Mirrored Reflection

Looking into the mirror of time I can see myself sitting on this same bed, in the same room, inside the the heart of Maputo during the month of April. But as any mirror reflection is not the same as the real object so the image of myself in that reflection is very different from who I am today. 

  • Then I was spiritually dry ... Since then my life has become saturated with God's Word.
  • Then I was struggling to place my focus in the right place .. Since then God has taught me to focus on Him first and place Him at the center of my life. 
  • Then I did not know how to feed myself spiritually ... Since then God has shown me different ways to grow spiritually. 
  • Then everything in Maputo was new: people, language, city, culture, ministry, everything ... Now I know people, I am beginning to know the language, the culture, and the city. 
How different I feel. But looking in the mirror of time has shown me how much God has blessed these last few months. 

 Ministry: Word of Life Mozambique has 3 summer camps (December 10-23, one day off between each), I will be helping at all three and then flying immediately home just in time for Christmas. 

 This morning in my quiet time I was so challenged by Romans 3:9-20 "no one is righteous... no one seeks for God... no one does good... no fear of God before their eyes..." But for the grace of God there go I. 
To imagine what my life would be like if God, in His grace, had not saved me. Especially in reflection of where He has brought me this year. He is my everything, my life revolves around Him. In Him I live and have my being. Without Him I have no life, no purpose, no hope, no joy, I would be empty and shriveled up inside. 
Praise God for salvation, hope, joy, life, and purpose.
Praise Him for His FAITHFULNESS.

Comments

  1. Liane WilliamsDecember 3, 2016 at 12:00 PM

    Dry...focus...feeding spiritually...
    In so many ways, I see you have had those things. More so than others.
    And yet, you felt those things in yourself.
    We can always feel dry...need focus...and grow spiritually. We feel the lack because He is so full and complete and all in all.
    Every year I grow and know Him more and in comparison, I see the lack before.
    Just think about when you're 92! or the full joy of heaven!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Coffee Shop Atheist

Image
My ears perked up. The three men at the table across from me in the coffee shop had started talking about the Bible. My intentions of working on my historical fiction novel got pushed aside as I started eavesdropping on their conversation. Who were they? What were they saying about the Bible? The smartly dressed, white-haired gentleman facing me pulled up Romans 8 on his phone and read part of it to the young man sitting with his back to me. Intriguing. I love Romans 8. Was it a pastor mentoring a young man in his church?  Then came the revelation. The two older men facing me identified themselves as Jehovah's Witnesses. I should have known. But what about the young man with his back to me? Who was he? I could hear the older men quite well, they had louder voices directed towards me. But the young man had a softer voice and was facing away from me. I couldn't hear him very well. Concern for the young man grew in my heart. I know who Jehovah's Witnesses are. I know what they
Read more

5-Day Club

Image
The big week had finally arrived! I smiled in excitement as I thought about the 5-Day Club about to happen at the Welcome House. Several refugee families had been invited of mixed beliefs and backgrounds. I was also nervous. How would it go? Would anyone get offended? Angry? Keep their kids from coming? Or stop the 5-Day Club from happening? (A 5-Day Club is a ministry of CEF, a type of backyard Bible club with stories, songs, games, and memory verses) Day 1 As the CEF teachers walked toward the tree, one talkative little boy following in my shadow went on the defensive. He said his family doesn't believe in Jesus and asked something about God having a dad. I went on alert as I listened to him. This is exactly what I was nervous about. I wanted to navigate these conversations with respect for others but in a way that the Truth could still be proclaimed. "I know you don't believe in Jesus," I said as we walked into the shade of the tree. He seemed happy that I knew thi
Read more

God's Backward Oreo

Image
"I feel like God made you an Oreo, only a backwards Oreo." I knit my eyebrow trying to follow my mom's line of thinking as I listened to her voice note. "He's got cream on two sides and the hard cookie in the middle," she continued, "As in, you're standing in the blueberry patch on Saturday just talking with Dad and suddenly this lady goes, 'Hey, I want to get your newsletter.' I mean, wow, cream, sweet cream. And then... a hard cookie." I laughed a bit sardonically as I realized where she was going, "There's a lot more layers to the 'Oreo' than that this week!" I replied. I was having a weird week and wasn't sure how to feel about it. Yes, God had given me several moments of sweet, delicious cream, but those moments of cream had been broken up by more than one hard thing. On Thursday, listening to my mom's message, I couldn't decide if the cream outweighed the hard or if the hard outweighed the cream
Read more