Captured My Heart

Hey Everybody! I can’t believe it, but this is my last week of ministry here in South Africa! My team and another team have been working with an after school program called Beats and Books. The public school system here in South Africa is not the best, so Beats and Books partners with about 30 kids from the local community each day. These kids come to Beats and Books every day, have a snack, learn and work on reading and math. Also, they get to learn how to play music on pianos, violins, guitars, and drums. The best part of all is that the kids are discipled weekly, and it’s been SO awesome to step into this ministry. I wrote this blog last week as I was thinking about saying goodbye to all the kids who have captured my heart!

 

This week I’ve truly been brought to tears as I sit with kids at beats and books. Today I sat thanking the Lord with tears in my eyes for sweet Sibulele. Her smile will brighten a whole room. She walks in so much gentleness. She exudes the quiet nature of the Lord. I sit here thanking the Lord for Butsha and her hardworking spirit. I thank the Lord for Hope and how she has been created to lead others. I thank Jesus for Yongi and Azifani, for the joy they bring to everyone around them. I thank the Lord for the gratitude Clivia walks in. Thank you Jesus for the confidence and boldness of Liza. I’m overwhelmed with gratitude for the ways the Lord has changed my life through His children. Having the opportunity to sit, hear their stories, experience the love they freely give, and pour into their lives has shifted how I want to live my life. I want to live my life each day seeking to hear people’s stories, love them, know them, and give away what the Lord has so graciously given me. Beats and Books was a wake-up call. My life isn’t about going through my day trying to check all the things off the to-do list or just get to the next best thing. My life is a life where I get to be interruptible. I get to choose to stop and pray for the person sitting next to me, ask them about their day, and hear their story. The Lord is asking me to stop living a life of productivity and start living a life of interruptibility.I believe He’s asking us all to start living in a way where we see the person next to us, friend and stranger alike. He’s asking us to step out in boldness and carry the confidence He is freely giving us.

 

These kids have shown me how to do just that. They are leaders, givers, pursuers, and they love with their whole hearts. The Lord is calling these sons and daughters of His into so much. He is saying to them, “Arise, my son. Arise, my daughter. I’ve created you for more. I’ve created you to walk with me. I’ve created you to enact change. I’ve created you to love. I’ve created you to lead.” He says, “You have purpose and you have hearts that love so deep and so well.” Now, as I’m preparing to pack my bags and say goodbye in just a short few days, I’m filled with so much gratitude for what He has spoken over these children, and for what He’s taught me through them. He’s taught me about His love and His kindness. He’s taught me about how much He loves and cares for every single person He’s created. He taught me about taking the moment captive, and basking in His goodness and His faithfulness.  I’m thanking the Lord, that the goodbyes aren’t easy because that means that we’ve loved and cherished and enjoyed every second with the people He puts in our path. Woah! What an honor to serve a God who seeks out every single person individually and loves them in just the way they need! 

 

As I was writing this I was reminded of Psalm 139! Here’s just part of it, but I urge you! Go read the whole Psalm! He knows you. He sees you. And, He calls you by name!

 

“Lord, you have searched me and known me.

You know when I sit down and when I stand up;

you understand my thoughts from far away.

You observe my travels and my rest;

you are aware of all my ways.

Before a word is on my tongue,

you know all about it, Lord.

You have encircled me;

you have placed your hand on me.

This wondrous knowledge is beyond me.

It is lofty; I am unable to reach it……

 

For it was you who created my inward parts;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I will praise you

because I have been remarkably and wondrously made.

Your works are wondrous,

and I know this very well.

My bones were not hidden from you

when I was made in secret,

when I was formed in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw me when I was formless;

all my days were written in your book and planned

before a single one of them began.”

 

All the Love,

Haley Kretz