:

This is my prayer in the desert
And all that's within me feels dry
This is my prayer in the hunger in me
My God is a God who provides

And this is my prayer in the fire
In weakness or trial or pain
There is a faith proved
Of more worth than gold
So refine me Lord through the flames
And I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon forged against me shall remain I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here
And this is my prayer in the battle
And triumph is still on it's way
I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ
So firm on His promise I'll stand
All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship
This is my prayer in the harvest
When favor and providence flow
I know I'm filled to be emptied againThe seed I've received I will sow

We all go through seasons in our life. Some seasons are flat out hard. Some friends we have for just a season in our life, and some for a couple of seasons. You may live in one apartment for a season, and then a house in another state or country for another. Life is full of many different seasons. Some will flourish and feel like Spring others might be really hard and feel like Winter. Seasons will come and go, but God is still God. Even through trials and pain, through times of mourning and rejoicing, He is still worthy of all praise and glory. The beauty of it all is that God still knows what we are going through. Sunday night, at church, I felt like the Lord was leading me to read Psalm 63:

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you;my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.

The Lord knew exactly what I needed to read. I want to thirst for the Lord. I am tired of being in this desert. The only way to get out of the desert is to drink from the Word. Fill me up God! Let me no longer rely on my own understanding and help me to be thankful for every.single.season. 

  

Naked

While in Honduras we had the opportunity go house to house encouraging and sharing the gospel with people that invited us in to their homes. After, we shared with the church testimonies about our experience and how the Lord had worked. One of my teammates was sharing of when this pantless little boy ran up to her and just gave her hug. She went on to say that the Lord taught her so much in that moment; one thing being that God loves us even when we don’t want to put clothes on. What got translated was that God loves us even when we’re naked. Oops. It’s been a little bit of a joke with the team and the guys here at Casa Verde. However, this morning as I was listening to Phil Wickham’s song Eden, I realized the truth in the mistranslation.

I want to see You face to face
Where being in Your arms is the permanent state
I want it like it was back then
I want to be in Eden

To be naked and unashamed
In a sweet downpour of innocent rain
I want it like it was back then
I want to be in Eden

In the Garden, Adam and Eve were completely naked, and unashamed before the Lord. They did not know sin. Right after the fall, however, they saw their nakedness and hid from God. Nakedness is equated with shame, but God does not want us to stay in our shame. He wants to clothe us with his righteousness. As Isaiah said, I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness. (61:10)

We need to come and expose our sins before God, for we are naked and ashamed in our sin. Instead of trying to hide our sin and our nakedness we need to come before our God who loves us and let him dress us with His garments of salvation and His robe of righteousness.