Melody's thoughts

This is a little clip of what I do here in the BBC guesthouse...okay not really. But I wrote a short story to apoligize for a girl's missing sunglasses.

The adventures in the Middle East
By: The black stylish sunglasses

"A tragic, twisted tail of lovers torn apart"


It was another squelching day in Palestine, the sun rose early that morning making sure to be beating down rays on anyone that dared to endanger themselves by going outside. There was a pair of sunglasses that had somehow been miss placed. Emotionally disturbed he waited, longing for his owner. He knew that somewhere she was out facing the horrendous rays without him.
When alas someone came to the help him! Have a kind heart but not knowing what she was doing, this helper placed the sunglasses on someone's door. He waited in silence, knowing this was the start atrocious adventure.
After what seemed like forever for the poor sunglasses a young lady appeared. She knew the sunglasses were miss placed, and about to be retrieved by the wrong person. So taking them in most utter care she carried them down the street, to the one whom she thought they might belong.
Once the new helper found out that she could not find the owner she did not know what to do. She gently placed them on the windowsill for the night and figured she would sort it out later.
As the night went on the owner was looking for her beloved sunglasses, meanwhile the sunglasses were glancing over Bethlehem and Bait Jala from the lovely view on the third story widow. It did not take long though before the sunglasses realized he was in a foreign place. He was in a place called House of Hope. This house he was in was full of unique and wonderful special needs children. He was awoken and introduced to one of the dearest children before being placed back on the windowsill.
The following day the sunglasses decided he wanted to take a little breather and stayed behind waiting for his lover to contact and find him. To his delight she had not given up on her search, the longing in her heart burned so forcefully that she began asking people the whereabouts of her sunglasses. Finally she received the news that her sunglasses were safe and would be joining her the following day. She was able to rest in peace knowing everything would turn out just right.
Through this experience there was a new birth of deeper love between the two. They both had gone through different trails and prevailed making the bond stronger then before. The owner and sunglasses do not wish for this experience to repeat itself. The sunglasses are now thrilled to be back on the ears and nose of the one it loves.

I have had so many questions about how I am doing and what I am doing over here in Palestine. So I will take some time to answer them.
For the last couple weeks I have been doing lots of random stuff since the kids have been away. I went to lots of different sights and have gotten to know more of my Muslim neighbors. I have had many ups and downs my first seven weeks here. For the first two weeks I was just taking lots of pictures and amazed by all the sights. While I am still amazed by the beauty here I have also hit the spot where I miss my home. I miss my family and friends, and I miss my car.
Time really is going fast though, it is hard to imagine I have been here seven weeks already. I have almost forgotten that I am in the West Bank and just am living day to day seeing what stuff I can do and get involved in.
In three weeks I have some people from PA coming on a missions trip and I will be able to get to spend time with them which I am very excited about because when they come they are bringing me a camera! For those that don’t know I have been without a camera since Christmas which is hard because I see so many awesome things. A couple weeks ago one of the girls here got mad and kicked my camera breaking it, but thank God for Best buy taking it back no problem!
God is doing wonderful things here. On Sunday my team went to the Jordan river for a worship service. While the Jordan river was disappointing what happened there was amazing. The Israeli army let people get baptized in the river. And to make things better there were locals getting baptized and even some who have left their family just to come to Christ. Almost everyone in Palestine is Muslim and to become a Christian means going against your family. And to watch that being taken place was so cool.

Some praises:
All my new friends I am making here
Adjusting slowly to life here
The kids are back

Prayer requests:
Patience when working with the kids and especially for the new one who is not potty trained yet
Health as I have a cough and am losing my voice (too much yelling at the kids…..)
That God will give me words to say


Melody

So this Christmas was special. I was able to celebrate in Bethlehem the birthplace of Christ. It is hard to grasp! Although it was awesome it still didn’t feel like Christmas. I wasn’t able to wake up from a warm bed greet my family and share gifts. I never got to eat shrimp, watch the Christmas story and enjoy those I love most. I really love being here, but being away for Christmas was really hard. It just isn’t Christmas with out my family. I really miss just laughing with my brother and making fun of my dad with my mom. But I realize that if I had the chance to go home I wouldn’t take it. I truly want to be here and the only thing that can make it better would be if God called my friends and family here.
Maybe I am just reaching homesickness. But as I reach the point where it is no longer a vacation and a new place I am forced to be totally reliant on God. The past couple days I have been so homesick as it has reached one month of being here and I realize that I have seven more to go. But the past two days I have just drawn into God more then ever since I have been here.
And I pray it starts showing. Tonight I went on a prayer walk and it was different then most prayer walks because before I left I was so into God’s word and uhh praying! I know it sounds weird but I have been praying so much. God is just showing me the power of prayer. Every time I open my Bible God shows me another verse on prayer.
(time for the update you want to hear) The past two weeks while the kids are with their families I have been praying for them. They all come from Muslim homes. I have also worked in a refugee camp handing out toys and candy to the kids.
It has been a relaxing break and I am just taking all this free time to spend with God. Well, I will write back soon! Miss ya’ll and have a great day.


(Different day) Today was a life changing day. I was sitting in the room typing on my computer and I heard all this shouting. I went outside to met Elis a Palestinian here. There was a protest against the wall. I watched as people shouted and kids threw stones. After about fifteen minutes the Israeli army had enough and through out the tear gas. I felt it burn inside my lungs and my eyes started to water. I turned and ran with the whole crowd. I pushed a news guy out of my way to get away from the fumes. I looked to my right and there were two young boys laying on the side walk unconscious from the gas.

I still can’t comprehend that I am in the West Bank. Every time I leave House of Hope I am hit with the realization that I am not in my home town any more. I’ve traveled the world a lot in the past two years. This is the seventh country I have been in and it is hard to believe I am in the Holy Land. Every country I have been in (except Scotland I think) I haven’t been able to flush the toilet paper (thus the title to this post.) and here in the West bank it is the same. Every morning either Audrey or I have to empty the trash. I know I am in somewhere other then America. But this is not just another trip, this is not just another country. This is God’s trip, this is God’s chosen land. Now how does one grasp that in the human mind? How do I look out the window and understand all of what God has promised to these people?
Today my team and I traveled to Jerusalem. I was able to go to the place where the wailing wall is. The only wall left of the temple. It truly is amazing and no matter how many pictures I take I can’t believe I am here, the one taking the pictures not the one just seeing them on a screen. Why has God chosen me to do this wonderful task? Why has God given me a love for three little girls?
I can not give any answers right now, but praise. Because no matter how much goes on and how many questions I have God knows. He has all the answers. I can’t thank Him enough and talk about Him enough. He has led me each step of the way, each painful step, each glorious step.
My thoughts are really ADD right now, and I apologize. I will write back soon, Lord willing. Internet here is off and on. I miss ya’ll and if you want more stories of what God is doing here complete with pictures check out the team blog at www.yesbethlehem.blogspot.com it has really neat stuff.

God bless ya.
Until next time,

Melody

Wow, training went so fast, we only have one more week of speakers! It is so crazy to think about. I have so much planned for when i go home.
God is just doing so many amazing things in my life and the team. I can't put it all in words and especially not in the limited Internet time I am given.
If I put everything that God has been teaching me the past week it is SELFLESS. Just how I need to put my own wants and needs down at the feet of Jesus and put my team first and those I am servin'. I'm learning how to Suck it up and serve God. It really is a challenge. Just in little things like not always sitting shotgun, letting others go before me at meal times, shorting my computer time so others can get on. I also noticed how I always talk about me, and I am really starting to sit down and LISTEN. Because I know I'll be doing a lot of that in the next nine months while in Israel.
Another thing God is teaching me is to "risk more then others think is safe". Which is what our speaker Steve shank was talking about. I always play it safe and do what I know, but I have to go up and beyond what I am use to. And Heck I might die in Israel, I know it is not a safe place to be. Just recently a guy was killed for his faith. But I am going to do what God is calling me to.
O snap, I ran out of time again! Well, I'll go work on my monthly news letter that way you guys can all see pictures. O, and use facebook, I have most of my pictures from training on there. Yes, 200 pics!

Have a great day and I hope to see some of you next week.

Wow, it has been awhile since I updated! Sorry!
Life at HDC is good. I'm learning so much, but yet ready to go home for a week and the go to Israel.
I have only two weeks left here which is a scary thought! I am starting week nine of training! It is amazing how time flys.
I leave for camp hebron soon and thought I would give a short update on what God is teaching me. But I am doing it more for a selfish reason because I am too lazy to write in my journal so I thought it would be easier to type it out.
God is teaching me to love more. Love doesn't think in terms of how little but how much I can give. My natural instinct is to take the easy route and save myself work. But God is teaching me how to give all of me to things I work at. When you give your all there is this feeling that you've done something amazing!
(o, pooy this is going to be a bad post because I can't think of words that say what I am feeling.)
Love is extravagant in the price it is willing to pay, the time it is willing to give, the hardship it is willing to endure, and the strength it is willing to spend.
Uhh I am out of Internet time! Shoot!
Miss ya all! Really I do. Thanks for all the letters and encouragement. And if I don't see you in two weeks I'll see you in ten months!

As I sat on the second floor watching out the window as the neighborhood children played in the yard, this one young girl stuck out to me. I've watched out that window many of times, but never saw this little girl before. She looked about five, was petite, beautiful and had big pretty eyes. As I watched her standing there while all the rest of the kids played I noticed those big eyes were filled with so much hurt.
I couldn't sit any more, I jumped to my feet and ran downstairs to go outside. It was like I was drawn to this girl.
As I walked outside the girl looked up and her eyes met with mine. But something struck me, and I was slightly pulled away. This girl that I once thought was beautiful was trying to run towards me. She had a limp leg, her arms covered with stitches and scars, her legs were completely covered in bruises to where you don't know what her skin color was suppose to be, her body so frail I was scared to hug her.
As she came towards me, eager just for me to talk to her, spend time with her, play with her, hold her, God reminded me of the words I often said. "God, break my heart with the things that break your heart." Those words pegged me as my own desire was to run back into the house but I knew God wanted me with that child. I prayed a quick prayer.
At that moment God changed my heart. I started no longer seeing her in human eyes but through the heart of God.
I embraced her, and she started changing my heart one step closer to that of God's. I started realizing how much pain God went through when he saw his children hurting.
That night as I kicked a ball around and held this little girl I knew both our lives were changed.


I hope to post a picture of this girl soon. She is such a darling and I love her! I am now broken by God's heart.