Today was God's gift to me.

If you have never been in a desperate situation, this probably won't make much sense to  you. 

Desperation is all around me. From the young man who is found sleeping outside the door because he knows that he can get some food as soon as a staff member shows up; to the lady who is fighting back tears as she explains to me that she, "is tired of trying to convince her kids that things will be ok," wondering herself if that is true. When you have been blessed to be a part of a team whose underlying though each day is to show love to a desperate world in need of a Savior, a burden is placed upon your shoulders. Bringing those burdens to the foot of the cross where they can be left and plucked up by the One who wants to create a beautiful mosaic out of the messy pieces of your life is such a humbling thought.

I am still pretty naive, but my prayers are stronger than ever for my brothers and sisters on the front lines, holding my hands as we tread through the waters of uncertainty where oftentimes, the rubber meets the Damascus road. Like Paul, when people start to witness just how much God has His eyes on them and is preparing for them to see, they are changed.

Today was monumental for a certain lady who told me two days ago that she, "dreamed of a place where her kids would smile a lot," and not have to ask on a daily basis if everything was going to be ok. These kids were growing up  understanding what it meant to live in fear of something that they couldn't comprehend yet God had a plan for this family.

Today, this family found out that they would be getting a new home. Out of the ashes, this family discovered that they are capable of  being loved and that it didn't matter what the past looked like, because the future held a promise that they could take hold of.

An angel went to her and said, 'Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you!' (Luke 1:28)

Some have said to me," I could never do what you do," but that isn't true. I could never do what I do alone, but scripture says in I John 4:4, "...because greater is He in you than he that is in the world." My challenge is to ask God to allow you to see a need and respond according to His will. If you will start to pray like this, God will reveal things to you that you simply can't unsee but then He will send His spirit to respond with the kind of love that Jesus intended for us all--desperate in life;  desperate for Him.