Tagged: honor instead of shame

for so many little acorns waiting in the dark. Little Seed   Silent little seed Deep in the dark Buried.   Decaying little seed All that you once were Decomposed.   Surrendered little seed Still and waiting Hoping.   Poor little seed Silence stretching long Inertia.   Surprised little seed Life is thrumming through you Upward.   Tough little seed Pushing through your casket Breakthrough.   Blinded little seed Emerging into brilliance Light.   Growing little seed Stretching to the heavens Free.   Big little seed Towering in sunshine Rooted.   God’s little seed Oak of righteousness Honored.   [bctt tweet="Hold on, little seed. There's mighty power inside you. Hold on. #transformation" username="audreycfrank"] @audreycfrank Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash Read More

After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 1 Peter 5:10 To my newest sisters and brothers, If I could erase myself, so all you could see is Jesus, I would. The words He gave me for you when we were together are His own, from His heart. I am just His servant, a steward of His Light Words. Remember Him, not me. It is He who asked me to go beyond my small borders and travel to a land I had not known before. It was His immeasurable love for you that compelled me to obey. Remember how precious you are to… Read More

It is a truth universally acknowledged that humanity often finds lies easier to believe than truth. -Audrey Frank The sun had set and it was time for salat-al-maghrib. The prayer rugs had been carefully laid out to face Mecca, the Islamic city which is revered and honored as the holiest city in the religion of Islam and the central place of prayer for Muslims. Seven-year-old Areefa stood quietly beside her mother, listening for instruction. Today she would officially begin praying salat. She had dressed carefully, making sure only her face, hands, and feet were visible.  “Stand up straight and make sure your feet are close together, pointed toward the qiblah my daughter,” her mother reminded, demonstrating on her own mat. “Now, let’s make our intention.”… Read More

It is a truth universally acknowledged that humanity often finds lies easier to believe than truth. -Audrey Frank Arresting in their beauty, her brown eyes were gracefully framed by long eyelashes and a carefully drawn line of kohl along the upper lids. I momentarily forgot I was at a surgical clinic, my team’s purpose to repair facial deformities. I saw no deformity in this beautiful young woman. But she had not yet removed the cobalt blue scarf that draped over her hair and face, hiding her complete visage from view. “Peace be upon you and may God give long life to your parents,” she said in greeting. “Could you have mercy on me and see me alone?” I sensed the shame and urgency in her… Read More

To read Part One of When You Are Tested on the Very Truth You Declare, click here.  Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.Luke 22:31-32 There is a time in the walk of discipleship when we are tested on the very truth we declare, the promises that liberated us. The truth set us free. We know it is real. We have seen its fruit in our lives and others’. We have secured our identity in what God says is true about us. Perhaps we even built our life work on proclaiming it to others that they might be free, too.… Read More

Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.Luke 22:31-32 When we are tested on the very truth we declare, we really should not be surprised, but we often are. I wasn’t thinking about this on the day I met Hamida. She had traveled for days from the desert to reach our clinic, and her shyness was tangible as she sat before me, eyes averted and hands fluttering nervously in her lap. The flowing orange melhfa she wore barely covered the ugly scar that dripped down her face. “My mother-in-law did it with boiling oil,” she murmured, pulling aside the cloth to… Read More

for Erick George Floyd, you were caught trying to buy a pack of cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill, according to the news reports. As you placed that bill on the counter in hopes of getting one more drag from a cigarette you had no idea you stood on the razor-fine edge of a precipice, your life an inflection point for an entire nation. You had no clue you would soon ignite an honor outcry. I wonder if you’d known, if someone asked if you had it in you to change the world, what your answer would have been.  Not many of us think we have the power to change the world. World-changing, history-defining moments often happen in an unplanned instant to common people. Our… Read More