He Knows My Name

The needs here are endless, so it seems. One neighbour hopes to get pregnant and so needs baby clothes, another neighbour often visits -- each time with a different story of why he needs money, another neighbour needs milk for her young children, and on the list goes. Right now my heart is burdened for my friend Nur. When we were new here, I often prayed, "LORD, who do you want me to invest in?" (With the need being so great, I need the LORD to show me the little ways in which I can help. He has good works planned out in advance.) The LORD guided me to 4 ladies in my neighbourhood, one being Nur. Nur is about 19 years old. Her mother passed away 7 years ago. She had to quit highschool early to support her father. She works at a little "store" down the street. This "store" is like a run-down 7-11 squeezed into a backyard shed. She works here 13 hours a day, 7 days a week (with 1 day off every 2 weeks). And for all this work she receives $15 American a month!!! (I could go on with the terrible complaints that I have with her job situation, but I'll spare you the details.) $15 a month!!! She asked this week, if she could possibly follow us to Kalimantan. Oh, how I'd love to sweep her up out of this muck-of-a-place and give her a brand new life! But, when I think about the reality of basically adopting a 19 year old daughter, I have my hesitations. You know, when I first met Nur, I couldn't remember her name. She remembered mine, but I would just look blankly at her and say, "Selamat pagi" (Good-morning). One day, I was frustrated about this and said, "LORD, please bring her name to my mind." The next moment, her name was at the front of my mind. "Nur." God knows her name. He has known her since before time. It is not up to me transform lives. That's what God does. I am only His instrument. He may use me to do awesome things, but He also uses me to do very simple things too. He is the God of the unseen. And He knows the unseen parts of each one of us. He knows us ... He knows our names.