Stop the World

The TV is talking
The telephone’s ringing
The lights are all on
And the radio’s screaming
A million distractions are stealing my heart from You
I’m tired and empty
This life is relentless
It weakens my knees
And breaks my defenses
It’s wearing me down and I’m desperate to hear from You

Stop the world I wanna get out
I need an escape away from this crowd
Just to hear You speak to me

I need to be still before I make a move
I need to be humble with nothing to prove
I need Your Word to show me the truth
And I need time, precious time

Stop the world I wanna get out
I need an escape away from this crowd
Just to hear You speak to me
Stop the world I’m ready to listen
Show me a sign, give me a vision of heaven
I can hold on to
Stop the world I need some time with You

Before I can find my voice
I need to hear Your voice
Above all the senseless noise

As I was studying this morning I listened to some music by Matthew West and this song caught my ear. I realized how often I feel exactly like that. The world has millions of distractions that seem to take my focus away from God. These distractions are colorful, loud and scream at me anywhere I go... there's no wonder that I feel like I can't hear God. Listening to the song reminded me of how important it is to remove myself from the distractions of this world to a quiet place to spend some time with my Creator so that I can really rest in Him and listen to what He has to say to me. I believe God speaks to us everyday. Often I think our problem is that we are listening for God in the loud things in our life while He might just be gently whispering, waiting for us to give Him our undivided attention.

The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

(1 Kings 19:11-13)

The LORD was not in the powerful wind, He was not in the earthquake, nor was He in the fire... He was in the gentle whisper...

Short update from Lebanon!

It's about time I wrote something here!!

Now I've been in Lebanon for almost a month! These past 4 weeks I spent doing a Children's Day Camp called "Health & Fun" and yes, it was a lot of fun! There were about 50 kids in the camp, divided into 4 groups depending on their age. They had different activities like sports, games, arts and crafts, music, dance, aerobics, health awareness sessions and different outings. This was a very rewarding time for me because I absolutely love working with kids. I've had trouble posting pictures, so unfortunately I will not be able to post any here yet.

During my time here I have met some wonderful people from all over the world that I know will be my friends for life. We had a ICMDA camp last weekend (ICMDA = International Christian Medical and Dental Association) which was a lot of fun as well as being very beneficial to all of us. People from different cultures and countries gathering together because they share the same vision of serving God in their medical profession :) Such a huge blessing for me to be able to participate in this.

Anyways, I think that'll have to do for now. I just wanted to let everyone know that I LOVE MY LIFE! and I am having a blast here in Lebanon. The people here are very hospitable and welcoming. In a lot of ways it feels like home because the culture here is a bit of a mix between what I experienced growing up in Ethiopia and the culture and luxuries of Europe... if that makes any sense...

So... Have a great weekend everyone! I know I will :) Lots of love from Lebanon!