So Selection Sunday at our house was about more than where our beloved Jayhawks would be seeded and whom they would be playing. Selection Sunday was also the deadline for our senior Rebekah to make her college decision.

After a lot of thought and campus visits and hours spent weighing the pros and cons, Rebekah decided to become a Jayhawk. She had a tough time making up her mind because she had a lot of good options. And I think the enormity of the college decision has had a sobering effect on our usually laid back, upbeat child (the only one of the three who could be called “mellow” in temperament).

Shawn and I told her that she should focus on schools within a 600-mile radius that would offer her good scholarships or would be in-state. Rebekah’s Final Four: the University of Kansas, the University of Oklahoma, Texas A&M (where sister Rachel attends) and the University of Texas (she would go there even if it meant ticking off her Aggie sister).

Rebekah went on official campus visits to all four schools but was still having a tough time making up her mind. Since she was leaning towards either OU or KU, we stopped by Norman on our way to central Kansas for Spring Break. We walked around the campus a little on a frigid Sunday afternoon just so she could see it again. In the middle of a relaxing week at the Engelland family farm, she and her sisters headed off to Lawrence for a day trip just to look at KU one more time.

After lunch on Mass. Street, they headed towards campus. Rachel is the only one of the three who has a smartphone, but since she was nearing her data limit she didn’t want to use it to find the Kansas Union and its adjacent parking garage. So Rebekah was left to follow signs marked “Visitors Parking.” They pulled into a garage and walked towards the attached building. The door read, “Allen Fieldhouse.”

Rachel said they realized they weren’t at the bookstore, but a woman walked up and asked them if they wanted a tour. She took them on a behind-the-scenes tour of Allen Fieldhouse and the adjacent buildings: the student tutoring center, the Donors Atrium, the indoor track, the weight room, and they even spied Kevin Young practicing on Naismith Court. As they went through one hallway, Bill Self walked by and said, “Hey, guys.”

Rachel and Rebekah said, “hi.” Anna was stunned into silence. Really, that was the extent of their interaction with Coach Self. But the kindness of the woman to take a half an hour out of her day and the chance encounter with the famous coach left an impression on my girls. They had a totally unexpected adventure because they got a little lost.

I like to think that God delights in surprising us when we believe we are off track. I may think I went the wrong way or events may not turn out the way I wanted, but God has me right where He wants me. Now I could have insisted on going with them to Lawrence, and they never would have had that experience. I would have gone right to the visitors’ garage next to the Union. Part of being a parent is knowing when to step back, even when it’s hard. Shawn and I wanted them to have their “Sister Road Trip,” so we sent them off with maps, verbal instructions, cash and well-funded debit cards. I prayed that God would watch out for them and that He would give Rebekah guidance about her college decision. That has been a long-running prayer on my list.

I believe that the unexpected adventure they had could have been God’s confirmation to Rebekah: this is going to be good. He sees her in her struggle and has a great plan worked out just for her (Jer. 29:11), even though she doesn’t know what it is.

That’s why I wanted to title this blog post, “How Coach Bill Self convinced Rebekah to attend KU.” I knew it would draw readers. Rebekah wouldn’t let me. She would say what convinced her was the excellent honors program and the emphasis on study abroad. But since she was having a hard time making a commitment, maybe the Engelland girls’ escapade at Allen Fieldhouse tipped the scales.

I need to remember, especially when life is not going as planned, that God sees me and has some unexpected adventures in my future. As Christians, we can always look ahead with hope no matter what struggles surround us.

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” – Eph. 2:10

This is going to be good…

Boy, am I dense. I must be, or I wouldn’t keep getting the same few lessons over and over again. This fall, I’ve been studying James with a group of wonderful women. God has a habit of using my personal life to show me how I need to apply Scripture, and this season has been no different. If I were to pick a theme for the last few months, it would be two sides of faith: the waiting faith and the acting faith.

In many areas, God has me in a holding pattern.  I am waiting on answers to some annoying health issues which are, most likely, not serious. As a member of the news media, I’ve had to endure changes, cutbacks, and even more cynicism than usual. On the home front, I’ve been planning some improvements, but the timing isn’t quite right.  I need to wait a while longer. The recent election results look to me like more opportunities for persevering under trials.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.” – James 1:2-4

I thought about calling this post, “The Waiting Game.” According to freedictionary.com, the definition is “the postponement of action or decision to gain the advantage.” Sometimes endurance means waiting and other times endurance means training. It’s more like the game, “Red light, green light.” In a lot of areas, God is telling me to stop and be patient, and elsewhere He is prodding me forward.

As a runner, I’m familiar with the concept of building up endurance over time. Periods of rest allow your body to heal, especially as you get older (yes, I’m now an older runner). If I go too far too fast, I risk injury. But I can’t rest too long either, or my endurance will begin to slip. Experience has taught me that if I don’t run for a week, it may take me two weeks to get back to that level of fitness.

This fall, I’ve had the joy of watching Rebekah in her senior season of cross country and Anna in her very first season as a runner. For Rebekah, years of training allowed her to secure a spot on varsity and maintain it. She worked hard to bring her times down and met that goal. Anna learned that there are no shortcuts to being a good runner. It takes both action and patience, but I hope she also discovered the benefits of persevering and the camaraderie of the team.

So that brings me to the other side of faith, faith in action. Here again, James got into my business. Most days I write a prayer journal, and I usually start with a Bible verse that has leaped out at me. At least four different times in the last two months, I recorded the same verse: “But those who look intently into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act — they will be blessed in their doing.” – James 1:25. Another verse popped up in several entries, and it’s about as subtle as a sledgehammer: “Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, commits sin.” – James 4:17.

While I am waiting on God in some trials, He is calling me to action elsewhere. I shouldn’t have been surprised by this message. James is, after all, “Mr. Faith-without-deeds-is-dead.” But what does that mean to me today? In the second chapter, James criticizes believers who wish others well but do nothing to help those in need. How many times is it

in my power to help, and I don’t? On my own, I tend towards stinginess. Like those birds in Finding Nemo, “mine, mine, mine.” But God calls me to care for others in tangible ways by giving of my money and time.

As a Christian, I want to have a lot of Bible knowledge, but knowledge is not an end in and of itself. It shows us the way to go. Am I going God’s way? I tried to look at the various areas in my life and felt rather overwhelmed. I want to write in a way that encourages others to follow my Father. I long to be a godly wife and mother, so I look for ways to bless them and to train my girls in the way they should go. I want to serve where the Lord would have me in my church. As a member of the media and the wider community, I want to be Christ’s ambassador. People I see every day need a hope that never fails.

I have a lot more green lights than red, and my head starts to spin. But here again James has a tip for me: “If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you.” – James 1:5

God, in His wisdom, only gave me 24 hours in a day. How about you? If God is first, sometimes He wants us to stop and reflect. There are times when He puts up the red light in unexpected or unwanted ways to get us to slow down. Other times He wants us to go. He wants us to pull out our wallets or get on a plane or say what needs to be said. The only way we know when to stay and when to go is by “looking intently into the perfect law that gives freedom” and by prayer (that’s in the fifth chapter).

I guess it’s like being a farmer. I grew up a city girl but have had the joy of marrying a farm boy, so I’ve learned a thing or two. Much of the time, you have to act. Till the ground, plant the seeds, harvest the crop. Other times you wait. Wait for the rain. Wait until the fields dry after the rain so the tractor won’t get stuck. Wait for the harvest season. I look to God for wisdom on when to stop and when to go. “Draw near to the Lord, and He will draw near to you.” – James 4:8a

This morning started out a little rough. I woke up thinking about all the things I have to do today. When my youngest, Anna, got up, she was complaining about allergies. We sifted through the medicine supplies and found her something to take for them. Before she and Rebekah left for early morning cross country practice, I made tentative plans to pick her up a bit early from school to take her to the doctor for a renewal of the only allergy medicine we’ve found that provides long-term relief. Shawn came down and told me my tire looked low, and I needed to check it before I went anywhere. I was trying to work on Bible study homework for a class I just started, and he sat down and lovingly pointed out a small character flaw (he really did do it with gentleness and care, but I wasn’t too happy about it).
My study was on James 1:5-8. The passage says if we lack wisdom, we should ask God who will give it to us generously and without finding fault. But it also warns that we should ask without doubting and without being double-minded, or we won’t get anything at all. I was struggling with the second part because all too often, my faith seems so small.
Then the phone rang, and it was Anna in a bit of a panic. She had forgotten a key piece of clothing for the day and asked if I could drop it off before she finished running. Now I could have said no and let her deal with the consequences of forgetting, and there are times when I believe that would be appropriate. But she is brand new to cross country and early morning practices and, in my opinion, still needs extra encouragement.
I found the clothing. I also picked up the cellphone and the throat lozenges she forgot. Because she often eats very little until after school, I grabbed an apple and a granola bar and stuck in money for lunch. I put all the items into a plastic Kroger bag and left them in the prearranged spot (Rebekah’s pickup in the school parking lot). I spied the girls running around the track with their teammates and smiled at the sight.
Then I went back home to finish my study. The Message translation of James 1:5-6 was reminding me, “If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought.”
In her James study guide, Beth Moore says she’s “practiced coupling my plea for wisdom with my advance gratitude for receiving it.” That’s one aspect of asking in faith, knowing that God has our best in mind and will do it. I know He wants me to become more like Him in joyful obedience and loving others, so I can thank Him that He is working on me and allow Him to knock the hard edges off my heart.
As I started to pray, Anna texted me, “I have the best mommy ever!!!” I think she was enthusiastic because I went beyond just the item of clothing and gave her things she didn’t even ask for. God tapped me on the shoulder. He goes way beyond what we ask and gives us “immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine” (Eph. 3:20).
My job is to ask for wisdom, be thankful that God is at work, and get my own stubborn self out of the way as I follow Him.

Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert. — Isaiah 43:19

The Engelland girls on the first day of school in 2003. Anna was an afternoon kindergartner, Rachel in sixth, and Rebekah in third grade.

Back to school has put me in a contemplative mood. My three daughters started classes today, with Anna now a freshman in high school, Rebekah a senior, and Rachel beginning her junior year at Texas A&M. I can vividly remember going into labor with Anna just hours after Rachel’s kindergarten graduation. Now I have less than a year until Rebekah goes to college! Just another four years of having school age kids at home.

While I was often hurried, harried, and harassed, I know I’ve been blessed to be a part of this circus called parenthood. I won’t mind too much braving the crowds tonight to buy school supplies. Once your kid is in high school, they don’t get the supply lists until the first day of class. I’m looking forward to Rebekah’s cross country meets and meeting Anna’s teachers at mini-school. I will check my calendar and work in a trip to visit Rachel sometime this fall because the college days are special, too.

A new school year is a chance for new beginnings, but we always have that opportunity as followers of Christ. As Anne of Green Gables would say, “Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it.” With the kids getting older and losing my Dad this past year, I’m conscious of the passage of time and trying to be deliberate about making memories and counting blessings. Regardless of the changes we face in our lives– tough classes at school, kids growing up, losing people close to us, aging (had to buy reading glasses)–God has a wonderful future planned for believers. “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'” — Jer. 29:11

Sometimes changes are good and sometimes they are not ones we would choose, but God, in his grace and mercy, works all things together for the good of those who love him (Rom. 8:28). Not some of the things, or most of the things, but ALL THINGS.

Maybe when we go shopping tonight I will buy myself some new pens or a journal. I want to record ideas, goals, blessings, and God’s promises. Can you feel it? He is doing a new thing.

It’s been a long time since I posted. In fact, I wrote the title and the first several sentences of this post on April 3, then got sidetracked again. I blame three events that kept me swamped on the home front.
Event #1. Spring Break ski trip to Idaho, all five of us. When I’m planning a trip, I tend to obsess over the details. I’ll spend weeks looking at possible destinations. Warm climate or cold, high energy or relaxing, city vacation or out in the sticks. Truth be told, we don’t have too many relaxing family vacations. We tend to attack our trips like a platoon of commandos, although our girls are not always as keen on our plans as we’d like. (“Not another museum!”) Once we’ve picked a place, I’ll pore (pour?) over websites for days looking at hotels, motels, condos, cabins, yurts. Then there’s finding gear for the cold weather that we rarely see here in Texas, ski/board rental, car rental, meal plans, your top three “must see” attractions, etc. We decided on a mid-sized resort, Brundage Mountain, near McCall. We got a lot of snow.

Let it Snow...as long as we get down in one piece!

One day, we got 14 inches, most of it while we were on the mountain. None of us are good enough to be super excited by deep powder. When you fall, it’s almost impossible to get back up. That said, we had a fun time, and no one broke any bones! I call that a success. We stayed in a cabin rental from vrbo.com that was lovely. When we weren’t skiing or boarding, we watched movies, worked on puzzles, read books, and talked over meals in the cabin or out on the town. The older the kids get, the more I treasure the time we spend together.

Asst. Coach Danny Manning talks with Thomas Robinson

Event #2: March Madness, baby! Rock Chalk Jayhawk! Shawn and I had such a fun time following this year’s team right on through the championship game. We lost four of the five starters to graduation and the NBA, and at the beginning of the year, our three top freshmen were declared ineligible by the NCAA. This wasn’t the most talented team, but they were very creative in finding ways to win. Having been a fan since the early ’80s, I’ve never seen a group that came back from so many deficits. They followed that script right to the end. To borrow a phrase from my Aggie daughter, we didn’t lose to Kentucky, we just ran out of time.I spent lots of time during our run watching games, Sports Center, reading coverage, one could say I get a little too into it. Thomas Robinson, who is headed for the NBA draft, will go down as one of my all-time favorite players for overcoming the adversity of losing his mom and both his grandparents within three weeks last year. He came back this year focused and determined. It was also the end of an era with my favorite Jayhawk of all time, Danny Manning, leaving Kansas to take the head coaching job at Tulsa. He has done so much for KU basketball that I wish him and his family the best.

Event #3: Attack of the killer weeds. Before we went to Idaho, we had a lot of rain. I used this as the perfect excuse to not do yard work. When we returned from our trip, we had the biggest crop of dandelions and dallisgrass I had ever seen. Shawn and I both spent many hours for multiple days on our hands, knees, and backsides pulling hundreds of weeds. I paid the girls $10 an hour to pull weeds and paid out about $100 between Rebekah and Anna, but Shawn and I spent many more hours than that, and we weren’t getting paid. We’ve been busy every weekend weeding, spraying, mowing, tilling, planting, and mulching. We are still not done with it all. We are vowing to never let it get to that point again. Only time will tell… In the process of cleaning out my flower bed, Shawn dug up a trumpet vine root that looked like a giant anaconda.

Trumpet vine root takes over the world, or at least my garden.

 Tending my garden reminds me of how bad habits can sprout up like weeds. If you let some negative thought or action take root in you, watch out! It could go to seed and give you a huge crop of weeds. My trumpet vine is good when it provides shade on our patio, but it has gotten completely out of hand and is coming up where it doesn’t belong. If we allow something good in our lives too much free rein, it can become destructive. That can happen with relationships, food, possessions, work, hobbies, even (dare I say?) Jayhawk basketball. Good thing God has the answer: “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” – 2 Peter 1:3

I haven’t posted in a while primarily due to two factors. Surprise! My husband invited his brother and family from Kansas to spend the night at our house while on their way to San Antonio, and we were going to be in College Station visiting our Aggie girl. Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy ride. If you’re a clutterbug like me, you know what it means to have to clear the decks on short notice.

The second obstacle was a case of some unidentified respiratory crud that made breathing a challenge and coughing a way of life. It slowed me down and rendered me only about 29 percent effective for a few days. As I recovered (and our visitors’ arrival approached), I was able to boost output closer to 60 percent for crisis cleaning.

The weekend before our company, Shawn was finishing up a project installing home theater speakers in the great room and, for a while, making an even bigger mess. We had to dig out six-year-old paint to touch up cabinets and get a fresh quart of the wall color to paint the cover hiding speaker wires. Out of respect for my husband, I won’t mention how many years ago he bought me the home theater system (love you, hon).

Once he finished, crisis cleaning commenced. How long had it been since I had dusted the ceiling fan? Can you tell by measuring the layer of dust? I wiped down my kitchen cabinets and scrubbed so hard in some places that the pickled finish (all the rage in 1995) was decimated. I vacuumed the wooden blinds in the great room with some success, but the same white blinds in the breakfast nook were so sticky that I had to settle for wiping off the worst of the dark splatters and leaving most of the dust intact. Was that chocolate syrup, soy sauce or barbecue sauce? When I started dusting the plastic mini-blinds in the master bath, slats started breaking like the warm, thin tortilla chips from Oscar’s. A carefully placed cafe curtain hid the damage.

I did get Rebekah and Anna to help out. Rebekah vacuumed the house while Anna cleaned her bathroom and did laundry.

My closet still hasn’t gotten much attention because I focused on the clutter everyone could see. I tackled the books and magazines overflowing the nightstand and basket by my bed and the papers piled on my desk. Shawn cleared the dining room table of cameras, photos and mementos from my dad who passed away two months ago.

The truth is it was good to get the house cleaner than it’s been in a long time. While far from perfect, we made a lot of progress in a matter of days. And the good news is I am not dreading turning over my house to a bunch of eighth grade girls this weekend for a church retreat (well, maybe a little apprehensive).

Romans 12:13 urges Christians to “practice hospitality.” All too often, I use my cluttered, dirty house as a reason to avoid hospitality, but if I want to bless others, I need to embrace those opportunities. I am thankful we could have Shawn’s brother, sister-in law and five kids stay at our home because I want to bless them, just as I want to help young women draw closer to the Lord this weekend.

God is not looking for me to be perfect. He wants me to take steps of obedience.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” – Galatians 6:9

From Sandra Felton’s The Messie’s Manual: The Procrastinator’s Guide to Good Housekeeping (my comments are in parentheses)

0 – No one cares to enter your home (call city code compliance)

1 – Fools rush in where angels fear to tread (could be eligible for an episode of Hoarders)

2- If you had to, you could find at least one clean towel (this actually happened at our house a few weeks ago – mini towel crisis) 

3 – The dishes are clean, but stay out of the upstairs bath! (Even on a good day, I’m thankful for the downstairs powder room)

4- At least once a week, everything’s spotless–for a day! (Oh, to have a spotless house, even for just a day!)

5 – You can read a book without overwhelming guilt. (Okay, I can read even with things in shambles around me. My guilt shows up when someone’s at the door)

6 – The minister’s wife can call without panicking you. (At this point, I would need the better part of a day just to get the downstairs presentable with crisis cleaning)

7 – You can hold elaborate luncheons twice a week and have everything neat by 3:30 p.m. (Wow, there are people who can do that?)

8 – You gave away the dog and made the kids understand. (I would give away the kids, they’re messier…just kidding, girls!)

9 – Your kids aren’t allowed downstairs except to eat–neatly. (We all remember visiting homes as a kid where no one was allowed in the living room, like a museum without the velvet rope)

10 – No one dares to enter your home. (plastic protectors everywhere)

Not very many of us are 0s or 10s, Sandra Felton (another Sandra!) says, and no one really wants to be a 10. Some days I’m a 2, others a 3. I’d like to be a 7–that would be awesome–but I’d settle for a 5 or 6. How about you?

As a creative, right-brained person who is often in her own little world, I found a kindred spirit in reading books on “Messies” by Sandra Felton (another Sandra!). She says that people who have trouble keeping up with clutter and housekeeping chores are often easily distracted, visually tune out from their surroundings (lolling about in la-la land like me because we’re daydreaming), and have disorganized thinking (did it take you a long time to learn left and right? me, too).

We are all born with tendencies and raised in situations that can aggravate negative habits, but I believe that God wants to help us be over-comers so we can bless others and so we can have what Youth Pastor Brandon Smeltzer calls Grace Stories.  I can’t do this on my own, but “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” – Php. 4:13

Northwood Church in Keller, Texas, my home congregation, has a month-long series called “Losing It” that features contestants from The Biggest Loser telling how their physical transformation was a factor in their spiritual transformation. Teams of members and staff, including our Executive Pastor Bob Roberts, are competing to see who can lose the most pounds.

Northwood Church Losing It team, photo by Betty Alford

I don’t have a weight problem, never have. Unless you consider the names I was called in grade school: “Pick up Sticks,” “Bones,” “Spider.” I was what most kids would consider “too skinny” when I was little. As an adult, I’ve heard the phrase: “There’s no such thing as being too skinny (or too rich).” I’m not overly skinny anymore, but I have been blessed with a metabolism that allows me to eat most of what I want without a problem. I know, about 70 percent of you are hating me right now…

While I don’t need to lose body weight, I do need to lose another kind of weight. I realized that “Losing It” would be a great time for me to focus on losing the stuff that weighs me down, I mean literally.

Hello, my name is Sandra and I am a clutterbug. Not just a little bit here or there, but messes and clutter are all around me. My closets, my drawers, my tables and floors are all stuffed with too much stuff. Instead of losing weight off my body, I plan to spend the next four weeks losing the weight of too many possessions and to try to train myself into better habits of dealing with my home.

my messy closet, Feb. 8, 2012

In the interest of being real, at right you will see a picture of my closet. It’s kind of embarrassing, but that’s part of the point. Knowing that others will see my mess and my commitment to deal with it will provide motivation and accountability. I’ll end today with this verse:

“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. ” – Hebrews 12:11

The orphans from Alto Refugio had just arrived at our camp when a little girl came up to me, grinned, and held up her swimsuit. She had sparkling brown eyes and feet that didn’t want to keep still. We were going to have a camp introduction session before we let the kids go swim, so I asked Rachel to tell her she could swim later. She listened and nodded. A few minutes later, I saw her wearing her swimsuit. I soon learned the girl’s name was Anageyli. She looked about 5 or 6, but she was 8, and she was in my small group “Equipo Azul” (blue team). I figured she would keep me busy, and I was right. Anageyli would climb trees, venture too close to the pool when it wasn’t swim time, and wander off from the rest of the group.

The first night of camp, one of the other Northwood moms, Shelley, brought me a handful of blue markers and Anageyli. She plopped the little girl in my lap for a little impromptu face painting. Anageyli asked for a “flor” on one cheek. I asked Rachel for a little translation help. Flower, of course. As I brushed back her chin-length hair to draw the flower, I noticed a two-inch scar running down the edge of her cheek. I carefully drew the flower, although my hands shook a bit. Anageyli turned and offered her other cheek. “Corazon,” she said. Thanks to “Romancing the Stone,” I knew that corazon meant heart. Once I was done I took pictures of each cheek because there were no mirrors handy. She smiled and nodded when she saw the digital images on my camera, gave me a quick hug, and off she went.

The next day during our small group Bible study, Anageyli—by far the youngest in our group–did not want to sit still. I took her to a nearby table with our notebooks, pens, and markers. She was trying to write her name, but had trouble with the “g.” She had me write it several times before making the attempt herself. I started drawing pictures for her. Flor, corazon, mariposa (butterfly), tortuga (turtle), and more. Lori, the camp director, brought us a brand new 24-pack of Crayolas, and we colored. The picture Anageyli wanted to draw over and over was the mariposa.

I gave her a beaded necklace of flors I had made earlier. Her eyes lit up. “Si, si, gracias.” She talked very excitedly as I tied it around her neck. I heard the word “mama” in there somewhere, but didn’t understand much. The hug and kiss are universal, though.

We had more time to draw and visit during the camp. Her propensity to wander reminded me of my youngest daughter, Anna, when she was little. She could get into trouble when she was bored but also could be very sweet and affectionate.

On the last afternoon, Rachel and several other teens went with the orphans to help them carry their belongings to their old school bus parked a few hundred yards away and say, “adios.” Rachel said that Anageyli was crying. She didn’t want to leave. Moments later, Anageyli was back at the campsite. I gently took her by the hand to walk her back to the bus. I noticed she was barefoot. “Donde estas zapatos?” I asked in my broken Spanish. She pointed at the bus, and I lifted her up onto my hip. I began humming, and so did she. We both sang snatches of songs. I told her “es mi amiga” (You are my friend) and “te amo” (I love you). She agreed and rattled off something sweet in Spanish as she gave me another hug.

I learned Anageyli had only been at the orphanage for a few months and was just coming out of her shell. Her body bore witness to a very rough 8 years, and the reason she was removed from her home. She had dozens of scars. Despite the violent abuse in her past, this little girl radiated a lively, loving joy. I was reminded that God longs for us to experience His healing and embrace His love.

Transformation is God’s business, like the caterpillar to the butterfly.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”
2 Cor. 5:17-18

Anageyli and her corazon