Sunday, March 13, 2011

The Least of These

My heart is broken today...not for myself...not for my children...but for all of the children who will never have a home...never know the love of a family...never have a mother to come home to...never know the love and acceptance of a father...never have anyone to celebrate every success with them, comfort them during every trial, stand beside them when it seems like the world is against them....no place to go home to for the holidays...they stand ALONE in a world that tells them they are worthless, unloveable, unacceptable....

My heart cries for them. Who will be the voice of the orphan? Who will rise up and fight for these little ones that are unloved, but not unloveable? Who will give these precious ones a place to call home? Who will give them a place to belong, a family to call their own? Who will assure them that they are worth more than diamonds or rubies...in fact, they are worth so much that God sent Jesus for them? Who will tell them that? Who will show them their great worth, accept them, love them, embrace them?? Who will be the arms and feet of Jesus? Who will lay aside their own wants and needs, move outside their comfort zone and go...go to the orphan, bring him into a family and give him a place to belong?

Will you? Will I?

Yes, the least of these...the orphan. He is not forgotten by the One who sees everything. Her tears don't fall unseen by a Mighty God. His creis don't go unheard by a Faithful Father.

Who will God prompt to action today...and will that family answer the call? I pray so...I pray so.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Forget Him Not Friday: Meeting God

Okay, so it is Saturday...I tried to do this yesterday, but with a little one near throwing up and feverish, not much was accomplished yesterday! Anyway, here it goes:

December of 1987 was the most life-changing month of my existence. I was a Freshmen on campus, just trying to survive. My favorite song and the motto of my college years was going to be Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna have Fun." Yep, that was me...no depth there. My dad told me I was going to school & that was that. So, there I was, almost at the end of my first semester - and having a ball. I hadn't roomed with my best friend on purpose because she was a C.H.R.I.S.T.I.A.N. - and if you know anything about them, then you know they are in direct opposition to F.U.N. It was early afternoon and she and I were chatting over a game of Monopoly. Life was good. I had a full-ride scholarship, was passing all of my classes and was experiencing all that fun I was so desperate for. Odd thing about fun...it kind of left me hollow inside & it seemed like it really wasn't accomplishing what I had hoped...it wasn't making me the kind of person that I wanted to be and it had actually led to some deep wounds which stay with me as scars, even today.

Anyway, Lisa and I were in the middle of Monopoly, when the conversation took a wrong turn. She asked me about GOD. The conversation remains clearly set in my mind. It would change me forever. I remember saying, "I'm not good enough to have that kind of relationship with God. You don't know what I've done."

To my shock, her response was, "You're right, you can never be good enough."

Long pause. Yeah, right, let me absorb that for a few seconds. I was about ready to cry. I really wanted her to assure me that I was a good person, that God loved me, that He would accept me because I was basically good, but deep down, I knew she was right and that I was not good enough. I knew that I would never claim to be a good person again. I knew all of the awful things I had done since coming to campus four short months earlier.

Then, she gently continued, "None of us are good enough, that is why Christ died...He paid the price for our sins. All you have to do is accept Him as your Savior."

Lisa, in God's wisdom, did not ask me to pray with her that day. Instead, we took a walk to downtown and shopped...but my life and heart were never to be the same. Late that night, in the quiet of my room, I cried out to Jesus and accepted Him as my Savior - the only One able to save me from the righteous punishment my sins deserve, the only One who could heal the hurts I had brought upon myself...and I have spent the last two decades growing in my understanding of what He has done, of what being loved by Him means, of what it means to belong to God, His own possession..and learning how to love Him with all my heart, soul, mind and strength.

That one brief conversation, that one true friend who was willing to step out of her comfort zone and be used by God. I praise and thank God for that day and for all that He did and continues to do in my life. What an incredible Savior, what a blessed Friend!

Friday, March 11, 2011

What a yucky past couple of weeks we have had. Jacob has been sick...better...sick...better...sick. He has been to the doctor twice, on antibiotics for sinus infection type stuff, thrown up, been feverish, gotten better, only to start the whole cycle over again (minus the antibiotics). Last night was a sleepless night. He had a fever over 104 and was babbling about "papa" (grandpa). It was so cute, although it did concern me that he was so incoherent. But, today he is so much better. I just praise God for bringing him through those high temperatures.

Yesterday I took Jake to the doctor because of his high fever and other symptoms. She assured me it was just a cold-type virus. So, then while I was putting the little guy into his car seat, he became a human fountain...nothing as disgusting as throw up in the car, then having to drive home in such a confined space with the smell. Poor guy, after that, his nose began flowing like a river...S.N.O.T. everywhere...I mean eeewwww. I know, too much information!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Beyond My Circumstances

Content....how hard is it to be content? I would be content if...I were thin and pretty, I had a nicer house, a better car, more money, a husband who complimented me, a husband at all, more children - ummm - when I was younger, that is. And so the list goes on...and on...and on. Add that one more thing, improve this one thing and I will be content.....or will I obtain all that, just to be left with this aching, gnawing emptiness that seems unquenchable, all consuming? Oh, where will I find this contentment? How will my heart hunger ever be satisfied?

Contentment is not something found in the have's and have not's of daily living. Contentment is not something found in things or people...my husband can not make me content by his wonderful, god-honoring attitude. My children can not make me content by behaving everyday or picking up after themselves once in a while. A positive balance in my checkbook today does not equal contentment tomorrow. No...it must be something beyond my circumstances.


Contentment is in that One perfect gift God gave....His Son....abiding in Christ, resting in Him, being confident that His Word is true. He is the One who makes it all right. He is the One who enables me to say that I am content no matter what my circumstances. I have lived in plenty, and I was not content. I have lived with little, and I was not content. My broken womb was opened and I was blessed with children, but that did not make my heart content. Those things I long for, that next bigger and better thing that I think will satisfy some ache or that I hope will heal some brokenness inside of me, will not. It will make it feel better for a while, but the feeling lasts only a fleeting moment. The only place to find the true contentment and satisfaction that I long for is in the arms of Jesus, abiding in Him. Trusting His promises. Believing His Words. Spending time with Him daily. Drinking Him in. Knowing Him. Talking to Him. Listening to Him. Ahh..there is rest for my soul.

Yes, there is a secret to contentment, as the apostle Paul writes. It is a simple secret. It is a secret that should be shouted from the mountaintops, shared with the clerk at the grocery store, whispered to our children in their goodnight hugs, clung to when the pain of loss is searing our souls, remembered when our cup overflows. His name is Jesus, and without Him there is not contentment, just constant striving and searching, filling a pitcher, only to find the water seeps out, won't last, doesn't satisfy, leaves us thirsty for...something more. Jesus is far more than we could ever hope for or imagine...if we invite Him to satisfy our desires, He will. If we trust Him to fill our needs, He does. If we ask Him to be our contentment, He is. What a Wonderful Savior, what an incredible Friend!

Will you join me in drinking in Jesus today? Will you experience true contentment? He will teach us together to let go of our "if only's" and live contentedly for Him only!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Conentment

"I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:13-14

How can I be content in any and every situation?? What is this secret Paul writes about?

What, if anything, does my situation have to do with my contentment?

Just something to think about today.