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There is a new word introduced in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah that we might have missed in this familiar pillar of salt Bible Story. We often retell it highlighting God’s wrath and destruction due to evilness. While that is true, the new introduced word “ze’aqah” roughly translates to the “unique cry of the unjustly oppressed.” Later in Ezekiel, the prophet identifies the oppressed as the neglected poor and needy in the city. God didn’t just destroy the city because of his anger against sin, He heard the cry of the oppressed and responded to their sorrow. Throughout the Bible, we are admonished to remember the vulnerable, to listen to the cry of the unjustly oppressed. In our world of distraction and noise, sometimes it’s hard to hear.When we stop and listen, we can’t ignore the pattern in Scripture: God hears the cry of the oppressed and disadvantaged; He remembers those He loves, bound to him in covenant; and finally, He acts to rescue and deliver those in bondage. While the power structures of the world seek ways to exploit or turn a blind eye to the people on the edges of society, God gives them special attention. Like a compassionate father moved by the tears of his children, God is moved to righteous anger and powerful action. God is looking for people who hear the cry. Can you hear it? Tuesday, May 16 is She Is Priceless, the Global Giving Day of Mercy House Global. It’s a day to remember, to listen ….
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Remember This: Do Not Forget
Less than two months ago, I became the CEO of Mercy House Global. On the same day, my husband started his new job that took him to a war zone. His first day in Ukraine coincided with the one year anniversary of Russia's invasion and on the last day of his trip, more than 1000 people died. The war isn't over, but we have mostly moved on to other news. The year before it was Afghanistan in the headlines and the year before that, Syria. Sudan. Congo. It's hard to remember. We are a ... Read More
I Don’t Know What God is Doing, But I Know What He Has Done
I walked into a coffee shop for an all-day meeting two weeks ago and I was barely holding it together. The last couple of months have felt like a furnace of spiritual warfare. It has been a lot of small trials and a couple of big ones. Heat like that can either consume us or force us to look for God in the fire. "Suffering isn't an interruption to what God is doing. Suffering is what God is doing," Ruth Schwenk said. I walked towards the counter to order coffee and nearly ran into an ... Read More
Today, I Turn 50 (and Begin a New Job)
“Intelligence, goodness, humanity, excitement, serenity. Over time, these are the things that change the musculature of your face, as do laughter and animation and especially whatever peace you can broker with the person inside. It's furrow, pinch and judgment that make us look older — our mothers were right. They said that if you made certain faces, they would stick and they do. But our mothers forgot that faces of kindness and integrity stick as well.”— Anne Lamott I’m either halfway ... Read More
Unlock the Door to the Happiest Holiday Season Today
You haven’t really lived until you’ve been given the last of what others are living on. It’s happened to me more than once. This time last year, I stood in the doorway of an apartment in Houston with bags of groceries. I was there on a chilly November day with my family on behalf of Mercy House Global to welcome a family who had just escaped the Taliban in Afghanistan and were being relocated to my city. Due to a hiccup in the resettlement system, hundreds of families were in limbo and it ... Read More
This Is What Faithful People Do
This week, my family will sit around the table together for the first time in months. Only a mother with a mostly empty nest understands the tenderness of this statement. My kids are almost entirely grown up and this old parenting blog remains idle much of the time until I have something new to say. It seems like I’m the kid these days, learning what comes next. There are so many things I want to tell you about what God is teaching me right now: how leading with a limp will make you grow, ... Read More
Complete the Circle
Dignity is another word for decency—and when it’s missing, God created us to demand justice. 12-year-old pregnant girls Indentured teenagers Child brides Underage laborers Survival prostitutes Orphan-led homes Violated minors These words shouldn’t go together. When we see them side-by-side on a page, we are offended because innocence and evil shouldn’t commingle. It’s unnatural, unholy, and unacceptable. Our first reaction is to stop and help. Sadly, these ... Read More
Woven Together
She tugged slightly on the thread and gathered the woven fabric under her fingers. With a critical eye, she leaned back to give her creation a better look. A smile formed at the corner of her mouth. It was good. I watched this play out as she sat at a large wooden loom, in a light-filled room, in a slum in the heart of Kenya this week. I wish I could describe the feeling of hope that settled into my soul --how the pull and push of the loom and the rhythmic cadence sounded like a steady heart ... Read More