I think maybe as you get older... you start longing and looking more towards heaven than towards earth. More people you know enter heaven and the anticipation for those reunions grows more strong.
I think you also see more clearly and feel more the pain and brokenness in the world and in your own body. You realize that heaven is close and life is short and you long for "home" and rest.
My greatest friend in Ethiopia lost his Mom this past month and it was a devastating and shocking loss. Your whole world shifts and life will never be the same when you lose someone close to you.
A song I've been playing alot the past weeks is: "There will be a Day" by Phil Wickham.
This song has been reminding me that ... THERE WILL BE A DAY...when death and sorrow and suffering and pain will be NO MORE and we will be with God forever!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqxtFUwM3-o
Until each of us are called home or Jesus returns, how do we live until then?
Do we live with anticipation of heaven, or do we live cringing with the pressures and pain of this world?
Which anticipation is reflected in how we live life, spend our money, our time?
Do we invest in the kingdom of God and try to share with people about Jesus, so they can also have hope?
Or do we build bigger barns and store up treasure that we can't take with us? Do we hide, cower, or build walls to make ourselves more protected?
How can we live with anticipation of home with God and hold up that door, who is Jesus Christ, for others to see, when there is still so much pain and suffering? How can we hold up hope when we ourselves may be sad and scared and suffering?
These ideas and questions have been in my mind the past several days...
God has been reminding me that at this critical time in history, we are NOT to lose hope. The world needs to see Jesus and the hope He offers and we need to let Him fill us with His peace and joy and perspective that are not based on circumstances. We need to lift Him up! This can be one of the greatest times in history for missions and mobilization. We can get the gospel (the good news of Jesus- that a way for us has been made to be reconciled to God)... to the ends of earth!
But we must live with intentionality! We can't hide in our homes or even in our churches. We must go out to where the brokenness is and lift up the light and life of Jesus!
We have every reason to hope and to live with joy ... even if the world seems more and more crazy.
There will be a day ... when we will be reunited with those who have already gone "home." There will be fellowship and feasting for thousands of years. The pain and tears and illness and death... will be NO MORE. What a day that will be!
Until then... let's work to take people with us! To invite them to know the Savior of the World, the great and soon returning King, Jesus!
Let's anticipate that day of His return and live as ambassadors of that coming Kingdom.
Let's pray for each other and hold to hope ... remembering these promises and words...
Revelation 21:4- He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no crying or mourning or pain anymore, for the former things will have passed away.
1 Peter 1:13- ... Place your hope completely on the grace that will be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed.
1 Peter 5:10 ... And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
Ephesians 1: 18-19 ... I pray also that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the richness of His glorious inheritance in the saints and His incomparable great power for us who believe.
Hebrews 10:23 ... Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess for He who has promised is faithful
Job 11: 17-19 ... Life will be brighter than noonday, and darkness will become like morning. You will be secure, because there is hope...
Romans 15:13 ... May the hope of God fill you with all peace and joy as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit...
Psalm 33: 18-19 ... The eyes of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His steadfast love, that He may deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine...
Romans 5: 3-5 ... Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that our suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character; and character, hope.
Jeremiah 29:11 ... I know the plans I have for you, plans to give you a hope and a future ...
Galatians 6:8 ... Whoever sows to the flesh, will reap destruction, whoever sows to the Spirit pleases the Spirit and reaps eternal life.
Matthew 6: 19-21 .... Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven...
Isaiah 40:31 ... Those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength...
2 Corinthians 4: 16-18 ... So we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly we are being renewed day by day...
1 Peter 1:3 ... In His great mercy, He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ...
1 Corinthians 2:9 ... No eye has seen, ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has in store for those who love Him...
May we live with anticipation of all that is ahead thanks to Jesus!
Onward!
Praises
I'm still so thankful that my work permit and residence visa finally processed under EvaSUE! Praise God for these passing through!
I was so blessed by the visit of my former youth ministry student, Blake Arbogast. To show Him the work here in Ethiopia and share stories was timely and unforgettable!
I traveled to USA in June. I'm thankful for the safety in travel and the time spent with family! I loved getting to spend Father's Day in person with the great Jim Garrett!
I also attended a one week training in Mississippi with Global Outreach International! It was an incredible week of training and learning! I was accepted as a full-time missionary under them and will be transitioning under them in the time ahead. I'm so grateful for this partnership!
I'm grateful for the new work with EvaSUE and this humble team that is having amazing influence on college campuses all over Ethiopia. Despite the challenges of the past year in Ethiopia, God is multiplying the work! May God continue to unite us and equip us and give us strategy for advancing the kingdom of God by serving students! I do feel one of the greatest movements in history is going to come out this work...
Catching up with friends-family here... is still ongoing. I'm thankful for opportunities to connect and to live life together.
Prayers
-For the continued transition to go fully under Global Outreach
-For EvaSUE and the busy season ahead, two national conferences are coming up...
-For good health
-For additional funds I need to raise to fully go under Global Outreach.
You can make a donation at the link at the top of my blog (if you're on a laptop)... "Give to Holly's Summer 2022 Campaign"
Or you can this way as well: https://www.globaloutreach.org/giving/missionary-details/holly-garrett
I need to raise one-time funds and I need to add more monthly supporters as soon as possible.
THANK YOU FOR THE PRAYERS!
Let's live in hope and hold up Hope- Jesus- to the world!
