1 Peter 1:22
You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all of your heart.
Saying yes to Jesus, and going to Africa, I knew He would use me to bless others. I also knew He would use the people of Swaziland to bless and transform my heart. Yet knowing something logically is worlds different than feeling it in the heart.
The kids love when we read books to them. It is one of the few moments of peace and quite they get during there day (imagine spending an entire day with dozens and dozens of loud, giggling children). I expected to read them a basic picture book with few words because most of the kids do not know much english. Somehow I ended up reading a small chapter book – “Freckle Juice”. As I read, I worried that they couldn’t understand, and wished that I was reading a bible story, at least they would be hearing about Jesus. After reading a page, Senna, the boy sitting to my left confidently started reading. I looked at him, shocked and impressed, and he read the next two chapters. I pointed to the freckles on my arms, he inspected them carefully. Then, he looked at the tattoo on my forearm which says Psalm 46:10. I told him the psalm, and he smiled, and said, I know Psalm 23, and started speaking it – The Lord is my Shepard, I lack nothing…
Psalm 23 was the verse that described the previous season I was in, it was touching that the Lord used Senna to remind me of his sweetness.
We prayed Psalm 23 together, and spoke it over all the children around us. When I struggled to remember bits of the Psalm, Senna guided me, and led the way. I prayed over him and spoke encouragement over his studies and capabilities. I felt like his big sister in this moment, a sibling love filled me. And in just a moment the Lord turned head knowledge into heart knowledge – the Lord is using the people of Swaziland to expand my capacity to love and be loved.
