Quotes by Mother Theresa

"Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired."

"Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing. "

"If we want a love message to be heard, it has got to be sent out. To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it."

"Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough, money can be got, but they need your hearts to love them. So, spread your love everywhere you go."

This one is my favorite: "In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love. "

Today has been a roller coaster--lots and lots of ups and downs, some unexpected struggles and frustrations in terms of getting ready for my trip, and more and more I am aware of my shortcomings...I am made of dust, and only alive because the Creator of the Universe has breathed into my body. I am exhausted and drained, and I feel as though i am being worn down...but it is a beautiful process and transformation... I fell as though the more tired I am, the more I let go...the more torn up I am, the more I open up... the more fearful my heart is, the more I surrender control and turn to Him. I am so thankful for His perfect grace and mercy that is enough... I am so thankful that I am not here on this earth the do amazing or extraordinary things, I am not here to be sucessful or well-known, I am not here to be rich, I am not here to seek my own glory. I am here to love--to pour myself into the people around me---the old, the young, the rich, the poor, the sick, the healthy, the strong, the weak, the depressed, the joyful--to spread joy and hope and light.

I want to disappear...to put on an invisibility cloak of compassion, so that all who look at me-in Nashville, in Atlanta, in India- do not see Emily Woods, but they see love and grace and hope and light.

ELW

14 days till departure...

"1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners, [a]
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,

3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.

4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations." Isaiah 61:1-4

These verses have been on my mind for the past few days, as I am praying that God would send me to bind up the broken hearts of these precious women, and to proclaim their freedom, to assure them of their beauty, to comfort them, to sing songs of gladness, to help them rebuild their lives and walk down a road of hope and possibility.

ELW

Bread without eggs or butter? You bet.

So as I was standing in line for breakfast this morning, I glanced into the glass container by the check-out counter in the Commons Center and saw a plate of banana bread...and I almost laughed out loud. In 14 days, Ill be in India, baking banana bread with 20 Indian women...THATS ABSOLUTELY CRAZY AND RIDICULOUSLY EXCITING, but I'm still having trouble wrapping my mind around the reality that I'll be halfway across the globe.... 10 hours ahead of Nashville time...in exactly two weeks.....its a party in BANGALOREEEEE--I'll have to call up Miley and tell her to write a song about it...

Later this morning, I received an email from one of the Rahab's Rope staff members in India, informing me that one of the prominent people groups in Bangalore does not consume eggs or butter...sooooooo good thing that one of my friends (KB) is a regular at Fido and informed me that there are tons of yummy vegan recipes for muffins and breads. Inspired by this new knowledge, I spent the afternoon researching several bread recipes (ranging from banana to pumpkin to apple to coconut and more) that do not contain eggs and butter, and so this Sunday will be a Food Network Special at the Theta House where my friends and I will be baking up a serious bread storm in the kitchen and testing out the new recipes. I'll be sure to keep yall posted on our findings.

ELW

19 days till departure...

"I will go before you and will level the mountains. I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness; riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name. For the sake of Jacob, my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow upon you a title of honor though you do not acknowledge me.

I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God; I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising of the sun, to the place of its setting, men may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, there is no other." Isaiah 45:2-7

In reading through this passage in Isaiah, the Holy Spirit opened my weak and weary eyes to the power in these truths, and connected their power to the work I will be doing in India:

"I will go before you and will level the mountains." This part of the verse makes a me laugh a little, in light of the volcano in Iceland that has been "leveling the mountain" for the past few weeks. Mountains have always stirred a deep-seeded awe in my heart, their peaks glowing with a sense of majesty and unmatched power. My mind immediately leans back into my memories of climbing Kilimanjaro...

The mountain humbled me—swallowing me in its towering greatness and vast expanse that drove upwards into a deep cerulean sky that must have been painted by God himself. Her might was evident—her strength emanated in the air that grazed jagged cliffs, crumbled stone faces, exotic rainforests, deserts and sand—sending shudders of awe trickling down my spine. Her beauty was majestic, white laced caps unfurling through parted clouds—unfaltering peaks that rose to the heavens....

And yet the challenge, the trial, the test, and the pain she represented was daunting. My 6-weeks in India feel much the same way---a beautiful opportunity to love and serve my sisters half-way across the globe--but a daunting experience to be "alone" (God will be there :) in a 3rd world country that I have never been to, for a month and a half, teaching nutrition and baking classes and administering job skills training to victims of sex-trafficking, none of which I have done before....a teensy tinsy bit scary haha. But God's promise to go before me, and level the mountain of fear that is building in my heart, is now flooding me with the peace of the Holy Spirit.

"I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron...so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name..." Gates and bars have entrapped many of the victims of sex-trafficking for 1, 2, 10, even 15 years of their lives, not only locking them inside brothels and buildings as well as chaining them to bedposts... but imprisoning their hearts in cells of fear and horror and violence and abuse and darkness and hopelessness. My prayer for these six weeks--is that the LORD would demonstrate the power of this promise---that God's love for these women would be able to tear down gates and cut through bars that are guarding their hearts, and that they would know and feel and be sure of the perfect healing love of Christ. That the women would know that they matter--they have a purpose, a value and worth far beyond their dreams, and they are being summoned by their Father who created them to find refuge in His wings and promises and grace.

"For the sake of Jacob, my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow upon you a title of honor though you do not acknowledge me..." During this past year, I have been overwhelmingly aware of my own weaknesses and imperfections, especially my failure to acknowledge the majesty and holiness of Jesus Christ. My life is so much about me, though all I want is Him. My thoughts are worries about my own future, though all I need is Him. My heart is full of repentance of my shortcomings and thankfulness for the most valuable title in the world: "His daughter", because I know I have not done/ cannot do/ and will not do anything to deserve it. My hope is that during these 6 weeks my title as "His daughter" would overpower "Emily," and that His Name would cover mine, that His life would cover mine, that His Love would cover me, that He would become greater, and I would become less. (John 3:30)

"I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God; I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me..." ..."My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Cor. 12:9 I long for the sufficiency of God's grace to real to me and the women I am with in India...that we would embrace our weakness in knowing that through brokenness we are made perfect in Him...that we would know that His grace overpowers all things-- in all "insults, hardships, persecutions, difficulties" (2 Cor. 12: 10)---He is sovereign.

"... so that from the rising of the sun, to the place of its setting, men may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, there is no other." My prayer is that the love of Christ would not only permeate the Rahab's Rope center in Bangalore...but that love would spill over into the shadows of brothels, the mud homes of slums, the streets of India, to the dorm rooms at Vanderbilt... That this 6 week trip would not be a month and a half experience, but it would be the beginning of a life-long journey of compassion and healing and service.

God is oh so good, all the time.

ELW