Jay and I are currently living in a Mexican town called Zirahuen, and this past Saturday we took a day trip to the nearby city of Morelia.  While we were sitting on a park bench admiring the beautiful weather and children blowing bubbles, a man missing an arm and a leg wheeled himself over to us and asked us if we wanted to buy some gum.  We brushed him off with a “‘no gracias, lo siento,” and watched him continue on his way.

After a few minutes Jay said, “you know, this man is mentally handicapped, has lost two limbs, and is trying to sell gum in order to survive in a country where people like him can easily fall through the cracks.  He could just resort to begging on a street corner like so many others, but has taken the initiative to wheel himself around to offer something of value to people who reject him time and time again.”  I watched Jay call the man back over and buy two packs of gum, and during the transaction Jay asked for the man’s name.  The man, Luis, was shocked that a gringo would care enough to ask for his name and smiled from ear to ear.  I was grateful for Jay’s willingness to see past the surface and show dignity to this man.

Two hours later we were sitting in a trolley, taking a historical tour of the city. We stopped and all got out at a church that looked like this:

Not seeing anything special about this church compared to the others I had seen that day, I was tempted to not go in at all.  In comparison to the others, it was quite boring in appearance.  To my delight however, all my preconceptions were shattered when I walked through the doors and saw this:

As we left the church Jay and I commented that we never would have known, based on the outward appearance of the church, that so much beauty was held inside.  I realized in that moment that the words I had read in the Bible earlier that morning were being demonstrated before my very eyes.

My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in.  If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “here’s a good seat for you” but say to the poor man, “sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?  (James 2)

Ladies, how often do we show favouritism based on appearance? How often do we give special attention to people who are beautiful, or popular, or smart?  God’s word truly came alive to me that day in Morelia, and I know that this is an area I must work on.  Let’s look beyond the outward appearance this week and truly love people as Jesus would love them.

Michelle

Grade 9 math class.  The subject was never my strong suit, and I was slightly nervous as I sat down next to my friends on the first day while our teacher introduced himself to us.  It didn’t take long until we discovered our teacher to be a short-tempered man who often seemed aloof as he gazed out the window during our individual work time.

One day I whispered to my friend to borrow and eraser, and our teacher thought I was trying to cheat.  He exploded.  The phrase that almost brought tears to my eyes was, “you’ll never amount to anything in this class or in this school!”  Out of spite, I was determined to prove him wrong.  I worked harder in his class than any other math class in my school history, and received the highest mark in the class that year.  “So there,” I thought.

The following semester our math teacher did not return to school.  I found out his son had died in a car accident.  Jesus worked on my heart of stone towards this man, and I decided to hunt down his address and send him a card.  The following semester he was back at school, and I remember our first interaction like it was yesterday.  He came up to me in the hall, and with tears in his eyes he placed his hand on my shoulder and simply said, “thank you Michelle.”  Every bit of bitterness I still had towards him vanished in that moment.  Later I found out that he had lost another son before I had attended his class.  Oh how I had misunderstood this man.  When I graduated from high school, I stayed in touch through letters.  Our letters often discussed faith, pain, and God, and I started to see that I was perhaps the only Christ-follower he knew as a friend.

Two years ago I had the privilege of having him and his wife in attendance at my wedding.  A man I hated in grade 9 had made it on our guest list of loved ones 7 years later.

I have often wondered what would have happened if I didn’t follow God’s leading in sending that card.  As Christ-followers we are to be set apart.  We should be experts at extending grace to difficult people.  Sometimes I think I was way better at this in high school, and need Jesus desperately to keep my heart compassionate and gracious on a daily basis.  If we don’t love difficult people, who will?

Is there is a difficult person in your life right now?  How are you extending Jesus’ grace to them?

Michelle

I’d like you to imagine something with me.  You’re making a documentary and head out to film a keynote interviewee.  It has taken a few months to secure this interview, and you are pumped to finally meet this person.  You drive for over an hour, go through security, and enter the building.  The interview goes well and everything is caught on camera…it’s a good day!  You return home and switch on the camera to replay the footage, only to discover that the interview is gone.  The memory card is blank and the footage you just celebrated over is non-existent.

If you hadn’t guessed already, this happened to me last week.  This may not seem like a big deal to those who have never made a film, but it’s a tough pill to swallow.  Thoughts have been storming through my head these last few days: how do I tell our interviewee that we lost the footage?  Do I dare ask him for a second interview?  Why are we even making a film? God why did you let this happen?

1 Corinthians 13 says this:

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secrets plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.  If I gave everything to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it, but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

Living life without loving people is like making a documentary with no footage.  It is worth nothing.  Fortunately for us, a good friend spent the week trying to recover our lost interview and found it.  But how many people get to the end of their lives, only to find that all of their accomplishments were completely worthless because they did not live a life of love?  That is way more tragic than lost footage. 

How are we loving people this week?

Michelle

I am your God, I have molded you with my own hands, and I love what I have made.  I love you with a love that has no limits, because I love you as I am loved.  Do not run away from me.  Come back to me— not once, not twice, but always again.  You are my child.  How can you ever doubt that I will embrace you again, hold you against my breast, kiss you and let my hands run through your hair?  I am your God— the God of mercy and compassion, the God of pardon and love, the God of tenderness and care.  Please do not say that I have given up on you, that I cannot stand you anymore, that there is no way back.  It is not true.  I so much want you to be close to me.  I know all your thoughts.  I hear all your words.  I see all of your actions.  And I love you because you are beautiful, made in my own image, and expression of my most intimate love.  Do not judge yourself.  Do not reject yourself.  Let my love touch the deepest, most hidden corners of your heart and reveal to you your own beauty, a beauty that you have lost sight of, but will become visible to you again in the light of my mercy.  Come, come, let me wipe your tears, and let my mouth come close to your ear and say to you, ‘I love you.  I love you.  I love you.’

Girls, this is a reminder for you today that you have so much value in God’s eyes.

Love,

Michelle

If you’re anything like me, your ears are craving and longing to hear God say this to you.  Sometimes the mere thought of me standing before my Saviour and have Him speak these words over me makes me want to weep.  I pray that my life would be worthy of such a moment, though only by the grace of God would that be possible.

As a newlywed I am learning what it means to be faithful to my husband. But a thought occurred to me this week: what does it mean to be faithful to God? What does that look like?  For me, being faithful to God means upholding justice in a broken world and being the hands and feet of Jesus to victims of sex trafficking.  I realized that if I back out on this calling, I am being unfaithful to God.

I read Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:45 this week: “I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these, you were refusing to help me.” Many in this world view women and girls as scum of the earth, simply to be taken advantage of and used.  Trafficked girls really are viewed as “the least of these” and by helping them, I am loving Jesus.  I am being faithful to Him.

Being faithful can be exhausting, scary, and discouraging at times. But let’s be persistent, fight the good fight, love more than we ever thought possible…and at the end of our lives we can collapse in the arms of Jesus and know that it was all worth it.

Michelle