As I headed out of my driveway to pick up a friend going with me to the Experience Compassion Conference in Roseville, I turned on the radio and what do you think was playing? "Everyone needs compassion, the promise of a Savior....," how timely I thought, and isn't that just like God? He encourages us along the way. He provides music on the path of His grace, a word here or there letting us know He is with us, and that this is the way we should go.
At the conference again I was amazed and wowed by Him and the little ways He touches us with glimpses of His glory. The first Bible verse shared...same one I was studying in my women's Bible study. An old hymn sang...one I hadn't heard in years but had just opened up a book at home and saw it there on the page and sang every stanza. The words were profound...why do you think the same hymn was chosen for the conference? And by someone who seemed much too hip to reach back in time for an old hymn. I know he had "new" stuff to choose from...but God doesn't care about the age of a song when He has a message to tell.
One thing after another, all day long, God just kept whispering in my heart, "I am here." And I knew I was right where He wanted me to be. By the end of the day I was ready to get on a plane and fly away. Where? I have no idea...anywhere! I wanted so much to be a part of His work around the world. The work I had just heard about. But instead, I got back into my car, pulled out of the parking lot and headed back to where I came from. The same path but reversed. Instead of flying away I went home, and I knew that was right where God wanted me to be.
Maybe one day He will take me with Him on a trip to work in another place, but today was a day to go back where I came from and take with me all He gave me at the conference. Today I had a mission right here at home, and there was nothing more important He could ask of me. Today He asked me to impact a child's life...not by doing anything radical. Not by dropping everything and getting on a plane, but by picking up a pen. Yes a pen, but not just any pen, one filled with words of hope and encouragement for a child overwhelmed by the harshness of poverty. Words that share a Savior's love for him, and words that cast light on a future that once looked too dark to survive. A simple letter...written and folded...flying far away to a little village in Africa, carried by the grace of God. That was my assignment, my mission today.
A letter is such a small thing that can have a huge impact in a child's life, just simply knowing that someone cares. And in this way it is possible to go where I may not be able to go. To send a part of myself, pieces of my heart, across the world and touch the life of a child.
It is true...what the song was singing as I drove that morning, everyone does need compassion and the promise of a Savior. That's why I'm excited about getting involved with Compassion International, as they continue to release children from poverty in Jesus name.
