A Holy Night

I spent last night having a bonfire with a great group of friends.  After finishing our hot coco and roasting marshmallows, we began singing our favorite Christmas carols.  There was something so magical about proclaiming the truth of His birth.  It was such a powerful worship experience of all of us.  We were blessed to sing these powerful songs while seeing the starts bright in the sky (a rarity here).  It was a Christmas Eve miracle. 

This month I have been reflecting on the powerful lyrics of Oh Holy Night, particularly the third verse.

Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.

Though injustice is all around us, love and peace are stronger.  Because of His birth love, peace and love will overcome all evil.  He came to overcome sin and its consequences.  His incarnation will break chains and will restore us to correct relationship.  He came to reconcile us to Himself.  He also allows us to be reconciled (restored to correct relationship) with each other. Though there are problems now, they will not exist forever.  He is more powerful than any divisions we can create. So powerful.

When it is easy to become overwhelmed with all the darkness, I can proclaim the truth that in His name all oppression will cease!

Mixed Emotions

While I have been in California talking with different groups of people about my cross-cultural work, I have frequently been asked how I process my experiences interacting with the women I visit.  Honestly, each time I visit with the women I feel a wide range of emotions.  I am saddened by the injustice of the situation.  I can feel angry when hearing their stories of past hurts and exploitation.  I am in awe of these women and their strength. They are able to survive in horrible situations and somehow maintain a decently positive outlook on life.  I greatly admire their strength and courage.  I respect them and their desire to provide for their families.  I am overwhelmed with the knowledge that this problem is systemic and cannot be easily fixed.  Often times I am joyful because we had a great conversation with the women.  I am thankful that I can speak truth into their lives.  I am thankful that He has provided me the opportunity to love on these women.  I am grateful for everything that I learned from them.  Most importantly, I am hopeful.  These women are loved by the Creator of the universe.  He has a plan for them and is pursuing them.  I get to be apart of their stories and long for the day when they can know Him personally. I am thankful that He loves these women much more than I do and that His is and will be faithful to them!

A Burdened Heart

On Sunday morning we sang the song "Hosanna" by Hillsong United.  The bridge to this song has extremely powerful words:
   Heal my heart and make it clean
  Open up my eyes to the things unseen
  Show me to to love like You have love me.

  Break my heart for what breaks yours
  Everything I am for Your Kingdom's cause,
  As I walk from earth into eternity.

The very next day the Lord answered the pr. I sang the previous morning.  I was spending the afternoon with a local friend.  As we were walking, she simply said "Jennifer, today I am sad....".  She left the statement hanging, like it did not really deserve to be validated or explored in more detail.  Of course I asked her why she felt that way and for the next twenty minutes she confided in me all the reasons why she was sad.  I felt so overwhelmed hearing about all of her problems and was angered by the unjust actions that have adversely affected her.

As I was in my own head trying to respond with wisdom, the lyrics above came to the forefront of my mind.  It was as if Abba was saying: "Jennifer you asked for me to open up your eyes and break your heart, so I am doing it.  This is only a fraction of the billions of things that break my heart each day.  Feel this pain, take this burden to heart.  Only after you sit with the suffering of those around you can you truly know how to love people like I love them"

I know understand His capacity to love like never before. But I am still wondering how to respond to people in situations of injustice.  I can know feel their pain, but what do I do with it?  How can I go from feeling people's burdens to loving them on a practical level?  So many questions that He will answer in His own timing. I had an experience this week with the living G-d who lovingly gave me a glimpse of His heart and will teach me how to use it for His glory.

Choice

Choice....six letters that combine to make such a powerful word.  More and more I am coming to realize just how important choice is to an individual, how vital it is to helping a person thrive and live with dignity.

Choice is something that I take for granted almost every day.  What am I going to choose for breakfast?  When do I have time in my schedule to meet up with three different people this week?  Honestly, sometimes I feel overwhelmed by all the choices I have to make navigating life in a city of 23 million people.  I fail to remember that choice is a blessing, a true blessing.

I know of some women working in situations of exploitation who do not have access to a kitchen.  Their boss brings them their food for each meal and they have no input in terms of the menu items.  These women also have no control of when they will be working.  Their schedule can change on a whim as the boss decides.

I made a deliberate choice to move across the world to work and serve.  Economic necessity forced these women to leave their hometown and seek any possible employment to keep their family financially afloat.  These brave women often leave behind their small children in hopes of seeking a better life.  Once they arrive to the big city they are tricked into working jobs they never expected.  Any form of choice or decision making is quickly taken away.

It often seems counter intuitive that women who are offered alternative employment and a better life do not immediately jump at the opportunity.  When you are not allowed to make basic choices through the day, it is a gigantic step to choose to leave your current situation and make a drastic life change.  It takes time for a woman to build up the self-confidence to start making decisions about their own lives.  This is a long process that takes relationships with stable influences.  More importantly, it takes hours of intercession asking Him to intervene in these women's lives and change their hearts as only He can.  I am so thankful that I have been blessed with the opportunity to be His salt and light to these amazingly resilient women.  I am thankful that I can be part of their healing journey.  I am thankful that how I choose to spend my time ultimately helps another woman make choices for herself.

Charity and Justice

Charles Dickens said:  "Charity begins at home and justice begins next door."

Most people would assume that charity and justice are things that should be done outside of the home, focusing on the needs of others who are less fortunate than those in their inner circle.  Dickens statement, however, challenges us to see each relationship in our life as an opportunity to bless others and show the love of our Creator through our actions.  If we cannot expressly show love to those we interact with the most, how are we going to extend love to strangers?  If I cannot show kindness and tolerance in judging those I work or live with, I am losing a valuable witness to those I spend the most time with. 

By taking the time to extend grace, mercy, forgiveness, and understanding to those I am closest to, I am building up my heart muscles to do the same for strangers I meet on the street.  I need to train myself to be attentive to the needs of others, to consider the consequences my actions will have on them, to seek the best for them.  If I can train myself to extend mercy to those I see on a daily basis, I will then have the capacity to seek justice in the lives of others.  When I have practiced being attentive to the other's needs, it will naturally extend to my neighbors and community members. Justice, then, will not be a particular crusade but a lifestyle of seeking the best for my society.