Preparing Hearts-as only He can do.

For 13 years of my married life, and several years as a child, I attended a very liturgical church.  The 40 day season of Lent that begins the day after Mardi Gras (as it is known in Louisiana-Ash Wednesday to the rest of the world) was celebrated with  traditional services that commemorated various days during this season. Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday...all culminated in the Easter Sunrise Service either at the cemetery or at the lake. This season of Lent was one where you prepared your heart for the Risen Christ through fasting and liturgy. 

Our new church home of a couple of years does not participate in these traditional services...in fact our sermons have been verse by verse through the book of Philippians for the past several weeks-that will preach! But one thing is certain...we have been preparing our hearts for the Risen Christ! In our household, that has come through some amazing parallels that only the Lord could have orchestrated.

You see, we are in a season of preparation like none other in our lives.  We are preparing to welcome two new children in to our home. We are preparing paperwork, sleeping arrangements, finances, and travel. But we are also preparing our hearts for the unknown. Step by step through the process, the Lord has made Himself real to us and has reminded us of our purpose. Step by step He has reminded us of our need for Him.  He has reminded us of His love for us that was made so excruciatingly evident as He hung and bled on the cross. And without doubt, He has reminded us of His power and sovereignty through the empty grave! 

"The preparations of the heart is man, and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. All the ways of man are clean in his own sight, but the Lord weighs the motives.  Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established.".  Proverbs 16:1-3

As we work within the limitations of our human abilities to prepare by decorating rooms , reading books, making rag dolls, and learning about the Ethiopian culture.......

 

 

 

 

 

 

We rely on the Holy Spirit to prepare hearts, to do away with fear, to comfort and console the lonely-these things only He can do.
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As we pray and ask for guidance, direction, freedom from fear, and peace as we prepare for our new children....
...we are reminded in Matthew 28 that an angel of the Lord told the women "Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.  He is not here, for He is risen, just as He said."

The most important preparation has already occurred for those whom the Lord has called.  The Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins so that we may be adopted in to His family and share in His inheritance. How can we even fathom being afraid when the same Spirit that raised our Lord from the dead lives in us!!!! This has prepared us for all He has called us to do and we are thankful.

In Matthew 28:19 our risen Lord tells us  " Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."  As we prepare our hearts to remember the Risen Christ by reading and meditating on Scripture and prayer during the Lenten season, we pray that He goes before us to prepare hearts as only He can do in Africa.  As we prepare to be obedient in following His command, we pray that He alone receives the glory. As we ponder the enormity of the risen Christ-the world-changing, history changing  event that took place two thousand years ago, we pray that He chooses to resurrect two lonely children out of the dusty mountains of Northern Ethiopia and calls them to a relationship with Him. He alone is able.  He alone is worthy.