whispers of King Jesus...

last week 2 girls and i were sitting on a step outside of the post-natal ward at the hospital. we were praying and observing all the liveliness going on around us. there were countless families sitting in little groups chatting, eating, and drinking tea. a woman in their family had just given birth and was residing just inside the post-natal ward. every once in a while the guard might let someone in to see her. just to my left i saw a grandmother type squeeze out of the ward cradling a newborn in a blanket. she approached a man and handed over the baby to him. he took the baby in his hands and gently brought a tiny ear up to his mouth. he began whispering secret words to the child. i watched from a distance wondering just what he would be saying to the baby. it is tradition within the muslim religion that the first words a baby hears come from his father. he whispers words about their religion and their god allah. as i sat pondering the man finished, handed the baby back to the woman and briskly walked away.


thursday i was posted in the newborn room. i absolutely enjoy those days spent welcoming new life into the world, celebrating birthdays, being thoroughly delighted in each new creation and whispering into little pink ears. when i arrived there were 2 babies waiting for me in the newborn room and 2 more quickly arrived wet and screaming. after i cleaned them off and warmed them up i proceeded to pick them up and whisper into their ears about King Jesus. there was one precious little girl that had been crying, but when i picked her up and started to whisper stories of my Jesus who calms the storm she promptly became extremely calm and alert. her eyes found mine as i told her about His mercy and compassion and love for little children to enter into His kingdom. as i whispered these sweet treasures to her she held my gaze and then slowly reached up and touched my face, not once but twice. i know that newborns don't see well and they certainly don't have the motor skills to control their movements, but for this brief moment we shared something. her spirit understood mine and it was beautiful...

every baby that we deliver gets bathed in prayer and receives a helmet of salvation. we have been busy crocheting hats for weeks now to cover all the precious little heads. we pray for little warriors, little pauls and peters, little peace-bringers and truth-speakers....little children to be added to the kingdom of heaven...and we're believing God to move in ways that are supernatural, in ways that human minds cannot possibly grasp. and i see it beginning among the babies and those who are willing to be child-like in their faith. the Spirit is moving...we're just running to try and keep up.

7 random things about me...a post for susan

1. my favorite junk food is coca cola and skittles
2. i haven't worn jeans in over a month
3. i delivered my first baby on tuesday
4. if i could visit one place in the world, it would be israel
5. i want to be my mom when i grow up
6. i am reading "church history in plain language" by bruce shelley...again
7. monkeys scare me

well susan tagged me and now i tag k booth and caraboo...

india, beautiful india

India is glorious. The sights, the sounds, the smells, the people, the culture....God is so creative. Friday I went along with 2 of my friends to visit a pastor working in a slum area right outside of the city. We had gone to do antenatal checkups with pregnant women, but since we were coming the pastor insisted on calling some of the brethren together for prayer and worship. At one point as I sat on a mat surrounded by 15 Indians singing their songs to our Creator, I so wished that i could capture that fleeting moment in a box. Each of my senses was heightened to absorb the beauty going on around me. Sounds of Indian voices singing in a style all their own, while the pastor beat a tamborine with his son in his lap. If i hadn't seen him playing it i'd have thought he had a set of drums. captivating. the sight of children playing and men and women crying out to God. the bright colors of the women's clothing. the sweet smell of sweat and chicken curry. the body of Christ communing with God in the middle of a slum....

after praying for the pastor and his family we set off to the bus stop. we passed a field where several boys were playing cricket, a sport that i'm still trying to figure out. their game paused as we walked by, they said "hi". i thought they were beautiful. on our bumpy bus ride home i gazed out the window at the passing sights. people's lives were happening. women sat on sidewalks selling fruit. old men were driving their ox-carts. little girls were drinking cokes and giggling on steps. crippled people were extending their hands to passer-bys. muslim women walked down the sidewalk veiled from head to toe. hindu men gazed at the different "gods" at a road-side stand. i sat on the bus thinking of Jesus. "...Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done one earth as it is in heaven..."

and the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 we have been busy on the hospital grounds hanging out in the antenatal wards, doing checkups in admissions, and assisting in deliveries. my desire is to do it all full of this grace and truth that is found in the person of Jesus.
"..we must seek purposefully to share our increasing light with the fellow members of the household of God. This we can best do by keeping the majesty of God in full focus in all our public servises. Not only our private prayers should be filled with God, but our witnessing, our singing, our preaching, our writing should centre around the person of our holy, holy Lord and extol continually the greatness of His dignity and power. There is a glorified man on the right hand of the Majesty in heaven faithfully representing us there. We are left for a season among men; let us faithfully represent Him here." --Tozer