A Dialogue with Jesus

Listen to me.

Ok, I’m here.

No you’re not. Stop trying to do that yourself. My yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Mt. 11:30)

What? Making 5 batches of cookies? Planning meals? Planning my life?

Yeah, my ways and my thoughts are much higher than yours (Isaiah 55:11)

Yeah.. I would feel more comfortable if I knew I’d be able to pay off my loans soon.

I knit you together in your mother’s womb. I know when you sit and stand, I know your thoughts (Ps 139)

I know, I love that psalm, but the worries are still there.

Before you even called to me, I answered you (Is 65:24). If I tell you to go, I’m going to provide. (Heb 11:8)

What about my own intelligent plan? It was a good one, everyone thought so.

Why are you more attached to your own plans than to me? Commit your way to me. (Ps 37:5)

Why don’t you just tell me that I’ll be married in a few years and people will think I’m successful?

Your competence is in me (2 Cor. 3:5), you need to trust that I have power to do what I have promised. (Rom 4:21)

But what about my comfort? Are you going to ask me before you wreck my plans?

Oh you have such little faith. Look at the birds in the air and the lilies in the field. Look at how I clothe and feed them! Are you not more valuable to me than they are? (Matt 6:25-34

Ok, I understand.. But I am really tired. I think I’m overworking myself.

My presence will go with you and I will give you rest (Exodus 33: 14)

Not even a nap? I could really use a nap.

Strengthen your feeble hands, steady your knees that give way (Is 35:3), Do not fear, for I am with you. I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. (Is 41:10)

I give up! What do you want me to do so badly that I can’t even take a nap?

I work in you every day to will and to act according to my good purpose. (Phil 2:13).

What purpose?

To spend yourself on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed. (Is. 58:10)

Well goodness, that’s really concrete. And did I mention.. Huge!

So am I. I fixed limits for the seas, I tell the dawn its place, I disperse the lightning and father the rain. (Job 38).

Hello! I am so tiny compared to that

But I am not. If you have faith, you can say to this mountain to throw itself into the sea, and it’ll happen. (Mt. 21:21)

Do you really think I’m ready for that?

Your treasure is me, and you are a clay jar, moldable and breakable, to show that the power you hold is not your own, but mine. (2 Cor. 4:7) I created you for dependence on me.

You know how much I like my independence..

I saved you with my grace for a purpose because I created you and I created works in advance for you to do. (Eph. 2:8-10). You are not your own, you were bought with a price. (1 Cor. 6:19)

…

I love you, but sometimes, you are really selfish.

I want to follow you with my entire heart, without deviation. Give me an overflowing joy, a realization of what you’ve done for me, and make me someone who serves you willingly, without excuse.. (Ps 51: 10,12)

We have a lot of work to do.

That’s what I was afraid of..

Sarah

She lives in the campement down the road from Ecole Baptiste, our program’s homebase, and cooks us yummy meals. One of my responsibilities has been to oversee the kitchen and make sure we have food to eat. Sarah is the chief of the kitchen, and it has been a joy to work alongside her. She is a comedian, a mother, a wife, a head chef, an actress, and a singer.

She is married to a man named Benjamin, and has become the mother of his children. They are not hers, however. Her best friend was his first wife, but she passed away. When Sarah saw that he was struggling with his 7 kids, she offered to become their mother and his wife.

Before that, she was part of a traveling singing and theater group in Mali. She has taught me a few of the songs, in Bombara, that she learned during those days. Often, while cooking together or organizing tupperware, she’ll teach me, line by line, songs that talk about God’s love and joy. She makes me laugh so hard - everyone calls her a comedian. Most of the time, it starts when she makes fun of me and I do the same to her. Before you know it, we’re both laughing so hard. The other day, I decided to make coconut milk. That in itself was bizarre to her - but she considered it to be one of my strange American things. Then she watched as I put my left pointer finger in to check the consistency, and she said “Stephanie, si quelqu’un te voit quand tu fais ca, il ne va pas le manger,” (if someone sees you do that, he won’t eat it.)

On Friday, she described to me how you eat baked potatoes, in Dioula, a language she’s been trying to teach me, at my request. I stared at her. She hadn’t taught me those terms yet. She has taught me simple things, like “E bay soh moh goh foh”, which means “greet your family”, a common thing people say when telling someone goodbye. There is one sound that I simply cannot pronounce. It sounds like “Gba”, but there is a very forceful tone behind the “B” which I have yet to master. Every time I try, she’s practically rolling on the floor laughing.

I worked alongside her one morning, making peanut butter cookies, as she made peanut sauce. She explained to me in detail how to make the sauce, and then showed me how to properly mix and roll the cookies. When I told her that I thought I’d done a good job, she said that I had not. It was her job to teach me so I could make them properly for my future husband, who she is eager to find for me.

In August, when I was baptized in the stream behind Ecole Baptiste, it was her who led us in songs. I remember her singing, “I have decided to follow Jesus,” (J’ai decide a suivre Jesus). Sarah is an amazing person. Our friendship is something you don’t find every day. Even cross-culturally, I can say that she is a true “soul” sister, someone I was meant to know and to love. Maybe it’s because of our adventurous spirits or our mutual love for laughter. I respect her for the decisions she’s made in her life and the whole hearted spirit that she’s embraced them with. And every time I see her, I thank Jesus for putting her in my life.

These pictures describe our relationship well

The Baptism

Sarah, on the right, leading us in song