“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5
Have you ever imagined how and when God actually put you together? Have you ever thought about how very important your life is to Him? He has been waiting and watching for you to accomplish a work for Him through many generations. What can it possibly be? Who else has He placed along your life’s journey to either nudge you back on the path, or be the recipient of your gift? It is mind boggling.
There are 564 children attending the school at Font Baptiste in the Arcahaie District. The attached photo captured a group of them. Do you suppose that God placed you where you are today to assist one or two of these children in getting a Christian education and a solid meal every day they are in school? These kids live up on top of a mountain range in the Northern claw of Haiti in a rolling countryside and most of them walk for an hour or more to school every day and it is hard to imagine how God has interwoven their lives with yours.
I roughly counted 160 children in this photo. If you drove to this school and wanted to pay for their lunch on any given day before you drove back to Chincheron, it would cost roughly $55 to feed this group. Hard to imagine that you could impact the lives of so many with what we might consider so little. Our small blessings can be such big blessings in their lives. There is a song titled “Count your blessings” that was written by Johnson Oatman Jr. in 1897 that helps to put our blessings into a proper perspective and also think about how our blessings impact the lives of the children in Font Baptiste.
“When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed, when you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord hath done. Count your blessings, name them one by one, count your blessings, see what God hath done! Are you ever burdened with a load of care? Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear? Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly, and you will keep singing as the days go by. Count your blessings, name them one by one, count your blessings, see what God hath done! When you look at others with their lands and gold, think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold; count your many blessings—wealth can never buy your reward in heaven, nor your home on high. Count your blessings, name them one by one, count your blessings, see what God hath done! So, amid the conflict whether great or small, do not be discouraged, God is over all; count your many blessings, angels will attend, help and comfort give you to your journey’s end. Count your blessings, name them one by one, count your blessings, see what God hath done!”
Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you,
Jay