The power of presence, I read about it a couple months ago in a book by JoAnne Lyons. I remember her story on seeing people who were starving and near death and feeling as if she had nothing to offer them. Then she had this inclination to say, "I am happy to be among you." Presence is a spiritually life giving power. Did it fix the problem of starvation, no, but it gave those people the feeling of acceptance, of love. My housemate and I have been discussing a book called Real Love the past few days. The idea of real love is that we don't earn it and we do not have to complete an action in order to be able to receive real love. So in JoAnne's story she did not have to give food, water, or anything else in order to show those there that she loved them. I just received an email from Dr. Lisa Marling, the Hope for Children director, she was responding to my email on my feeling of no direction with my job. It has been hard for me adjusting to the culture that is so much go with the flow. I always thought I was a flexible person but once I arrived have realized I miss having guidance and direction from supervisors, teachers, whomever. Her email told me that in everything Christ is working, whether I am doing a specific task or enjoying moments with the children or cooking with the mothers. She directed me to not be directed towards tasks but towards people and towards God's will. I need to stop walking around with a list of tasks in my mind, but to enjoy the presence of people and God's work in and through everything that is happening here. Whether I am educating the families on healthcare or taking the kids swimming, God's work is in it all. I hope that you can pray that I see this more clearly and the need for God's will and not human direction will be foremost in my thoughts. I am so enjoying time spent with families such as the Wilson's who have taken me in and taught me so much already from cooking to how to play Sierra Leone games. These moments I treasure that I may not feel is "work" but is God's work in building relationships and showing His love. Timu a neighborhood boy who is about 3 years old came running up to me after I had been away for 3 days to Banana Island and gave me the biggest little boy hug ever. In those moment's I know that I want to give that type of presence and real love to everyone in my life. That show of love is what God meant for us to show him and show others so that they may know Him, the True source of Love.
In His Grace,
Jaimie
