Faith, hope and love

This past weekend I had the opportunity to go on a womens retreat with some of the other Agape volunteers, along with many other English-speaking missionaries from Chiang Mai. What a blessing! The resort we stayed in was absolutely beautiful, I doubt I will stay in a place that nice again!

View from our balcony!

The food was excellent, I slept wonderfully, had fun with the other girls (we tried out water aerobics with other women of all ages - it was incredibly entertaining!), the main sessions were uplifting, and it was nice to worship with other women, people I consider heroes of the faith. I also had some quality time with the Lord, during which I took some quiet time to just journal and focus on what God has been teaching me during my time here so far. 

1 Corinthians 13.13 says "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." 

LOVE. God has been teaching me so much about his love for me, his love for these children, and he has done some major cleaning up of some hurt in my own heart, to help me learn what it's like to love more like He does. I can honestly say that I've never felt such depth of emotion as I feel for the little ones at Agape, they have completely stolen my heart. I take delight in their joy, laughter and smiles and I know that what I feel is only a small fraction of God's immeasurable love for us, his children! These kids are changing my heart. JJ Heller sings of this in her song, "When I'm With You"...

            When I hold you, in my arms, love

            Something changes, it’s the strangest feeling

            The things that used to matter, they don’t matter to me

            When I see you, and you’re smiling

            How my heart aches, so full it is about to break

            You make me believe in love

            I could never count all the ways that you changed me, baby

            Every day the sky is a deeper shade of blue

            When I’m with you

 

HOPE. Going to Vieng Ping (the government orphanage) makes my heart ache every time. There are simply too many children for the amount of help that they have there, and so I think it is so worthwhile for Agape to be going out there several times a week for a few hours. These children are beautiful, and despite all that they have faced in their short lives, I know and hold on to the hope that God has a plan for these little ones. Take a look at these precious little ones and you'll see what I mean.

FAITH. Being in Thailand was a huge leap of faith for me...and yet how God has blessed me for making that jump! Trust does not always come easily to me, but God has proven how faithful he is in his provisions for me here, keeping me safe, providing friends and other people he has placed in my life here, etc. Being here has stretched me and challenged me in new ways, and my faith has grown as a result.

They talked a lot about gratefulness on the retreat, and I feel like that attitude is something I want to apply in my daily life. That being said, I am so grateful for you, my friends and family who have been so supportive and wonderful. If you ever want to skype and hear more about my time here, I'd love to talk to you, or send me an email on how you're doing and what you are up to in life. Know that I pray for everyone back home and that I feel your prayers for me and the kids here. Be blessed today.