Finding Joy In The Journey

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Be a Better Human in 1 Simple Step

A LESSON FROM TV

My favorite TV shows to watch in France are the dubbed American series. The voices they choose and the slight changes they make to conversations in French offer endless amounts of entertainment. My latest guilty pleasure is Monk, the old series about a man with OCD who solves crimes with incredible accuracy. 

However, Monk has been more than a language lesson for me these days. Every episode demonstrates how Mr. Monk sees what no one else can see. Of course, he is a fictional character, but he notices what others ignore. He perceives what others overlook. 

We need more people like Monk, people who really examine the world around them. More specifically, we need people who pay attention to other people. 

SEEING WHAT’S HARD TO SEE

My work invites me to see individuals on the streets who aren’t noticed by most. Cars may pass by late at night to consider buying what’s being sold or to hurl insults at those for sale. Sadly, the people on the streets are visible only as objects or as a nuisance to the neighborhood. 

They are so much more than what some choose to observe. They are precious people not products. They are souls not sale items.

When a team of us go out late at night, distributing coffee and offering assistance, we witness that which isn’t always enjoyable. However, recognizing the painful problems also means beholding the beautiful souls hidden in difficult scenarios. The night is a treasure trove of diamonds in the rough. 

THE GOD WHO SEES

There is tremendous comfort in knowing that, like Hagar’s distressing circumstances in Genesis 16, “the God who sees” has his eye on men and women who are trafficked or trapped by circumstances that brought them to the streets. God’s loving regard is on those who the world often overlooks. 

If we are to be more like our savior, and maybe even a bit like Mr. Monk, we must see what isn’t easy to see. We are invited by God to catch a glimpse of the beauty in the souls made in his image in our community today. We are called to acknowledge the humanity around us despite our busy schedules.

Seeing isn’t just believing. Put much more simply, seeing is noticing, recognizing and paying attention to what is around us. Perhaps truly seeing humanity is the greatest gift we can offer others today. They are not a means to an end. The simple gift of seeing, really seeing, people on the streets late at night validates their humanity and offers love. We see them; God sees them, too.

I pray we will be better humans this week. I pray we will notice those around us. May we look into the eyes of a stranger and say hello. May we pay attention to those we encounter. Love requires that we see those around us.

How to Fight the Helplessness of Suffering

THE STRUGGLE

Working alongside people who suffer enormously, much more than the average first world complaints, can create a level of helplessness. I can’t fix everything. I can’t force people to make choices I believe are better or best for their lives. 

I try to be present in moments of conversation, prayer and assistance. Yet, in the back of my head, there is always a desire to do more. Why can’t things change faster? Why can’t the pain and suffering disappear with a snap of my fingers?

I have these thoughts after late nights on the streets when sleep evades me. I want to see more for the women I encounter. I want them to experience a different life. They do too. Even still, the chasm between their reality and their hopes and dreams feels impossible to overcome on those sleepless nights. 

THE HOPE WE HAVE

What keeps me going despite these late night questions? 

The truth about resurrection. At the core of my faith in Christ is a promise of hope and new life. What appears to be too far gone, too dark, too dead, can still be brought back to life. In other words, new life is possible. The cross and the resurrection of Jesus show us that things are not always as they appear, what we see is not all there is and the future does not always look the way we expect.

Can you imagine being a disciple when Jesus was arrested, beaten and then hung on the cross? All hope was lost. The plans for the future dashed. How devastating it must’ve been for them! Then, a few days later, something better than they could’ve dreamed took place. Jesus came back to life and changed everything.

Sometimes the work I do seems like the middle time between death and resurrection. Thankfully, what I currently see is not all there is. The story doesn’t end in the middle.

Because of my faith, when I speak with women in dire situations, whether they comprehend it or not, I represent resurrection hope and power that is available to them. God can change their situation. What seems impossible is possible—in the smallest and biggest of ways. This hope we have in Christ is for you, for me and for everyone!

I pray we carry this hope and the power of resurrection today into every situation we face. May we be encouraged that what seems dead can be resurrected. Jesus is working even in the middle. 

What Aladdin Can Teach Us About God

“Do you trust me?” These words spoken by Aladdin in the original Disney movie keep coming to mind. Aladdin urged Jasmine to trust him multiple times in this classic film from my childhood. He asked her to trust as they jumped to safety away from the police. He also encouraged her to trust him and step onto the magic carpet for an adventure of a lifetime. 

Trust is at the core of Christianity. If you have faith in God, you trust Him.

When thinking about the spiritual implications of these scenarios in Aladdin (silly) and our relationship with God (serious):

Do we trust God to help us when we’re in trouble? Yes, but let’s be honest about our knee-jerk reactions. He is not the first person we call when we’ve lost our keys or need financial assistance. He is not the first person we run to when we need to vent about a problem. Often we count on God only after all other plans have been exhausted and all other strategies to resolve the problem leave no realistic solution.

Do we trust God to take us on an adventure of a lifetime? Yes and no. Magic carpets aside, following God and trusting Him creates the opportunity to see and do things we could never imagine. 

Do we trust Him when He wants us to leap into something that is unknown but exciting? When we’ve wanted this adventure for a long time, we are ready to jump. What about when it is an unexpected opportunity that we never planned for or even thought we wanted? Will we jump then as well? 

In moments of stress lately, I hear these five words: “Joy, do you trust Me?” It’s easy to say I trust God about life in general. In my line of work, I’m supposed to trust God. Yet, it’s another challenge to trust Him when circumstances overwhelm or when the road twists and turns unexpectedly.

My work with people who suffer intensely forces me to ponder many of the hardest questions about life and God. How do the women I work with trust God after all they’ve experienced? I can’t explain it, but they do. They want to be close to God. They want to pray. They want to sing and spend time in His presence. 

If trust is at the core of following God, how can I encourage myself and those I work with to trust Him more? We build trust in the same ways everyone else does.

  • Time—spending moments with God helps us build trust in Him.
  • Honest sharing—telling Him how we are feeling, thinking, and doing opens the lines of communication.
  • Slowly opening up to God—sharing about the deepest hurts and biggest dreams allows us to grow closer to God and receive healing. 
  • Observing what He does and says—Listening to God through scripture and in times of prayer, watching as He responds to our requests and helps us in our daily lives all develops trust. 

Whatever you are facing in this season, may your trust in God increase exponentially and may  you find the magic carpet moments with God better than you could’ve hoped.

God, Keep Her Safe

I find myself whispering a little prayer these days. No doubt it’s because I am regularly in contact with women in some of the worst conditions on the streets. My heart strings are tugged, even ripped out, because of situations I see and hear. My prayer, without even being conscious of it until recently, has become a basic request throughout my day.

A little girl on her way to school is bundled up in a scarf and coat and I whisper in my heart:

God, keep her safe.

A lovely teen is surrounded by boys on the tram and I silently pray:

God, keep her safe.

A woman stands on the street corner with a deep pain evident on her face and I say:

God, keep her safe.

Asking God to protect women in every stage of life, the young and the old, the weak and the strong, is not a bad prayer to pray. Prayers of protection are found throughout scripture. My work let’s me encounter too many who have not been kept safe from evil.

I want to pray God’s protection over as many as I can and be a source of protection for those within my reach. I will, along with many other requests for these women, say a simple prayer that comes from deep within me.

God, keep them safe.

“The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” -Psalm 18:2

What Kind of MORE Do You Want in Life?

MORE. We all want more. More time. More money. More of whatever we desire but don’t have. It seems wired in us to want more. Yet, the incessant need for more contaminates our hearts and minds. It breeds discontentment, comparison, envy and a general dissatisfaction with the life we’ve been given.

The pursuit of more also makes us look at those who have what we want. We ask, “Why? Why them and not me?”

The whys often go in one direction–UP. Our eyes are on those who have or appear to have more than we do.

Because of my work with people in extreme difficulty, the why questions and my desire for MORE are confronted regularly. I’m forced to ask a different kind of why.

Why was I born in a wonderful nation and into a loving family? Why did I receive an excellent education when so many girls around the world have not? Why have I been healthy enough to work hard and make a living? Why do I have so much when others have so little?

When we ask these sobering questions, we realize how blessed we are. We realize our need for obtaining more for ourselves keeps us blind and lazy.

Instead of asking WHY, we need to ask WHAT.

  • What can I do to help more people?
  • What resources can I share with others?
  • What is God asking me to sacrifice for individuals who are suffering?
  • What can I do to love God and share His love with the world?

The problems I see on a daily basis are too much for me. They can be paralyzing. I don’t have enough to help everyone. Yet, I have something I can give and something I can do.

Let’s be people who ask what MORE we can give, do, be for others instead of what MORE we can hoard for ourselves. God has blessed us so much. Let’s go and bless the world around us TODAY.

When Satan Speaks French

In the few years that I’ve lived in France, I have found people to be patient and kind when foreigners try to speak French. More often than not, they are very encouraging when I speak and my accent is a source of “cuteness” instead of annoyance. However, one day a “messenger of Satan” (2 Cor. 12:7), as I teasingly call her, came into my life. It was a brief encounter, but she made her mark. She was the stereotype: ruthless with her precious language, expecting perfection from all. She, unfortunately for me, sat near the front of an anti-trafficking training that my colleague and I were leading. She took it upon herself to correct any mistake we made, policing any pronunciation that wasn’t just right. How’d she do this? Under her breath but loud enough for me to hear. The topic was already a difficult one to teach in English; it was even more complicated in another language. I tried to smile and just keep going, but this “messenger” messed with my head. Honestly, I think she meant well, but it was anything but helpful. 

Despite the best of intentions, people can become “messengers of Satan,” pushing our buttons where we are most vulnerable. They seem to have a sixth sense for where insecurities lie. I tease when I label them this way, but I think you understand what I’m talking about. They are the ones who know what is best and they don’t mind telling you how to improve your life whether you asked for their input or not. When these messengers come, we must wage war. The battle isn’t with the person, despite the desire we may have to slap them silly. The battle is with the insecurity that surfaces. It’s a fight against those thoughts that want to perpetually tell you: “You’ll never get it right (a.k.a. perfect)” or “You are stupid” or whatever else the lie might be for you. We must be ruthless with these thoughts, recognizing their toxicity and then putting them in their place—to death. They have no place in our lives and they really must go. 

While it is true in this scenario that I will never be perfect in French, I don’t have to be a casualty from this discouraging encounter. The reality is that I am improving each day. In some ways, she has done me a great favor. She highlighted where I need to let God do some more work in my heart. Thankfully, that’s where I find another layer of freedom for my life.

What is your “messenger of Satan” showing you about your insecurities? What is the lie you need to put to death today?

So You Want to Support an Anti-Trafficking Organization…

I meet a lot of Christians who want to donate to organizations fighting against human-trafficking.

Having been around the block a few times, I want to give you a few good questions to ask an organization before you donate:

  1. Do they receive government funding? If the organization accepts government funding, it may impact their Christ-centered approach. Some of the organizations you know and love may not be as faith-based or Christ-centered as you think. If they do receive government funding, follow up with a question about whether there are restrictions this funding may impose on their Christ-centered approach.
  2. How much money goes to A) Awareness B) Prevention C) Intervention and rehabilitation of victims of human trafficking? Some organizations are focusing on awareness, which is great! It’s valuable work! It’s necessary! However, this type of work many not be the desired focus for your donation. If an organization isn’t willing to share where the money is going, I’d think twice before giving.
  3. What is the percentage of $$ allotted for administrative costs? Administrative costs are necessary. An organization can’t function without great admin and we shouldn’t fuss too much about this percentage. However, it’s good to know what amount is paying for the office to run vs. caring for victims/survivors.

I’m extremely biased*, but Project Rescue is a great organization for Christ-centered ministry to trafficking victims/survivors. Giving to Project Rescue, as well as supporting workers connected to PR who raise their support individually, would be a great choice. Are there other organizations you would recommend?

Cheers to you who give and support organizations doing this important work!

 

*Note: I work in partnership with Project Rescue.