At the Foot of the Cross (Aos pes da Cruz)

Mais Descobertas aos pes da Cruz 
(More Discoveries at the foot of the Cross) 
"If anyone would come after Me [Jesus], let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?" 
Mark 8:38-36

 The above title and verses are from my Portuguese Quiet Time (QT) this past week. They sum up a little of what I have learned this past week. 
What discoveries lay at the foot of the Cross? I have discovered the depth and reality of surrender and what peace in the presence of my Lord means. In the course of the week, and in different ways, God has asked me to surrender to Him every single area of my life. I have been stretched and challenged more than I thought possible in one week and have only bourne it in the strength of the Savior. I cannot share everything with you yet but here are two examples: 

 I was supposed to meet with Alexandra for discipleship on Wednesday, but when I arrived at her school I found out she was in the hospital. She fell at school earlier that morning and fractured her jaw and other injuries. My heart broke for her; I have been praying for her and messaging her, but so far have been unable to see her. I pray God uses this in her life to draw her to Himself. 

 The same day I had one of the hardest conversations up to this point in my life, partially because it was basically all in Portuguese and I was not able to fully express myself. It was even harder because of how the other person responded. I am still trying to make sure there was good, clear communication and am continuing to pray for this person. 

 Next week I will be able to share with you about the largest of the challenges and how it will affect the rest of my internship this year. I ask that you pray for me in the coming days as I continue to seek peace and surrender at the foot of the Cross (aos pes da Cruz). Obrigada (thank you). 



"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."
Jim Elliot

Comments

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