Hard Stuff

 This weekend I met a girl who was visiting the church I attend. For this post, we'll call her Molly. Molly lives in a nearby town in  government funded refugee housing. She is 21 years old, and comes from Rwanda. Her parents died when she was three, she was raised by a family that mistreated her. Later, Molly was told her grandmother was still alive, and she went and lived with her grandmother until the grandmother died a year and a half later, and she was alone again.
 All this time Molly was battling health issues herself. The Rwandan doctors diagnosed her with leukemia and gave her less than a year to live. Molly told me everyday for six months she woke up thinking it could be her last. After six months, she figured they must be wrong. When France granted her refugee status, the French doctors took her off the leukemia medicines and are now working on finding out what is wrong. She is still very weak and sick.
 How do I respond to stories like these? This girl is 21 and has had a life similar to that of Job. I know I will encounter more seemingly overwhelming heartbreak and need as I live and work in Africa- and I realize that I need to have a kind of plan so I don't just wallow in other people's misery until Jesus comes back. That doesn't seem like it would paint a very attractive picture to non-believers seeking the Kingdom!
So here is what I hope to do with Molly and future situations:
~Pray!
~Figure out what I can do, and do it
~Realize that I won't be able to fix everything
~Remember that God IS in control and DOES have a plan for Molly's life, and we don't know it right now, but that doesn't mean he doesn't know the plan!
~Use this amazing young woman's story to remind me of how incredibly God has blessed me, and help me remember that to those much has been given, much is expected.