overflowing.

Wow, this has been one crazy week!
I didn't want to save an entire post for the weekend, although I will probably post again then, but just to fill you in on some recent events that have blessed me incredibly:

Tuesday - I went shopping with two other SO ladies to get supplies [diapers/lotion/soap/toothpaste] for the local disabled home with the money we raised from the bakesale.  We were able to get SO much stuff, it was amazing! We then drove to the home to drop it off, and on the way there, I kept thinking, "I feel like this is an answer to prayer."  I kid you not  - we walked in the door and one of the women comes up to us and says, "I was just talking to my co-worker about all the things we were going to be needing and worrying about how we were going to get it.  She said to me, 'Don't worry, God will provide' and here He has!"  I was so overwhelmed by the way the LORD used so many things to bring us to them at the very perfect time.  It was such a joy and humbling blessing to ME to be able to see them blessed in that way - the Lord gives so much more BEYOND what we could hope for or imagine - and He is ALWAYS perfectly ordaining EVERYTHING.  The home itself was quite heartbreaking - they brought out two little ones in wheelchairs to take pictures with us, and I asked if their parents ever come to visit - I was met with a saddened face.  "No, they don't want them.  They just leave them here."  It broke my heart, and the boys were so sweet.  One has clubbed feet, and they said a doctor was going to be coming soon to see what could be done.  We then took a mini tour of the building, which was actually very nice - much nicer than the elderly home that we painted with HSO.  The only thing that was a little bothersome was that they had all the residents sequestered in the basement area in one large room...just sitting/lying around.  Many were muttering or wailing incoherent things, while others just appeared blank.  Many had physical deformities, but some just seemed to have mental disorders. And there were people of every age - very young to very old. To know that most if not all of these people were abandoned because they were not deemed worthy enough to be wanted broke my heart.  I also thought of how the Lord views these people: made in His own image, and just as much in need of love and comfort as any of us.  It also reminded me of the time where Jesus was confronted about a man's blindness in the book of John, chapter 9:
 "As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”  Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

Basically, all things are done for God's glory - even when we don't understand it fully.  And when Christ returns, all will be revealed, and we will know fully when we behold Him.  

Tuesday continued with our weekly tutoring session at Bel Air.  Next week, we are having the girls over to cook dinner and hang out at the house instead.  Hopefully this will better facilitate good conversation and a fun time for the girls :)

Last night was Bible study and I was just reminded again what a joy it is to KNOW truth, to talk about truth, to share truth, and to learn more of truth.  The Word is so deep, and I hardly think one hour a week is enough for Marieke and I to get through 1 Peter in one term, but it is a blessing as we try the most we can into our weekly meetings.   It just never ceases to amaze me that I can know, understand, and love the Word of God, and it's only by His mercy through Christ - nothing that I have done, not because I am a "good person" - ALL by His grace...that cannot even be described as a "blessing" - it's so much greater than that...inexpressible!!!

Marieke left this morning for a week to go home to be with her sister who just had a baby, and spend some time with her family, too.  It's going to be weird with her gone, and since the guys have their midterms next week, its going to be a very lonely house :(  It's ok though - I am glad she was able to go home and serve her sister any way she can - and next week is a busy one for me, anyway :)

Well, I am typing on J's computer - which has turned off on me three times since starting to write this entry.  I just wanted to share the amazing ways the Lord has been working here, and the thankfulness welling up in my heart for all these things.  Please keep J in your prayers - for good sleep/rest in the Lord, good studying, good test-taking...all for His glory.  We love and miss you all.
Love from Grenada.