Hallelujah God is Near

I spent a good bit of my morning reading, praying and worshiping on the roof. It was wonderful; thanks for asking. I need those days when I spend about two hours in the word, prayer, and just hanging out with God. I tend to be the type of person who gets entirely too overwhelmed with my infinitely long to-do list; which, unfortunately results in me independently trying to  do things for God without connecting with Him on a deep level and including Him in my plans for the day. Erps…

This morning was so good. I read a bit in Malachi 3:6-7 and Psalms and was just reminded of the nearness of God and His faithfulness to us. It’s bittersweet seeing His faithfulness. It’s amazing how good and constant He is with us, but it really stinks seeing how I fall short in that area daily. I was reminded this morning that He is the God of love, grace, and mercy. I can come to Him with my hands full of my lingering responsibilities, things I’m trying to maintain control of, family concerns, etc. and lay it all down at His feet. He delights in that! And then I can just sit and be real with Him, and then He wants to walk through everything with me. What beautiful surrender.

So to end, I’m still (as always) learning. I feel like I learn the same lessons over and over again, just different situations in which to apply them. Okay lesson learned today: I’m not created to be independent; that’s my sin showing. Sorry Kelly Clarkson, I won’t be singing Miss Independent with you in my car, full blast with the windows rolled down anymore.

Lesson #2: God is faithful, good and trustworthy. Therefore we can bring everything to Him and lay it down at His feet knowing that His plans, ideas, and guidance are much better than ours ever could be. It’s scary. I know, I’m the most stubborn, headstrong person I know. A few months ago, I was genuinely convinced I knew everything about everything and my ideas were always best and right (ask my STINT team. Lord bless them). Turns out, omnipotent is not a word that defines me. Who would have thought?

So final thoughts, God has encouraged me this morning by showing He is good. He is worthy of all praise and worthy of worship:

My heart is steadfast, O God,

my heart is steadfast!

I will sing and make melody!

8 Awake, my glory!

Awake, O harp and lyre!

I will awake the dawn!

9 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;

I will sing praises to you among the nations.

10 For your steadfast love is great to the heavens,

your faithfulness to the clouds.

11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!

Let your glory be over all the earth!

Dear _____,

It’s that time again for a new blog post, but I ran out of new and creative ideas for blogs. I hope you don’t mind I’ve stolen this topic from a fellow missionary (Jenn). I hope you enjoy it!

Dear Dust Storm 2012,

I really, really love the wind you bring to Dakar. The cool spring breeze upon my freshly sunkissed face is marvelous. I can’t explain to people how much I love it when you make my hair dance in the wind.

This picture is of a missionary friend, Tricia’s, house. They got it worse than we did for sure!

What I don’t like about you, however, is that when my happiness eludes me and a large smile sweeps across my face, you- in all your glory- hit me in the face with excess dirt. I am getting rather sick of having brushed my pearly whites, only minutes later to feel like I bit the dust while running down a sand dune (Katie).

This just isn’t working out for me. I might see you around, but I really would prefer for you to clean yourself up next time around.

Sincerely,

Crusty.

Dear Ladies Outside the Mosque,

I. Love. You. Buganala torop.

I love the fact that we don’t speak each other’s language, yet we get so much joy out of seeing each other. One day, I would love to be able to sit with you and find out about your life. If only I could speak Pular, Wolof, and Serar… un jour mes amies… un jour!

Even though I can see the hardness of African life on every wrinkle on your face, I think you are all so beautiful. You are all so unique and welcoming. You were created for a purpose and you are so incredibly loved by the maker of Heaven and Earth.

Sincerely,

Yaangi Ci Sama Xol, Buganala

Dear Americans Who Donate Clothes To Africa,

Please do not send used underwear.

Sincerely,

Person Who Sifts Through “Gently” Used Underwear At The Market