Painted Hearts: January 2013

Only 10 days...
I am now able to countdown on my hands the number of days until I fly across the ocean. I feel like I did before I came, a bit scared, and sad to leave my home.
I have said it a million times, but I CAN NOT believe how the time has flown.
In many many ways this place has become my home. And my heart is invested in so many places.
The goodbyes have started, and I am nearly always a few snaps away from tears. I am usually not one to be classified as a crier (well, it depends on who is judging I guess :) but I think South Africa has indeed made me much more of a crier. I cry because of the blessing I have received. I have heard it said, that "you cry when you come to Welkom, and you cry when you leave." And I think I would have to say that that saying is proving it's self true to me.

It never really was my plan to come to South Africa again, especially for almost a year. And thinking back on the year it all came together very fast. And what I have learned this year that has made me so close to tears these last couple of days are lessons and experiences of sweet sweet GRACE.
Being here has been such a gift!

At this point I have been doing a lot of reflecting over the last eight months, and have experienced an out and overflowing feeling of joy and amazement of all the things the Lord has provided for me.

Now I am not going to make everything sound like heaven, it has not always been easy here. It has not always been fun, and there were times that I was ready to come home. But looking back, I see eight months covered in GRACE.

No Worries.
I have been extraordinarily blessed to not have had to worry about finances. The Lord provided for me all the way through! I have never gone hungry. I wasn't sure how it would all work when I was first asked to come to SA, but God provided people to give, and take care of me. I have been provided for not only in financial ways, but in spiritual ways that feed me much more than food could. Now that is something that really has been such an underserved blessing; and I am truly thankful for! I haven't had to worry at all. I praise the Lord for those who were involved in the gift and grace God gave me.

All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindnessto us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.- Ephesians 2:3-9

Faithfulness!
You know, I came here thinking I would minister to people, but I have felt like I am the one who has received such a deep encounter of mercy ministry.
I have had people invest in my life in ways I was so surprised and blessed by.
Above everything and anything I could have done, I have experienced God claiming my heart, and wanting more and more of my attention, and worship. He has worked in mighty ways in my heart and shown me how He wants to work in my heart! He has reminded of His faithfulness in the past, the present and the future. I am learning that when I am most satisfied in Him, ministry is effortless because it is the work of the Lord. No good work I could do would mean a thing, but it is God who works in me and through me that makes this life worth anything. It is only when I, Mallory, decrease; and Christ increases that I am able to be apart of God's work in others lives. I am just a servant, and one who abundantly has received grace upon grace. I am sinful, and God is full of mercy.

^"13To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. ¹⁴Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam,who is a pattern of the one to come.
¹⁵But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ,overflow to the many! ¹⁶Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. ¹⁷For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
¹⁸Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. ¹⁹For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
²⁰The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, ²¹so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."- Romans 5:13-21

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

¹⁵(John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) ¹⁶Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. ¹⁷For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. -John 1:14-17