COMMUNITY! God shouts to the world.
This is the overwhelming theme for the day & evening. I get it…LOUD and CLEAR. 🙂
This morning I watched a Lifetime movie called Amish Grace (I highly recommend it). It was about that tragic incident when the man lined up all the Amish school girls and shot them (10 total, killing 5). Days after the shooting the Amish made an act to forgive the gunman and went to his widow to extend their forgiveness and offer her their hand in her time of need as well. It was an amazing example of the release forgiveness has to offer and how the Amish community supported one another.
Later that afternoon I went with a group to watch the documentary The Human Experience created by Grassroots productions. These two young brothers set out to find what the underlying link is in helping people to survive various hardships. They slept among the homeless in New York, they went to Peru to tend to the ‘lost children’ and made a trip to Ghana, Africa to visit the leper colonies and speak with AIDS victims. And in each and every scenario the two brothers found that these people survive these hardships because of the love of God and the love of those that surround them as family. There were a few quotes that truly struck me and I can’t think of any ‘crafty’ way to give them to you except straight up:
In Ghana: “One might lose a mother but another woman will step in to fill the void and one will lose a father but someone else in the community will step in, so on and so forth. We are never alone.”
“Go always with God and go to any length to prosper in what you do.” A quote given by a young mother infected with HIV AIDS when asked what she wants her young children to know.
“Those who suffer are leading the army to peace. When there is great suffering there is great opportunity for compassion.”
“By giving of yourself you find yourself. No matter what you go through life IS a gift.”
My day 100 of this project has proven to be the gift I knew God would give. He has given me His message through and through this entire week…There is no need to feel alone or to be alone. But we have to speak up and allow others the gift to share in our pain.
Pray for me, I have been blessed with the opportunity to speak on forgiveness tomorrow, Divine Mercy Sunday, at Holy Rosary parish in Rosenberg, Texas. I’m excited. 🙂
Blessings
Shannon