Haria is one of our girls we have helped support through school to be a Mid Wife. Her training was a little over a year and a half and very extensive. I believe she could almost be licensed as an RN in the States. She scored in the top five in the nation of students training to be Mid Wives and was offered a job at the school to teach when she finished. She could either take the teaching job or go on for another year and a half as an intern under licensed clinics or Mid Wife so that she can finish out two more semesters and be able to work on her own. She decided to accept the job only to find they were not going to pay her enough to even cover rent. So she came home defeated. Her mother told us even she cried when Haria had to come home, knowing it would be hard for her to find somewhere locally to get good training. And I know it was hard for Haria to return with no prospects in sight.
But, God always provides! We called our good friend who is a Doctor, very educated man and asked if he knew of anyone that could help her. He did, he has very good Christian friends with a good clinic willing to take her on as an intern. You could just see the change in her when we told her the news! She is only an hour away, has found an apartment and with our help got everything she needs to start this new chapter in her life. We told her we may never know but that meeting Dr Nelson three years ago may have been for just this time – to help her with this opportunity. Her faithfulness in her walk with the Lord and her obedience and hard work has shown her favor and we are as thrilled for her as we would be for our own children.
Pray for Harria as she starts her internship, that she will get the experience she needs, get connected with a true God fearing and scripture teaching church and put good friends in her life. That was one of the hardest parts of her years of schooling up north, there was so much jealousy that she had no friends and was so lonely most of the time.
The week before last was a rough one. I had had my suitcase packed for me and was going to get sent away. I freaked out our boys. I’ve had a rough year so far physically for me and for Christian and had lost all hope period with life. The mental stress and feeling we aren’t making a difference weighs on me. That is pride though – I wasn’t put here to see what “I” can do but what God can do. There was discord between Christian and I over something lost. But we also realized that some meds the Dr had me on weren’t going well for me. With much prayer and coming off the medicines God has brought me through – again. He does that you know? Brings you through the darkness and shows you the light there is in your life. He has moved greatly this last week – in my life, in Haria’s life, two of her sister’s lives and has shown me how much the women in prison need to hear about Him and have someone be compassionate towards them. But even that is heart wrenching when they all start coming to me and telling me their stories of some of the horrible reasons some of them are there. And if we hadn’t been moving a loveseat out of our room to give to Haria we probably would have never found the thing that had been lost and fought over because it had somehow gotten under it. Proverbs 18:10 says
The name of the Lord is a strong tower;
the righteous man runs into it and is safe.
God is good, all the time. It is us that lose sight of Him but He never loses sight of us. We all go through these times, some more than others. Hopelessness, pain, loss – none are bigger than the other. Mine aren’t more important or worse than yours. I just let mine out in a more public way. Partly to get over it but also so that others may know they aren’t alone and it gets better if we give it up to the One whose shoulders can bear it all.
We are like proud parents – or Aunt and Uncle the last few months there have been big milestones in not only lives we’ve invested in here but also a niece in the states who graduated and is getting ready to start her new chapter of life in College. I pray for my sister – you never know how much sorrow and joy at the same time your heart can hold when your firstborn goes out into the world! There are many things to be thankful for. And I am!
His Grace For The Journey 