Prayer time at night is one of my favorite aspects of the schedule at the Vine. When you’re on call with the girls, at bedtime we go into their rooms and just listen as they unwind from the day. Most of them have their prayer requests down pat (and even ask us to recite them from memory for them), but sometimes deep conversations can really come up. One of the girls, Jessica, is really one of our miracles. She has a rough past where she got into drugs around age 15 and eventually went to jail twice for a total of about 9 months. Over and over again, she expresses to me how much she hates her past. There are even times she says she should have been dead due to overdose. The father of the baby is still addicted to drugs as well and seems to essentially be a compulsive liar. However, somehow even in the middle of being addicted to meth, she got pregnant. there are so many heartbreaking turns in her story, and there are still some rough times ahead, but she is redeemed beyond belief. After coming to the Vine, she is clean from drugs, has gained weight to become healthy herself, and has a healthy baby boy (we just found out on Wednesday!!) growing inside her. One of the most beautiful things I’ve seen also is the way she genuinely working toward repairing relationships with her family. I am in awe of the Lord’s goodness when I look at her. She has a sweet, unassuming nature, and she is working so hard to make a better life for herself as she makes good decisions for her baby and is working toward her GED.
On Saturdays, we are able to do something fun with the girls if their parents do not come for visitation, and one of the first Saturdays I was here we went to the beach. Before she fell into bad company, she said her family went to the beach often. Oh, how she lit up as soon as we got there! She threw her flip flops off and ran into the waves where we played and floated the rest of the time there. She was like a child- and taught me to be like one too.
God usually works like that.
In a place where I believed I would come and have wisdom to give (how haughty of me), instead Jesus uses all his children to teach. So, Jess continues to have that child-like faith, and I am reminded to have it too. It only seems fitting that Jesus put this lesson in my head just now as my time comes to a close. The song “Wonder” has filled my head throughout the summer, and the lyrics remind me how I should be in the presence of our God.
May we never lose our wonder
May we never lose our wonder
Wide eyed and mystified
May we be just like a child
Staring at the beauty of our King
I pray none of us ever lose it, for His glory goes on forever, and He is “clothed with splendor and majesty.” (Psalm 104:1) God is good and faithful in all things, to all people, at all times, in all places. Especially for me in Savannah, Georgia.
// brianna in savannah // 