Blogging again

                                                                                     Shoulders 

My help comes from You
You are my rest, my rescue.
I don't have to see to believe because I know it is true.
You carry my weakness, my sickness, my brokenness on Your shoulders.
I feel no fear. I find my comfort here
Because I know you are near.

(For King and Country)

I haven't been blogging for weeks, months, years maybe. I haven't been sure how. The tears, the struggle, the joy, the despair, the hope. What do share? How do I share? I want to protect and bring dignity. I have also just been too tired. The weariness. Healing is hard work.

I am hoping to begin again, the stories of hope need to be shared, to give testimony that it is true. Jesus is real, His power transforms lives. He is still at work, in my day. Replacing beauty for ashes. Bringing light to darkness. A smile when there had been none. He who created us in our fragility, clay pots really, displays power and love and victory and hope every day. If we will but stop to look, when the pot is cracked, it can't hide the light of Jesus, rather the fragmented beams make me feel brave. One more day.

A way home

The bus terminal was crowded with people arriving and leaving. I walked slowly, searching for a lone young woman and her baby. It had been two years since I had last seen her. Would I recognize her? It was then that I saw her, one arm raised tentatively in greeting, a six month baby on her hip, a couple of smaller bags at her feet. 

Although she is now just 22 years old, her face was thinner and older, a face that told the story of abuse and abandonment. Believing the lies of a man who "promised her the world," she walked away one Christmas Eve, leaving a haven of love and safety, and a hopeful future. Two years later, at a point of desperation, she remembered the love she had experienced in Casa Adalia and began to search for a way to come back "home." Yet God. He never stopped pursuing her with His unfailing love, wooing her back to Himself and to choosing new life for her and her child.

This is not a unique story for the precious young women we minister to. The manipulative lies of "You are so beautiful, let me take care of you," are far too common and easily believed by a teen girl who her entire young life only experienced abuse. 

It is a joy and privilege to catch glimpses of growth and transformation of the young women and children we are honored to journey with. Last week another one of our young women spontaneously asked to share her testimony with a small team. She ended by saying, "I am finally learning what pure love is. The love of God is pure, it is unconditional."