Happy Mother’s Day to the greatest mama in the whole wide world 💗 The Lord blessed me beyond measure when He gave me this beauty as my mom, mentor, confidant, best friend and sister in Christ! She is a prayer warrior, the best afternoon tea partner, and an absolute hoot. 👯♀️ Sweet mama, you have not only been a wonderful mom to me, but have selflessly welcomed so many others into your heart and life - your unconditional hospitality, joyful generosity, and sacrificial love are an incredible example of Jesus Christ. ✨ You radiate light and warmth! I love you forever!
God, your God, will restore everything you lost; he'll have compassion on you; he'll come back and pick up the pieces from all the places where you were scattered. No matter how far away you end up, God, your God, will get you out of there and bring you back... {Deuteronomy 30:3-5}
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Earlier this year, I was given the great privilege of traveling to west Africa with Restore Hope as a photojournalist. This video does not begin to touch on the heartbreaking accounts I heard as I sat down with beautiful children and teenagers to learn their stories. One by one, I interviewed precious kids who had been orphaned due to sickness and disease.
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Despite the hopelessness of their circumstances - and just when it became almost unbearable to listen to what these children had endured - hope emerged in every story. Yes, HOPE! Dear friends, what is intended for evil, our God uses for good. There is no situation beyond His redemption, and no brokenness beyond His healing.
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The love of Jesus Christ intersected the lives of these little boys and girls through the work of Restore Hope, local Sierra Leonian churches, and faithful followers of Christ, and I leaned in close as sweet Sierra Leonian voices recounted testimony after testimony of darkness and death being transformed into light and life.
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Our Heavenly Father has NO ORPHANS! These incredible kids are children of the Most High King: adored, protected, beloved, and part of an eternal family. When a person believes that he or she is LOVED without condition and without limitation, we catch a glimpse of the Kingdom of Heaven here, on earth.
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By the way, you (yes, YOU!) are loved with the very same transforming, restoring, and unconditional love. You are loved, friend. Hope and healing are possible.
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But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted; you consider their grief and take it in hand. The victims commit themselves to you; you are the helper of the fatherless. {Psalm 10:14}
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Restorehopetoday.org
Happy Birthday to this stunning sister-in-love of mine! Oh Melissa, you truly light up my life and every room you walk into! ☀️ Thank you for your humor, compassion, depth and honesty. It is a gift to have you as my friend and as a part of my family. Seriously!? How lucky am I!? Thank you, Jesus! 🙌🏻 You are captivatingly beautiful, sister. I hope your day is filled with kolaches and baluga whales and weird cuddles from Duke Silver and all of your sweet friends... mostly I hope your heart is filled with an undeniable joy and knowledge of how very much you are LOVED and appreciated. 💗 You are a gift! I LOVE YOU FOREVER!!! #infinitycrew #prom
IT’S MY BEST FRIEND’S BIRTHDAY ❗️❗️❗️ Happy Day to my beautiful @valrod414 🎉 You are the marshmallow cream to my peanut butter sandwich, the hot to my pocket, and the queen to my homecoming... YOU ARE ALL OF THE GOOD THINGS! I lauv you, sweet sister! Thank you for making the last 17 years of my life brighter. ✨ The Lord blessed me with the most precious gift when He introduced me to you, and I am ever thankful for your friendship, encouragement, steadfast love, and impeccable sense of humor. 💕 I hope your birthday reminds you how appreciated and loved you are - it is always an honor to CeLeBrAtE you, tiny best friend!
At 18, I thought I had an idea of what my future would hold. I made plans that didn’t quite work out, and even ended up doing things I said I would never do. My mind changed, my dreams changed, my circumstances changed, and my plans changed... but God’s love never changed! LINK IN BIO! 🙌🏻
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“When I reached the page containing an essay I had penned about my high school experience and future plans, I was overwhelmed by an overtly apparent and humbling truth: None of what I had planned as an 18-year old actually ended up happening.” #onethingremains
