Sick

I thank the Lord that I have enjoyed such great health this summer so far. Of course, the summer wouldn’t have been complete without a little excitement. The past three days I have had some version of the flu. Needless to say, it’s been pretty miserable. However, even in my discomfort and frustration with being out of commission, the Lord continues to teach me things. For a long time, I was stuck on my back with not even enough energy to read. Lying there, I was able to think a lot about suffering in general. How incredible that Christ persisted through such unimaginable suffering when He could have put an end to it at any second. What a Savior!

I was talking with one of the girls the other day. She was not in the best of moods, so I asked her if she was okay. She asked me why it mattered to me. I told her that I was her friend, and she was important to me. She sharply told me that I was not her friend-- I was just an intern that came for the summer and then left. Of course, I told her that whether or not she considered herself my friend, I loved her. Later on, she came up to me and gave me a long hug and talked to me for a while. I think that the long hug was an apology for being short. :) Nonetheless, those words were heavy words. Words that hinted at some of the pain these kids have gone through. Pain of people coming and going. Pain of people hurting them. Pain of families torn apart. Who can blame her for feeling that way?

The good news is that I was here this summer primarily to communicate the God loves these kids. Even if I cannot be a part of their lives forever, I hope that all those late night conversations and little moments talking about God will stick with them. I hope that when the kids look back on this summer, they will see that Jesus was at work in us eight interns. That’s what matters.

I have asked for prayer for this before, but I would like to ask it again. Please be praying that God would send more people here long term. There is such a need for discipleship! Please pray that God would even bring more Christians from the area to be involved at Casa Hogar. Pray that God will keep working when we are gone, just using different tools!