Loving the Unlovable

"Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. 

Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you." 

Luke 6:27-28 (NLT)

I'm sure that without exception, we all have at least one person in our lives that is, well, unlovable. Or at the very least, extremely hard to love. I have someone like that in my life. 

While my natural, human inclination is to want to fire-back or defend myself, I know that that's not what honors God. Oh, believe me, you have no idea how tough it can be at times! I often find myself asking God what He could possibly be teaching me by having such a hurtful person in my life. Someone who is so cruel and cunning. Someone who lies and deceives. How can I keep loving someone like this? How am I supposed to love my enemy? On my own, I can't. But with Him, I can.

What if I were able to see this person through His eyes and not my own? What if I were able to see beyond the tough exterior, harsh language and see the heart of this person? If I closed my eyes for just a moment and saw this person as they really are: Broken. Hurt. Alone. Scared. Insecure. Sad. Lost. In need of a Savior. 

And with that, I am very quickly humbled in realizing just how unlovable I am, too. We love and continue to love, without exception, because He loved us first. We love even those who are unlovable, because most often, those are the ones who need it the most. 

"Here am I. Send me!" Isaiah 6:8

I'm going to Africa. Wow! I had absolutely no idea that when I said "yes" to whatever or wherever God had for me, it would mean half a world away.

During October 3-14, I will be traveling with a team from my church to share the Gospel in Uganda. We've partnered with an organization called Arise Africa in the village of Jinja, about an hour outside the capital city of Kampala. During our stay, we'll spend mornings ministering to the children in the village through songs and crafts, and just loving on them. Afternoons will be spent in the neighborhoods doing Hut-to-hut ministry, sharing the Gospel. And perhaps where my heart is most gripped, we'll spend a few days in a local orphanage.

All because I said yes, God wants to use me. Me. A broken women with a closed womb will go across the world to hold and love little ones with no mommy or daddy. Do you think God is stretching me? Do you think He's preparing my heart for His ways and not my own? Do you think that He has a greater plan than I could ever imagine on my own? That would be a resounding "Yes!"

While there is a financial need aspect to me going on this trip (like raising $2,500 by mid-September), even greater is the need for prayer. I am asking those out there in the blog-world to pray for me and this trip. Please pray for our team for travel mercies. Please pray that God will prepare my heart for the mission at hand, that is, sharing the Gospel with people who may have never even heard the name Jesus. Please pray that His ways will be my ways. Please pray that I will be open to everything and more that God needs for me to be available to do. Please pray His will be done.

God DOES have a sense of humor!

Around 6 weeks ago we noticed that one of our furry boys, Grant, wasn't looking so hot. He's on the smallish side as it is, but he was really dropping weight and he didn't have his usual "oomph".  He was also having issues with depth-perception. He's usually like a panther, but he'd go to jump to the counter and then to above the cabinets and literally wouldn't be able to make it. Something was definitely wrong.

Come to find out that our sweet kitty has diabetes. After 4 days at the vet, antibiotics and insulin, he finally was able to come home and we began a new normal for one of our cats. Scheduled feedings, glucose checks and.... twice daily insulin shots! Yep, I've gone from injecting myself to injecting my cat! I think it's hilarious!

I'll never forget when the Vet was getting ready to discharge him and wanted to have us give him a shot before we left, just to make sure that we could do it. Which of course, I had no problem doing! She also looked a little perplexed that I knew what an IU was.

So I'm convinced that God really does have a sense of humor. And for that, I am very thankful.