Hope for the Mess…
Almost 9 months ago we came back to the United States after living for 3 years on foreign soil. Perhaps it’s true for you too, but the journey I’m on gives me ample opportunity to observe and experience people from all over the world; from traditional Africa to urban America. It’s these recent months and experiences I’ve spent in the States that presently fill my thoughts.
I’ve experienced deep sadness throughout these months, and observed pain in the eyes and words of those I love the most. I see the unhealed wounds, hurts, confusion, and hopelessness in the eyes of those around me. My heart is anguished to walk down such painful roads…I am wounded, left with broken relationships, feelings of distrust, and deep sadness for what I’m unable to make right. There’s a mixture of sorrow and hope, but sometimes the sorrow weighs heavier on my heart.
As I near my 37th birthday, I become more keenly aware of the upward toil I face to my Heavenly Father. I’ve recently experienced the faith of my strongest mentors put to the test, the debilitating effects of dementia, and the fall-out of a relationship I’ve prayed and wept over for endless days.
It’s a messy world…with messy people…and I’m a messy saint. But there’s hope for such a mess as this…
In 2 months time, we’ll go back to Madagascar and again walk down very different, often painful, roads with our Sakalava family and friends. This too can be quite messy (definitely sweaty), but it’s that calling to proclaim the “hope for the mess” that draws us to go back.
You and I, dear friends, have heard about this hope; in fact many of us know of the hope for which we now stand. We need to be reminded often that the pain He bore in His life and on the cross was for a sacrificial purpose and His hope was to accomplish His Father’s will. This pain and suffering that I go through…that you go through, is a calling. It has to be a calling…to faithful perseverance to the will of the Father. The upward toil must be submitted to Him…and it’s in Him we find hope.
Hugs Rebe!
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Dear Rebe, Thank you for sharing your thoughts and heart with us in your update. Wouldn’t it be nice if life wasn’t so messy? I am sorry for all the pain and sorrow on this trip. We are with you in the battle. We serve an amazing but mysterious God — who can really know all that He has planned for us and somehow it all makes sense in His sovereign will, but from this end … not always! and so we walk one step at a time by faith. I am reminded that even in our weakness, our God delights in us and we as the church beloved are loved on and “bragged on” – on display to the rulers and powers in the heavenly realms and dare I include, those of us still standing on terra firma? Eph. 3:10-13 Hangeth in there, dear one, holding onto the hand that will not let you go.
you are loved and prayed for. Therese Galage
On Thu, Jul 7, 2016 at 2:54 AM, The McReynolds Tribe wrote:
> McReynolds Tribe posted: “Almost 9 months ago we came back to the United > States after living for 3 years on foreign soil. Perhaps it’s true for you > too, but the journey I’m on gives me ample opportunity to observe and > experience people from all over the world; from traditional Afr” >
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