1+1+1

So I mentioned in my last post that I am trying to make the most of my summer. Since I teach and technically "don't have to work" (at least not my real, paying job) during the summer, and since this is the first summer since I graduated high school (can that really be SIX years ago?!) that I have not been in summer school and working, too, I have more time on my hands than I have had, well, since ever! Of course, like everyone does, I have a list a mile long of have-to's and want-to's to accomplish this summer, but God has been impressing upon my heart for months now the conviction that this summer--and indeed, my entire life--is not about me. This is not necessarily a new revelation, but my life has been so consumed by school for the past six years that I have not had--or I should confess and say probably more accurately, not made--time for truly reaching out and serving others.

And that is why I am here, right? To serve?

"Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." 

Philippians 2:3-4 

And if I call myself a disciple of Christ, I'm supposed to be, through His grace and power, imitating Him, right?

"Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

Ephesians 5:1-2

And that's why Jesus came, right? To serve? To love sacrificially?

Though He was God, He made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."

Philippians 2:6-8

And now I need to backtrack a little bit: Last year, I read through the New Testament with our church, and as I read through the Gospels, I was struck by how many times it is mentioned that Jesus "had compassion" on the crowds or the individuals that surrounded Him. But what pierced me even more is the fact that His "compassion" always moved Him to action--meeting some spiritual and/or physical need that the crowd or person had (See Matthew 9:35-36, 15:32-38, 20:34, and various other echoes throughout the other three Gospels.).

So what does this mean for me? If I recognize compassion in the scriptures, feel it in my heart, and know "how to" do compassion in my head, but it never moves my hands and feet to action, then that recognition and knowledge is worthless...then I don't really "get" compassion because... 

True compassion is love in action.

So now what? How do I live like I believe His Word and example?

I'm often the queen of good intentions in this area. I know the truth but fail to apply it. There is one word that has been resounding in my mind since all of this began swirling around in my heart a couple of months ago: INTENTIONALITY. I've got to live intentionally for true compassion to take root and spill out into the lives of others.

God knows the slightly OCD, planner in me (can I get an "Amen!" for calendars and to-do-lists? :)), and I'm so grateful He is teaching me to let go and trust Him and His plan. BUT, I think He also knows that sometimes having a distinct plan is just what I need to get my hands and feet moving in sync with what He is doing in my heart. SO, I've taken the long route to get here (thanks for enduring my ramblings!), but here's the "plan" He laid on my heart a few days ago:

Every Week

Serve

Three People

1 family member

+

1 friend

+

1 stranger

=

{Compassion}

{Love in Action}

As I think about this charge the Lord has impressed upon me, I'm reminded of a post from a sweet friend where she quoted the following "Don't fail to do something just because you can't do everything." I certainly can't do everything, meet every need, but I can, and must, do something if I claim the name of Christ. Like they say, people may doubt what you say, but they will always believe what you do. So my words and actions must go hand in hand. Through Jesus I want to be an encouragement, finding little ways to minister to people's tangible needs as well as their spiritual.  

Would you please chime in with suggestions (in the comments below) for ways to bless and serve those family members, friends, and strangers? I'd love to hear your ideas, big or small! I know sometimes its the seemingly small or even insignificant acts of service that can be the biggest blessing as people live Philippians 2:3-4...a note in the mail, a dinner you don't have to cook, a clean car, a night of babysitting, groceries, prayer, sharing scripture, a phone call...

Or maybe you might take this "1+1+1" challenge this summer, too?

image via

Praying God will open my eyes to see the needs all around me and give me the sensitivity and boldness needed to act. Now to get to it! :) 

Hello, again.

Well, I'm back...after the most crazy busy, stressful--but good--year of my life!

I know you all (I'm pretending I have a stellar, loyal, and large readership) have been anxiously awaiting my next riveting post! (Thank you for indulging this illusion delusion.) Since I have posted all of about three times since August of last year, I'm sure my all of about two readers have jumped ship by now, but that is just fine with me...I "blog" mainly for me...to have an "outlet" for my ever-running mind and as a sort of scrapbook-ish chronicle of our life. (Many thanks to my paternal Grandmama for passing down her journalling habit. Her mounds of spiral notebooks are my tapping out on the screen--but I admit, I do have a few notebooks, too.)

Now to return from that most necessary digression. So with my next several posts, I plan to try to catch myself up on this past year...to record some thoughts and lessons learned from my very first year of teaching full-time...and losing a granddaddy...and a small home reno (vaguely strongly reminiscent of Money Pit)...and finishing my M.A.Ed....and Paul finishing his B.S...and simply life in between it all.

While this summer is already filled with lots of stuff--baby showers and weddings and parties and curriculum training and vacation and books to read and projects to complete...--I'm praying to make the most of it. (Next post will share one way I'm praying for boldness and follow-through to make that happen.)

Happy, Happy Summer, Everyone!

(remember, I'm pretending to have a boatload of readers)

Hope your days are filled to the brim with all the best and then let that spill over in blessings to others!

{a little of God's goodness from our recent trip to Hilton Head, SC}

    

He Is.

Just wanted to share this video (in case you haven't already seen it--but even if you have, it's worth a re-run!). An amazing reminder of the magnitude of the One who has faithfully loved [messy, flighty, prideful] me.

Oh, how I need this refreshed perspective.

To put Him in His rightful place.

I pray you know Him today.

{Thanks to sweet Jenni for sharing this video in a faculty meeting devotion one morning a few weeks ago.}

Welcome to Our World

Finally finishing our Jesse Tree Advent Ornaments. Listening to Amy Grant's "Welcome to Our World" on Pandora. This song is beautiful and truly captures the magnitude of what the Father did for us in sending His One and Only to reconcile us broken, selfish people.

Tears are falling
Hearts are breaking
How we need to hear from God
You've been promised
We've been waiting
Welcome, Holy Child
Welcome, Holy Child

Hope that You don't
Mind our manger
How I wish we would have known
But long awaited
Holy Stranger
Make Yourself at home
Please make Yourself at home

Bring Your peace
Into our violence
Bid our hungry souls be filled
Word now breaking Heaven's silence
Welcome to our world
Welcome to our world

Fragile finger
Sent to heal us
Tender brow prepared for thorn
Tiny heart
Whose blood will save us
Unto us is born
Unto us is born

So wrap our injured
Flesh around you
Breathe our air and walk our sod
Rob our sin
And make us holy
Perfect Son of God
Welcome to our world

Praying we will fill this Christmas week with joyful and grateful meditation--The King of Glory--He came down to us! To me, it doesn't make the least bit of sense. But that is what is so incredible about the mystery of the Gospel! I can't even grasp "how wide, how long, how high, and how deep" (Ephesians 3:18) is the love of Christ. But though I can't fully grasp it, oh, how I'm thankful.

{Many blessings to you and yours this Christmas!}  

Slowing Down

Yes, I've been MIA for oh, I don't know, two and a half months, now. I didn't know life could be busy--so non-stop--so full of necessary things, there has been no way to cut back. Or at least I haven't found the way yet. Finding the balance between full-time work, school, home, and family has been a huge struggle for me lately. 

I couldn't be more thankful for this thing called Fall Break--I'm off Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday this week. Praise the Lord for a few days to relax and be re-energized. Hoping to maybe catch up on a few posts about teaching and other smatterings from life over the past couple of months, but we'll see. I'm off in a few to grab lunch with one of my sweet besties from high school, whom it has been WAY too  long since we have enjoyed each others' face-to-face company.

Just wanted to share this quick word from my time with the Lord this morning. I often allow Satan to steal my joy for today by falling into his ever down-spiraling cyclone of worry, unrest, and misery in thinking about the future. For instance, instead of waking up with joy this morning because I've been given this day--and given this day off from work--I was already bemoaning the fact that Thursday would be here in a flash and was worrying about how I was going to accomplish/catch up on everything that has fallen by the wayside lately as well as lesson plan for next week. Crazy much? Yes, I know so. Choosing joy and rest in Christ must be intentional. I must bathe myself in His presence in order to combat the joy-stealing, worry-igniting schemes of the wicked one.

The scripture from Jesus Calling for today:

Luke 12
²²And he said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. ²³For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. ²⁴ Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! ²⁵And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?^{[c] 26}If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? ²⁷Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,^[d] yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ²⁸But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! ²⁹And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. ³⁰For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. ³¹Instead, seek his^[e] kingdom, and these things will be added to you.
³² "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. ³³ Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. ³⁴ For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

{How beautifully appropriate. The Lord knows just what we need.}

I pray this encourages you to slow down, fix your eyes on Him, and savor today. Father, please give me grace to remember the birds and the lilies today.

P.S. A true word from Ann Voskamp for today: "Read it [the Bible] because it’s manna and and you’ve got nothing to give if you haven’t gathered, and you have to gather it at daybreak if you are going to gain from it the daylong."   

Wings for Our Troops

Some of you may remember (back last December) me mentioning my cousin Chad who lost his life while serving in Afghanistan. My heart just broke for his mom, Tami (my mom's cousin), especially since Chad was her only child. 


CPL Chad S Wade, USMC dancing with his Mama

Of course, since we don't have children yet I can't fully imagine the pain she went through and still feels, but I can tell you that I am amazed at how she has responded to such deep loss. Tami and her husband have started a non-profit organization called Wings for Our Troops that aims to help our men and women in the military get home to their loved ones before and after deployment.

Until Tami shared her vision for starting the foundation, I never knew that our soldiers were responsible for their travel expenses to get home to see their families. If they can't afford the plane tickets, then their opportunities to visit their families are limited. (If Paul was in the military, I can't imagine how hard it would be to have the stress of not being able to spend time with him before or after he deployed due to financial worries.) So Tammy and her husband (along with many other people, particularly Tammy's sister, Amber) are hard at work getting this foundation established which will help relieve the financial burden on our soldiers.  

Finding a way to transform your loss into a vision for helping others is truly a testament to the way God uses all things--even tragedy--to bring about our good and His glory. I am excited to see how the Lord continues to bless their efforts and enables our soldiers, who otherwise would suffer through missing their loved ones, to enjoy time with their families before and after deployment. Join me in spreading the word about Wings for Our Troops! If you know of a soldier who may be in need of the service this foundation provides you can contact Wings through their website. You can make secure donations there as well. 

I know that I take our freedoms so for granted most of the time, but I am so thankful for Chad and others like him who gave their all to ensure our liberty and let others around the world have a chance at experiencing freedom, too. Because of moms like Tami and the rest of Chad's family, our military will know that they truly are appreciated and cared for. 


**A family in our Connecting Point (Sunday School) class also has a non-profit, Tickets for Troops, that supports our military by providing them with free tickets to fun events (like sports games, etc.) so that the families can enjoy qaulity time together after thier loved one returns from a deployment. Learn more about the great work Tony and his wife are doing here.                

The Birds Still Sing...

It's a messy life isn't, it? This world is full of people battling sickness, death, hurt, exhaustion, hunger, unemployment, discontentment, anger, and the list goes on. This morning as I was praying for the needs of dear family and friends, I had a moment where I thought, "Wow. This world is full of junk. We are full of junk." I was overwhelmed by all of the "bad" stuff going on in this life. BUT, just as I was thinking about all of this--I mean, the exact same moment--the Lord tuned my ear to the sound of the birds outside. They were just chirping and singing away, their melody seeping in through my closed windows. I felt the Lord telling me, "Yes, this world is full of junk and suffering, but this world is also full of good--full of Me." All of the hurt we experience in this life does not change who God is. His character--his perfect goodness--remains the same. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

And He is ever kind, ever gracious to give us reminders of His goodness...like the birds he made me hear when I started to get mired down thinking about the difficult stuff.

image via

Oh Lord, that you would tune my ears to hear (and my eyes to see) You, to hear your beauty and your grace echoing all around me.

{And as I finish this post, I realize God is still trying to teach me the lessons He first used Ann Voskamp's book to show me. If you have not yet read One Thousand Gifts, don't miss out.}