“Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes.
Immediately they received their sight and followed him.” Matt. 20:34
Dear friends,
A good portion of January I spent in the States, enjoying time with many of you and my dear family. My time was extended an extra week when I caught the flu the night before I was scheduled to fly back to Romania. I am actually writing this while still here, since the deadline for letters is a couple weeks in advance to mailing them. New England is beautiful in winter. On one of the first nights home I went for a drive with my dad, just to enjoy the landscape. Later I wrote in my journal,
“What a beautiful place this is – really quite stunning. Driving around with Dad last night I enjoyed the white lights glowing from inside snow-covered homes. Shutters frame every window with Christmas trees shining from within. Many of the homes have white lights in every window, as well as icicle lights lining the porch and entryway or clustered onto evergreen hedges.”
It's been nice to enjoy the beauty of a New England winter before heading back to the harshness of a Romanian winter. Warmth is something I often take for granted. As I get up from sitting near the fireplace to go check my email, I receive a message from a missionary caring for orphans in Bucharest, Romania which reads:
COLDEST WINTER IN 30 YEARS: 28 below zero in Romania and much colder in Russia and the snow continues. Hundreds and thousands are trying to keep from freezing to death as they sit in houses or apartments without heat, without water, and with little food. Pray for sunshine!
And a prayer:
For the street kids – oh, God help them find even an underground canal to sleep in so they don't freeze. And for the homeless – wandering the streets, begging someone to take them in, looking for plastic or anything to wrap around them. For the children whose parents have left them alone to go look for wood or food – protect them. For the families sitting in cold apartments on the verge of despair – who can't pay their mounting utility bills and may lose their homes. For the children trying to attend school – who have to bring their own wood to school when they don't even have enough for home – help them endure this winter…..trying to study wearing heavy hats and coats and gloves. (Ron and Sue Bates, visit www.inasmuch.ro)
I don't know what my street friends in Galati do when it's this cold, and I'm worried about them. Please remember to pray for them during these harsh winter months. The cold really hurts and aggravates already difficult circumstances for many children and families. Thanks.
Resting in Him,
Rachel
P.S. Please remember that the Word Made Flesh office has moved to Omaha, NE and as of January 1, 2003, we are receiving all donations at this new address: Word Made Flesh ~P.O. Box 70 ~Omaha, NE 68101 ~1-800-CRY4KIDS
Intimacy
In the Word Made Flesh community we have what we call “Lifestyle Celebrations.” The first of the nine is “intimacy,” referring to the intimacy with Christ that is “our highest calling and created purpose.” I had the opportunity to share my thoughts on intimacy with my co-staff in Galati, since we are sequentially going through each topic at our daily meetings. When I sat down to prepare for the next morning's devotional on intimacy, with candles lit and gentle music playing, it turned into another “I miss my family” crying session. One week before Christmas, the timing only served to aggravate my homesickness.
After journaling and pouring out my thoughts and feelings before Jesus, I began to feel better, and realized that my present experience was exactly what I wanted to share the next morning. Intimacy with Jesus is the fact that we can go before Him and tell Him everything that is in our hearts, anytime, anywhere, no matter what. If I'm angry about something, He'll listen as I vent to Him. If I'm sad, He will cry with me. If I'm too tired to talk, He knows and understands. Jesus' intimate understanding of each one of us allows us to run to Him with everything, knowing that He loves and cares deeply for us.
After attending a lifetime of church services and Christian seminars, it's easy to believe that in relationship with Jesus we're only allowed to praise and worship Him. But in practical terms this cannot be the only thing that defines my walk with Christ or else it would not be sincere. In fact, some of the most important turning points in my life have come after honest venting sessions with Jesus which eventually turned into holy reverence and repenting sessions. Although the end result was worship, I began by expressing my frustrations and hurt, and that's okay.
I am also learning that even though we can seek after God, aspire to spiritual things, study the Bible, pray, and seek wisdom about God from others, it is actually our God Himself who is seeking after us. He is looking for us and desires intimacy with us. He loves us so much that if we let Him, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit will come as our seeking Father, seeking Savior, and seeking Friend desiring to enter into intimate relationship with us.