(Update: May 3, 2012, I visited my friend Ada today. She is feeling better today. We think she had the flu. She’s been pushing herself to eat things that would settle her tummy. She was weak but feels a lot better today. She has a doctors appointment Friday. Thanks for your prayers for her!)

Yesterday I had a phone call from Ada (Not her real name). She’s the older refugee lady that I mentioned in a previous post that has been helping a lot of the younger refugee girls. She’s sick. Ada called me and begged of me to come to her immediately. She mentioned that she was afraid and worried about her health because she couldn’t keep food down. Ada seemed anxious about how she was going to be able to help the girls when she wasn’t well enough to help herself.

I couldn’t go to Ada yesterday. And, I couldn’t go to her today. I have spoken to her and she is still eager for me to visit her. I will go to her tomorrow. I hope it isn’t too late.

I often wish I lived among the refugee community so that I could have quicker access to them when they are in great need. If I did live near them I might try to “fix” all their problems the way I think is best though. I would probably run to them and exhaust myself trying to make life easier for them. In some ways, I have done that from afar at times. But, God reminded me of something. It’s the caterpillar in a cocoon picture. A caterpillar struggles in a cocoon once it becomes a butterfly. It fights itself out of the cocoon in order to gain the strength it needs to fly. If someone reaches in to pull the butterfly out of its cocoon before it’s time then the butterfly may never fly and will live a shorter and more difficult life.

I hate to see my friends struggling. While I will certainly go to the sick, poor and hurting, I must also realize there is a time when I just cannot run to help. I can stand in the mud with my friends but I cannot carry the weight upon myself to always “fix” things. For one, who is to say I know best for them?

In saying this, I think some think too strongly on this idea and altogether stop helping people. That’s not good either. I pray that I can hear God’s
whisper to me to tell me when to run and when to hold back. I never want to hold back God’s love but I must grab hold of the fact that sometimes saying no or not today or not right now is still showing love. It’s okay to meet my friends half way too!

Please pray for my friend Ada. I do still wish we had an Asha’s Refuge building in Binghampton so that refugees could come to us and we to them a lot easier. We could have so many resources available in this space to help them
help themselves. Most of all, we love our friends and want to be a light in a often dark and difficult place. Please, please pray for the space to open up for us there. Whatever He wants for us, that’s what I want. And, of course whenever He says it’s time.