Jewels in La Joya

     Today, on a seemingly normal Monday, as the world spun around me as normal, as people walked to work, and as cars honked their horns, God blessed me.  I feel like I am a cup that is overflowing with sweet Dominican fruit juice... God really really blessed me today.

     After waking an hour past my alarm went off I finally went up to the second floor to catch a breeze and read my Bible.  I went through the same routine that I do every morning here: I feel like I really don't want to be stretched again and pulled out of my comfort zone but I prayerfully place my body and will into God's hands (*cough* hesitantly).  As I left the house I shared with Rosy, the pastor's daughter, that I wanted to do something different today.. "Today while we are in the guagua (bus) we are going to pray without stopping until we arrive."  So during the 40 minute ride we prayed silently over the things that God placed on our heart.  At different points in the ride I couldn't even hear the prayers in my own head because the sound of traffic was so loud!

     We arrived in La Joya, a part of the city known for selling cheap drugs and women.  I catch myself gripping my purse a bit tighter while walking through the dirty streets with men who whistle and promiscuous women sitting in the sidewalk.  Omar's door to his house is open so Rosy and I peak in to see who is home.  Omar, an 18 year old who was baptized last summer, has no example in his home or support to follow through with his faith in God.  We quickly found him inside and began a silly conversation that slowly become serious.  I felt God keep saying "go deeper, tell Him more about what I want for Him."  God told me to share a verse with Omar and with faith I opened my Bible and on the page in front of me God gave me the verse that Omar needed to hear (Phil 2:13 in case you are wondering).  We asked Omar if we could pray with him and he looked me in the eyes and told me yes.  He was very receptive and as I saw a tear fall from His eye I knew that God had blessed us both.

     We left Omar's house with lots of hugs and smiles.  Later that day after recovering our energy with a mountain of rice, we gathered a few teens that we know to go and pray for some of the elderly women in the church who are very sick.  Rosy, Nicole (one of the teens) and I entered the house of Doña Elena, which is hot and lacks windows to allow a breeze in.  She was lying in a bed and in a lot of pain, and we quickly realized that this sweet soul is dying.  Before my eyes, Rosy and Nicole began to soothe Doña Elena and speak kindly with her.  I watched them as they placed hands on her, prayed for her with big faith, and read the Bible with her.  Doña Elena, though bedridden and in pain, kept her hands raised to Heaven receiving the outpouring of love that these 13-year-old girls lavished onto her freely.  

     I could continue.  I have more stories.  But I want to close with this.. God is close and intimate and real.  You can see Him I promise you.  He doesn't stand off and watch the world self-run itself or self-destruct itself. When invited, he comes close and gets all up in your business and performs miracles and changes everything.  Some might look at La Joya and look down on this place or even be afraid to enter, but when I look at La Joya through God's eyes I see jewels and I see Heaven touching earth. God wants to come near.. may you experience the blessings of his closeness this week and begin to notice the jewels around you.

Xoxo,
Emily

"Se fue la luz"

     

     "Se fue la luz," a phrase that you will hear quite often which basically means that the electricity cut off.  Last night as I was snuggled up under my blanket with the fan on turbo speed awaiting a call from my best friend/fiancé Eddie, what happened?... "Se fue la luz...."  Immediately I found myself in pitch black darkness, heat quickly seeping into my once comfortable blanket, and a quick realization that with the electricity goes the wifi and that special call was not going to happen.

     So here I am beginning to now sweat in my bed, which is something I absolutely cannot stand for, and I feel like being really frustrated.  God interupted me before I could even start thinking of reasons why this was so inconvenient and began to speak to me in the darkness.  I couldn't lie, I had began feeling tired that day and just wanted to feel a sense of home.

     "I am home," God said to me.  I sat up in my bed, searched for the flashlight on my phone and opened my bible.  "Okay God, what is it? I'm here, I won't run this time, I won't busy myself this time, I can't go anywhere.  Please, speak into me," I prayed.

     God is a gentleman.  He doesn't push in on our privacy and he doesn't force us into relationship with Him.  But like what happened to me last night, he shut off the lights and canceled my plans because He knew I needed a divine intervention for Him to reveal himself to me afresh.  Last night when the electricity went out, God and I had a heart to heart conversation. He revealed to me some things that I needed to hear and graciously anointed me with the love that I was yearning to feel.

     I am thankful that I have a God who does that.. Who loves me enough to pursue me.  Be encouraged that God doesn't forsake or abandon, but pursues; and as you respond to Him, He will begin to clean and heal and bandage and lavish love into every cavern and crevice that exists inside of you.

May God bless you fully,
Xoxo,
Emily