February 28: Jesus, Jesus, Jesus

You need Me every moment.

Your awareness of your constant need for Me

 is your greatest strength.

Your neediness, properly handled, is a link to my Presence...

Use My name liberally, to remind you of My Presence.

Keep on asking and you will receive, so that your gladness may be full and complete.

reflection based on John 16:24 found in Sarah Young's Jesus Calling

Reading these words this week - and in particular, 'use My name liberally' - made me think of two things:

  First, something that I've taken from a teacher's convention speech years ago by Tony Campolo.  He said something about starting out his day calling out the name of  'Jesus' three times.  One of the things I've missed this year is my twenty minute drive to school each morning where for years now, I have uttered the words 'Jesus, Jesus, Jesus....' and then proceeded to invite Jesus into my day and into my classroom.  Some days I'd sing out those words with joy and gratitude and sometimes it would sound more like a plea for help.  No matter how I felt when I started the prayer, I usually entered the parking lot feeling affirmed that I was not facing the day alone. Calling out Jesus' name certainly reminds us of His Presence, something we can often forget or miss in our busyness.

Second, I thought of the one word song of 'Amen' that our dear friend Shanda taught us. When our families gather for a meal, we often end with this simple, triumphant song of 'Amen' along with energized clapping.  After reading this excerpt from Jesus Calling this week, it made perfect sense to change the song's word to 'Jesus' instead and so we ended our meal time together with a new version of this simple but powerful song.

Where we've been:

Now that we're in our third week of the semester, we can't help but think back to the beginning of last semester at El Puente.  Talk about hard!  Days seemed to fill with tears, frustrations and challenges as we adjusted to life here and to a school experience so different than what we expected.  Many days we seemed to cry out, 'Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Help!!!'  We didn't experience any overnight quick fixes for most of our challenges and frustrations.  However, the whole experience was a vivid reminder that yes, indeed, we need Him every moment.  Yes, indeed, we are needy and broken and must thirst for His Presence with as much gusto as we reach for a tall glass of cold water to refresh us from the Quepos heat.

It's probably fair to say that if you heard us say 'Jesus, Jesus, Jesus' in our first six months here it would have sounded like a cry of desperation. We didn't feel like ending any meal times clapping and singing 'Amen' with gusto.  Life seemed to be mere survival and we needed little treats like ice-cream on Wednesday afternoons to keep us going.    

Where we are now:

Now we're finishing up our 8th month here.  Hard to believe we have only four more to go.  We are blown away at what this semester at El Puente has been like so far compared to last semester.  There have been so many changes, developments, and growth (both physically in numbers of staff/students and in educational/curriculum practices) that we are in awe.  It is really exciting to see what has happened at El Puente in only a few short months.   This new school experience has really had a huge positive impact on our family and has drastically diminished the kids' desire to be counting down the days until we leave.

We also feel very blessed and honored to be involved with the Seeds of Hope ministry to young girls and the Casa de Amor men's rehab center.  Both places energize us and have had a profound impact on our experience here.

Where we are going:

Please join us in praying that we would use Jesus' name liberally whether it's in a cry for help and wisdom or a shout of jubilation. Pray that His Presence would flow through us as we continue to build relationships at El Puente, Seeds of Hope, Casa de Amor and in our church and neighborhood.