Hello,
I wanted to
share with you a bit tonight. It seems like sometimes when we have been waiting
on an answer to prayer we can become discouraged by the timing of God’s response.
Psalm 27:14 says “Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the LORD”. Sometimes it seems a bit harder to take courage then
at other times. The last two days I have struggled to take courage.
Tonight
though God gave me a gift. It had absolutely nothing to do with our prayers,
but it gave me courage and peace.
We arrived
in Poteau for tonight’s revival on time. Haiti has its own time thoughJ. We walked into the church and they hadn’t
even begun to set up. After a few minutes we wandered back outside and Mike
noticed Grandma (Nathan’s grandma) sitting on her front porch. She lives on the
church grounds. We went to greet her and the first words out of her mouth were “Nou
te marenn ansanm” "We were Godmothers together". In Haiti a “marenn” is the
female witness for a marriage ceremony instead of bridesmaids and maids of
honor. I love that we have that connection and that it is special to her also.
She invited us to sit on the porch with her. As we sat we talked a bit, but
mostly enjoyed each other’s company in silence. There was a cool breeze blowing
ever so gently, it reminded me of the breath of God. As we talked I noticed how
thin she had become. She is in her early 90’s, the average life expectancy was
52, a few years ago. God has blessed her with a long life. She has had both a
long and interesting life, I cannot come close to imagining all of the
hardships and joys she has experienced. This past few months have been very
hard for her. She lost her husband 2 months ago. He was an evangelist and quite a character, he
passed on his heritage to Nathan and 3 of his cousins. She also lost her sister of
95 years, 3 days ago. As we sat I experienced some of her peace. I smiled at
her and said she could see the world go by sitting here on her porch. She said
yes, she could see and hear church without leaving her porch and during the
week days she could see and hear all the children at school (the school is on
the same property as the church and house). She could also watch the community
come and pump water from the well the church has for them. She can hear the giggles
and see the happy faces. She can see the mamas and the new babies. She can
watch the little children playing tag. The life of the community passes before
her. As we sat the moon rose, it looked full and beautiful. We sat together for
just short of an hour. She had such a peace about her, recently she had shared
with Nathan that she was done, she was ready.
Worship
started in the church and as we said goodbye and walked towards the church, I
realized that this might have been the last time I spent with her. I started to
cry realizing the gift that both she and God had given me. It still brings
tears to my eyes as I type this, what a privilege to know her, to share bits of
life together. She and her husband have always welcomed us with open arms. Her
husband knew what we were here for long before anyone else understood. He would
preach from the front that people needed to listen. To understand. To take the
gift being offered. Nathan’s grandma imparted love and peace. She helped put a
bit of life into perspective. I love it when God speaks through his people,
even, maybe mostly when it is without words. I am thankful for our time, it was
a good gift.
Thank you
for your prayers.
Blessings,
Chris
No comments:
Post a Comment