Matthew 25:18-31

Matthew 25:18-31

My favorite passage that applies to a lot of things in my life.

When you sign up to go on a mission’s trip, there is a list of Reasons to go Provided  in the packet:

• Enhance personal spiritual growth
• Cultivate a servant’s heart as you minister physically and spiritually to needy people
• Bonding with team members & the locals
• Exercise faith and increase your faith
• Give “hands on” help to the mission
• Be a witness of Christ’s love
• Increase mission awareness and involvement
• Experience a “foreign” culture
• Worship God with the locals
• Encourage others
• Builds and strengthens home church
• Open oneself to possible full-time Christian service
• Obey the Great Commission

These are all good reasons to go on a short term mission’s trip. However, for me it was a very small yet distinct tug in my heart that said “Just GO’

Listening to the whispers of God as you go about your everyday is not an easy task. He has given us so much, yet he asks so little. When John and I were in Arizona the entire experience was amazing. God kept whispering and we kept going.

 **When His servants are  flexible, God is provisional.

** when our materials were not ready for pick up for  a planned project- we met another need, and we kept going.

**We had rain on the day we were going out for the Least of These Ministry- so we stopped and purchased ponchos for the homeless we would meet that day, and we kept going.

**Our lodging changed the week before our trip, so we had some uncertainty. Turns out God had a great plan for us, so we kept going.

Comfort zones are tough to step out of, yet you are never stepping out alone. On this trip there were 24 of us, and each of our skills and experiences were used in a way that only God could use them, put together like a puzzle, and used to reach out and touch the lives of everyone around us, those we were serving and those serving alongside.   

I guess after giving it some thought and a tremendous amount of prayer, I would like to challenge and encourage each of you to listen to your still small voice. Listen when you have that tug in your heart to GO.

John and I are heading out with a team to Arizona to the Red Sands Church and School on June 13 , 2015.  We have room for 28 more people to go with us. I would extend a personal invitation to join us for this trip. Aside from joining us , there are other things we need.

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We need financial donations to help defray the costs of the trip for some.

We need physical donations for programs like Least of These and VBS.

Most of all we need continuous prayer for our preparation and our travelers for safety and discernment in all of the things we hope to accomplish this year at Red Sands.

Blessings Abundant

What a beautiful day, full of blessings around every corner!

First I woke up this morning to the giggles of the tornado-
 (our granddaughter) . She was running around in her little white t-shirt and diaper chasing the dogs with a hairbrush, giggling so much it was contagious. Needless to say the dogs were very happy to see me distract her. 

Then my adorable husband worked in the garden and with the help of our oldest son, got the barn roof fixed! The chickens will be happy, because once again their coop will stay dry when it rains!

While all the projects were going on, I went to the church and co- hosted the wedding shower for my future daughter-in-law. She was so excited, so happy and so beautiful! The true highlight of the party was her smile. I was completely blessed to see it spread across her face.

There is such a ministry in doing wedding showers for people who have no church home or are struggling in their life or faith. Aside from being completely blessed by seeing a smiling, happy bride, I love the idea of celebrating a new beginning for a woman. As women, we get stuck in ruts that life provides for us very easily. Its not like with men, who for the most part do not see the importance of fellowship and celebration  for "girly" causes such as weddings or babies.

 Lets face it, the bride is the pinnacle of the wedding, and the momma the pinnacle of the new baby. She is a vessel for setting up her home, and her nursery. She historically has depended on the other women in her community to teach her everything she needs to know to start this new chapter in her life. What a better way than to celebrate with a shower, small gifts and words of wisdom! (kudos to whomever invented these showers- ingenious)

I love it when the older women mix in with the younger ones, telling stories and sharing words of wisdom about marriage and babies. Its so important to surround a new couple or new momma with the love that only Christ can provide- unconditional, non judgmental and complete.

As a ministry, I can testify to the importance of this support- when my future daughter in law came to  my house the day of her baby shower, I was SO TOUCHED by the women from my congregation who came and brought her a piece of themselves, unselfishly, lovingly supporting this new terrified momma, just because they were my sisters in Christ. Our love for Christ is what ties us together, and that love extended to her and my entire family that day. My husband and I were very touched by this, and we will never forget it.

Its also fun to have something that the men in our lives never understand-hehe . 

At the end of the day, when everything is cleaned up, and everyone goes home, the bride gets to see just how much the people in her life love her, and are willing to do to take care of her. The hope is that she will define her life not by the things she is given, but by the wisdom she gains as a wife and mother. That she will allow God to reign and will follow a path full of love and hope for the future of her family.

From my heart, I love to serve- it has always been my strength. I love to do little things to make people smile and reflect on the moment.  I love the pretty table settings, the beautiful bride or momma and the wonder on her face when she sees the room, all decorated in things that are useful in her home. The extra touches of a scrapbook after the event, of the event are precious memories for her. And a reminder to me that when serving , you are for more blessed than you can imagine.For those who know me well enough to see my life has changed, this entire journey has been a true blessing to me. Learning how to use my servants gift to show Christ has been a long journey, but I continue to try, and when I get knocked down, I get up and try again. 

Pray for a servants heart so you can be a blessing to others.

What If's

I heard a thunderstorm rolling in today as I left work...it was quite scary. I always start thinking these irrational thoughts, like:

*what if lightening strikes the perimeter fence right as I touch the gate?
*what if the lion escapes and tries to eat me?
*what if the I drop my keys in the polar bear moat?

Haha. I am so full of "What If's"

Here are a few I think about everyday when I drive for an hour and a half home:

What if I could call Jesus and ask Him to make an appearance in front of the "atheist club" at work?(hehe)

I'd have some fun with this one, just watching the reaction.

What if every person I know (including me) had to wear a scrolling sign of our thoughts when someone approaches us?

I would change my thought process real fast- I am getting better, but I am far from where I want to be with my thoughts. (sarcasm tends to rule)

What if my preacher spoke from a recliner in the center of the church in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt with all the chairs circled around his, instead of the traditional pulpit sermon?

 I would love this, but there would for sure be chaos- of the "where's my seat" kind....

What if I won a million dollars in the lottery?

I'd have to call Dave Ramsey cause I have no clue what to do with my weekly paycheck- this would be too much...:)

What if each person gave a dollar for each day of the week to a family or neighbor that is suffering financially?

I know when we suffered it would have meant a lot to us for anyone to think of us in that way.

What if I paid for the guys coffee behind me at McDonalds tomorrow morning?

This one is easy- I've done it before- its been a coffee war ever since.

What if when you pray for forgiveness or repentance people wiped the slate clean of all our misgivings and sin, instead of replaying them and punishing each other repeatedly? (just like Jesus)

Wait just a minute- I am pretty sure this is how it is meant to be. Not that every thing we do  is going to be forgotten or forgiven- not everyone knows Jesus. Not everyone believes in the power of forgiveness. I do not expect non-christian people to ever understand this concept- but I do expect christian people to completely understand it- and to at least try to acknowledge it. We all have been hurt by people we least expected to hurt us. It happens- we are human, made in Gods likeness- not a photocopy!
 I need the grace given by others who understand that I am going to sin, and Jesus is going to forgive me, just as they should. I need the forgiveness of other christian men and women, so that I stay grounded in my faith, and can continue to improve in my own personal life. When a christian brother or sister hangs on to my past and never offers credit for the improvements I have made, it is very hurtful. I know the changes that have been made in my life due to my faith, and I have shared it with very few people. I guess its time to be a reflection of the work God has done in me. 

I have never been one to hide behind much, my life is not top secret. If someone really wants to know something, they could just ask  me. As you can tell, I am more than willing to share this adventure with anyone interested.

Today lets Pray for our children and their children.



  
 

In The Garden

In the garden I find time to make all of those life adjustments I need to make, right when I need to make them. I can weed out my frustrations and create something beautiful at the same time.  I love my gardens, whether it be the one for feeding or the one for beauty and enjoyment. 

I love feeling the earth beneath my feet and the soil in my hands as I work to create a masterpiece, all along understanding that it is with Gods perfect timing that the things I plant will grow, just like the seeds planted in me have taken their time to flourish. 

In the mean time, I pray consistently, and I now understand what it means to have a prayerful heart. It doesn't mean to be perfect, or to drop your every sin at a moments notice. What it does mean is that through real prayer comes real faith, and from real faith comes real change. Through these things, reading my bible and various other books, I have learned something in my heart that my head already knew. Jesus is as real as it gets, and when I behave like him, I am comforted in the knowledge that He accepts me where I am, in the middle of my growth and the middle of my life. 

It also means facing adversity when most do not, and opening yourself up to a variety of spiritual warfare like no other. I love my God, with my everything. I am without a doubt walking through a time in my personal growth where I see things exactly as they are, and some of it is frightening to me. But I stand firmly on the rock that is my salvation, and on the one truth- there will come a day when the only opinion of me that is going to matter is going to be His and His alone. 

The scary part of spiritual awakening for me is to see others in a new light, or reality, and to understand that unless someone gets to know your heart and the true "you", they will always see you as the person you were before, the person from the past. I can say with sincerity that I do not miss the girl I was, even 5 years ago. I do not miss her at all. My husband does not miss her, and my children do not miss her. I am certain my God does not miss her. She is a woman with no filter, no compassion and no spiritual connection. She was  a woman of empty words.  Sometimes I feel her creeping in, in a moment of weakness and I tell her to go, because there is no room in my heart for her anymore.

I feel sorry for those who still think I am her- for she is gone. I am me now- I am the Angie I have always wanted to be- I am a Christian first, a wife second and a mother third. I have good christian women who support and pray for me everyday, in spite of their circumstances. I have a husband who has been nothing but a support and source of love to me for over 20 years. I belong to a church that continues to grow and change, as churches sometimes do. I have faith that God will do exactly what I need, when I need it, because I am never alone- even if it is not what I ask for.

Even though sometimes I am made to feel like the woman at the well, I know that I should be proud to be her, on the receiving end of what Christ has to offer- living water and peaceful eternity.(more on this next time)

I hope you have enjoyed this post on my blog- I have enjoyed sharing it with you. I love to write, and I will continue to do so as long as you want to read. 

 Please remember to pray for yourself today, as you are important to God and to me.