Joy to the {Broken} World

Have you ever stood on hallowed ground,

where you are certain that if it weren't for the sound of your own heart beating, you would be able to hear the trumpets of angels rejoicing in heaven?

This moment was that for me.

She has come by the house several times since the day when she almost took her baby's life. It was like an angel left a trail of manna when she left that day, and since then she has been coming back hungry for more. Pieces of her story are coming out with each breadcrumb she picks up, and  little by little, I know that God is re-writing each chapter of her broken story with His grace upon the pages.
 
This particular Grace Chapter began when she came by the house this week and casually mentioned that she would be getting an ultrasound of the baby on Wednesday. I asked if she wanted anyone to go with her, and her eyes lit up when I offered to join her. We planned to meet the next day and walk to where she would be getting the scan. Wednesday came though, and the more I learned about the logistics of getting the scan, the more I realized that she would be throwing money into a corrupt business dealing. (Let's suffice it to say that the person doing the scan was probably using stolen equipment, and they were charging a fee for what should be a free service). As I was thinking about an alternative, I was reminded of something...we have an ultrasound machine that was past down to us from former teammates. After talking with Derek, it seemed like the easiest and best solution would be to just have her come here and he could do the ultrasound from our home.

And so she came.

And behind the closed doors of our bedroom, with dirty lunch dishes awaiting us and friends conversing loudly in our living room in Lubwisi, and children getting up from their naptimes to potty...we witnessed a miracle. Our bedroom is not very large, and her legs hung off the side awkwardly because of how we had to position her, and we were stumbling over clutter, and holding the power cord to the tiny machine so it wouldn't trip the short in the cord. But there it was, as clear as day. The baby growing inside her...the child that was making this one a mama.

I can't help but reflect on the similarities that her story has to the one that ushered Jesus into the world. He came to a single mom, a youth who was subject to being outcast and ridiculed when people found out that she was having a child out of wedlock. The shame and humiliation were completely on the mother, who would forever bear the isolating scar of her single Sin. Granted, this story was birthed out of poor decisions and self-serving actions...but HIS story was birthed for these very stories- the broken ones. He entered with an appearance of brokenness, knowing full well that by allowing His body to be broken for ours, by becoming the sacrificial lamb for us, He was going to make all things right in the end.

And when she left our house yesterday, having met her child for the first time, it was as if the angel Gabriel had visited her personally to deliver the Good News (...of great joy that was for all the people...) 

Luke 2:10

Joy to the {broken} world! The Lord is come...

Let earth receive her {triumphant} king!

Let every {wounded} heart prepare Him room

And Heaven and Nature sing

Joy to the world! The {victorious} Savior reigns...

Let {broken} men their songs employ

While fields and floods

Rocks, hills, and plains

Repeat the sounding joy

No more let sins and sorrows grow

Nor thorns infest the ground

He comes to make His {abundant} blessings flow

Far as the curse is found

He rules the {hurting} world with truth and grace

And makes the {hungry} nations prove

The glories of His righteousness

And wonders of His Love

 

This is Life.

{broken & abundant}
12-3-14