I recently had a snapshot memory come to me and it warmed my heart all over again. At our orphanage we have two mango trees that grace us with their presence. These two mango trees give us more than just their sweet fruits, but are a source of great relief from that Haitian sun. 

Anyways.. they would let mangos fall very randomly and sporadically throughout the days. If you didn't hear a mango fall, you would still know because a group of children always race towards the mango to try and grab it before the others. Getting one of those mangos is a real special treat to those kiddos.. and they sure work hard for them. The most precious thing to my heart was a few times when the one to get the mango would not only come over and offer to share with me, but also go and share the entire mango with a group of the children. This was such a beautiful thing to witness. This is one of the times when I saw the love of Jesus through these children. The way that, though having so little themselves, they would go ahead and share this special little treat with others around them. 

..here's a picture of our two mango trees in all their glory :)

..remember when alexi just loves people really well through her talents? ohh yeah... i do. all the time. 

What a joy it is to be listening to the new Rend Collective Experiment album. I have this baby on repeat! 

^^^^ click on their new album cover to check out their new music :) ^^^^

This past week was spring break and as much as my heart yearned to go to Pine Ridge, I ended up going home to be with my family and others dear to me. Being home sometimes is something of a cleansing because we do not have internet or tv, I don't have a car (most days), and one day our dvd player even stopped working.. the only things that I was able to keep myself busy with on most days was reading, journaling, music (making and listening, crocheting, and just being. I took a lot of this time to be with my Jesus. and boy oh boy did He meet me.

I was able to spend a lot of time with my Jesus on my own as well as with other ones dear to me. There was certain individuals that I was given time with in this past week and this changed my life.. well Jesus changed my life, but he used these beautiful souls. Being around these people, hearing their hearts and the way that they are living their lives and drinking in the sweetness of their God was so incredibly moving. Listening to the hearts of these made me yearn for that more.. made me yearn for more.. more of my Jesus. I wanted to drink in His presence and let it pour over me. To life a life of pure abandonment for my King. These people made me love Jesus more simply by being in their presence. Their open and obedient hearts not only speaking truth and the Father's love and plans over my life... but allowing me to hear their hearts and how Jesus is shaping their hearts into His. There were three things that I came back with wanting more of in my life and in my relationship with Jesus.. and those are: 

1. to listen for my God and to my God... I mean actually actively listening for His voice and not doubting when He whispers and I do hear Him.
2. to proclaim truth... over my life and those around me.
3. to love recklessly.. how could I not? don't doubt when I hear the Spirit moving me to do something, but instead just go for it. 

"My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the King.."
psalm 45:1

this song.. when I listen I can't help but lift my hands. 
let it speak to your heart. 
praise Jesus for that love. 

As I read psalm 84 today, this particular piece of passage stood out to me. It says here that not only are we blessed if we look not to ourselves for strength, but to our Jesus.. and then also if our hearts on set on this pilgrimage, or journey, adventure, pursuit, search.. you choose. 

I then kept reading and it talked about this Valley of Baka and I wasn't familiar so I looked it up. What I found was while this entire passage is about a journey, Baka refers to a dry place which was passed through on this journey. However, it does not just stop at this dry spot, but it says 'they make it a place of springs..' Even these dry places on the journey are made alive through the joy of the destination. 

I really did need to hear this. There are dry days, week, even seasons of our lives.. but we need to let Jesus make these alive. We need to let them be places of springs, even when we feel the dryness. We have this eternal joy of the destination of our journey... wow.. what a lovely picture. That at the end of this journey, our destination is Him. Our destination is Jesus. Our destination is an eternity with our Creator God. Wow.. cool.