For such a time as this....

….”for such a time as this” the Lord has used these words in my life often, spoken over Esther by her uncle Mordecai at a crucial time in not only Esther and Mordecai’s life, but for all of their people as well…and Esther responded as all godly women would in her situation, with just a little bit of the wringing of hands!! Okay, maybe not all women, but certainly a response I am all too familiar with in my own life…”What are we to do?” …and Mordecai’s response “And who knows if you have not been obtained to royalty for such a time as this”
Every day here in Guatemala has the opportunity to afford life changing experiences. It is always the spiritual high in my life to live here, because the need is unmasked and smacks you in the face daily. Take the other day for example, I was walking through the park with Madeline, my mind on the multiple things on my “to do” list for the day….I had a meeting, needed to go to the store, oh, I forgot to call that person back…you know, just busy-ness, the sun was shining…it was another beautiful, busy day in Antigua and I ran into a girl who looked about my 16 year old sister’s age, pretty, cute little outfit on, stylish hair and snuggled in her sling across her chest was a tiny beautiful baby boy. “Juan Daniel” was her reply when I asked his name and then I was telling her how beautiful, two month old Juan was and she was stroking Madi’s head and remarked how cute she was, interchanges like this in the park are a common aspect of life here. Then my new friend leaned closer and said “Do you want him?” it was so out of context in our conversation that it took me awhile to wipe the “what?” look off my face to realize that she was talking about her baby. A couple days later as I was sharing the story with my friend and director of Casa Bernabe over coffee, I rambled on and on about how sad it was, how disturbing, how I worried about Juan, about the many responses I could have had to that girl, about what the “right” thing would have been to do, I jumped in to the politics of adoptions in Guatemala, all the while my friend across the table was getting teary eyed and her very Mordecai’s response to my very Esther reaction was….” That meeting was appointed by God for you to intercede and pray life over that baby” because bottom line, there is a little Juan Daniel who is very much alone while slung on his mother’s back, that kind of “alone” I am convinced in my soul, babies from birth, even from the womb feel take into their spirit. And in that moment, sitting across from a woman who has walked the path of orphan ministry and rescue for years, ministered to me, without knowing it, releasing me by wisdom to react in the Spirit over the encounter I had with a young girl and her baby, that it wasn’t so much “What do I do” as it is this walking in the Spirit of God, realizing His Father love for Juan Daniel and the opportunity He was giving me to go before the throne of mercy to ask for LIFE for this baby…..I had obtained royalty as a daughter of the King, for such a time as this…..I sing these little songs to Madeline, making them up as I go along, encouraged by the bobbing of her little head and swaying her chubby shoulders to the verses… the songs sound a lot like the ones my dad used to sing over me as a little girl and I can’t wait for him to sing over Madi when we get home….silly maybe, but to this day, I remember my dad in his husky, out of tune voice, singing his love over my life and I felt that protection he was offering in the sound of his voice…praying today for HIS song of love and protection over tiny Juan Daniel and others like him….for such a time as this, intrusting the lives around us to a God greater than ourselves and our circumstances!