Do not worry but rest in Jesus' love

Hope. I am so amazed at how Jesus fills me with hope. Whenever I am afraid, or confused or even filled with joy I know that my life is not my own. I do not have to live for myself. This world is not about me. This takes so much stress and weight off my shoulders. My only goal in life is to live for Jesus. So whatever He calls me to do whether it is working in Africa or working at home or being a stay-at-home mom, I know that is God's plan for my life. I also know that God will reveal His perfect will to me. So sometimes when I start worrying because time is ticking and I don't know all the details, I know that God is in control. I love this! I love that I don't have to worry about my life.
Matthew 6:25-34
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

We have hope that Jesus will lead us and guide us. So why worry? Jesus is walking with us and guiding us. He is always guarding us and will always protect us. So even if we don't have all the answers, we can be content knowing Jesus does. Isn't that amazing? That fills me with comfort. Jesus loves us and wants our best.
God bless!
~Lily

Children are Not for sale

27 million people enslaved

2 children sold every minute

Over 100,000 U.S. children forcefully engaged
in prostitution or pornography each year

Menus are handed out at brothels

And we think slavery is finished

Slavery is very much present
Find out more at Love146
and see what they are doing to make a difference
in the lives of children all over the world.

Children are NOT for sale

~Lily

Girls girls girls

Quick post today :)
One of my favorite pics from one of the
schools I visited on my trip to Ecuador
last summer. These girls really blessed
me and I pray that they all have
sponsors. Have a great week! :)

~Lily

I found my life

This is an amazing song by Sojourn. One of my favorite lines is...
"I found my life, I found my life in Him."
Everyone wants to be happy and have a
place in life. Only in Jesus can we find true
joy and true peace. I found my life in Jesus.
Be encouraged!
~Lily

Lillian Trasher

One of my heroes is Lillian Trasher. Lillian was born in 1887 and as a young woman, worked at several orphanages and served God. In 1910, she felt God calling her to Africa and with only 100 dollars, she sailed to Egypt with her sister. Several months after arriving in Egypt, Lillian went to minister to a dying woman. This woman had a three month old baby girl who was malnourished and neglected. This was the first child that Lillian Trasher took in and it was the start of an amazing journey of faith and trust in God. Over the years, hundreds of children found their way into Lillian's home and heart and God miraculously provided and cared for them all. In 1961, at the time of her death, the Lillian Trasher Orphanage had 12,000 children living in it. Lillian Trasher followed God's call in her life even when it meant leaving everything she knew and loved. I am so inspired by Lillian's example to take up my cross and follow God. I want to live as she did. She trusted God with her life and with the lives of hundreds of children. Lillian knew that God would provide.

It reminds of Jim Elliot's quote...

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." -Jim Elliot

This world is not our home. We don't need to fear death, or poverty, or pain. We must live in God's love and recognize His faithfulness to us. He will never leave us or forsake us and we must follow Him whole-heartedly. I am excited to see where God will call me and I pray that by His grace I will be able to follow with joy and faith.
God bless!
~Lily Fluharty

Make the Difference

Ok, so this is probably the most amazing video I've seen in a while! Watch the whole way through! AMAZING! Inspires me to not let anything stop me and to dream dream dream... ENJOY! :)



God bless!
~Lily Fluharty

From pain to Compassion

I posted this last year but I think this book has a powerful
message and I wanted to bring it back to the light!

Too Small to Ignore is a powerful book by Dr. Wess Stafford,
President and CEO of Compassion International. The book
tells about Dr. Staffords childhood in Africa as a young boy
in a missionary family. During his time overseas, Wess
was abused at a missionary school. He writes of his pain as
well as how Jesus filled Him with peace and forgiveness.
This little boy who was broken, beaten and abused went on
to found Compassion International and to provide hundreds
of kids with love and opportunities to know Jesus.
The big message of the book is why
the least of these matters most.

Jesus really loved children and He made a point in showing
this.

Matthew 18:5 says,
"And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name
welcomes me."
Jesus repeatedly welcomed and blessed children.

However, children are not a priority in today's world.
Dr. Stafford writes,
"When hunger and famine strike a nation, adults become weak
and hungry,but it is the children who most often starve to
death. When disease arrives with all its fury, adults can become
very sick, but the first to die are usually children. When war
erupts over ethnicity or boundary lines in the dust, it is the
littlest victims who pay the most tragic price. Far more children
were injured or permanently maimed by our battles. The
tragedies go on for years after the last gunshot or grenade blast,
as land mines and booby-trapped toys keep wounding, terrorizing,
and killing our innocent ones. The ritual sacrifice of children has
been taboo for thousands of years. Yet tragically it is practiced
every day across our world. We sacrifice children on our altars of
our most destructive sins. when the sickness of pornography has
run to its most evil and destructive end, it takes the form of child
pornography. When prostitution reaches its sickest, most depraved
form, it becomes child prostitution."

Here are a few devestating statistics...

*55 percent of childrens deaths in the world is responsible from
malnutrition.

*The earth can produce enough food for every man, woman, and child
to have 2,720 calories per day-more than any of us need.

*On September 11, the same day the twin towers fell, thirty thousand
children under the age of five from hunger and AIDS.

*The World Health Organization reported taht 745,000 children died
in 2001 from the measles.

The total cost of vaccinating them would have been only $558,750. We
spend five times that much on chewing gum each and every year.

It's all a matter of priorities.
Speaking of priorities, isn't it interesting how a schoolteacher earns
between $25,000 and $30,000 a year while a professional baseball
pitcher earns that much for every out he throws?

So how can we help? It is not always possible to go and rescue fifty
children and take them into our homes, and clothe and feed them.
However, sponsoring a child can help one child at a time.
By telling them them that they are loved and cared about, by nurturing
their dreams and encouraging them to be the best they can be, we
can help children overcome poverty and discouragement.
Proverbs 31:8 says,
"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of
all who are destitute."

Click here to go to Compassion and find out more about sponsoring
a child!
God bless you!
~Lily