I saw a miracle today…

Written by Fiona Monaghan I was blessed to be invited to view the ultrasound of my grandchild and I couldn’t help but remember these verses from Psalms. ‘You made my whole being, You formed me in my mothers womb…You saw my bones being formed… my life was written before I was one day old…” Psalm 139:13-16

God knows what that small life represents even now. All the potential is there and He knows it all. From the outside world this little one has a cheering fan club looking on, praying and encouraging their growth until that day when they truly become part of our world.

How like our experience here on earth. We are growing and changing through difficulty and pressure to become people of honor and strength exhibiting the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self control. We also have a cheering team looking on and encouraging us.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us… Hebrews 12:1-2

There are so many things in the physical world that have a spiritual counterpart and this one spoke to me loud and clear. This baby can do nothing more to earn the love of its parents and family. Just by being - they are loved; and there is nothing we can do to make God love us more than He does already. His nature and character is love and love is to want the best for someone - no matter what. It is not an emotion - but an action, which was exhibited with Jesus providing the way for us to be reinstated back into God’s family.

“Love is not an affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person’s ultimate good as far as it can be obtained.” C.S. Lewis

I don’t know what the future holds for this little one, but My Father does, so I think I will just trust Him with it.

Thank you Father for the blessing of being a part of my grandchildren’s cheering section. To encourage, love and pray for them. Keep me mindful of the responsibility I bear them and their parents as I support them and bring them to You in prayer.

Amen

Photo Credit

As Far As The Eye Can See

As Far As The Eye Can See

Part two of Pastor Rey's reflection on his trip to Africa. There he had a chance to meet amazing people and to be reawakened in his faith. He saw the light that shines in the many people working to help overcome the darkness and suffering in African slums.

The scope. The gravity. The magnitude. The sheer monstrosity of it overwhelms.

I could never have imagined. As far as I could see in either direction, I was surrounded by the ‘Mathera’ slum. It has a million people packed into indescribable living conditions, and it is not even the largest slum in Nairobi! Researchers have estimated about two thirds of the 3 million inhabitants live in slums. The slums are full of darkness according to any measure: poverty, HIV, drugs, orphans, and gangs.

Yet in the midst of the darkness is a light. There is a school led by a saint named Richard, who has started a church in the ‘Mathera’ slum. He noticed that after church, many of the children would have nowhere to go, as they were orphans. So he started a school called Patmos.

Currently, there are 88 children, most of which are orphans from nursery to sixth grade. The entire school structure is made of old tin makeshift walls and is no bigger than a 15ft x 15ft. The classrooms are all combined as they only have 4 teachers who can works months without receiving payment. The first thing Richard told me was "I love God and I love these children. And I know God loves these children too."

At Patmos the students receive an education, a meal and a family. And through it all they receive the love of God.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:5 NIV)

Like what you see but want more? Check out Washington Cathedral's website for more information.

What’s the Appropriate Response to Witnessing a Miracle?

By Pastor Rey Diaz

Last week a friend of mine asked me, "What is the appropriate response to experiencing a miracle?" Shout? Jump? Scream? Cry? My friend experienced a supernatural healing from a cyst in his left vocal cord and his reaction (You can read about it and see the before and after pictures here: www.michaelpatz.com).

That same night, I experienced a miracle. And it was my turn to write - 'God is amazing. There are not words. I'm stunned. I'm shocked. I’m utterly overwhelmed.'

It's not an easy thing to witness a miracle. To see pure beauty. Relentless grace. Unending love. What's the appropriate reaction? I want to cry. I want to shout. I want dance. I want to fall on my knees.

A life permanently changed. A child finds their Heavenly Father's love and experienced his grace. Rescued. Redeemed. Transformed.

This is Dulce when I first met her near the garbage dump.

Dulce means "sweet." But Dulce's life has been anything but sweet. She was raised in the garbage dump by her siblings. No father. An absent mother. Her grandparents took her in but they had to continue working in the garbage dump to have food for their grandchildren.

So Dulce and her siblings learned to scavenge in the garbage dump. Last year, Dulce's brother, Kevin, was run over by a garbage dump, dying instantly. She grieved. She cried. But life continued. So it seemed her name was a cruel joke. There was nothing sweet about her life. 'Bitter' would have been more accurate.

 Psalms 68:5 - A father to the fatherless…

But God intervened. It's His modus operandi… To offer hope when it seems hopeless. To rescue when it seems impossible. To give life to the lifeless.

God intervened through AFE. Through people who were willing to serve. Dulce's family received a house. Her siblings started school. The family found support at church.

The AFE nursery took in Dulce. They loved her, protected her, and fed her while her grandmother and grandfather were at the dump during the day. Dulce then started kindergarten. And she has just graduated. She is on her way.

Why can't she be a future leader in Honduras? Why can't she bring about the change the country so desperately needs? Why can't she be an example to all the other thousand of children who are still captured in the cycle of poverty? So I ask again, what’s the appropriate response to witnessing a miracle?

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