The World of Facebook

People can say what they want. In person, they usually say what they think they're supposed to say. They know the right answer. However, there is another world. The world of facebook. Sometimes I feel like I get to see my girls in their "natural environment" through this amazing social network. Status updates. Pictures. Comments. They seem to come from their hearts. There are no right things to say, no pat answers, just gut response. Usually, it shows me that Jesus has a lot of work to do. And that I better get to prayin'. ‎But today was different, today made my heart sing. This, my friends, is a facebook status, a gut response from a teen mom. Allow your heart to sing as you read:

"0n August 3, 2011 @ 6:52am I gave my life t0 a BEAUTIFUL baby girl & my w0rld w0uld be changed f0rever! I am very happy t0 say that I am a y0ung,PR0UD m0ther 0ut here d0in what i g0tta d0 f0r me & mine. Every0ne says 0nce y0u have a baby y0ur life is 0ver, but N0PE my life has jst begun! I get t0 enj0y watching my daughter gr0w and gr0w:) & it is a BLESSING! #TheBestFeelingInTheW0rld.

Jesu!

I know what you’re thinking, “Robyn forgot an S in Jesus!”. Don’t worry, I didn’t. That’s His name in Cambodia. And what a name it is! Jesu!

I got to spend almost three weeks this summer in Cambodia, and I’m still thinking about it. Rolling memories around in my head, pondering on questions, smiling at the pictures, wondering what Jesus is doing there today.

Cambodia is the most luscious land I’ve seen, everything is alive. Well, almost everything. There are 1,000 shades of green everywhere. And the children are so beautiful. Everyone I saw, I was convinced was the cutest one I had ever laid eyes on. Then I would look a little to the left or the right, and there was another child. Surely that one is the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. The women smile, the men are in the rice fields. The old ones don’t smile as much. They are tired. They have seen war, genocide, loved ones die, some were even forced to be the killers. They have worked, farmed, raised children, year after year after year, and now they are tired. There is a lot of life in Cambodia, but many hearts are dying. Most have not heard of Jesus. We would share, “Jesus came so you could be free!” And they would interrupt, “What is Jesus?”

Every time our translator would say those words, my heart would beat faster, I would get a big smile on my face, my eyes would widen. “Jesus is the best thing that ever happened!” It all centers on him. Your life, my life, the questions, the answers, the truth, the hope, the power. It’s all Jesus! My words would get translated back. Jesu!

We were playing and teaching little ones in an orphanage, and some men brought a very sick lady in on a tractor, and asked us to pray for her. Where did she come from? I don’t know. How did they know we were there? I don’t know. What did the people at the orphanage think? I don’t know. I don’t really know that much, but I do know that moments like aren’t random. God had been waiting to encounter this women, and as the sun rose that morning, he was excited because it was the day that held the moment, where that women would meet His son Jesus. We prayed, we taught, the children prayed, she repeated after us, we taught some more, her fever broke and her head cleared. For the first time in three years she walked without help and felt hungry. Jesus is the best thing that ever happens to anyone! Jesu! We talk about Him, and we pray in desperation, and He comes and makes himself look SO good. Jesus has a name in that Cambodian village, and it’s a good one! Jesu!

That’s what I want my life to do. I want my life on Earth to make Jesus look good. When things don't go my way, I want Jesus to look good. When I'm disappointed, I want him to look good. When I'm hurt, I want him to look good. In all the moments and days when I am weak, I want him to look strong. I want him to look good, not only when I pray for someone, but when I'm just living. I want him to look like the best thing that ever happened to me. Jesu!