Abundance

God reminded and revealed the most beautiful thing to me last night as I was falling asleep! When Christ died He took all our punishment. He bore it all!! That means that God never punishes our sin. Sometimes our sins punish us, but in Him there is only freedom! That means that God doesn't take away things or hurt us because of our sins. He just doesn't!! Everything that is taken away from us is not punishment! When good things are taken away, they are stolen by the enemy. He has come to kill, steal, and destroy, but Christ has come that we might have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10). God never desires to hurt us. However, just as a loving Daddy will take away something that will hurt us, our Abba is watching out for us diligently. His desire is never to make us miserable. He hates to see us hurt. That is not His heart's desire, but He sees the big picture and desires to take us to the most abundant place possible. Sometimes we kick and scream. And consequently, sometimes He leaves us to what we think is best for us. After all, He never desired for us to be robots. He gives us free will. Just as Moses made decisions that kept him from ever reaching the promised land, we can choose to not move forward into the destiny God has for us. But... if God has the best for us, why would we not want that?? Why would I not want to follow Him to deeper and better places? He has promised abundant life. He has promised to restore the years the locust stole (Joel 2:25). When we seek Him, He doubles the portion that the enemy stole (Job 42:10). But wait-- He doesn't promise it will be easy. It's often in the valley that He speaks to us (Ezekiel 3:22), but He promises to walk through that valley with us (Psalm 23:4). He calls us His. He calls us precious and honored, promising to never leave us in our trials (Isaiah 43). The way is narrow. It's not always easy, but it's good. Because He is all good and desires to lead His children to abundance. Praise Him!

The Baby House

During the time I spent at the Iris compound, I spent as much time as possible in what is called the Baby House. The Baby House is essentially where the toddlers live. You can go and play with them on their playground, or help get them all fed at meals, or just hold them after their baths before bed. During certain times, you could take individual kids out to get some one-on-one times. This is where the Lord really drew and broke my heart. I miss these precious children more than I thought was possible!!!

This is two year old Chelsia. If I could, I would have brought her home. She has my heart and I think of her all the time. Her birthday is in just a couple of days!! Missing her...

The little girls LOVED having their nails painted = )

Steph with Marta, another super sweet little girl. One of my strongest memories of her is walking into the Baby House and making eye contact with her. She looked at me with those big eyes, pointed to herself and whispered, "Me?" WOW... Nothing will break your heart quite like that. Marta, I declare that God has CHOSEN YOU. He picks you. You are not rejected or leftover. You are His princess!!!

We let Marta and Chelsia help us bake a cake one day. They were SO serious about it, and you should have seen their faces when we let them try the icing. I don't think they've ever had that much sugar!

Jesse also grew really close to some of the children in the Baby House. This little guy was his buddy = )

LOOK AT THAT SMILE! Ernesto had a giggle and smile like you couldn't believe. He and his friend were major charmers.

Catching bubbles!

Remember, if you would like to sponsor a child through Iris Ministries, you can go to https://www.irismin.org/giving-center.