Choose Life

I’m thinking that right about now, my life looks very similar to a high ropes course. The first time I mustered enough courage to do “Tree Tops” was at Kids Across America (KAA - U KNOW!). I vividly remember the experience. Fear. Excitement. Anxiety. Anticipation. There was this sense of impending accomplishment intertwined with this other nagging sense of impending doom. But, tackle it I did - though not alone. The key for this particular course is that you go tandem. There were parts of the course that you simply could not make it through without the aid of another person. However, this isn’t the part that is like my life. Maybe that’s next week’s lesson.

This week’s lesson is tied into the admission that I was majorly afraid to take the first step. The conversations were similar to this:

“But you’re strapped in.

“I hear you” (with much sarcasm)

“Look the carabiner is firmly secured, you’re bolted in”

“Yep, it sure is…” (and more sarcasm)

“But you’re not alone, you won’t fall, trust me”

“Uh huh, that’s what you say now.”

And, there is this week’s lesson. I approach trusting the Lord in the same manner.

“Kim, I hedge you in behind and before”

“Yep, Lord, I hear You.”

“I’m the creator of the universe, I create all life and sustain all life, all the days ordained for you were written in my book long before any of them came to be.”

“I know.”

And so it goes…

I know the truth. I fully recognize that God knows the number of hairs I have on my head. I know that not a sparrow drops from the sky without His knowledge. I know that He has ordained a plan and purpose for my life and that I am His workmanship created to do good works and that He who began a good work in me will complete it. Knowledge is not the problem. Faith is. The decision to act in accordance with what I know and say I believe.

I learned a very valuable lesson on that course - I lived. I lived to tell the story. I lived to encourage others who would do the course after me. I lived to be a witness to others that the carabiners do work and the bolts are secure. And, I lived – I experienced something that I never would have experienced had I chosen to reside in bondage to fear (which strangely enough often promotes itself under the guise of safety and security). I made the decision to act in accordance with what I knew and what I said I believed. And, I lived.

The question is, “Today, will l I live my life in a way that reflects what know about who God is and what I say I believe about Him?” Will I trust that regardless of how things may look, or how challenging the course ahead may seem, God really is in control? Will I choose to move beyond the fear, and stop trying to convince myself that I’m just being safe?

Will I choose to live?

-Still learning to rest,

Kim

New Creations

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17

This verse has taken on a totally different meaning for me as a result of my time with the young ladies of the Sweetwater House in Ghana, West Africa. Their stories are varied, yet similar. Tales of betrayal and denial, neglect and abuse, guilt, shame, pain, and just plain evil. There are those who had been shifted from family members to friends, from one village to another, some in hopes of financial reprieves, others for the sake of education. Some had been “hired” as house help, only to be cheated, beaten and deprived of the security they sought, many by members of their own family. And then, there are those who were victims of the evil Trokosi slave system. These girls were sacrificed as children to live a life of servitude to fetish priests (witch doctors). Their families betrayed them under the lies that their lives would be sufficient to pay debts, “secure” good fortune, or stop a series of deaths or illnesses.

All before any of them reached the age of 20.

On the surface, their lives represent nothing that is joyous.

But God…

God saw fit to redeem them from the pit. He orchestrated meetings, directed steps and brought them to a place He had reserved for them…a place of sweet water instead of bitterness. The house isn’t what made the difference. The difference is Who they met in the house. Christ.

These girls have moved from places of bitterness and despair to hope and joy - thru Christ. They have been rescued from slavery, sin, idol worship and evil – by Christ. They are renewed by Him, loved by Him, protected by Him, provided for by Him, redeemed by Him, reconciled to Him. They are His children “crowned with steadfast love and mercy” (Psalm 103:4). They are His daughters who have received “crowns of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” (Isaiah 61:3) They are indeed “His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10). God has blessed the work of their hands, poured His word into their hearts, and will soon send them out to share His gospel with their mouths and feet.

“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” (Romans 10:15).

If ever I needed to see a picture of a new creation, I have seen it now. Twenty-four of them. To God be the Glory!!

Still Resting,

Kim

There is a popular saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. I have included a “before” picture, when the young ladies first arrived at the Sweetwater House and “after” pictures, from our time with them last week.