In Which My Body Writes a Complaint Letter

Dear Sara, 
We realize you are a missionary. We dealt with the uncomfortable plane seat, the plane food, and the long periods of sitting. It was a temporary situation, and we tried to do our best. The little bit of time you felt terrible was the stomach’s fault. He was mad when you chose the pasta over the veggies. 

Anyway, we went through the traveling. And for the first twenty minutes, you were doing good. You bought a tomato and we gave you a standing ovation. But within days you started doing strange things and we tried to understand. We even were kind with the jet lag and how do you repay us? Massive quantities of empty calories. You had choices- you do know Bulgarians eat cucumbers and tomatoes, right? But no. Ice cream, chocolate, bread bread bread bread and it was NOT, we repeat, it was NOT whole grain. We expect more from you. Then the "duners"- we know you only thought there were cucumbers but there were also other things in that. The cow tongue was also pushing it. Also the white yogurt with floating and sinking cucumbers and salt? We don’t think so. Drinking water from water fountains was NO BUENO. And the flat bread you gorged yourself on every time you got a chance? No. Another thing- you worked out fully ONE time. The legs are especially angry and want you to know that they purposely lost muscle tone because of your forbidding them exercise. We will kindly acknowledge that you did walk a lot, and you gave the skin more sun than it’s pretty much ever seen before. But we digress. We are pretty disappointed in you and expect great things when you come home. Like, real food with real nutritional value. Like working out. 

We just remembered that you also started averaging a lower amount of sleep than we’re used to. We’ll address that in the next letter but for now we are just trying to get this off our chest and tell you we will fight back harder than we already are if you don’t figure this out. The scale already has a surprise for you. 

Yours always, 

the body 

Here Is The Hope: Bulgaria 2019

I’ve been living in Bulgaria for two weeks.

My purpose in coming here was to write a series of articles. I am writing heart-breaking stories of horror, of nameless depravity, of seemingly endless cycles of poverty and hopelessness. Yet they are also laced with divine redemption. Of supernatural change. Of hope.

One story I wrote was of a girl who at two years old watched her father beat her younger brother to death when he would not stop crying. Now fifteen years old, she is dating a twenty-year-old man, who uses her freely in exchange for his “acceptance” and “love.”

Another sweet girl is fifteen years old. She was sold by a family member to sex traffickers for money. No one knows where she is.

These are just two examples.

One of the sweetest children I have ever met, was hungry, was beaten, was taken to an orphanage. Yet God’s redemption has him placed in a godly foster home, learning and becoming a godly young man who gives and loves with all his heart.

Here is the hope.

Even here, in a joyless nation, with spiritual darkness hovering over its borders, the Lord is at work.

In my heart, He is at work. “Jesus, I feel like we’re in a new place in our relationship.”

I am learning to speak to people, I am learning how to walk in freedom. I am falling in love with reading God’s Words. I am learning grace in a new way. I am finding my place.

This is another one of my randomly rambling posts. I wanted to document what I’ve been learning, to express to whoever reads this what I am seeing.

I’m sure I could sum this all up neatly with some cliché ending, and maybe this is it. 

Or maybe not.

There is more to Jesus than you see, and there is more in your heart that He desires to do. I hope you know that. I hope you let Him scrape off the scabs that have built on your heart, to let Him hold your raw and red heart in His hands. You can trust Him.

That’s all.

He loves you.