Weak = Strong

It's easy to feel tiny and inadequate when dealing with the fundamental and heart-wrenching effects of children growing up without a family. Through sending letters and visiting once a year with material, financial, and emotional support, there is really only so much we can do. The first time we visited Russia, we visited 7 orphanages, and I cried the entire trip for one fundamental reason: no matter what we do, these children don't have a mother or a father.

The reading and sermon at Bethlehem last week was over the text we chose when asked to lead a team session on our second trip to Russia. In 2 Corinthians, Paul is thankful for for his weaknesses--when he is weak, he is strong. I get that. When we get too caught up in ourselves, our plans, what we have to offer, we lose sight of our true goal: sharing peace and wholeness with 29 precious children. Our goal is not flashy or impressive. It doesn't command media attention or draw thousands of people to the mission. In the words of Pastor Felde, it is pretty unremarkable, really. We are simply hoping to be a part of restoring basic human dignity to a few sweet little souls.

Now that we have some people joining us (yay!), it's easy to feel a bit more pressure to impress. We want to show them the beautiful Sovietsk we've experienced. We want them to look into the eyes of the children and see what we see. We hope we can share the life-giving experience of spending time with our Russian family. We want them to fall in love, just like we have.

But in acknowledging how small we really are, in understanding our weakness, we don't have to 'strain for effect,' either in creating an experience for the travelers or in reaching out to our children in the orphanage. We can simply, humbly keep our eyes and hearts open and find ways to meet some needs.

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

Whenever I am weak, I am strong.