John 10:10, as you probably know, promises to give us “life to the full”. I used to interpret this as an amazing life full of highs, but now I view that verse differently. I think “life to the full” sometimes means the fullness of joy, and other times it’s the fullness of sadness. (The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly)
I have been working through a series on generosity and this was part of what I read that has lingered, swirled around and keeps sinking deeper into spaces I try to protect. HOWEVER!…Exodus leaves me wounded, grieving, angry, confused and deflated at times. Protection from the fullness of joy - that is a silly thing to think, huh? - but I (WE, dare I say?) don’t hesitate to want to protect myself from the fullness of “not joy, un-joy, other than joy”. As humans, God’s children, we NEED the fullness of sadness, difficulties, struggles. If we do not have the whole range, we miss out on the fullness of God Himself!
I say all this to ask you to PRAY. Pray for our graduates, pray for the participants, pray for the ladies who are sending applications and who will be arriving at Exodus when the time is right for them. Pray for the Board of Directors. Pray for the community that supports Exodus. We are all in need of support and experiencing the fullness of LIFE!
Grace and Peace, Deanna