Luciana

Last night I had the chance to visit my friend, Luciana, after church. She is to my right in the picture. Luciana used to be very involved in the church doing children's ministry and I got to know her very well when I lived here for 3 1/2 months. She was one of my guitar students. A couple years ago she began to make some choices that have cost her a lot of things. Her marriage and time with her kids among them. And these choices have taken her away from God. But Luciana says she is happy...happier now than before. But her face betrays her. My heart is broken for her because I can see how Satan is blinding her to what is right. I came across this saying and I think it fits Luciana's life perfectly...

"The world:
- took me farther than I wanted to go;
- cost me more than I wanted to pay;
- kept me longer than I wanted to stay;
- left me far more empty than I could have believed."

I wonder if she is "lost" in this cycle...not knowing how to stop it because she is being blinded by the evil one. No one can make the choice to come back to God for her. It must be her decision. And it pains me to know there is nothing I can do. Nothing except pray for her and make a point to visit her whenever I come to Brasil. To let her know that I love her and to tell her that none of these choices will make me love her less.