“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
Isaiah 43:19
Recently, I have found myself knee deep in a wasteland. I have been struggling and battling with insecurities about myself, my abilities and talents as a creative person. I have been battling with fear, because I am uncertain that I am enough. Fear that I am not talented enough, not enough for my calling and for the things God has planted in my heart. I find myself knee deep in a wasteland of lies, insecurities, comparison with other incredibly talented people and a misconception of my identity as an artist. But God has been seeping streams in this wasteland, shining light on the path he has built in the wilderness.
My time at the DTS (Discipleship Training School) has exposed me to amazing and creative people, opportunities to learn and use my photography to portray how God works in people’s lives. One way, I have been able to use photography, is through taking photos of families who have received homes from an organization called Homes of Hope. Homes of Hope builds houses for families, in this case in Tijuana, Mexico, who live in situations of poverty and in conditions not suitable for residence. Homes of Hope engages teams from North America to build houses for these families.
These homes mean so much more than just a roof over their heads. As one staff builder explained to a team in a build I participated in: “These homes catapult the families into a greater future”. Having a nice home, is a kick start, a chance for families to conquer, not only the physical poverty but also the mentality of poverty they find themselves in.
Take, Cuca and Jesus, as an example, a couple we visited who after being deported from the US., used to live at “La Roca”, homeless shelter in Tijuana which the YWAM base helps with. The couple applied, and got a house last year. Now, they are living a blessed and generous life. Jesus, is one of the managers of a company that exports fruit from México to the States and Cuca volunteers as a nurse at a rehab center and helps at the homeless shelter she used to live in.
Last week, we visited a young woman who had just received a home about 4 months ago. Her youngest child, a baby who was born a week after the build, really bonded with Lewis, a friend and fellow DTS student. The baby was mesmerized by his fingers grasped in her tiny chubby hand. Lewis then stretched the palm of his hand out and placed the miniature hand of the baby in the center of his. It looked so tiny. I snapped a shot of the moment, which is when God spoke to me. The image of God placing my tiny hand on his mighty hand. My hand lying in the palm of the Father. My creativity in the center of His will. He is trying to reveal the true authentic me.
To show me through His fatherly love, lifting up His hand upon mine to see that He has authority and control. Let Him give me his brush. And let Him teach me how to paint through His eyes. But He can only do that if I let Him show me my true vulnerable self, to realize that I am His child. He wants me to be free like a child. Free to dream, to use my talents and to not fear, when I know that I’m in the center of his will. For me, it feels like God has put me in a “home of hope”, just like the families who received one. My time at the DTS has launched me into a new state of mind and being more intimate in my relationship with Him, catapulting me into a greater future, which is His will. He has placed in a place where I may grow. Where He is making a new thing. In the wilderness He is making a way, in the wasteland, He is bringing streams. See, He is doing a new thing.
Prayer requests:
God is still working with me, I still on an amazing journey of letting Him be my guide on the path he has formed. Pray over me and my team’s journey to Nepal. We all need funds to cover living costs in Nepal. We need winter clothes and equipment for hiking up the Himalayas.
