I wish I can be more aware of what is around me. Sometimes I am so caught up in only just a tiny, minuscule percentage of what is going on and I am so small to really see more of what there really is.
I want to find beauty in what's broken. In the things that are ugly in this world. I want to not have a judgmental heart or a heart that compares myself to others.
I have come to realize that I am very narrow minded and don't know what beauty looks like. My skewed perspective of beauty comes from a lack of knowledge possibly, or a lack of sight...I don't know.
my words of describing this is so insignificant and poor.
I want to know true beauty. I want it to be the radiation of my heavenly daddy who gives it to me with his blessings, his promises, and truths.
Father, fill me with beauty. Let me see the beauty that you see. Not this world's beauty.
I want my heart to be forever changed.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
blessings
The love of the Lord and his blessings are everywhere, especially when you least expect it.
Story time!
So I was walking around downtown to the bank for work because I had to run an errand. It is about 4 blocks from my office to US Bank, and it is a beautiful day...as I step out of my building, I see this man who appeared to be homeless. He looked like he was wearing everything that he owned and looked very dirty. By the time I got to where he was, he was gone. The Lord suddenly just spoke to my heart and said, "Rachel, if you want to let me bless you today, you need serve and bless someone else". So I was like, "Ok God! I can smile for someone who looks like they need it and it will be real easy like that!"...no way. God's plan was different. So I just kept walking, and I continued to have that man who was right by my building on my mind...I kept seeing more and more brokenness on the streets and the amount of homeless people in this city.
Not until recently, have I realized the severity of this issue in KC, and other cities. Last year, I had the opportunity to serve at a shelter and serve dinner.The amounts of people (just men, because it was only a men's house) that came in through those doors were HUNGRY...not just like, they ate only earlier that day, but for many, it was their first wholesome meal that week. God has growing on my heart social justice and fighting for those who can't fight for themselves and so ever sense then, I have really been aware of the oppression and desperation in this city and how its everywhere....
So anyway, back to the story, I walked out of the bank and was headed back to my office. When all of the sudden, 2 men who appeared to be homeless come right in front of my path, one man kept on walking, and the other asked me for some spare change. I said I didn't have any cash on me but I asked if he was hungry and if I could get him and his friend some lunch. These two men were middle aged, very tired looking, dirty and hungry. So the guy who asked called his friend back to where we were and said, "Hey J.C! Come over here, this young girl is going to feed us!"...as soon as I heard that, i just knew this is going to be quite an experience.
One man's name was J.C. and the other, I couldn't remember. We walked to the Arcade, and i got them some burritos and a cookie. As we were waiting in line, J.C. told me this was his first meal since yesterday. I asked him how long he has been in KC and said for a while. He told me he lost his job a while ago and used to be a chef at Hope and Faith shelter...he was so honest with me, sharing what happened to his life and where he was at. and I just kept listening. Right there in line to get his burrito, he broke down crying and said this is the first thing that has made me smile in over a week. He told me I was his angel and he knew that God was providing. We both shared some tears, as I felt so humbled and inadequate to talk to this guy at all because of all the pain and suffering he was experiencing, but he felt so genuine and kind. I wanted to just sit on a park bench and share life with him because he seemed so great to talk to. We decided to sit a bus stop to eat and I asked if I could pray for them...J.C immediately agreed and told me that he wanted to pray for me first. His prayer brought me to tears and I felt so blessed.
Everything that he said was so from the spirit and I felt so much peace. He was like MY angel. I then prayed for him, he told me how grateful he was and the other man was so sweet giving me a giant hug. J.C then told me his story of being on the streets, getting into alcohol, drugs and gangs and basically shared me his entire testimony of how he has found faith...when has lost it all he found faith and saw God through his brokenness. After that, I told him that God's glory comes most in our weakness and brokennes. We both continued to share scripture and soon I had to leave to go back to work. He gave me a hug, asked me if he could pray for me again...It was by far one of the best blessings I have ever received---those 30 minutes that I took of what started to be an errand, became an act of obedience for the Lord that turned into a giant blessing that i will never forget.
Sooo just to let you know, the entire time, the Holy Spirit really did protect me, I made sure that I was not by myself and that i was in public sight.I felt safe, and so I don't want to share this and people get scared or concerned...I guess that's my disclaimer.
God is good. He blesses me through so many people---especially people that I would never think of.
Thank you Lord for your faithfulness, the ability to serve others and for the life that I am being led from you.
Story time!
So I was walking around downtown to the bank for work because I had to run an errand. It is about 4 blocks from my office to US Bank, and it is a beautiful day...as I step out of my building, I see this man who appeared to be homeless. He looked like he was wearing everything that he owned and looked very dirty. By the time I got to where he was, he was gone. The Lord suddenly just spoke to my heart and said, "Rachel, if you want to let me bless you today, you need serve and bless someone else". So I was like, "Ok God! I can smile for someone who looks like they need it and it will be real easy like that!"...no way. God's plan was different. So I just kept walking, and I continued to have that man who was right by my building on my mind...I kept seeing more and more brokenness on the streets and the amount of homeless people in this city.
Not until recently, have I realized the severity of this issue in KC, and other cities. Last year, I had the opportunity to serve at a shelter and serve dinner.The amounts of people (just men, because it was only a men's house) that came in through those doors were HUNGRY...not just like, they ate only earlier that day, but for many, it was their first wholesome meal that week. God has growing on my heart social justice and fighting for those who can't fight for themselves and so ever sense then, I have really been aware of the oppression and desperation in this city and how its everywhere....
So anyway, back to the story, I walked out of the bank and was headed back to my office. When all of the sudden, 2 men who appeared to be homeless come right in front of my path, one man kept on walking, and the other asked me for some spare change. I said I didn't have any cash on me but I asked if he was hungry and if I could get him and his friend some lunch. These two men were middle aged, very tired looking, dirty and hungry. So the guy who asked called his friend back to where we were and said, "Hey J.C! Come over here, this young girl is going to feed us!"...as soon as I heard that, i just knew this is going to be quite an experience.
One man's name was J.C. and the other, I couldn't remember. We walked to the Arcade, and i got them some burritos and a cookie. As we were waiting in line, J.C. told me this was his first meal since yesterday. I asked him how long he has been in KC and said for a while. He told me he lost his job a while ago and used to be a chef at Hope and Faith shelter...he was so honest with me, sharing what happened to his life and where he was at. and I just kept listening. Right there in line to get his burrito, he broke down crying and said this is the first thing that has made me smile in over a week. He told me I was his angel and he knew that God was providing. We both shared some tears, as I felt so humbled and inadequate to talk to this guy at all because of all the pain and suffering he was experiencing, but he felt so genuine and kind. I wanted to just sit on a park bench and share life with him because he seemed so great to talk to. We decided to sit a bus stop to eat and I asked if I could pray for them...J.C immediately agreed and told me that he wanted to pray for me first. His prayer brought me to tears and I felt so blessed.
Everything that he said was so from the spirit and I felt so much peace. He was like MY angel. I then prayed for him, he told me how grateful he was and the other man was so sweet giving me a giant hug. J.C then told me his story of being on the streets, getting into alcohol, drugs and gangs and basically shared me his entire testimony of how he has found faith...when has lost it all he found faith and saw God through his brokenness. After that, I told him that God's glory comes most in our weakness and brokennes. We both continued to share scripture and soon I had to leave to go back to work. He gave me a hug, asked me if he could pray for me again...It was by far one of the best blessings I have ever received---those 30 minutes that I took of what started to be an errand, became an act of obedience for the Lord that turned into a giant blessing that i will never forget.
Sooo just to let you know, the entire time, the Holy Spirit really did protect me, I made sure that I was not by myself and that i was in public sight.I felt safe, and so I don't want to share this and people get scared or concerned...I guess that's my disclaimer.
God is good. He blesses me through so many people---especially people that I would never think of.
Thank you Lord for your faithfulness, the ability to serve others and for the life that I am being led from you.
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