Right Side Up!

My life is now ruined for the ordinary.

I went to Ethiopia. That was all it took.

God showed me His whole world.

He just used a different lens.

He showed me how His heart breaks.

He introduced me to many motherless and fatherless children trying to survive on the streets.

He introduced me to a child whose face was burned severely so that he would look pitiful and he could earn more money begging for his homeless family.

He introduced me to children who have nowhere to lay their heads at night except for the cold concrete on the busy, crowded streets of Addis Ababa, where trouble awaits.

He introduced me to children who have no shoes, tattered clothing, filthy bodies, and smiles bigger than you can imagine.

He introduced me to four, sweet, 14 year-old girls who have had to endure more pain in their short little lives than most women will endure in a lifetime.

He introduced me to many children who have the hope that is found in Him and what that hope has provided them. What a blessing! With nothing, they have ALL they need in Him!

He introduced me to a group of Ethiopian believers who pour their lives into these precious children each and every day to do some small part.
He introduced me to a new world. A world I thought I knew existed and now the realness of that world, at times, takes my breath away.

It has taken me several months to blog about my time in Ethiopia because what I feel is just completely overwhelming. I had no idea why I was going there before I went. Fortunately, my heart was willing and I listened to His voice as he showed me the way. I never could have prepared my heart or my life for what was about to happen.

God has turned my world RIGHT SIDE UP! My life's dreams and ambitions are completely different. I am changed and I am thankful. It was so easy to be wrapped up in my life here and for me to think that I had things figured out! He took me all the way to the other side of the planet to show me otherwise. I didn't have things figured out. I still don't. I probably never will. I just pray everyday that He will give me the discernment to know the next step.

If Ethiopia taught me anything, it is that my life is His (always has been...just took me a minute to understand the magnitude of this) and I will try every single day of my life to illuminate Christ's love for others.

~Love ya'll!