More Than This Monday: A Cry from the Streets

We're going to Brazil to visit a dear friend of mine and her family who live in the city of Belo Horizonte and work with an organization called YWAM (Youth With a Mission). I wanted to tell you about what they do there and share their blog with you!

First of all, the YWAM base in Belo was started by Johann and Jeannette Lukasse, and Jeannette has written a book about their story called, A Cry from the Streets. I highly recommend reading this book no matter who you are or where you are in life. I am certain that it will warm your heart, inspire you, and just altogether enrich your life. To follow the adventure of a young dutch couple just wanting God to use their lives, not having the slightest idea just how much He would, and how they were miraculously led and provided for step by step is simply thrilling. I pretty much cried my whole way through the book.

The ministry that they began now is comprised of several unique types of ministries. Some work directly with children living on the streets in rescue houses for kids on the streets. The kids go through a program teaching them life skills, and since many of these kids do actually have living parents, much work is done to reach out to their families and seek to help them get back on their feet and love and take responsibilities for the kids as well. The goal is restoration of families and helping kids be able to function in society and get off the streets. There is also an refuge house for those who have no home, many of whom are victims of AIDS. Some of these children have been adopted by staff workers and it is so beautiful to see. These are just a couple of the types of work going on.

My friend that we are going to visit and hopefully help works at a ministry called "The Lighthouse." As I said before, many of the children living on the streets do have families, but are forced out because their parents do not care for them, their homes are simply not safe, or a variety of other reasons. Most of the street kids also come from the slums, or poor neighborhoods on the outskirts of the city. The Lighthouse is located in the largest slum in Belo Horizonte. They work with the kids in the slum to teach them life skills, give them productive and safe ways to spend their time, and of course share the love of Christ with them. This is a program aimed at preventing kids from ending up on the streets. They also put an emphasis on reaching out to the parents of the children and helping the whole family. They seek to help the children spiritually, academically, physically, and socially.

You can get a personal glimpse into this ministry by following my friend's blog, Let Them Come. You can also click on the image below. Please take a moment to look at her blog!

More Than This Monday: Have you every been disappointed?

I have...both in big and small ways, in my heart ways and in my mind ways. Ways that irritate and ways that break...

Speaking of ways that irritate, last week we had a check up scheduled for Lydia. My very lucid and intelligent husband had called and made the appointment. The day came, he got off work, I left things undone, Lydia un-fed and napped, we got there, and lo and behold there was no such appointment in the system. I was struggling with my attitude. I thought they should have tried to work us in. I thought they should have at least apologized since it was more like that they forgot to click "save" than that my husband had imagined the whole conversation.

As we left I was acknowledging my wrong attitude to God, not quite at the place of true repentance, when my husband and I both thought and said, "Well, there may be a reason we don't know about yet."

Sure enough, a day or so later, Lydia starts running a fever, and is sick for several days. The shots that she would have had that day, coupled with the germs she already had, could have made her very very sick.

Turns out it was all mercy.

That is a minor example. Such disappointments and frustrations are quickly gotten over. Those of the heart, however, are a different matter. The loss of a loved one, the falling apart of all our hopes and plans...can "these things" be mercy too?

I've been hanging out in Luke 24 some lately. Three days after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, two very disillusioned, dejected, and dissapointed men were leaving Jerusalem and headed toward a town called Emmaus.

Things had not gone as they'd hoped, expected, or desired. This Jesus- in whom they'd placed so much hope, was dead. They had heard rumors from the women that He was no longer in the tomb...that an angel said he had risen. Obviously they did not believe it because they were packed up and heading home...it sounded just to good to be true...and a little bit crazy.

They were talking about "these things" as they walked, and suddenly a stranger showed up and asked them what they were talking about. Dubious that anyone could have missed these headlines, they told him when he inquired further that they spoke of Jesus. When they finished, the stranger explained to them that "these things" had to happen for the word of God to be fulfilled. Jesus had to die, but why? IN ORDER TO CONQUER DEATH AND THE GRAVE FOREVER.

The very "things" that led to their abject disappointment, were the very mercies of God that would bring them a hope and a future beyond what they had ever or could have ever hoped or dreamed.

Are you disillusioned in any way, big or small? Has anyone or anything let you down? Behind the smallest to the largest hurt, misfortune or closed door...maybe...just maybe...Mercy waits.

Do you know who that "stranger" in the story was? It was Jesus himself! After he explained to them how all the scriptures pointed to these events and the fact that that Jesus would die and rise again, He revealed Himself to them, and then disappeared. Needless to say, they packed up and headed back to Jerusalem as quickly as they could to tell the others. When they got there and were still telling their story. He showed up again, and revealed Himself to everyone.

What has touched my heart more than anything in this story is that Jesus, sweet and merciful Jesus, was about to reveal Himself to his followers...but He knew that two of them, so utterly disillusioned had given up and headed home. He loved them so much...He didn't want them to miss His appearing...He went and got them, and then, almost as soon as they got back, He appeared.

Maybe, my friend...maybe Mercy isn't just waiting behind those hurts...maybe if you turn around and look...you might just see that Mercy is following you...coming to get you...because He doesn't want you to miss Him.  He just loves you too much. Just look...He is there! Ask him to open your eyes.

Love as Strong as Death

Looking back, now I see

It was you wooing me

In the midst of everything

It was you not letting me

settle for loving anything

or being loved in any way

that would lead my heart astray

Dissapointments, weakenings

Rejection, failure, hurts, pains

Joy, sorrow, loss and gain

Everything had one sure aim.

Now I see Your sovereignty

Waiting Oh so patiently

Blocking my way so mercifully

Until the time that I could see...

Your ravished gaze so full of love

your eyes as steady as a dove's

Your love unyielding as the grave

For this joy your life you gave.

Looking back I realize

You stood with longing in your eyes

With patient love that never dies

Waiting for me to realize...

No love I could attain on earth

Could ever begin to give me worth

But your love is my life itself

Never ending, glorious wealth.

I wrote this poem when I realized that so many disappointments that I had experienced were nothing but God's mercy...that were what it took for me to see His ravished love for me...and truly...they do pale in comparison.

"What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?" ~Matthew16:26

More Than This Monday: To be a Tree...

I've posted this poem before. I'm very slow to post my poems, as they come from my heart and are something that I don't feel like is always appropriate to make public, but I feel compelled to share this one again. It's something come back to again and again. We must abide, rest, remain, stay, be - IN Christ. Striving in our own strength may produce some "results," but only that which is the very life of Christ flowing through us will produce real, lasting fruit. It is my heart's desire to let Him live and flow through me. What sweet surrender to just yield and trust Him, and experience being what we were created to be...

I Just Want to be a Tree

I just want to be a tree.
But not just any tree, you see.
Bearing fruit in its season
with roots that go deep.
This is the tree I want to be.

For the fowl of the air
It's a cozy space.
For the victim fled
It's a hiding place.
And the weary lean
on its solid base.

On a scorching day
it's a shady spot
To the hungry it offers
the fruit it has wrought

For the weary mind
it's a peaceful scene
that calms the soul
with beauty serene.

With all of this,
there is so much more
that a simple tree
was created for.

It absorbs pollutants
that in the air abound
And breathes out clean air
to all that surround
It does all this
without a sound.

Without labor or strife
it lives its life
But from where does
the power proceed?

From beneath the earth
where the seed gave birth,
deep under the ground
a quiet stream is found.

There it firmly stands,
Raising its hands
Pointing to the sky
to God on high.

He is the source of the
light shining down
His life the cool stream
running under ground.

His life within and His
life poured out,
keep the abiding tree safe
from every drought.

Through every gust
The tree steadily trusts
Swaying, not breaking
Bent but not crushed.

And so the tree
not in words, but in deed
Points toward the One
who created the seed,
for all His glory to see.

And so my friend, I hope you see
Why I just want to be a tree.

Inspired by:

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he mediates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers."~Psalm 1:1-3


"...They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting from the Lord." Isaiah 61:3


"Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord's renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed." Isaiah 55:13

"I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener...Remain in me and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me..." John 15:1-2

*Image courtesy of The Graphics Fairy!

Every Good Gift...

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."

~James 1:17

*Another special thanks to Shutterfly for the lovely photo cards!*

More than this Monday: Ripping Razors

I realize that it is Tuesday, but we just got back from our trip, and it feels like Monday to me. I also had a little something I wanted to share...;)

Tom and I enjoyed a weekend away this past weekend in Asheville, NC while Lydia hung out with my Mom and Dad. It was fun, and I think absence made the heart grow fonder...made me more aware of the blessing that Lydia is. When we got back last night we were loving on Lydia and talking with my parents.

I was letting Lydia play with a paper that seemed unimportant. She tore it and my mom said that it was something she wanted to hold on to. I almost grabbed the paper out of Lydia's hand, but then remembered my resolution to not yank things out of her hand that she shouldn't have, but to ask her calmly to give it to me. When I did so she handed me the paper me without hesitating. I said "thank you," and she went on chattering and playing happily.

I told mom how I'd realized that she may not understand why I grab things out of her hands. I thought at that moment how kids are so prone to yank things out of others' hands and it suddenly occurred to me that perhaps we train them to do that without even realizing it! Then we turn around and scold them for "taking away" and not sharing.

I shared these thoughts with my mom and it reminded her of a story told by a teacher years ago, which I have embellished a little...

A family and friends were sitting around enjoying each others' company when someone realized that the baby on the floor in the middle had a sharp razor blade in his hand. Expecting the mom to grab it instantly from his hand the guests were surprised and nervous to see her run to the kitchen. The mother briskly, but calmly walked back into the room, quickly approaching the baby with something in her own hand. She reached out with a loving hand and offered to baby a cookie. The baby in turn instantly dropped the razor, which was immediately grabbed up by wiser hands and enjoyed nibbling on the cookie. The relieved family paid no mind to the crumbs falling all over the floor and all sighed and relaxed back into their seats with relief.

 How often do we rip razor blades from the hands of others, young and old alike, only leave them wounded and bleeding, instead of offering them something better.

The wrong things we see in our loved one's lives, that may indeed be harmful to them, perhaps would be forgotten and abandoned if we would instead of trying to take those things from them, just showed them the love of Christ...

I needed to hear that. I can't tell you how timely it was. God show me how to just give your love, and leave the razor blades to you!

Why Sheep?

The question "Why Wool?" is a common title on blogs and cloth diapering websites about all the attributes of wool and why it's perfect for babies' bottoms.

Have you every wondered, "Why Sheep?" Why is it that this animal in particular that is so carefully clad in such an amazing coat? I know there are other woolly animals, but not all animals are clothed with a fiber that keeps them warm in the winter, cool in the summer, dry all year round, clean of bacteria, unlikely to catch on fire, and on top of that excreting an oily substance that coats these fibers that is also water resistant with antibacterial properties providing even more protection!

I don't believe it is a coincidence that we find sheep, of all animals, clothed in this almost magical fiber! As I began to learn about how wool works more in depth, I exclaimed to my husband, "Wow! God must have really wanted to protect his sheep!" At that moment I was thinking of actual sheep and nothing more, but as soon as the words escaped my mouth, the depth of what I had just said struck both of us.

The Bible often refers to us as sheep, and God as our shepherd. In the new testament and old, in prophesies, songs, stories, and teachings the theme of sheep and shepherd is referred to over and over and over. Isaiah talks about what happened to Jesus and what it meant for us, hundreds of years before it came to pass. Here are just a few lines of it:

" ⁵ But he was pierced for our rebellion,
      crushed for our sins.
   He was beaten so we could be whole.
      He was whipped so we could be healed.
 ⁶ All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
      We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
   Yet the Lord laid on him
      the sins of us all.
⁷ He was oppressed and treated harshly,
      yet he never said a word.
   He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.
      And as a sheep is silent before the shearers,
      he did not open his mouth...."(Isaiah 53, NLT).


Jesus speaks of God's heart in a story of a shepherd being willing to leave the 99 sheep to find one who was lost, and bringing him back with joy and celebration (Luke 15), so that we would understand that even if just one of us were lost and separated from God, He still would have given everything and endured everything described in the verses above, for even one. His heart is always longing and pursuing those who "like sheep have strayed away."

He also speaks of how a sheep knows his shepherd's voice and obeys him, teaching us that our relationship with Him goes beyond just being rescued and brought safely into His fold, but that we can have a relationship with Him...one of intimacy and trust. "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me." (John 10:27) To know Him is to trust Him and know that His desire for us is for our ultimate good.


I've learned from those who've looked intently into the lives of sheep that sheep have been known to follow one another head to tail right into a ditch, piling on top of one another until the ditch was full. That has totally been me at times in my life...following people and ideas only to end up  in a "ditch." Each time, my Shepherd has intervened, pulled me out and set me on the path of peace once again. It sounds like foolishness, but for my part I have found it to be true.


The occupation of a shepherd was regarded as the lowest of the low. It was a job for nobodies, and the least of the least, and so the foolishness increases. In likening Himself to a Shepherd, God is making Himself the least and the lowest. "But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong." (1 Cor. 1:27 NIV)

And he didn't stop there, when led to the cross, "He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth...."(Isaiah 53, NLT). And so Jesus is often referred to as the Lamb of God, because He gave Himself willingly as a sacrifice, so that we could live.

  "The Lord is my Shepherd. I will lack nothing." (Ps. 23:1)

Thursday Thoughts - The Heart of the Matter

I've just been thinkin' that unless I have a right heart, I'll operate superficially in regards to living simply or having much, regardless of whichever of the two is my natural bent or situation. Even frugality can be a matter of pride. Anything outward, be it objectively speaking "good" or "bad," will be in congruence with the inward reality of my heart. What I have or don't have, and in a large way what I do or don't do are ultimately only outward things. The inward reality is infinitely more important, and yes it influences the outward, but it is possible for the outward to appear a certain way (even to self), yet the inward-our heart and heart motivations be quite the contrary. Ultimately it doesn't matter how much I have or don't have, but rather who I am.

In other words, are my heart and mind set on outward things, whether it be obtaining them or not obtaining them? Is my mind busy with many things while I neglect the one thing needful?

Ps. 139:23&24 " Search me Oh God and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting."