the gift of Gab

I'm not much of a romance novel girl. I would rather read a good mystery or an international intrigue. However, I just finished reading Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers and highly recommend it to everyone who has ever questioned God's unconditional and unending love. He can, and will, transform us from filty whores into His beautiful bride.

Here's what the back cover says: Sold into prostitution in childhood, Angel is a bitter young woman who trusts no man. But when God tells Michael Hosea to marry her, she learns to love and hope---until fear overwhelms her and she returns to her former life. Can she be redeemed? A skillful retelling of the biblical story of Gomer and Hosea, set amid the California gold rush.

In the book of Hosea, the prophet is told by God to marry a prostitute more or less as an object lesson for the nation of Israel (and us). Hosea offers her at beautiful, blessed life. But Gomer continues to be unfaithful to him and to return to prostitution, just as the people of Israel (and we) insisted on living in sin and disobeying God. Not just once, but over and over again.

Just as Hosea continued to go back for Gomer, inspite of her failings, God continues to rescue us - because of His unending love for us. His greatest desire is for us to accept the fabulous life He intends for us. Look at what he says in Hosea 2:14-15:

14 "But then I will win her back once again.
I will lead her into the desert
and speak tenderly to her there.
15 I will return her vineyards to her
and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope.

At the same time though, God will allow us to make our stupid mistakes. Eventually, God will let us walk away, leaving the decision to return up to us. He will allow us to wallow in our sin and the natural consequences that follow. And He will wait patiently and tenderly while we complain and question and rebel - all the time desiring us to return to His love.

14:1 Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
for your sins have brought you down.
2 Bring your confessions, and return to the Lord.
Say to him,
"Forgive all our sins and graciously receive us,
so that we may offer you our praises.

When we finally come to our senses and return to Him, does he scold us or give us a bucket full of "I-told-you-so's"? Not at all. He welcomes us back with open arms and without reservation. He looks past our sins and sees us for what we will become in Him and shows us again the life He desires for us.

I have been that whore. No, I didn't sell my body for money. But for many years I chose to turn my back on God and live a life of doing things my way. And I have paid the consequences for it. I've shed the tears. I've lived in fear and in turmoil.

And all the while, God waited for me. Waited for me to return to Him so he could bless me with the amazing and glorious life He wanted me to have. Do I deserve those blessings? No. None of us do. But thankfully, God doesn't give us what we deserve. He gives us something so much better.

I am overwhelmed by His unconditional and unending love for me. And I am grateful for the person He is molding me to be. What could possibly be better?

14:4 The Lord says,
"Then I will heal you of your faithlessness;
my love will know no bounds,
for my anger will be gone forever.

Posted by Gabi at 10:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Whoo Hoo!!! I'm all done with the required reading for WorldVenture!

For the past two years, most of my reading has been educational/informative. I haven't gotten to read many books just because I wanted to. I'm so looking forward to the stack of leisure books I've got waiting for me.

Posted by Gabi at 12:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The October newsletter is here: click here

Posted by Gabi at 3:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wheee!! I finished reading The Scramble for Africa: White Man's Conquest for the Dark Continent and have completed the integration report for it. Basically, what did I learn and how will I use it in Zambia.

Yay, only two more books and reports to go. And they're both easy. Should have them done in the next 2-3 weeks! Yay!!!

Posted by Gabi at 3:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last night I watched P.O.V. - Critical Condition on PBS.

Roger Weisberg's Critical Condition is a powerful, eye-opening look at the health care crisis in America. In an election season when health care reform has become one of the nation's most hotly debated issues, Critical Condition lays out the human consequences of an increasingly expensive and inaccessible system. ...Weisberg allows ordinary hard-working Americans to tell their harrowing stories of battling critical illnesses without health insurance. Read the full synopsis here.

Click here to see the film in its entirety. I highly recommend it. It is about 85 minutes long, but incredibly eye-opening.

I don't know what the answer is to our health care crisis. Do we lower insurance premiums? Do we provide global health care for all Americans?

What I do know is that our system in horrible condition. This past summer, on two separate occasions, women died in hospital emergency rooms while others stoodby either helpless to do anything or indifferent to the suffering. Click here to watch the stories of Edith Rodriguez in Los Angeles and Esmin Green in New York City.

The uninsured (and some of us who are insured) are unable to pay for medications. So, many are forced to stop taking their medications regularly and become much sicker. We shuffle our uninsured from one medical facility to the next. Appointments are months out and we tell them to wait until it's "really bad" before we will provide any worthwhile remedy. We stick uninsured patients with bills that are often 2 1/2 times higher than what the insurance companies are billed. Is it any wonder that so many wait even to seek treatment? Doesn't the worry and stress about how they will pay for it make them even sicker?

I know that in many developing countries around the world, patients are required to pay for medical care before treatment begins. Here, we decry the inhumane and unjust treatment. We condemn the medical care and practices in those countries.

Is what we do here in our "sophisticated and indultrialized" nation so different? What happened to equality for all?

Posted by Gabi at 9:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)