Exactly one year ago yesterday, my feet hit Houston soil for the first time, & my heart began to change forever. And exactly one year later, I'm back in the place so many pieces of my heart belong to.
I realized a few other things today as well.
A year ago I had no idea what refugees or unreached people groups were; today they're something I think of a lot. A year ago I was ignorant & stereotypical; today some of my closest friends are Iraqis {No, they're actually NOT terrorists.} My life is so different because of Houston & the millions of things God taught me through it.
Among the many chaotic moments of this weekend, my eyes were opened to just how beautiful grace really is. My Ethiopian roommate & I were sitting on the stairs outside our apartment having an incredible conversation with our Iraqi neighbor & a young African woman. Both of them are followers of Jesus; our neighbor & her family came to America after being exiled from their own country because of their faith, & my new African friend accepted Jesus last week. While I was sitting with them, it hit me: the four of us are completely different. We each have different backgrounds, different stories. But one thing binds us together like nothing else can: Jesus. I think I tasted a small piece of heaven that night as I sat next to these girls, listening to them share how much God's love has turned their lives upside down in the most beautiful way & I realized, these girls are my sisters. We laughed, we cried, we listened, we shared, we spoke encouragement & poured out all the love we had to give. There's truly nothing sweeter...other than watching our little Iraqi neighbor {who loves Jesus more than any eleven year old I've ever met} study the Bible this morning with one of my fellow team members. This boy sits outside & reads his Arabic-English Bible everyday. {Several times a day on some days.} It's been so overwhelmingly amazing to watch him grow as Jesus' love literally spills out of him & floods every single conversation he engages in. {Quite literally the most precious thing, ever.}
Life in Houston is a grand adventure, & I'm loving every single minute of it.
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