In Need of the Light

A friend will be in need of a new housemate to share her two-bedroom apartment when her current one moves out at the end of March. She knows of a boy through her church who is looking for an apartment; she asked me if I thought it was a good idea for her to invite him to move in with her. "I always thought I didn't want to live with a boy until I was married," she said. "But if there isn't any other option . . . "

In German class today, an American classmate shared a little of what her life is like here in Berlin. She's working as a nanny for a family here and supposedly also doing a music internship through their in-house recording studio. The label "Christian" is bandied about, and apparently there is also a church that meets in their home, but they demand a lot of this girl and don't give her much in return. Not that making money is the most important thing, but respect, gratitude, and honesty would go a long way towards helping her to flourish instead of just survive. "It's making me a better, stronger person, I guess," she said.

Lilah said last night, when I said it was time to pray before bed, "Oh, I don't want to pray!" I said, "But Lilah, it is so good for us to open our hearts before God, and to tell Him everything we are thinking and listen to what He might have to say to us." Then Claire chimed in: "But why doesn't He just speak to us so we can hear?"

Last week Melanie was here, and we had many conversations about child training supplemented by plenty of real-life situations to deal with and discuss, courtesy of the four children sharing a roof with us. As she was leaving, she asked me, "Is there anything you would do differently with Joshua if he was your son?"

Someone asks me to pray for a new living situation or success in a difficult exam; I notice a marriage in distress or a completely misguided worldview; there is loneliness, weariness, confusion, and sorrow on every side.  Need and darkness are prevalent in this world.

I pray I would be like John the Baptist: "He himself was not the light, he came only as a witness to testify concerning it."

Like Paul: "Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me that I may fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should."

Like Jesus: "When he looked at the multitude, he had compassion on them."