Maybe love does not always need to show up immediately. Maybe there is a better time to show up. Maybe it needs to anchor itself first in purpose, so that when it is finally released, it tells a truer, fuller, and more redemptive story.

And when I held that child, I realized: the smell wasn’t offensive, it is the kind of smell Jesus would draw close to, not avoid. It was the scent of someone who is loved. Someone whose worth isn’t diminished by their circumstances. Someone whom Jesus, if He were here physically, would embrace without a moment of hesitation.

This should be our posture in missions: longing. Not ambition. Not pride. But yearning. A holy desire for our Beloved to be near. More than doing things for her Lover, she wants to be with Him.

I have been clinging to many things, but God is gently peeling my fingers away from them, one by one. Maybe the real question is not whether I will lose everything but whether I will finally let go and trust that Jesus is, and always will be, enough.

Have you ever been in a position where you had to release forgiveness? Betrayed? Hurt? There was a time when I was betrayed by the people closest to me. Words couldn’t touch the depth of that pain, and for a season, it was like I’d been left alone, cut off from the friendships I had once held so close. The hurt was like being stabbed in the heart, and it ached in a way that left me feeling empty.