She just needs a friend and a lighter

Well...it has taken me a bit of time to get back to writing, I'm sorry, there is just so many good things happening it's overwhelming, I have a lot I want to tell everyone, but first I'm just going to write about Easter.

Easter was very difficult for me, I am so used to going to church like 3 times that week and talking all about Jesus's death and resurrection. I didn't go to church on Thursday, Friday or Sunday. This is the first year I didn't go to church on Easter, and did I feel like a terrible Christian...NO!! I have come to realize that many things we celebrate in the US are very wonderful, I mean celebrating that Jesus IS alive after he was brutally killed is wonderful, but it is something that can happen in our hearts too. It doesn't need to be this BIG show and presentation where people are crying and then happy, it can be in our hearts. Wow, I feel like that sounded terrible, so I'll explain a bit. I was always used to going to church during the Easter season, it's just like it was a routine for me, I learned that in not going to church on Easter I forced myself to have to think about what God did for ME, without some pastor telling me all about it. It forced me to actually think about what it felt like for Jesus to be betrayed, beaten, and then die....but to soon be alive again, it forced me to think what was it like those three days he wasn't on the earth, what did the disciples feel like when their leader left them...it forced me to really think about what I've been taught and what I believe, it was a great lesson for me. (The gospel of Jesus is crazy, it is radical...but I know and understand that I believe in a radical God....He is mysterious...and I love him...) Now, in no way am I saying I am going to stop going to church and think about God because I do enjoy church, but it definitely gave me a new perspective. On Easter we did have a big meal of ham, potatoes and sweet potato casserole, which was good, but obviously a lot different than in the US. We invited two prostitute friends to our home for Easter dinner....Mara and Danielle. We didn't have a big service, but we did have some worship music with Nic. Danielle and Mara really like Nic and Rachael's worship music(I do too) and they understand a little bit of it. I've really learned that words don't matter, it' s the actions, how do we SHOW God's love without without words, but in actions. I just love to smile when I'm with them, I think that smiling shows them I am full of joy. In everything I do, I try to show that I know God loves me, even when I'm washing the dishes :-) I don't understand everything theses woman were saying to me, but I listen to them. I had a moment where I was so confused because Danielle and Mara asked me to come outside with them so they could smoke a cigarette, but they needed a lighter, and I didn't have one, but I finally understood what they were asking me for and I found someone with a lighter. I learned in those few moments while they were smoking that all they needed was a friend and a lighter. These women are so used to acting, they are not themselves while they are working, all they wanted from me was friendship and a lighter. I've learned in my time here that I can't just expect them to jump at the chance to know God's love, but I can always show it to them, and continue to pray that they want God's love. These woman think so negatively of themselves, they don't even think they deserve for God to love them, but God looks at them with love in his eyes. God see's every sin the same, so lying, stealing, cheating and being a prostitute are all the same in God's eyes. I was so blessed to spend Easter with Danielle and Mara and I am continuing to pray for them. My challenge to anyone who reads this is to share God's love with someone without using words, how are you going to do that...and if you can't share His love because you don't have it yourself, thats okay...do something nice for someone, just a small act of kindness...I mean even if we aren't believers shouldn't we be trying to do nice things for other people anyways. Thanks again for reading this, it was a bit of a ramble, but there is a lot on my heart right now and a lot in my head....