265/365

“We draw people to Christ not by loudly discrediting what they believe, by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it."

― Madeleine L'Engle, Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art

264/365

To watch the spinning took us back in time, and yet, the company practices are radically different.  Sabahar provides sustainable income and offers higher wages and excellent working conditions for their employees. Their workers receive benefits and training. And they are creating beautiful contemporary designs from the ancient Ethiopian weaving tradition. I was inspired and delighted.

263/365

What a beautiful home, God-of-the-Angel-Armies!
    I’ve always longed to live in a place like this,
Always dreamed of a room in your house,
    where I could sing for joy to God-alive!

- Psalm 84:1-2 (MSG)

For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.
- Psalm 84:10 (ESV)

(and I could feel my patience for questions about paint color and carpet choices shrinking yet again...)

262/365

I grinned knowingly, quite sure of what to expect. I could have never expected that those wonderful meals around one of my most favorite Omaha tables would have prepared us for this moment.

261/365

Once the ball was rolling, the natural leaders took charge. We could hear the chatter of smaller groups with punctuations of laughter, and soon these dear beautiful women were learning to take ownership themselves.

260/365

Nothing can replace the intimacy of being in a person's home, and even more so when the home is smaller than an average American walk-in closet. She offers us coffee steaming from the traditional black pot; coffee sweetened with sugar, but brewed so strong that it leaves a pitch-black film at the bottom of the china cup. She passes around a basket of popcorn in a woven basket and we take a few kernels at a time. 

In Romans 12, Paul exhorts believers to "Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality." This dear woman's liberality humbles us to the core. 

259/365

I step out of the bus and immediately I think, "I want this orange-red dust to stay on my shoes forever." I once read that when we travel to a new place we look for what is the same. Nothing looks the same here, and yet neither is it shockingly different. Kids greet us in the road and want to introduce themselves in English. Women share shy smiles. Dogs run up and down the road. We tiptoe around mud puddles, knowing the sun that brightens the clear blue sky will soon dry them up. 

We walk down the alley and join our Ethiopian brothers and sisters in a circle of folding chairs. We listen and ponder the mystery of the Gospel and remember His riches in place known for being poor. Together we pray that we, "being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:17-19) We are not so far from home.

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And so begins a 8635 mile journey.
My prayer is that we have eyes to see and ears to hear and a heart to soak in all that the Lord has to teach us in the week ahead.