It’s Friday!
I confess that I’m not one of those who yearns for Fridays. I am not a TGIF person (not referring to the restaurant specifically) but rather I tend to look at days as days and try to pack as much into all of them as I can. Those who know me well can attest to that…and now that our ministry is functioning on three continents…well, I’m pretty much up in all three time zones having conversations. But today, it is Friday and it feels really good!
Why? One major reason is our power has been restored! (Yea! And there was much rejoicing!) While I like roughing it, and to be fair, we have enough of a generator so that our food doesn’t spoil and we still have power to our well, it isn’t life as usual and after being out of country for a couple weeks, doing some laundry would be nice!
A second reason may be that while my heart is still greatly impacted by this recent trip, a plan is beginning to come into focus which is allowing me to work toward goals rather than to just sit in the pain of the moment, feeling overwhelmed with injustice but unable to do anything to improve the situation. Sitting in the moment and feeling the pain is part of the process that God uses in our own development. I have come to understand more and more of that process even though I still hurt and on a human level seek to avoid that pain at all costs. I am learning that from this place of pain is where resolve comes from. I am also learning from this place is where we meet God.
Perhaps a third reason for this feeling is that I woke up thinking about Blue. She is the girl who has adopted me as “daddy” and put some very challenging questions to me. And she has a part of my heart now. Her story is rife with pain…and I can still see it in her eyes although she masks most of it with an incredible smile that will light up a room. She is energetic in a crowd and very quick to a laugh. And she needs our prayers and our support.
Not all support to people comes in the form of relief. Blue is not starving or sleeping in the street and the best news of this Blue is a believer in Jesus Christ and she is recognizing daily her value to God. She is however still trapped in a system that seeks to hold her down and destroy her from the inside out…and she is working to get out of the system but needs something beyond relief, she needs rehabilitation in her processes. She will need to change her thinking and her work schedule and for that matter, how she works. For her to walk away from the bar life her work will now be more physical in many ways than working the sex trade. It means getting up early as opposed to sleeping in and working nights. It means working with her hands rather than being an object to be used. And she will be having to expand her English to change from being able to talk to Johns at the bar to be able to help teams navigate the language barrier as she will become an interpreter for them to the Thai people. She will be helping the western teams to build relationships and share Jesus. So has Blue works on her rehabilitation and moving toward development, she will be helping others to learn of the love of Jesus Christ and His desire to heal her and others in her situation.
So while there is work to do, by her and by others, there is a path towards healing. And it feels good to step down this path! We all have paths laid out in front of us. Some of them are leading toward a better tomorrow for us and for others. Our steps may include most difficult decisions and pain, or they may include times of respite and great fun. We may be in a spot of sitting and waiting for a moment to hear where the Spirit is leading us but He won’t leave us long in that spot but beckon to us to rise up and follow Him.
So on this wonderful Friday morning…what path are you walking today?