October 12th, 2022 – 3:10pm – Hostel In German Colony, Haifa, Israel:

Why study Hebrew? This has been the most asked question of me as I’ve shared my journey so far and my reason for being in Israel. And so it’s been a question I’ve asked myself over and over as well.

Israel will be central to the world… and that time is not far off. That’s what I sense and feel when I open myself up to the question.

God brought me to Israel to be perfectly positioned for what He has prepared me to do here when the time comes. Learn Hebrew… is that the direction or the destination?… or the preparation. I guess it doesn’t matter. What matters is that I listened to what God was asking me to do… and I obeyed.

So here I am… In Haifa… waiting for school to begin. I feel so many things every moment of everyday… so many. The people I have met along the journey so far each have their own stories, pain, fears, longings, and on and on… and I listen to each. And I wonder… I wonder.

Can I offer just a cup of cold water? That seems to be my heart here in this time… offering cold water to those around me. A smile and a moment to listen. And cold water… from the little I have I keep giving… and giving… and giving… because my source is endless. The last three nights I have helped cook a meal for the people here and served them in this way. Showing love to any who would receive it. A cup of cold water.

As I walked to the market this afternoon to purchase the things I will need to cook tonight’s meal I was thinking of what one of the women here told me… “…you cannot keep sharing what you have because then you will not have enough for yourself.” But that has not been my experience… my experience is that my source is the Living God who supplies all my needs according to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus. He chose me for this journey, and He justified me, and sent me to this foreign land, to be His hands and His feet among these people.

So let my life be a continual giving! God take my smile and my time and my money and all I have and somehow use it to touch someone today. What joy?! What absolute pleasure comes from God toward me as I cook and serve those here? What about the moments of listening and practicing English with those who need that daily. The sacrifices are so worth it. And maybe, just maybe… one of them will see Jesus in me. Past the broken mess of my heart… Him shining deep beneath all of that external layer of hurt and pain I still carry with me… but let all of me be His… always.

So I say, “God would you… would you use me today to love someone who needs to be loved?”