The Great Emigration

I am hoping by this time you are somewhat informed about the immigrant crisis in the US, or shall we call it the emigrant crisis in Central America?  I would like to start off this post by saying that I am not here to write a political opinion, try to sway you, or really weigh in at all.  I simply would like to share a topic that has been on my heart.

I have lost count of how many friends, acquaintances, and kids I have lost in the last year.  Not dead, but gone to "el norte."  All in different circumstances, but all looking for the same thing: something better.  Two of my best friends here, a young married couple who I used to frequently go out on the town with, realized that as they think about starting a family, the danger and poor education system here are not things they are willing to subject a potential child to and so, they left.  Just a couple months ago the little brother and mother of a good friend also left, leaving two other sons behind with no father in sight.  Thankfully they survived the dangerous journey and are now safely in the US.  Upon arriving back in El Salvador a few weeks ago I found out the one of my kids and her parents have gone to Guatemala because there was a price out on her dad's head because of a family relation.

I could go on and on, but like I said, I'm not trying to sway you, just trying to help you empathize.  My heart hurts.  I want there to be opportunities here.  I want my kids to know how to read by the time they get to the fourth grade, and I want people to feel safe when they go home at night, or when they need to leave their house.  I want economic opportunities to exist without fear of being extorted or murdered if you actually start making a living.

I want a lot of things, but more than any of them I want to believe that God has got it under control. Psalm 9:8 says "He rules the world in righteousness and judges the peoples with equity."  I want to believe in my deepest heart of hearts that God's righteousness is here.

Do you ever doubt God's presence?  Do you doubt that his had is actually working?  I am a human and I can most definitely say yes.  Sometimes I look around and I just want to scream at God, as he lounges on his throne, "HELLO!  DO YOU SEE US DOWN HERE?!?!?  CAN'T YOU SEE THE SUFFERING???"  But you know what?  I'm so glad that it's not up to me.  I am so small.  My tiny little brain cannot even begin to comprehend what God is doing.  For better or worse, we only have the short view.  My sinful mind sees a passive God who is lounging, while the reality is that there is nothing he cannot do perfectly.  We are the ones who screw it all up time and time again.  I should read that verse and fear the fact that he "judges the people with equity."  I deserve nothing more than death.  It is the only thing I've earned, and yet somehow I think that I know what justice is more than God.

I want to encourage you to pray that God would increase my faith and yours.  That we can believe in his power, and that it is living and active all around us.  That we can choose to see his daily miracles.  We serve an amazing God, and it is not a lack of action on his part, but a lack of praise on ours.

Standing in awe of His long view,

Sigourney