Who are we...

We, as Christians, are called! We are the Church. We are the hands. We are the feet. So when do we serve? It seems we tend to be serving someone...namely ourselves. I will probably step on some toes with this one. Maybe even my own...but it needs to be said. This time of year I tend to notice a trend but it doesn't all happen just this time of year. It seems that we have the fluff, we have the powder, we have the pretty decorations and bring out the fine china...but what about getting our hands dirty. Its funny how we say we are all about outreach. We are all about reaching the unreachable and ministering to the un-saved. We say we are about bringing others to Christ and putting others first. I'm not sure I see that. Outreach is serving...outreach is getting your hands dirty. Outreach is reaching... - OUT! I am all for being filled and being poured into but its funny the time, the expense, the meetings, the lavish decoration, and the groves of people who will come out to pour into themselves but never show up for the ones who need a little decoration, who need a little help, who need a little bit of uplifting, who need a little attention. What if...what if we took a little attention off of ourselves and turned it toward someone in need. What if...instead of being the ones served...you are the servant. It amazes me, I'm not sure why, of the people who will show up for the "fluff" but never show up for the ones who need a little fluff! Yeah I may ruffle a few feathers...maybe they need ruffling. I am so ready to find a place where people truly WANT to serve. Where you don't have to go beg for help..instead you have more help than you could possibly need. Funny how people who I have seen once and people who don't even go there will show up to help but our own are missing. What good are we doing sitting on our church pews every week and never getting up! We go to be filled and rejuvenated but is it all about us? Is that as far as it goes? I so very much want to be a part of something more. A part of something that wants to make a difference and not just say they want to make a difference. So many faces missing from some crucial events. I take it personally in every event. No, it isn't possible to be at everything. No, it isn't one persons job. Collectively as a body we should be there. We should show up. We should WANT to help. We should WANT to make a difference. We say this is what we want to do...but our actions speak differently! Are we Christians or are we just seat warmers for our pews every Sunday?

Me...the Israelite

I grumble. I groan. God provides. God provides what we need. Takes care of us when its tough... but I still grumble. I still seek more. I still want more. I still wish for more. I still say that isn't enough, I wanted twice that amount. Three times that amount. Oh how I fall into this trap so easily. God delivered the Israelites. He provided what they needed, he took care of them, he told them not to worry, he told them all was well and to trust in him. What did they do? They grumbled. They groaned. They wanted more. Because of their lack of trust they were made to wonder for 40 years. They were put to the test. The same test that God puts me through. "Are you going to trust me this time? Are you going to see that I will provide. I will take care of you. Do you see it yet?" No, I just grumble. It's so easy to get to this place...where the Israelites were. It's so easy for me to say but why can't I have this and why can't I have that. If I could only get this amount. If I could only have that much. I have found myself doing this all too easily. I pray for needs to be met. God meets them. I pray for an opportunity. God provides it. I pray...I pray...I pray...GOD PROVIDES...but do I TRUST? So why can we not just be thankful. Why can we not just offer up a joyful hallelujah thank you to our Lord Jesus when He does what He says He will do. Thanksgiving for the small things that go un-noticed throughout the day. Thankful for the big things we didn't expect. Thankful for the prayers being answered that we prayed but ...maybe they weren't entirely met in the way we had hoped....maybe they were met in the way that God saw fit. We may think it has to be big to be answered when in reality the smallest of smalls is as equally great. God provides...bottom line. But do I TRUST? "Grumbling causes stumbling" ...the Israelites stumbled because they would not fully keep there faith in God. They would not fully place their trust in Him that he would do what he said he would do. He had delivered them from slavery. Brought them out of bondage. Brought them to the wilderness. Provided food and taken care of them but yet they grumbled. I DON'T WANT TO BE AN ISRAELITE. "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" Matthew 6:25-26 Tonight I just want to be thankful. Thankful that He is always there when I need him. Thankful He answers those prayers when He sees the timing is right. Thankful He still loves me even when I don't deserve it.I know I will falter and fail but I'm learning. I see David and He is so great at this...yes we all have our moments...but I can text him or call him about something and he just turns it into a moment of Thanksgiving at what God has done. I'm learning! TRUST. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

In pursuit of AWESOME...

One foot in front of the other. One day after the other. How can I be more awesome today than I was yesterday. How can I be greater tomorrow than I was today. Putting life into perspective...we aren't here for us. We aren't here to gain more. We aren't here to live life day after day with no direction. We aren't put on this earth for ourselves. We are here for Him. We are here to share His word. To share His life. To share His direction. His direction for our lives. His direction for others lives. We were all created for different purposes. Some are meant to preach. Some are meant to teach. Some are meant to lead. Some are meant to follow. What is it that we are called to do? We are called to love unconditionally. We are called to share uncontrollably. We are called to be more today than we were yesterday. Our pursuit as a family is to become more...more loving and more in love, more faithful, more obedient, more courageous, more passionate, more understanding, more consistent. God calls us to be his hands and feet but often days I look in the mirror and say "what have I done to be greater for Him today? What have I done to show His love to another. What have I done to be awesome for Christ today?" This life is not about acquiring more things and having more. Its about seeing how many great things we can do with what he has already given us and what he continues to give. Sometimes this is hard. We are always in pursuit of more. It's human nature to want more to buy more to have more. But, when we get more...how much more is enough? Or, do we just want more? What kind of awesome things can we do with more. Our pursuit of the ultimate more might come in funding adoptions (maybe our own), building orphanages, paying camp tuition's, buying someones groceries, funding an entire angel tree, building our own camp, giving like we have never been able to give before. It's all about furthering God's kingdom...NOT MINE! Now, don't get me wrong...we aren't perfect and I'm not playing a we are better than you card. Its taken a long time for the mentality of having "more" to come into perspective and some days we fail at it miserably. But, as a collective group in pursuit of the same "greatness", the same "more", the same "awesome"...We could change the face of this nation. We could change a world. There would be no more orphans, no more hungry...become the father to the fatherless...WE...COULD...BE...AWESOME!

It's been awhile...

Yes...I am behind! It has been a fabulously crazy busy last few months and I have missed blogging/writing like crazy! Glad to be back at it! What a busy few months we have had with our first year of homeschooling and trying to find some normalcy to our days. I have loved having my boys at home and being the one to teach and pour into them daily. It has been great to see them grown, learn and accomplish new things daily. It isn't easy. It's lots of work. But it is so worth it. Our days are crazy and the weeks and days tend to get away from me. Probably the biggest struggle is finding that balance...as I laugh out loud. There is no balance and there is no normal! Every day is different and brings on its next struggle and hurdle to overcome but we are making it. With four kids...three in school...on three different levels... and a 3 year old to still make happy and spend time with isn't always easy. Some days I am kicking myself feeling I have neglected him or not spent enough time with the other boys. But at the end of the day I just have to chalk it up to I have done my best and that is all I can do! I am getting to spend so much more time with them than I have in several years and I love that. Mom is learning also! I have found that all that "stuff" I did back in high school...must have sunk in a little. We have been working on Algebra which was not my favorite in school but has come back to me as well as all the diagramming. Can't say I remember all of it because I remember the lines going a few ways but some of this has been ridiculous! But we are all learning together and what we don't know we will figure out. Feeling very blessed that God has given me this opportunity to pour into my kids. Blessed that I have been given the opportunity for my kids to pour into me on a daily basis. They teach me something new every day. Blessed!