Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Sunday Service 01/03/2010

Sadness
Brokenness
Pain
Suffering
Heartache

Id never been to Thailand before so these are what I was expecting to experience in the girls when I got to the House of Grace. I had been told what these girls had come from. Parents addicted to opium, one or both parents dying from AIDS, ten people living in a one bedroom home, or even a chicken coop, some abandoned by their parents, or dumped on family members who didn’t want them. I thought that I was going to see the pain, the suffering, the brokenness in the lives of these girls.
Well, when I got to the House of Grace, I did find these. I found these, but it wasn’t in the girls, it was in me. I was broken, I had heartache.

Healing
Warmth
Wholeness
Grace
Love

These are what welcomed me when I walked through the gates to the House of Grace. These are what came running to me and wrapped their arms around me. Hugged me. Loved me. The entire time we were there the girls wanted to spend every minute with us. Just be with us no matter what we were doing. There was no sadness, or pain, or suffering in these girls. I was going to Thailand expecting to piece the girls back together, but instead they pieced me together. The whole trip there I was thinking about how I was goin to try to impact these girls and instead they showed me my reality, I was the one who was broken. I didn’t even know I was broken.

These girls knew nothing about my past, nothing about my life in America, nothing about the mistakes Id made. None of it mattered. They loved me. They loved me like God loved me. They showed me how God instructed us to love one another. 1 Peter 1:22 says “Love each other with a warm love that comes from the heart.” A warm love. A love that when you share it, the other person can feel it. A love that is sincere. A love that comes from the heart. A love that comes from God living through us. That’s what I experienced.

You cant show others the love of God until you allow him to work through you. You have to give all of yourself to him. And it took these beautiful little girls who I only spent a week with to show me something I had been dealing with my entire life. I hadn’t been showing others the love that God has given to me, because I wasn’t allowing him to work through every area of my life. I was still holding onto things instead of letting go and letting God do what he wanted. But these girls showed me Gods love, his grace, and his mercy. These girls showed me how I was supposed to be living life, how I was suppose to love. And that’s what I want to show you.

I can not do justice to describe to you what I experienced in Thailand. Now I want to apologize ahead of time for what Im about to show you. If any of you know my mom you know she cries a lot. Well when I was filming this, I started crying and kinda forgot I was filming so at one point the camera begins to drop but I remember and continue filming. hopefully this performance will touch you as much as it touched me. Before we watch this, I want to read to a part of the lyrics.

Heal my heart and make it clean Open up my eyes to the things unseen Show me how to love like you have loved me Break my heart from what breaks yours Everything I am for your kingdoms cause As I go from nothing to Eternity.

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO

Heal my heart and make it clean Open up my eyes to the things unseen Show me how to love like you have loved me Break my heart from what breaks yours Everything I am for your kingdoms cause As I go from nothing to Eternity.

From nothing to eternity. I could not think of a better song for these girls to perform to. These girls came from situations where they had nothing, they had no hope. And now they have eternity, they have love of Christ, and I was lucky enough for them to share that love with me. As we were saying our last goodbyes to the girls, they stood there with tears in their eyes and their arms wrapped around me, looked up at me and said “I love you, please don’t forget me.” I could never forget these girls and what they taught me, I pray that you won’t forget them either.

Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.
Ephesians 4:29