Saftey Pin

“Miss Stephanie, my skirt is too big!” I turned around and could not help but smile at Naveen as he said this to me. I looked at the khaki skirt he was wearing to complete his Roman soldier outfit. He was already intent on finding his helmet and sword (his pride and joy), but was his intentions were inconveniently being interrupted by the fact that he was now holding his pleated apparel at his waist with both hands…

Sometimes, I feel like that – too preoccupied with keeping myself together and finding I am unable to do the things I really want to do because of the inconvenience of being a present mess. 

“I have a safety pin. Just a minute. Stay still.”

“Stay still.” Those last words must have been the most difficult to hear when all he probably wanted to do was move. The adrenaline from knowing the Christmas program was in an hour and his shining moment fast approaching coupled with the fact that his parents were in the audience was a stark contrast against his statue impression. It could have been the interest of watching exactly how I pinned that made him stay still. But I think that although he watched with unwavering eyes, he was really intent on staying still because he knew what would happen if he moved. He was not watching the skirt’s pinning. He was watching how close the pin was to him and how still he was being. 

But I was watching all three. My work. His proximity. His obedience.

Safety pin. “Safety” - protection, security. “Pin” – to fasten, fix, join. What are the safety pins in your life? (a petty analogy, I know). But really…what are they? Those seemingly small, insignificant things that He places so carefully in our lives for our good – to “keep our skirts on”? The things that are intentionally and perfectly placed to “fasten, fix and join” us to Himself? The things that are for our “protection, security”? The things that we look so worryingly on because we think there is even the remotest chance that He will be careless and we will suffer for it?

But He is aware of all three. His work. His proximity. Our obedience.

Naveen’s parents watched in pride and he threw his lines out before the audience with pleasure. Apparel properly pinned. Props placed. Prepared. And unpricked.

*the program and events of Dec.17^th went wonderfully according to expectation! Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers! Due to the private nature of those in attendance and at the request of Impact, no pictures will be posted on this blog. However, if you would like pictures, I will be most happy to email them to you!!!! Hope you all enjoyed the holidays! Blessings from India!

Loose Teeth and Hand-Me-Downs

Yesterday marked the halfway point of this trip for me. What?! Has it really been three months since that departure from DIA?? Honestly, nothing has passed by quicker than my days here and I worry that I will not be able to keep up at this rate! I do not want to miss a moment of my time here. I want to be aware of the Lord’s work in my life and the lives of others.

My question: How do we know if we have grown spiritually?! Is there even growth at all to even assess? What evidence is there?

I had been out due to a nasty head/ chest cold, so when I went into the Children’s Home a week later and crossed the entryway, I see a wall of girls coming at me, all yelling, “Miss Stephanieeeee!!!”

Instantly, I have three girls on my left arm – one at my shoulder, another holding my forearm, and one grasping my wrist. My right side is matched, save for the fourth girl trying to get a hold of my pinky while jostling a sister or two. The smallest girl has buried her face into my stomach and laughing as she embraces me with her tiny arms. Trying to stay there while I walk forward makes her loose her grip; then, realizing I’m moving, she tries to walk backwards, which makes her giggle even more.

When they disperse a bit, I see that some have undergone changes. Some are missing teeth. Same smiles and just as expressive, but less “toothy”. And some of them were not in their normal dress. The smaller ones were now dressed in their older sisters’ clothing and so on. They were growing right before my eyes – and I’d only been out a week! Such changes were so quick and effortless! But there they were, just being themselves and living day-to-day…They had not done a thing – and still they grew! Even in looking at pictures from the first week here, three months ago, the growth is obvious.

Children grow naturally. It just happens. They eat, exercise, sleep, and repeat. And then one day you notice the simultaneous growth that has been happening the entire time…

And so it is spiritually. To feed on the Word, to exercise faith, to rest, and to make it a lifestyle causes growth. I have been yet again reminded of the Lord’s promise that “He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6).

If you could take a snapshot of your heart from three months ago and compare it to your heart currently, what changes would you see? What differences would you notice? 

So, here’s to loose teeth and hand-me-downs!

“…Our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16).