Learning to Walk

I recently spent two weeks in Santa Cruz working on the streets with Lily. To be honest, it was an overwhelming experience. There are so many kids and there is so much need. How do you even begin and establish relationships?? But it was also amazing to see how God is already working and how he has begun to use Lily. I am moving to Santa Cruz in March, so since this last trip I have been reflecting and praying a lot in preparation.

One thing that God has been teaching me lately is just to walk with him. I tend to strive and try to prove myself. I try to make myself useful to God and make myself worthy because I’ve never felt worthy. The reality is though, I’m not enough, but Jesus is, so I don’t have to be. God doesn’t want a list of completed projects from me, he wants me to walk with him in life. And that’s exactly what he is calling me to do with these kids. We are to walk with them.

I really like this quote from the book When Invisible Children Sing and I think it gives a good idea of what we do. It is actually a book written by an American doctor who worked with kids living on the streets of La Paz, Bolivia. This is the response of a former street kid to the doctor who was frustrated about seemingly wasting his time with the kids when they weren’t responding:

Chi," he says, "you have to be patient with these kids. You have to be there for the kids, that's all. They'll come around. Many people want to change these kids too quickly… They're all wrong. These kids aren't going to change overnight. You have to do it step by step. A little less thinner. A little less violence. A little at a time."

We just have to be there for them.

I cannot fix anyone or make it all better for these kids, but I can point them to the hope I have found. We can walk together. And as we walk, God is with us. He walks with us, and in the middle of it all he can do the unexpected.

~Ellie