“Be still and know that I AM God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted among the earth.” -Psalm 46:10
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” -Romans 8:1
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This is by far the hardest blog I will ever have to write, but this past week God's done some really great work in my life. It's been some of the hardest conversations and processing to go through, but I am coming home from Haiti this week at the Lord's will… I know this is sudden, but the LORD has lead me every step of the way, as He promises (Deut. 31:8), and this season serving in Haiti has come to a close.
This was not my decision- but it was the LORD's, and I trust that this is His complete and perfect will for my life. It is incredibly hard to leave, and even speaking the words have been filled with so much heartbreak, but I know it is right, and I am thankful and blessed for my time already spent here. There is no bad parting, and the LORD is continuing to bless and overflow New Vision Ministries.
I am blessed to serve anywhere I can, and however God is going to use this pain from leaving, it will always be for His glory. I am leaving behind an AMAZING new family here, including all my kids at the mission. The hardest part about all of this is going to be leaving them. I can’t even imagine the thought! I really have been given the roll as one of their moms, and I feel like I’m abandoning my kids. The verse I keep thinking about though is from Matthew 10:37-38 which says, “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” I know God has them in His hands, and I can leave them all at the foot of the cross. I am not giving up on them, but I am giving them back to Him. They were never mine to begin with, and I am overjoyed at the lessons I have learned from each of them.
At school, the High School and Middle School students have been reading through one parable from the book of Matthew everyday… Ms. Lindsey picks the parable, and they journal about it for my class every night. We each have been so blessed by being in a position to shepherd these kids in the ways God has gifted us, and I can’t believe how much I have learned from my students over the past semester! It’s been AMAZING how much God has been using these parables that my students read everyday to speak into my life… It’s been a quiet and private process with God, but I know the following scriptures were speaking to me before I even knew about the thought of leaving Haiti…
Matthew 8:
19 A teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
20 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
21 Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
22 But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
Matthew 9:
9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’[a] For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Matthew 10:
9 “Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts— 10 no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep.”
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I do feel that God has put a huge burden for evangelism on my heart in the U.S., and I will be pursuing Him wherever He leads. I love Jesus so much, and I blown away by the lessons He has taught me, and the amazing gift of grace and love He gives, and blown away for the mercy to be used by Him.
Phil. 4:13- “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”