Just a few months ago, on Valentine's Day, my friend Juli wrote this post on Singleness as part of a series I hosted called, YouAreLoved. I wanted my readers to know...really know, how loved they are by God regardless of their marital status, especially on a day of the year when earthly relationships are glorified.
So Juli was gracious enough to share about her journey through singleness...and how through it, God has lead her to use her nursing skills in Africa. I remember when she moved. She was working in a hospital here in Los Angeles, and felt called to go to Kenya, and minister to those there dying of AIDS. God had stirred in her heart that people should not die alone.
Over the eight years she's lived in Kenya, God has opened the doors for her to start Living Room International Ministries. I encourage you to check it out. God has put walls and a roof around a stirring she felt so many years ago. Because she followed Him, so much blessing has followed....
A building to house the guests who come...
...and a staff to work alongside in caring for those who need to be here...
In addition to God blessing the ministry she's been called to lead, God has recently blessed her in yet another way. He's granted the longing of her heart to be a wife! She'll tell you that in her years of being single, her desire to be a wife never lessened. It was there, but she never let it stop her from pressing into what God had for her in this season of her life. A season when she was free from all earthly ties to go to the ends of the earth...and go, she did.
In her going, she became a women ready for the man God was saving just for her.
He was in Kenya all along....
God fulfilled the desires of her heart as her desires aligned with His...for her and for His people in Kenya. And, do you want to hear how much a woman after God's own heart is worth? Here, negotiations were underway...
Within Nandi culture, the price of the standard dowry is four cows. But when negotiations had ended, the price for my friend, ended up being FIVE cows and ONE goat! I can't help but think God was smiling as He saw his daughter...the one after His own heart...honored in this way.
Here's a taste of the engagement party village and community gave in honor of her engagement...
Children's choir singing...
Living Room guests joining the celebration...
Trees planted in order to remember such a beautiful day...
|
And now, as husband and wife...following a ceremony with close family and friends in the US.
She'll return back home to Africa to begin the rest of her life as a wife.
She'll continue loving others as a nurse in the healing name of Jesus,
all the while remaining a child of the living, active and Holy God.
***
I am so grateful Juli allowed me to share her story with you, so that you and I may know how good the will of our God is for those who follow Him, even to the ends of the earth.
God has spoken to me through the journey of my friend...
God has spoken to me through the journey of my friend...
Lord, where am I holding onto my way, while keeping the nudging of your Spirit at a "safe" distance?
We were made for His glory and to enjoy Him.
Sometimes I get all turned around and actually start to believe that choosing God's way is a sacrifice. I forget of the blessing that follows obedience. The only sacrifice I make in choosing to follow the One who created me for His glory and pleasure, is giving up a way I've dreamed up for myself.
Hmm...My dreams for His. Sounds like a good trade to me!
I once heard a missionary say...
"It's safer to be in God's hand in a dangerous place than outside His hand in a safe place."
Those of us who trust Jesus as Savior will never find ourselves outside the hand of our God...but are we willing to let Him carry us wherever He wants us to go?
My prayer is that in every season, in any type of weather, no matter the apparent "cost" in the moment...my answer would always remain the same...
Yes, Lord. I am Yours. Send me.
To my next door neighbor or to the corners of the earth.
May I love as you love,
And listen to every whisper of your Spirt because I know the voice of the One who calls me to...





















































