A Love To Celebrate

I like it when Valentine's Day falls on Sunday. Maybe it's because the celebration of Christ on Sunday and the celebration of love on Valentine's Day just fit together quite perfectly. 

I started Valentine's Day by opening a gift that my mom had sent in my luggage. I kept it in the fridge because I suspected there was chocolate inside, and I was right! And none of it even melted! She also sent a pair of socks, which I happily wore to bed even though it was like 90 degrees in my room. 

Next we went out to a village church where we spent a lovely time worshipping with brothers and sisters in Christ. Charlotte and I pulled the kids aside to have their own Sunday school, and we shared the story of the feeding of the five thousand. 

That evening, we gathered together with the Hiens to have a time of team worship and prayer...and of course to eat dinner after. It felt calming and joyful to be in the same room, all together again, finally!

During the course of the evening we sang songs in French and English and spent time reading the Scriptures and praying. In the middle of it all, we found out that a baby in our program had died. We ate dinner and opened gifts. We planned with excitement for this year's ministries - we are going to take children's ministry out to the village and train teachers to lead the children. We also talked together about what to do about Bombakebe. What does he really need and how can we help him? We honestly don't know, but we started talking about a strategy. 

This is what ministry looks like sometimes. It's kind of a mess. It's singing one moment and hearing tragic news the next. It's ups and downs, successes and seeming failures, joy and sadness all at the same time. It's not knowing what to do about some things, but it's trying to make right what's been made a mess. And it is worshiping through it all. 

At the end of the day, I thank God for a day full of worship, from worship with the village church in themorning  to team worship in the evening. I thank him for his love for me - for us - this Valentine's Day. A lot of people don't like Valentine's Day, but I believe we have a love worth celebrating. And really, it's worth celebrating everyday. It's what sustains us when bad news comes or when crisis hits or when sadness lingers. It's what makes us sing and laugh and live in community. It's what took Jesus to the cross and rose him from the grave, and it's what takes us to our own crosses and raises us back to life, too.