"Go and makes disciples of all men...."

I haven't been able to write in a while since summer has begun. Usually you think of summer as a time to relax, be lazy without guilt and enjoy your downtime. However, this girl has not had any downtime. I started off my summer going to Hawaii with the seniors at FBC Midlothian. They take their senior trip to the island of Lana'i and work with a church on the island. This was such an impactful time that I would like to share my experiences and what my Beloved not only taught me, but also revealed to me through His quiet whispers as He captivated my heart!

The churches' focus in Lana'i is to reach their community through the children. We, along with a group of adults from North Carolina, put on a week long VBS for the the local children. Now, I am a teacher and I am use to working with 6 and 7 year olds, but oh my goodness were these children different. They are coming from households that they ran. Mom and/or Dad have left them and the children are taught at young ages to fend for themselves; and rules are not a learned thing! So when I tried to teach and round the kids up many of them didn't like being told what to do-- and there were even some that refused to be "ordered" around and would run away and go home. It was a crazy experience. However, the Lord taught me over that week that these kiddos were still wanting and yearning to be loved even if they denied or pushed it away! So, I loved on my very large group--I had 16 kids while all the other groups maxed out at 5 or 6-- the best I could. I prayed for them multiple times a day, I wept for their situations, I encouraged their strengths and I slowly saw the walls begin to crumble and fall out of the way. I reminded myself daily that I was there to a) be obedient and present the gospel to those unaware of it and b) love like Jesus did and if even one of them made the realization that a Daddy isn't a drug dealer, someone who hurts you or a family member or someone who leaves and/or abandons you in the middle of the night and flees the island to get away from the law or other mean people...aka other dealers...but instead that a Daddy is someone who cares for, forgives, loves unconditionally and never leaves or forsakes them--then I had done my job. I am excited to say that 5 of my precious babies said that they either came to know the Lord that week or wanted to learn more about him and begin coming to church!! My God is so good and I see the fruit of His labor. I was shown the success of obedience and the truth in the saying "Faith isn't believing that God can, it is knowing that God will!" Thank you Jesus for using me as a vessel, as a light and as a tool in this amazing orchestrated plan you have for us called life!! You are so good...all the time!!