The Luggage

Luke 12 Take care and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.

The Lord always knows how to speak directly into my heart. Piercing me with His perception; knowing all the little places in my heart where I try to hide myself from Him. He is wise and discerning and I have to say again, Amen Lord Jesus, You are just in all your ways and I am undone by Your intimate knowledge of the thought and intent of my heart.

I arrived in Tel Aviv yesterday. My luggage did not. And I am American girl and I do not do well without my comforts and my "stuff".

Be on your guard Connie, for life is more than possessions.

As I sit writing this I can hear the children laughing and playing upstairs and He speaks....

Look to ME, Connie. Be distracted by nothing. Let me supply all that you need. Give all to Me.

These things that you think you cannot live without are distracting you from My purpose, from Me. These things will never fill the desire in your heart. It is meant to be filled with me alone.

Today I am still getting over the time change and the lack of sleep is making me feel strange. It has been hard for me to concentrate or have a conversation without being distracted. But things change in a moment.

One of the mothers has fallen on the stone floor in the kitchen and they call for me. She is pregnant. Suddenly I am as awake as I have ever been. After a trip to a local doctors office and then to a hospital in Ramallah, mom and baby are both doing well. No bleeding, no fluid loss, heartbeat looks great and no dilation of the cervix. Just a sore and scared mom.

And as I am sitting here typing this I must ask my Father to fogive me for my petty selfishness. Again. I needed to be reminded of why I am here. Life is more than possessions.

We were made for community. With God and with each other and the families in the house at Shevet Achim do community really well. And maybe that can be attributed to the fact that their focus is on their children. If the health of your child is threatened then it doesn't matter as much if clothes aren't Downy soft or your favorite moisturizer is in another county.

I miss my husband, my house, my kids, my church and my friends. I guess the mom's upstairs do as well but they realize that they need to be here in order for their kids heart to heal. Maybe I need to be here for a similar reason.

Lord I love You, I love You, I love You. Watch over all of those that my heart loves in the US. Keep me from covetousness, lonliness, fearfulness and selfishness. Give me a heart to love like You love and eyes to see Your people the way You see them. Give me strength Lord and courage, be near Lord for I need You now.