If you don't know where to start... Start with one.

She was drunk.

 I could see our breath like a mist in the cold winter’s night as we sat outside the church building. People passionately lifting up praises to the Lord echoed out of the churches open windows. My rear end was starting to move from sore to numb as the chill sank into my bones from sitting on the ground outside. She was anxiously glancing back and forth. She told me again she should not be here she was “drrrrunk”. She rolled her “R’s” as they do in the Afrikaans language. My heart went out to her.

We sat together there in the cold damp night, waiting for her to sober up or just gain the confidence to go inside the building. I was silently praying for her and she was feeling nervous about the church people’s reactions to her being drunk. I reassured her of our love for her. She repeated again that she should not be here, yet made no move to leave. 

She had followed me all the way up the winding dark streets from where she and her friends had been partying. All the while we kept chatting lightly as we walked.  She continually telling me that she should go back to the party, yet we continued walking together toward the church. God was propelling her. I smiled as I watched her keep pace next to me.

God had placed her on my heart from the first day she arrived at the park where our mission’s team was working.  I spotted her standing towards the back of the ever growing numbers of teenagers and children who were coming out to the site. With her arms crossed, her face cynical and smug, she would stand and observe us. If you got to close, she side stepped you. If you reached out to give her a friendly pat on the arm, she made fists and darted. She smirked when we spoke and made fun of my American accent, but God nudged me and said,

”This one, love and pray especially for this one.”

It’s always amazing how God can place a love inside of us for someone we do not yet know personally. Or when He places a love in our hearts for someone who does what they can to be rude or dodge us like the plague.

 We shared some of the horror stories from our lives on that chilly evening. She allowed me to share with her how God brought love and healing into mine. We prayed together. She still has an abundance of hardships to deal with in life, but I am confident of this.

God loves her. That she is beautiful and valued in God’s eyes whether or not she feels valued in her family. I pray for her protection and for God to guide her each week. I pray for healing for her heart and the strength to stand for what is true. I also pray that one day I can see her and give her a big hug again, I even long to hear her giggling as I try once again to pronounce her name correctly.

There are many of us who are in need of God’s love, forgiveness, grace and freedom, whether here in the States or halfway across the world. They are hiding behind tough exteriors, towering walls built from years of broken trust and open wounds, yet dying inside for someone who will care and be patient enough to love them out of from behind their walls.  

I have heard from quite a few people how they feel overwhelmed by the needs in our world. A friend of mine shared she did not know where to start and if she could truly make a difference.

This brings me to this week’s challenge. Consider this phrase,

“Do for one what you wish you could do for all.”  

Friends, if you relate to this then, could you please pray and ask for the Lord to help you to see the “one” in your life? Couldn’t we all start there? Start with just one person? Ask the lord to help you to see the ways you can encourage and bless them and then do it.  Maybe it is someone in your neighborhood, a co-worker, or a person you have met where you volunteer. Perhaps God is leading you to support a child through Compassion International or World Vision. I encourage you to take the first step today and ask the Lord, “Who is your one?”

Then remember the words Bob Goff so aptly coined, 

“Love Does”. 

1 Corinthians 13:1-3

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Matthew 22:37-40

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Later this week I will post links to websites where you can discover ways to get active with your faith. For those ready to jump in with both feet stay tuned. 

God can do the impossible through us if we are willing. Thinking out of our little box is next on the list. May the Lord bless you greatly friends.

Priceless Gifts from my Heavenly Father

Thankful

Today I am thankful for the flexibility of a summer schedule. A schedule not requiring my children and I to wake up early in our race to get the day's deeds done. 

Today, due to the storm this morning, I had a little munchkin of mine crawl into the space my hubby had vacated to head off to work. She curled up at my side and we peacefully drifted off to sleep. I awoke thankful for the sight before me. Her curly hair was sticking out haphazardly from her head, with spiraled strands framing her doll like face. Her sweet little nose was turned slightly upwards and issuing soft little snores. 

Priceless.

It’s one of those precious moments I cherish because all too quickly it will be gone. I whispered

“Good morning.” 

 She slowly lifted her sleepy eye lids revealing her marble sized bright blue eyes.  Her sigh turned into a smile and she said, 

“Happy sleep.”

I nodded in agreement.

I am also grateful this morning for a friend of mine Julie. Julie and I knew of and even prayed for each other long before we met one another in person. We shared a common friend and sister in Christ, Bonnie.

Bonnie was someone who left an impact on whomever she met. She was a mix of beauty, gentleness, and a searing wit.  

Her quiet gentle demeanor and gift of discernment would set you at ease, but if she knew you really well, this lovely southern genteelness might at any moment give way to a pursing of her lips, followed by a slight smirk. Simultaneously there would be a sparkle in her eyes as she would catch you completely off guard with a witty and insightful zinger. She could leave you speechless and slack-jawed, instantly followed by chuckles and stress relieving bursts of laughter.

Bonnie Galey
 January 10, 1958 - March 20, 2012

I miss her so very much.

 (With tears in my eyes now.) I confess to you how I often watched Bonnie, trying to learn from her example. I studied how she handled people and life’s struggles. I mulled over her nuggets of wisdom from serving alongside her husband in the ministry. She was my mentor. It was unspoken, but I know she knew. 

I miss her so very much.

 I have one more gift to thank her for. On the day that we celebrated her beautiful life, at her funeral, I finally met Julie.  I have a new sister in Christ now, because the Lord saw fit to bring our lives together through Bonnie’s life and death here on earth. 

Today I will celebrate Bonnie’s life, her gift of friendship, and her final blessing of Julie. I can imagine Bonnie smiling as her gift unfolded for us. I am so grateful to her and the Lord for Julie and the encouragement, prayers, and wisdom she shares with me. 

Julie's story is one of heartache, struggles and yet abounds with joy, gratefulness and adventure. Her passion for the Lord, and her joy in speaking of His love and grace for others are contagious. (So is her fantastic sense of humor.)

 Today please take a moment and read Julie’s post “All Iever had to do was open my mouth…” from her blog, “Just Julie”.

It follows right along with our call to share God’s good news with others. I pray today you can be filled to the point of overflowing with gratitude and joy for the great things God has done for us. I pray that as you overflow with this gratitude for the big and small gifts you have been given, you discover how true Julie’s message is.

Please follow this link to her post...

/http://juliescheving.wordpress.com/2012/07/16/all-i-ever-had-to-do-was-open-my-mouth/

Luke 6:45b

...for the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

What are you thankful for today friends? 

Is it Good News?

The Gospel...

The Good News.

Do we treat the Good News like it is actually good news?

Or do we treat it like a dirty little secret, ashamed of what others might think?

Are we hindered by the fear of sharing this news and sounding narrow minded?

Have we listened for far too long to the media and forgotten what it is we are really hiding?

The Good News

It’s the greatest Truth anyone has ever chosen to share with me. Honestly? I didn’t want to hear it. Like a little child plugging her ears and humming a tune, I tried my hardest not to. I wrestled with God because I had bought into the lie that by following this, “narrow minded” Jesus and becoming a sold out “SAVED” Christian I would lose my freedom. I thought I would be hindered and bound by endless rules. Instead, I found unconditional love, unfailing hope and the freedom I had only dreamed of.  

I am so grateful to those who did not give up on me. I am grateful to those who lived a transparent life of their struggles in their faith. I am grateful to those who shared their joy and Christ’s unconditional love with me. They lived and spoke of His heart.  They left me curious, and frustrated trying to reconcile their actions to the stereotypes of Christianity that I had bought into.

They were dispelling the myths and just giving me Jesus.

We have a love story to share with everyone. We have a story that looses the chains of sin, that breaks the captives free, that can take something broken or wounded and make it whole. We have a love to share with those who feel they are unlovable and with those who have lost hope. We have amazingly good news to share with everyone.

If you are struggling with the “how” and fear of sharing, then I ask you to try the following things. First take some time each day this week and focus on praising God for what He has done in your life. Celebrate the joys and healings He has brought to you. Give thanks for the small and the big. Ask His Holy Spirit to fill you to over-flowing and to guide you each day with your words and actions.

Then remember it really is Good News!

Follow Jesus’ example and just love people right where they are at, not where they “could” be. Listen to them more than you speak. Really listen!  Pray and look for ways to encourage them, being God’s hands and feet really bless them.  Then, you will discover that God will give you the moments to speak and the words to say.

Your actions will be demonstrations of His love. Your words and encouragements can lead someone to His truths. It’s His power, love, and truth working through you. Just be you. Just be honest about your success and your failures in sharing what you have discovered about Jesus and choosing to follow Him. 

Just give them Jesus. 

His love and redemption really are Good News!

Acts 20:24

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace.

Romans 10:13-15

...for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

Are you struggling with this?

Do you have fears or encouragements you would like to share?

Please do, I would love to hear from you or pray for and encourage you.