How Much Does It Cost Me?

I learned a VALUABLE lesson today in church and at the grocery store. I am a greeter, a job that I absolutely LOVE. And today, I have seen God busy at work, but also teaching me a lesson in service, love, and how it works from the heart. I am also in a hurry, because today is a family day-our Sabbath-and I want to spend it relaxing, puttering, and enjoying my family. So, in 43 minutes, I will be at my parent's house on Main Street watching the Toys 4 Tots Motorcycle ride where hundreds of motorcyclists drive through our town on decorated motorcycles. It is one of those simple things I truly enjoy. It tickles my heart!

I had to be up early today. I was tired from a function that kept me busy yesterday and on my feet. As soon as I stepped out of bed this morning, I realized how much my feet hurt. They are sore. They literally feel bruised. I think it's time to toss the high heals! But, despite it all, I got up, tip-toed around the house, gave my two sick kiddos meds, and headed out (a little late) to church to greet. And to me, it's not just welcoming people into the House of God. Greeting is that, but it's also about BEING there to meet the needs of people as they enter and leave. I try not to cry, but from where I love God-that place so deep inside, there are no words or ways to describe it. So tears just have to do sometimes.

After church when there were only a few people remaining, my daughter who likes to assist with her developing gifts of service (YEAH GOD!!!) and I were standing at a few sign up tables and talking with people as they were exiting the building. A woman with two little girls, 19 months and 10 months old I believe, said she loved our church.

HERE IS WHERE I CRY....
She had never been to our church before and she liked ours. She felt welcome. She related well to the message. And she wanted to come back. She was thanking us??? I chatted with her, introduced myself and daughter, and I got to make small talk with the smallest of the visitors-her two very young toddler daughters.

AND THEN IT HAPPENED--
After she left, a woman who knows her stayed a bit afterward to let me know she needs a Christmas Dinner box that our Project One:eight teams are doing. She went and got this woman's name and number and gave it to me.

Not only did this woman attend church today, but God also saw to it that she will have a Christmas Dinner for her family.

Dude...BAWL like a baby, I am. Yet, I cannot put it into words. It's just what we are supposed to do...minister anytime anywhere, be available, and meet needs when they are RIGHT in front of us.

BUT IT DOESN'T STOP THERE!
On the way home, I needed lunch meat and bread, so the kids and I could have lunch. And truthfully, my budget for this month is bust. It's slow and I thought I'd grab one loaf of bread and one package of bologna...the stuff you eat when you have a buck. But, hey-it's all good!

I called my Dad to find out if they would be home to watch the motorcycles, so we could join them at their house. He and my mom were shopping at K-Mart for some stuff and he asked me to see how much the bread at the grocery store was. The soup kitchen needed 10 loaves. I called him back and he said it was cheaper at the store than the outlet. To save him time, I told him I'd just buy the 10 loaves for the soup kitchen since I was already there, saving him the trip later. I decided I could just deliver it for him, since he and my mom were busy and I wasn't. So my daughter and I grabbed 10 loaves in the bread aisle and continued our shopping.

GOD PROVIDES:
As soon as we turned the corner in the store, I kid you not, there was a cart of clearanced bread... 39 CENTS per loaf for wheat and 69 cents for white. This was even cheaper!!! There were nine loaves, so we snatched all of them to take to the soup kitchen. We nearly fell over! As soon as the need was realized, and we took action to meet the need, the provision was right there!!!!

MEETING A NEED:
There was a woman who came by looking for one of the clearanced loaves to take home. When we heard her ask for one, I told my daughter to run one of those cheap loaves over to her. We'd buy one of the full priced loaves in lieu of that one. My daughter came back and said the woman was so happy.

I called my dad and told him that God had provided and had to tell him the exciting ways in which He was working. And after my daughter and I came home from delivering the bread to the soup kitchen, I had to share the thoughts that were racing through my mind and heart.

1. God provides-and FAITH and BELIEF are important in BELIEVING that HE does and He will!
2. Service, Meeting Needs, and Love-they ALL cost us something. You cannot love and be loved without love costing YOU something, You cannot be blessed (even with the provision of cheap bread) unless you make the sacrifice and take time to do something- buy it, deliver it, offer to assist someone, etc.
3. Always share with those around you-family, friends, and people gawking in the aisles about what God has done!!! Oh, it was AMAZING!!!
4. Don't be afraid to give and give generously! (THIS was a lesson to me.) I didn't have it-I still don't. But, it was there, I got it, and I have FAITH that God will provide for my family just the same.
5. GIVE your time. Time is always worth the COST! I got up with sore feet and sick kiddos to make sure I was able to greet this morning. Not because I serve the people who come in and out per say, but because I am there to be what Jesus needs me to be to people. I do it for Him. And it just requires that I show up to see how He will use me.

If you do not give more than you have, it doesn't COST you anything. Giving what you have excess of is not cost. Cost means you have less to give but give more. Otherwise, it is only giving excess. People don't need excess. They need you. They need to be loved by you.

If the cost is love, do you really think love will cost you more than you can afford to give?

Talk about cost with Jesus. And then answer that question.

This was a valuable and teachable day.

17 minutes until the motorcycles blast down Main Street...

Be Still And Know He Is There

As our Pastor's son celebrates his 11th birthday today, he lays in Pediatric ICU for serious kidney issues that just seemed to happen overnight. As I have prayed intensely today, I find myself with a song going through my head over and over and over again. It started when I physically went to the church to pray. I found myself on my knees in prayer with no distractions, no phone, no twitter, no nothing except for God and I. After praying I got off my knees and just sat in one of the pews. And I just thought. I wasn't ready to leave. I kept looking up at the ceiling. In the center of the ceiling in our sanctuary, there is a wooden circle. I imagined it to be a lid that opens and leads straight to heaven. All the prayer, worship, and praise would go straight from that lid if it were to open and into the throne room of heaven. That was powerful!

And in that moment, I felt as though I could sense God's presence. And this song has been playing in my heart since then. I think at that time I realized that God will show His people who he is not just during times of harvest, blessing, and when we say things are good. God will show His people who He is in all circumstances-good and bad, when He reaches us in those defining moments when we seek Him. He doesn't just show us who he is when things are peachy. He's not reserved just for the peachy people of the world.

For God to be our comforter, we'd have to experience Him as such when we actually NEED to be comforted. For Him to be our healer, we'd have to experience Him as such when we actually NEED to be healed. For Jesus to mend us we'd need to have mending done. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to experience Him as He met our needs.

Isn't it comforting to know that even in the worst times that God will be there to show us who He is? That we can actually EXPERIENCE his love and mercy?!

So speak to me and show me who you are...

and He will if we only remember to look for Him in every situation. He will be there!


Watch and listen to Aaron Shust, Stillness

Are You Really In Love?

I celebrated my 40th birthday yesterday, so today I got teased for wanting to take a nap after lunch today. And it never fails. I climb into my soft, cozy, pillow top bed, lay my head on my absolute favorite side sleeping pillow with the silk pillow case (silk keeps your hair from messing up when you sleep), and get all cozy in the covers when suddenly a bolt of lightning zaps my brain.

A thought.
I thought about how blessed I am. How blessed to be in love!

Another thought:
I thought about how much I absolutely love God.
I thought about how much I love specific people.

And a few additional thoughts:
I thought about how I love.
How complete it is.
How completely insane it can make me (wanting to live and love Jesus) with no other care in the world!
How it makes me crave time with Him.
How love makes me crave to be with those I love.

And blammo...I sat up, got out of bed, and headed for my laptop! I can't wait. I have to blog!

I realized in that twilight zone (time span between awake and sleep) that GENUINE love is about SURRENDER!

Love makes us surrender:

• our own agendas
  
• to share our time with someone else
• making sure we meet their needs
• taking time to talk/chat/pray in their presence
• love on them
• help them
• listen to them
• put our hearts on the line
• TAKE RISK to make the love we feel worthwhile
• risk that we might be hurt
• surrender to growth, maturity, and completeness

I'm not talking about superficial love. Superficial love is something here today and gone tomorrow, much like a passing fancy or a crush. The love I refer to when I say that love is totally about surrendering is a deep love. It is constant. It is a love unlike any other, so much in-fact that we will go to great lengths to sacrifice our personal agenda to show our love to them. Love is not out of obligation when it is the right kind of love.

The word surrender in dictionary.com is defined as:

–verb (used with object)

1.	to yield (something) to the possession or power of another; deliver up possession of on demand or under duress: to surrender the fort to the enemy; to surrender the stolen goods to the police.

2.	to give (oneself) up, as to the police.

3.	to give (oneself) up to some influence, course, emotion, etc.: He surrendered himself to a life of hardship.

4.	to give up, abandon, or relinquish (comfort, hope, etc.).

5.	to yield or resign (an office, privilege, etc.) in favor of another.

–verb (used without object)

6.	to give oneself up, as into the power of another; submit or yield.

So, if surrendering ourselves means we are giving ourselves up, committing to, or yielding to a choice, we are more than likely giving up our own selfish desires to focus and embrace those of another. When we are living for the Lord and His will then we have chosen to be surrendered in His love. Un-surrendered love is selfish love. That is when we are focused on our own personal agendas, focused more-so upon our own needs to the point that we can't see much past them in fear of being hurt or losing something. Self-served love is lonely love, because it is not shared with another and typically keeps us paralyzed from experiencing it with any others.

Surrendered love is not out of someone twisting our arm. In fact it is quite the opposite. If we are forced into love, we will only love while it the arm is twisted and causing pain. As soon as the obligation, the hurt, or the twisted arm forcing the love is gone, it will not remain. And that is not genuine love or genuine surrender of the heart. It was only given out of joyless obligation. When love is genuine is doesn't just disappear. It remains, takes root, grows, and strengthens. But it required surrender to get to that point.

A truly deep, undivided love, will cause us to surrender our hearts and risk something greater than what existed before the risk occurred. If love were not great, it just wouldn't be worth any risk. And if there was not any risk in deeply loving and trusting another, it would be easier for us to do. And easy love doesn't develop deep bonds, deep trust, deep faith. But as Christ showed us and we are taught, love IS worth the risk, because love IS how we surrender ourselves to love and serve others and surrender to the will of God with joy in our hearts.

To love IS to surrender. We just can't love without it. Just make sure you know who it is you surrender to! Once you surrender completely, you will know that you are truly in love for the right reason.

1 Corinthians 13:2-4 (New International Version)

²If 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 have not love, I am nothing. ³If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,^a]">[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.

⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

Isn't It Time You Got Dressed?

After having several conversations with people this week, I realized how important it is to get dressed. No, there have not been any people I know sighted without clothes. In fact, they are wearing clothes, but not the right type of clothing for the jobs they are doing.

Think about clothing. Think about uniforms. Think about sports.

Clothing serves multiple purposes, does it not? It protects us from the harsh elements. It protects us from wandering eyes. It sets us apart from other mammals.

Uniforms identify teams. Uniforms give us a sense of belonging to a specific group. Uniforms set us apart. Uniforms are a way of showing our team spirit. When we are in uniform, we know it's time to warm up, be ready, and psych ourselves up for the play. When we are in uniform, our attitudes transform, we toughen up, and we know it's GAME ON!

Now think about sports. Our uniforms and clothing do more than just prepare us for the game. They also protect us from the dangers that lie ahead as we engage in our specific roles of play. The clothing we wear protects vulnerable body parts that would otherwise be left exposed to bone crushing injuries. Without properly dressed and protected players, a win would be hard to come by.

The risk from injury is too great to be play unprotected. Yet we wander around everyday unprotected!

With that said, think about your spiritual life. How many of us are battling the opposition each day, yet we fail to suit up properly? The Bible tell us how to dress for protection, so why don't we spend more time actually suiting up? Without putting on the full armor of God, the opposition can take us out one by one. And pretty soon, our teams become paralyzed. Our players are being crushed. Their gifts go unused. They hurt. And sometimes they leave their positions. The opposition keeps damaging our people, because they are not properly suited up for protection, yet it is completely preventable!

The damage done in the Kingdom and it's people doesn't have to be as intense as it is with the proper clothing, uniforms, and equipment. It's time to get dressed and it's time to stop the destruction. Everyday we must suit up and stand firm! Getting dressed is not just for football players! Getting dressed is not just an option we have every morning when we decide if jeans or khakis are the pant of the day.

Suit up in the armor of God. Get your team spirit every morning. Identify who's side you fight for and stand firm with confidence. We can't afford to continually be injured by the enemy!

Ephesians 6:10-18 (New International Version)
¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. ¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. ¹⁸And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Respect The Gifts

I recently had a friend ask why I hadn't blogged for a few days. My answer: I don't blog everyday. I don't blog every few days. I only blog when something hits me as an urgent message that I need to blog about and broadcast. If those conditions aren't met, I don't blog. I don't want to blog for the sake of blogging about a subject. I blog with urgency and only hen I am ignited so to speak to reach others through my blog.

Anyhow-at church we are in a sermon series about Spiritual Gifts. And I've taken the spiritual gifts assessment. I'd taken one the first time two years ago. It hasn't changed drastically, however there are the same gifts that have strengthened in that time. Wow, I can say that using your gifts does refine them. They become sharper the more you use them ;-)

What I have realized after hearing the sermons and small group discussions-for me personally...I am afraid of my gifts.

While I am afraid to use them, I do use them anyway. I use them everyday! I use them regardless of being scared! So, why am I afraid of my gifts?

Most of my gifts are related to knowledge, prophecy, and communication. And with that comes so much room for error. There is so much room for human mistakes. There is so much room for people to criticize me. There is so much room for people to always pick apart what I say no matter how well I say it. And there is room for miscommunication if I were to be wreckless. I must not rely on myself and instead rely on God. And I think, why me? He needs someone smarter. He needs someone who's more experienced. Yada, yada, yada. And then I shut it. I will use them as He calls me to by seeking Him and not me. And yes-it is scary until I focus on who He is ;-) Perspective!

What I have learned for myself is that with using my gifts comes an overwhelming sense of responsibility. And I'm not simply talking about one type of responsibility. I don't mean that I ONLY have to be careful and consider each thing I write, speak, communicate in my life management and teaching, and writing in my blog or magazine. It is so much deeper than that.

I have a responsibility to USE my spiritual gifts.
I have a responsibility to use them properly.
I have a responsibility to use them wisely.
I have a responsibility to not waste them.
I have a responsibility to sharpen them.
I have a responsibility to be careful with them.
I have a responsibility to learn how to use them.
And of course, as I said earlier, I have the responsibility of thinking before speaking/writing.

If I let fear paralyze me, because of the intense responsibility I feel that accompanies the use of my gifts, I let my fears become bigger than God. Do not let your fears become bigger of God! So regardless of being unsure, fearful, and scared, I must keep using them to the best of my ability while being prayerful, while communicating and seeking guidance from God, and while using them in His Kingdom. The reason I spend so much time seeking God is so I know HOW to use them responsibly as He guides me to. I mean, how could I possibly use the equipment that God has gifted me with to play on His team, if I never knew what position on his team to play, how to play, and how to work as a team member in his Kingdom?

Knowing what your gifts are is not the end of understanding your spiritual gifts. There are responsibilities we have in using those same gifts and that knowledge comes from God. In order to know His will, we must continuously seek Him.

Oh, and I had to add this before closing:
When my kiddos get a gift and they are already talking about what they want NEXT Christmas, etc., I make sure they have taken care of the previous gifts they've gotten. I like to ask them-how did you take care of what you were already given? Did you respect it? Did you take care of it? If not, then I want them to think about why they are not satisfied with what they already have. I want them to think about adding more responsibility to what they have. Can they handle it? Do they really want it? Can they take care of it properly?

Before they talk about getting more or better gifts than what they already have, they need to think about what their role has been with the gifts they do have.

It's something helpful to us all to think about HOW we treat the gifts we have.

If we can't handle what we have and love and cherish it, why would we ask for more?

Message in A Bottle

Back in the 80's when music was "da bomb", the band The Police sang a song called Message A Bottle. It wasn't one of my favorites and when it came on the radio, I would only listen to a few minutes before I'd switch the radio station. Back in the day, I was more into the music of Madonna, The Tubes, Van Halen, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and The Go-Gos. I was definitely living as an 80's child enjoying the wide array of music, big haired bands, and funky clothing. Um, yeah. Thank goodness God is a gracious and merciful God. I was certainly an EGR (extra grace required).

While I still enjoy some the music from those days gone by (although I don't dress that way any longer-whew!), most of it comes from my mp3 player so I can control which songs I hear. But, since this particular song wasn't something I liked back in the day, it's not something I have on my mp3 player now. And when I am tired of the same ol', same ol, I'll bravely and selectively turn to the car radio. While driving my daughter to the high school I heard this song, Message In A Bottle. Yet the lyrics caught my attention and I didn't change the station. Without having to think at all, it reminded me instantly of why I blog about the messages I do, teach, and relay information that I feel just CAN'T wait! You'd think I was stuck on an island sending out an SOS or something!

I hope that someone gets my...
I hope that someone gets my...
message in the bottle

Sending out an SOS...
Sending out an SOS...
Sending out an SOS...

The internet is the ocean, my blog is the bottle, and there is an important message about living our faith out loud URGENTLY. Ok, so why so urgently?

I don't know when the end of time will come.
I don't know when Christ will return.
I don't know any of that.
That is not what I mean when I say urgent. I'm not claiming to know things I don't.
In fact, I don't know jack!

What I do know is that our days in the life we have been given by God in which to use our gifts to reach others IS LIMITED. Do I know when I will die? Do i know when you will die? Do I know anything specific about time? No, no, and no. The only thing I know is that our lives here on this earth to do what God has gifted and called us to do is limited. And when you think about only having a short span to do it in-THAT MAKES IT URGENT!

Take me for example. I will be 40 this next Saturday. How much more time do I have to live for God? How much time do I have to use my gifts, talents, and passions to make a difference in this world by living how he is calling me to live? If I look at the big picture of time and space, I have very little time. It truly seems that I only exist for maybe a minute compared to the thought of eternity. But in that quick minute on the scale of eternity, it equates to about...maybe another 50 years IF I get to live until I'm 90? Wow, cool...50 years-I've got time! Or do I? Do you? Do any of us? We just don't know. So we'd better be living-now.

It's urgent that we do not waste time. Don't waste it in your calling and use your gifts in ministry. And don't waste precious time in your relationships, in your marriages, in your parenting, in your work.....just don't waste time! We can't afford to! We can't continue to treat it as though it is a renewable natural resource. We have no control over how much time we have. The only thing we control is how and where we spend it.

And while some people will think that 50 years is forever away, I can tell you it's not. I blinked and all of the sudden I will be 40. I'm going to blink again and another 40 years will slip by.

If you are not living for Christ now, when do you plan on starting?

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Urgent message! I simply must encourage you to live, live, live, and make Christ the center of your life to bring Honor and glorify God in every action you make-not just in church once a week. We have a balance to keep, priorities to set, and life to manage so the opposition doesn't keep us from FINISHING the race! We have communities to change, lives to change, and we must always THINK about who we have the opportunity to serve while doing this!!! Oh, and you don't want to burn out, so there will be many bottles to encourage and teach you in that as well. Please take what you now know through this message and pass it along! Now take your gifts and get busy! End Message!


*************************************************************************************

No wonder when I get the urge to blog, I simply just do it. It's bigger than myself, and if just one person grabs one of these online bottles and reads one of the messages within it, quite possibly one life may be changed. One gift may be used. One burned-out individual may be revived and kept serving in ministry. And maybe many more will find a bottle with plain ol' encouragement rolled up in it.

I have quite a few blog posts floating around on the internet now. My prayer is that they be found, the messages read, and that they get passed on to another individual with urgency.

Together, we can send out an SOS and spread a sense of urgency to use everything we have to build God's Kingdom.



Song, Message In A Bottle, The Police