These Little Miracles

So I have been thinking a lot lately about babies recently. I have several friends or acquaintances who have been having babies or have small children or are pregnant. Even Meghan Markle is now expecting! I also have several young cousins, and considering that I am the oldest, and my eldest(younger) sister is the next oldest, of all our cousins on both sides of the family, we have a lot of younger children in our family who look up to us, and it is fun to be with them. My sisters and I currently have a total of 13 cousins, ranging from 15 all the way down to nearly a year old. I am nearly 19 and a half years older than the youngest of the lot. I also have a few young friends who are anywhere from 1st to 3rd grade.
I enjoy children because they are so innocent and so easy to love. I have several good memories from the summer that included children. When I first went home, I spent a week with cousins and it was a blast. My twin cousins Mandy and Macy were wanting to be with us every second. My cousin Enoch, whose family I lived with for a year in high school, wanted to be with me and hold my hand. Isn't it cool how children see you as their hero and love you no matter what? No matter what you have done, children are quick to forgive.
Enoch was talking so well. He is three and a half. The last time that I had seen him before the summer was August 2017. His vocabulary had much improved and we were able to have a complete conversation. It was surreal, how much he had grown in those months. His little brother was starting to crawl, and it was the first time I had ever seen him due to my long absence from home. I had missed out on so much. Treasure the moments because they grow so fast!
Children are such miracles. Think about the chances of a child being conceived, then surviving until birth, and then somehow surviving to adulthood. So much could go wrong. Life is a miracle. God is the one who keeps us alive and gives us the blessings of children.
Jesus once said that we should become like little children if we wish to enter the kingdom of heaven someday. What does that mean? I think we just have to look at the children in our lives to know the answer. May I be more trusting and rest in God's arms, free of cares. May I be loving and kind to everyone I meet. May I be more easy to forgive and quick to forgive others. May I become like a little child. This is my prayer. Amen.

Living in spite of pain

So let me tell you a story. I was about to type up this post when I heard a very loud, screaming noise. It was the fire alarm. And it turned out not to just be a drill. Guess what, I forgot to grab my phone and my computer. Nothing to keep me occupied while we waited to go back inside. Fortunately, the fire was able to be put out quickly. And I guess it's not such a bad idea to be away from electronic devices once in a while, as long as they don't get burned!
Anyway, to the topic at hand. I shared this topic before, with slight variations, in a different setting. I don't know your story, or your background. There is a lot of pain in the world. You may have been abused, you may have been hurt, or you may have caused pain to yourself because you had such pain in your world. You may have even been hurt by a false perception of God. Everyone has a different story. I have experienced pain, but it can't even compare to the pain that many others in the world have experienced. It hurts me to think of all the pain that friends and loved ones have experienced. Even more so all those in the world I don't know. It must hurt God even more, and I believe it does.
I just want to share with you how much God loves you. No matter what you've done, He still loves you. Whether you have been abused, or someone has caused you pain. Or even if you are the one who went wrong, hurting someone else, and causing yourself pain in the process. For all of you, I just want you to know that God still loves you. No matter what you've done, or what has been done to you, He loves you anyway.
Romans 5:7,8 reads, "For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." John 3:16 is also one of my favorite verses. If you know it, you can close your eyes and say it. If not, here it is: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." God loves us anyway, no matter what. To close, I would like to share one of my new favorite songs, written by Josie Minikus and sung by her and her husband Matt:

"To My gentle searching eyes there have been no disguises 

Nothing that you have done that you can hide 

I've seen you in your darkness, sin and know the pain and guilt within,

But the question on your mind am I worth saving anyway 

I see you child for who you are 

Know that sin has left its ugly scars 

But I know who you were meant to be 

And My love will set you free 

So come weary child rest beside Me for awhile 

I know your care the burdens that you bear

Abide in My love hide in My love 

Don't push Me away ashamed and afraid 

I know who you are 

And I love you anyway My child 

So bring Me all your wants and needs 

I promise they can't burden Me 

Most desperate one cannot exceed My care for you 

And bring Me all your doubts and fears 

The hurt you haven't faced in years 

The wounded heart you stuffed inside 

The tears you've tried so hard to hide 

So come weary child rest beside Me for awhile 

I know your care the burdens that you bear 

Abide in My love hide in My love 

Don't push Me away ashamed and afraid 

I know who you are 

And I love you anyway My child 

So come to Me just the way you are 

Though you've fallen hard and wandered far 

Stop trying to be so brave so strong 

It's okay to cry child tears aren't wrong 

So come weary child rest beside Me for awhile 

I know your care the burdens that you bear

Abide in My love hide in My love 

Don't push Me away ashamed and afraid 

I know who you are 

And I love you anyway My child 

Yes I love you always My child"

And here is the link to the song:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVluMzsBpLs 

Have a good rest of your day

~~~Sara 

For such a time as this

 (This is something I wrote for a speaking activity last year at ARISE)

Once upon a time....
There was a brave and beautiful young woman named Hadassah, or better known as Esther. I really admire her and she has become one of my ideals, someone I personally want to be like, next to Jesus. There are several reasons for my admiration. Everything Esther did shows God's love. Her life shines like a star in the Bible account. Which, incidentally, is what Esther means. Her original name, Hadassah, means compassion. I think both of these names describe who she was and who I want to be.
Esther was probably a kind and compassionate young woman, who cared for others. I imagine she was humble, serving others with hardly a thought for herself. All things she did showed God's love. Her life was a shining star- God shone through her. Because of this, she was beautiful. Yet, she remained humble. In spite of her beauty, she was not conceited, or overly focused on herself. She remained focused on others, and that is why she was beautiful.
One day, she became part of a contest of women all eagerly waiting to see if they would be the next queen. In the midst of this change she remained true to God, though for security reasons she did change her name. Eventually, she did become queen. Now in the kingdom there was a man who had worked his way up to the highest position, short of being king, in the kingdom. His intents, however were not good. When he saw Mordecai would not bow down to him, he thought to get rid of all the Jews.
Isn't that how Satan works? He wants to wipe out all of God's people, to ruin God's plan for humanity. But God steps in every time. Through supernatural power, or angels, or through us. I think He prefers to use us in His plans whenever possible. This time, He chose Esther. She was willing to answer His call. Are we willing to listen to God's call and do what He asks of us? I want to be willing to do what God asks of me and give everything up for Him as did Esther.
In Esther 4:13,14, it says, "Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king's palace anymore than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"
I want to break this verse down a little. First, we should not think that we are so sheltered that we will escape persecution. If we aren't willing to share God no matter what the cost, other calamity may come to us and others will share the message, but we may be lost. Perhaps we have come to the kingdom for such a time as this.
In order to be ready for the hard times, we need to be so grounded in God's love and selfless service to others that we will be prepared and God will keep us strong, as He did Esther. Then we will be able to say, as did Esther, "If I perish, I perish," Esther 4:16. Someday, we may have to go against the law of man in order to obey the laws of God- that's fine. Esther did, too. Peter did. Even Jesus did. It's nothing to be afraid of.
If we have a firm relationship in Jesus then nothing will scare us anymore. Then, and only then, will we be able to give up everything for God and for others. To go to the greatest lengths for God and what we believe. Like Esther, I want to love God and others so much and be selfless to the point that I am not focused on myself anymore. I want to give all to God, even my life if that's what it comes to. Jesus gave all for me, why shouldn't I be willing to give everything to Him?
He died for me and for you! So lay down your life for Him and to Him. Give Him everything, because you love Him and He gave you His all, even His life.
In John 3:16, it says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believed in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
That's the beauty of it. He gave His all, out of love, so that we wouldn't have to perish. And yet, because of our love for Him, we can be willing to give our everything, even our lives for Him. And we won't care about our life on earth anymore, because we have a heavenly one that will be so much more beautiful and glorious. All we will want to do is invite as many other people to share that beautiful eternity with Him. In closing, I want to remind you of the importance of love to this relationship. In John 15:13, it says, "Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. If we really love God, our love will so grow that we will give everything for God and for others. We will give our lives for our friends, and our enemies too. I hope you will get to experience this love and relationship with God and others so instead of being selfishly focused on yourself and your wants, you will shine like Esther and be willing to give everything to God. That is my prayer and I hope it is yours too.