Yesterday we had a wonderful Valentine's day with our residents- we got them a few little gifts (very mama-jo-esque- my mom is famous for her sweet, thoughtful little somethings for each holiday and occasion), baked cupcakes, and watched a movie. It was a great opportunity to love our girls and spend some quality time with them. We welcomed a new short-term resident last night as well. She will likely only be staying with us for a few days before she returns home, but we feel very blessed to be a part of her healing journey. She will hopefully continue with outpatient services, as our outpatient program is officially up and running! I am very excited and encouraged by this as it was one of my 3 goals for my second stint here. Also, the art therapy studios are nearing completion, so I will post photos of them we they are finished! I have loved working on these projects and I am confident that I will finish my 'to do' list before I head home in May.
In other news, during our team devotional yesterday we talked about love and I wanted to share a quote from the daily devotional I have been going through:
"It is vital that we remember Paul's exhortation to speak to people's hearts. We do this by being honest and open with them. We need not impress them with our great knowledge; we need only touch them with our love." (See 1 Timothy 1: 5-7)
This has challenged me to continue to approach people in love, rather than having an agenda or wanting to get my point across. It has to become less important for me to be right, and more important for me to show people that I love them, care about them, am invested in their life/future. It is a humbling experience to acknowledge that I fall short of loving others the way that God wants me to. I have been put in a position of leadership here, and this is an area in which I need a lot of prayer for growth and increase. The weight of the responsibility of leadership has been weighing heavily on me, especially as I prepare to 'pass the torch' to other missionaries when I go home in May. I will leave you with one final profound thought that was shared with me by Pastor Mark Crow (the husband of Pastor Jennifer Crow, who founded Beautiful Dream Society) on one of his visits here: "As a leader, it is more important to care about making things right than to care about being right." This is to be my motto for the rest of my time here... and hopefully the rest of my life. Thank you for your prayers- please keep them coming!
"Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.
~1 John 4:11-12
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