Called to this life

"Today you are making this agreement with the Lord. He is to be your God and you are to walk in His ways and observe His statutes, commandments, and decrees, and to hearken to His voice. And today the Lord is making this agreement with you: you are to be a people peculiarly His own, as He promised you; and provided you keep all His commandments, He will then raise you high in praise and renown and glory above all other nations He has made, and you will be a people sacred to the Lord, your God, as He pronounced." ~Deuteronomy 26

How thankful I am that You created my heart to yearn for you and for a life serving your people, with no permanent residence and few possessions, apart from my family and the comforts of home and all that I loved in the past. But now there are new and different loves.

Love for the children - from the littlest ones with dirty clothes and feet who are nevertheless joyful simply because they are alive and can play in the afternoon sun - to the elder ones who just want the attention and friendship of an "ate," a big sister who will take the time to smile and talk to them about their lives and about Jesus.

Love for the beggars at our gate, several with mental disabilities, asking for money but accepting with gratitude the rice, bread, or bananas we have to offer them.

Love for the fishermen living in little shacks down by the seashore, who work both early in the morning and late at night to provide enough food for their families.

It doesn't make sense, I suppose, that someone blessed with a happy, comfortable life would then choose to take a more difficult road, encountering inconveniences and struggles and often a hurting heart along the way. But I did, and it is always and only because of You. Because You loved me first. Because You gave me everything, free of all cost.

"For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can a man give in return for his life? .... If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it." ~Mark 8

Singing praise and worship on the beach during one of our weekly "desert days" set aside for prayer. Spend time with the Lord every day in prayer, and I promise He will pour His graces and abundant blessings upon you!