Realignment

I love running.  It is incredibly therapeutic and cleansing for me as I run to worship music and begin to release the burdens of the day to the Lord.  But as some of you may know, I herniated a disc almost 2 years ago and underwent painful recovery as my back began to heal.  If you've ever had back issues, I feel your pain!  It took several chiropractic appointments of realignment and therapy before I was able to run again.

 A few years back I heard a sermon on "realigning" our lives with the Lord.  It was a message I've never forgotten.  Just as our bodies need to be realigned to good health, so do our hearts, minds, and souls.

The past few weeks, I had been feeling all out of sorts spiritually.  I don't know if was spiritual warfare, my own selfishness, apathy, or what.  I just knew I didn't like it.  God has purposefully called me here and I don't want to miss a word He has for me on account of my own selfishness and I don't want to be a road block in His work.

With the daily routine of homeschooling, it is so easy to get caught up in the monotony of life even here.   I've had my frustrating days, my sad days, and my "I need 30 minutes to collect myself" days. Everything in me knew I needed realignment.   I don't want to waste my days spiritually floating.  I've just been praying that the Lord breathe a fresh wind over me, fill me with His life-giving water, and realign my heart with His.  

Our God is good.  Need I say more?

Yesterday, I finally got the chance to go back into Redemption Village to visit with the kids and help with the feeding program.  God heard my prayers and snapped my spirit into place.  I'll need multiple follow ups with the Lord as He continues to realign my heart with His, but I was so grateful for this appointment.  

"Un foto!"

Barb with Marie Flor

Signing in for the feeding program

So many children enjoy having their pictures taken

Waiting patiently

 

Mmmmmm!

It is so easy to get sucked into our own worlds, our own "needs," our own selfishness that we forget to thank the Lord for the many blessings we do have and ask Him to open our eyes to the world around us.  As we were in the village, my heart just melted.  These kids have so little to eat yet they were sharing their bowls with kids who didn't have any.  And more than that, I just know the kids need love and attention.  We enter the village and we're overtaken by a sea of children... literally, not one of my fingers was free as a different child held on as we proceeded to the feeding program. 

How dare I fall into self-pity and be tangled in daily problems and frustrations.  My problems have no weight in this world.  Besides, God is strong enough to take it all on.  

Talk about realignment.  I'm strapping on those running shoes...  

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us."   Hebrews 12:1