maggie

Reality surrounds me and pulls me down.

It's hard to say exactly what things are essential for survival when you are surrounded by orphans, widows, and families who have so much less than food, clothing, and shelter.
When you enter homes that never experience all three of these luxuries on the same day.

I have to remember that bread is not the only food that satisfies.
Clothes are not the only things that make a man presentable.
Walls and roofs are not all that shelters.

Man still cannot live by bread alone.
The lilies are still beautiful in their fields.
A mighty fortress is our God.


Maggie is a mother. She has four children. She has a husband. He hasn't worked in six years.
I went for a walk with Maggie.
She needed an ear, just my listening.
Maggie's face is tired, like every mother's is. Her burden is just so heavy.
She's been forced out of her home. She can no longer afford to send her children to school.
She may be forced to leave her husband.

After we walked a while we reached our destination, her house.
I felt like a soldier entering a target that had been hit.
No roof, the tops of every wall singed in black.
Broken concrete, rubble everywhere.
And then, in the very back...
Two small rooms with curtains covering the openings.
Two rooms with no doors holding the few belongings this family of six has left.

When it rains Maggie's heart is at home, as the water takes over her life.

Shane and Shane ministers to me as always, under Maggie's burden.

When darkness is surrounding me
By Your Spirit, Lord help me sing-
You are working all things out
Lord, I really need to hear you speak
Remind me in the waiting
You are working all things out

For the good of those who are called by You
For the good of those who are in Love with You
That's why we sing-

Holy God of light
I lay down my life
Holy is the Lord
Even in the storm
Be glorified.


We like to take the blessing from You
Shall we not take the trouble too?
You are working all things out

We like to take prosperity
Shall we not take the suffering
You are working all things out
Holy are you Lord
Even in the storm
Be glorified.

Part of me still wishes that someone understood.

If only you could visit Maggie's house.