Beauty

Here in Swaziland beauty has been one single word that overall describes this adventure the past couple weeks.

Here beauty is courage, complete trust, a humbled heart, a life fully surrendered and submitted to God.  Gods light radiating through His children, quietness, confidence, stillness before the Lord, contentment, growth in Christ Jesus, unity with Jesus and believers, joy.  Knowing and believing who we are in Gods image. 

We visibly see beauty in everything here in Swaziland.  Mountains surround us; from our homestead to the carepoints we either walk or drive to or just walking around meeting and visiting people.  The childrens smiles, laughs, and feet are beautiful.  The Gogos are beautiful, they are filled with wisdom and love. 

Last Friday half of the team went to a Gogos funeral, while we were there we shared scripture, Kelsey shared a testimony, sang to them this little light of mine�, prayed over them.  Then we went out to serve them.  We walked (in between a ton of cows) and came to a little dug up pond.  We filled the buckets with this water (this is the water they drink and it is dirty).  Most of the girls on the team carried these filled buckets of water on their heads, ha I struggled carrying it with my hands and with the help of another girl.  This is just a little example of how much stronger these women are, they carry heavy things on their heads using no hands.  They are mighty strong!

These past couple weeks God has made me realize that I need to be content in everything and to be okay with not being okay.  Im selfish and I need to be self less and live a self less life.  To take nothing for granted, to always be thankful for everything.  To rejoice in everything, even in the hard times.  Prayer is powerful and God hears all prayers.  God is the perfector.  I am chosen.  I belong to Jesus Christ.  I am pure in His eyes.  I was created in Gods image.  He radiates light through His children and it is visible, there is a glow to His light.  His presence is always with me.  God is gracious and love.  He is faithful when I am faithless.  It is an absolutely safe thing to trust God to fulfill the desires He creates.  God is greater than all my thoughts, He is greater. 

I have one desire now – to live a life of reckless abandon for the Lord, putting all my energy and strength into it.  There is nothing worth living for, unless it is worth dying for.  God is God.  Because he is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience.  I will find rest nowhere but in His Holy Will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what he is up to.  The willingness to be and to have just what God wants us to be and having, nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else, would set our hearts at rest, and we would discover the simpler life, the greater peace.�  quoted Elisabeth Elliot.

We are called to a settled happiness in the Lord whose joy is our strength.  

Continue to pray for our health  as we are starting to eat native food, pray for our digestive systems and remaining healthy.  Continual growth in God love for the community of Timbutini and our team.  Safety while traveling (either taking buses) to Manzini and carepoints as well as walking to carepoints and home visits.