A Filling Joy

"AMIGOOOOO!" yells Rudy as I walk into the doors of the Eagles' Nest, savoring the sights and smells of it all. Guatemala, the birthplace of my youngest sister, Johanna. I have traveled here before in 2007-I was nine years old, completely oblivious to the horrors of the 3rd world. But again, recently, August 11th of 2012 I started my second trip to Guatemala to a place called the Eagles' Nest.

When we first got to the Eagles' Nest, I met this little girl named Flores. I really felt that this was a child that the Lord strategically placed in my life...so I pursued her. I played with her, spent time with her, did homework with her, danced with her, you name it. But God had other plans. Before the week was over, I always seemed to find this little boy in my lap. His name was Rudy.

Setting eyes on Rudy at first, I saw signs of faint scars, which ripped my heart to shreds. It turns out that he had arrived at Eagle's Nest two months before we had gotten there after being picked up from under a tree. They lived there! Marvin, the oldest of the three, took Irma and Rudy and fled their house after being brutally beaten by their grandparents while their mother was at work. The police found them living under a tree. A tree.


Staring into this precious little boy's face, I couldn't help but fight to keep the tears from freely rolling down my cheeks. The scars were still visible. And here is this little boy, probably three years old already facing trials in life that I never would have imagined in mine.

I was in love.

Rudy would run from the complete other side of the room and jump into my lap. He would climb all over me and kiss my face continually, never getting enough. Love was all he wanted. To be loved by a human being that he had never met before, and to experience just a copy of what God's love is like for us. He couldn't get enough! He would interlock his fingers into mine, never dreaming of letting go, because he felt wanted. He felt like he belonged--because he did. I will never get enough of this little boy, and by God's grace I pray I will be able to see him again.

Yet through the midst of all he had been through, that smile was always plastered to his face. He never cried once while I was there. Other children would cry, complain, whine..but not Rudy.

It was then that God showed me my passion. People. My passion is people and after this summer I have learned that I love nothing more that to love. To Love the people of this world. God is so good to have given me two out of country opportunities already. After the Lord worked in my heart and changed me, brought me out from the pit, He told me that now its my turn. That I can't just sit back and watch people fall into the same routine that I did--of living the American dream, not even caring about other's interests. He showed me a Joy I have never experienced before. Not a happiness, not an emotion, but a feeling sprouted in the very depths of my soul purely nourished by the Grace of God. JOY. It's hard to continue to feed that Joy though. After returning to the States both times, I felt a hole. A sadness that couldn't be filled, and it takes a lot more than I expected to nourish that hole and fill it up with Joy. It's a decision. Joy is a decision!

Your Joy should have no regard for your circumstances, and if it does, then you don't have Joy. You have occasional happiness. There is a BIG difference there. I encourage you to seek that, let the Joy of Christ spill into your heart and over into others' lives, because when people see the Joy of Christ, they want more. They want to know whats different about you and why you're so happy all the time. Because as a result of being Joyful, you become happy.

Let the Lord fill you today.





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