{rice, beans & love}

Tonbe damou pou Jezi,

Tonbe damou pou Jezi,

Tonbe damou pou Jezi,

Pi gran desizyon m te pran.

I sang these lyrics repeatedly in church yesterday morning, as hundreds of followers gathered for worship. As I held a sweet 2-year-old in my arms with sweat dripping down my back, yearning for even the slightest breeze, I meditated on the lyrics I sang, which translate to,

Falling in love with Jesus,

Falling in love with Jesus,

Falling in love with Jesus,

Was the best thing I’ve ever done.

And ya know, it just really is.

Although I grew up in a Christian home, with memories of Christmas pageants, youth groups and church camps, Christ was never real to me. He became more and more real to me as he revealed himself to me through His Word. My last 2 years in college, behind closed doors and very privately, I began to explore and study the Bible for the first time. And the deeper I got into His Word, the things I valued most in my life became less important to me. Relationships and “other treasures” grew farther away as I fell deeper in love with Jesus. It wasn’t something that happened quickly or suddenly, but it was more or less a transformation that happened over a period of time.

And ya know, that changes people. It changed me.

It says in Matthew 6:21, “For wherever you treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Falling in love with Jesus requires complete transformation of your heart. Falling in love with Him will also require a change of plans. For me, He asked me to change my plans of becoming a successful graphic designer to a missionary with no plan at all. I like to think I have it all under control here, with intricate plans all worked out in my head, but lets be honest, I’m winging this one day at a time.

I sang these lyrics wondering if falling in love with Jesus really, just really, was the best thing that I have ever done?

If I hadn’t, I know I wouldn’t be where I am. I wouldn’t be living the life that I do.

If I hadn’t, I never would have had enough strength to make the leap of faith or the strength to listen and tell the stories of the oppressed, poor and hurting.

If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have had enough courage to take on the job at ViBella, to be a mother of two, or to become a part of an entirely different community and culture.

If I hadn’t, my heart would still be hard, angry and only storing up things “…where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:19)

If I hadn’t, my life wouldn’t have led me to writing this blog or to me singing in another language or to me making new friends.

And for all those reasons, it truly was the best thing that I have ever done.

As fellow believers, I hope that you would agree with me. I hope you would agree that falling in love with Jesus and accepting Him as your Savior is the best thing you will ever do. It’s an act that can lead life into the unexpected. But, the good unexpected, full of love, mercy and grace.

For the unbelievers, I hope someday you’ll find yourself falling madly in love with Jesus. I don’t think you’ll regret it.

sweet Magdalie and I this past Saturday

On Easter, I wrote about a girl who I had found with a severe burn. Over the past 5 weeks she has become one of my new friends. She is so sweet, each time I see her she truly brightens my day. I thank Jesus for crossing our paths and for allowing me to be the “hands and feet” that help heal her little body. We give thanks for the healing that has happened on her small body; only a quarter-sized area remains raw, the rest of the area being nearly healed.

I hope someday I can be as brave as her.

So, ya know, stories like Magdalie’s make me realize that falling in love with Jesus was the best thing that I have ever done.

Without that, there wouldn’t be stories for me to tell at all.

Love from Haiti.