God has a sense of humor.
I am convinced of this. He laughs out loud at us. It’s not the kind of
laugh that finds humor in our mistakes, but the kind of laugh that gets a
good belly roll out of our ways. God invented laughter; He loves
laughter… and so, I’m learning not to be so serious all of the time. As I
look back over my life, I am seeing that many things have happened
and I’m sure that the Lord is having a tremendously good laugh!! (I’m
serious!)
Do you recall my last post how I said I
didn’t want to live with “half-naked tribal people”? Well, this had
nothing to do with me being prejudice, or judgmental of such people. It
did have to do with my unwillingness to see another’s needs over my own
“wants”. It also had a lot to do with me not wanting to be
“inconvenienced”. The Lord has done a lot in my heart in the last 24+
years. He’s slowly breaking my heart of stone and giving me a heart of
flesh. (Ezekiel 26:36) He’s done that a lot by using my husband and
daughters.
Even though my heart did not want to
entertain the thought of going overseas amongst people who were…. well…
different… it seems that since each of my daughters could even talk,
they began including in their prayers, prayer for Africa, for the
homeless, for the less fortunate… Yes, God was smiling.
When my oldest daughter, Lindsey was
only about four years old, I noticed that she had, what seemed to me to
be an obsession with African American people. Every time we would be in
the company of someone whose skin was slightly darker than our own,
Lindsey would stare… but it wasn’t just a childish stare at someone who
looked different than herself… it was a stare of compassion… She LOVED
African American people.
One day, we were in the store and we
were in close proximity to an African American mom and her little
daughter who was close to Lindsey’s age. This little beauty had a ton of
braids in her hair and so many little beads. Lindsey was enamored. She
said quite loudly, “Mommy, I want to look like her!! Mommy, please do my
hair like her!!” I tried to explain to Lindsey in the simplest way
possible, “Honey, your hair won’t do that.”
As the years progressed and my girls
began to grow, their heart for Africa also began to grow. Even though I
was unwilling to entertain the possibility of leaving the comfort of my
familiar ground and go serve those in another nation- each and every one
of my daughters had this growing URGE to do so!!!(Yes, this is where I
began to hear God laughing.)
When Lindsey was 16, she BEGGED us to
allow her to go on her first mission’s trip. We agreed. We encouraged
her to pray about where to go, and without any hesitation, she said, “I
want to go to Africa!!” I began rationalizing this matter with my 16
year old… “Why not go on a trip that is closer (in the same continent or
hemisphere for that matter)?” Her response, “Mom, God told me Africa—I
must go!!” (Do you hear His giggles??) Me too…
And so Lindsey boarded a big plane and
she spent 10 days in South Africa, serving the poor and needy of this
beautiful land… and it changed her.
On the way home from the airport,
Lindsey chattered a mile a minute. She was already planning a return
trip, or possibly serving in this country full time. Even before we
arrived home she said, “Mom, I have a lot of pictures to show you, but
there is this ONE that I think will be very meaningful to you… I just
have to show it to you now.”
Lindsey flashed this incredible picture
before my eyes and immediately I cried.. God had sent Lindsey to
Africa, and in this picture she was surrounded by the very people he had
placed on her heart as a little girl, and He used these very people to
give her a childhood desire…they were braiding her hair. When I saw this
picture I saw a four year old who just received the answer to her dreams.
Lindsey was the first to travel to
Africa. She went again with her dad a few years later; spending a month
in Uganda, serving the orphans. Morgan spent three months last year in
Africa. Shortly after High School, she traveled to South Africa and
Botswana to serve those suffering with AIDS, the orphaned and the
poverty stricken. Ally spent her Christmas break this past year in South
Africa serving the orphaned. She plans to return this year again for a
longer length of time…. And Erica is asking to go soon, as well…
And God is laughing… and my heart is now breaking for those “half naked tribal people” whom God loves, and now, so do I.
One day, I too, shall go.
