One of them was 'The Magician's Elephant' by Katie DiCamillo. It's the story of an elephant who suddenly falls through the roof of an opera house in a small town and the aftermath of the reactions and connections of the people. It's a story of love and mystery, hope and imagination.
It's become one of my favorite books.
The policemen in the story begin to wonder and ask, "what do we do with the elephant?" They sit around and go back and forth and run in circles. Should we punish the elephant? give it a home? make it disappear?
But there's one, described as a poet, who asks a different kind of question.
He asks what if? could it be? why not?
where did the elephant come from?
what does she mean to the town?
what if she had come bearing a message of great importance?
what if everything was to be irrevocably, undeniably changed by the elephant's arrival?
He says, we must ask ourselves as often as we dare. How will the world change if we do not question it?
I just got back from a ten day mission trip to the heart of Rwanda. My team of 11 amazing women visited the IWE school and taught a conference for the teachers and the middle and high school age girls. On how these girls are made in the image of God, how to handle conflict, who they are as women, how to love their bodies. We read Scripture and prayed together. so much joy.
And we questioned it.
What if.. women from America taught girls on the other side of the world that they are loved by God?
What if.. we shared our lives and shared our hope?
Why not.. step outside our comfort zones and end up running head first into the love of Christ?
Why not.. discover that compassionately loving His people is at the very heart of His will?
Could it be.. that the message of the gospel of forgiveness is infinitely greater in the face of genocide?
Could it be.. that we would learn more than we gave?
Could it be.. that being free can be found most true in this land that has seen and lost much?
I can look out over at where this journey started (a rocky process), where it took me (sharing the Gospel with 300+ Rwandan girls), and where it is now (processing the joy of the Lord) and believe that there's no place that my feet have stepped and are stepping that the Lord has not gone before. He's hemming me in as I go.
I can look out over at where this journey started (a rocky process), where it took me (sharing the Gospel with 300+ Rwandan girls), and where it is now (processing the joy of the Lord) and believe that there's no place that my feet have stepped and are stepping that the Lord has not gone before. He's hemming me in as I go.
Let the processing, the asking, and the choosing to respond to the grace of God begin.
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