Yesterday was Angel Food Distribution Day. Earlier this week, a mom from the neighborhood called and asked if we would be willing to help out her son who had some community service time to complete.
We never have too much help, so I quickly agreed. This 19 yr old kid came at 7:30 am and worked and worked with us until noon. He was a great kid. I asked him if he went to church and all that. He just moved here a couple of months ago, and wasn’t attending anywhere, although he had grown up in church in his old town.
I have a great friend who is a part of Angel Food with me. She has a 17 yr old daughter. So, naturally, the conversation turned to whether or not this kid has a girlfriend (he doesn’t), and wouldn’t he want to meet some kids, we have a great youth group, a great church, yadda yadda yadda!
I have to tell you, my friend and I were totally obnoxious! I mean off the charts. Honestly, she was trying to hook him up with her daughter, and I was trying to hook him up with Jesus. When all was said and done, he & I shook hands to seal the deal on him coming to church – the 10 am or 11:30 am service – his choice, but just come. I told him that he didn’t ever have to come again, if he didn’t like it, but to give us a try. You should have seen his face light up whenever I told him that we had a drummer on the praise team.
Fast forward to today – I have prayed for this kid all last night, this morning, and even during the 10 am service. I so much wanted to see him make it to church. After the services were over, I turn around and there he is! Sitting in the back row with another couple that he met yesterday at Angel Food! I was so excited I could have burst! He looked really pleased that so many people were happy to see him. My friend did the introductions with her daughter, and they and the other kids stood around and talked between the services.
Actually, since he had some more hours to finish, and we have a bunch of projects going on around the church with painting and such, I introduced him to that guy, and they are going to be working together. It is a win-win situation – he gets his hours, and we get help with projects.
I don’t know what he did, and quite frankly, I don’t even care. Here was a chance to reach out to a kid, and potentially make a difference in his life. We have introduced him to some new friends in a new town. Best of all, he gets to meet Jesus. Truly, I just can’t stop smiling about this.
People were starting to settle in for the 2nd service today, and he was still there, so I went up and asked “Are you staying to the 2nd service?” ” I guess so.” Blessed AGAIN!
When church was over and I had the coffee all cleaned up, he was still surrounded by all the teenagers, talking and laughing. They were going to invite him to youth group tonight.
I don’t know where the LORD wants to take this, and it doesn’t matter. We reached out, and it made a difference. That is a feeling you don’t get anywhere else, let me tell you.
What keeps running through my mind is Ephesians 3:20-21:
20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Immeasurably more! We asked for this kid for one service – we got two! It is quite a lesson about the LORD – He WANTS so much to show us, teach us, love us – if only we would ask or imagine.
Father, I pray for that boldness that borders on obnoxious – use me to reach your lambs – to bring them to the Shepherd. It is Your Harvest, ripe for the picking. Show us how to be the workers in Your fields, gathering up those who need You, bringing them to You. Lord, I am so blessed by what happened today – Just one more! Bless Your Holy, Holy Name, Jesus. AMEN!!
I highly recommend a box of Kleenex for this. I’ve watched it three times and I can’t stop the uncontollable sobbing. Many thanks to Mudpuppy for posting this.
Jesus – Be Praised!!
Filed under: Tithe
This isn’t going to be such a good post.
I have a confession to make. Last Sunday should have been my second check into the offering plate. As usual, I forgot to write it out the night before. When we got to church, I pulled out the checkbook, only to see that I was out of checks! Rats and Double Rats!
Needless to say, I did not put my money in that day. I had every intention of writing that check and mailing it – case closed. Before I could do that, however, the bank that holds one of my loans decided that I was sufficiently far enough behind that they took a double payment straight from my checking account. $275 that I wasn’t expecting to happen. I honestly didn’t think that I was that close.
So, as of right this minute, I am $302 overdrawn (includes $68 in overdraft charges, which could have been worse. I have gotten slammed with $34 for every overdraft before. I guess the powers that be decided that $34 a day was sufficient. Thank God!)
Not only do I not have my tithe check from last week, but also I owe $137 to the electric company on Tuesday or the dreaded “Termination of Service” happens. I am going to call them tomorrow and throw myself upon their mercy, if they can wait till Friday when I get paid. And Oh Yeah, that paycheck is going to start out $300 short.
I do have $140 in my credit union account, but if I deposit it into my checking, so that I can pay the electric on-line, it won’t work, because that account is in the hole.
If the $275 hadn’t happened, you see where I would have had ample $$$ for both my tithe and the electric. Now, I am stuck.
I am sad about this turn of events. I don’t know what the LORD wants me to do. And as long as I am being honest, I haven’t really asked Him. I am so ashamed that I can’t keep MY end of the bargain, how can I go to Him and ask Him to help me out of this jam?
UGH!
Well, now, I don’t know what to think of this. Shalene of Proverbs31WomanWannabe has chosen me to be a recipient of a Blogger’s Award.
This is my first one, and I am just tickled pink!
![[mathetes+award.jpg]](http://bp0.blogger.com/_sEaBDOFx3gA/RvAr3aH5mHI/AAAAAAAAAKo/FEzNs6oa3TY/s1600/mathetes%2Baward.jpg)
It is the “Mathetes Award”, created by Dan King of Management by God. Mathetes means disciple and Dan started it to recognize those who take the Great Commission to heart.
Now, I don’t know if “excellence” is a term that I would use to describe myself, but I will say that I truly want to see the Kingdom expanded, all to His Glory!
The rules for the award, as posted by it’s creator are as follows:
In the spirit of this award, the rules are simple. Winners of this award must pick five other “disciples” to pass it on to. As you pass it on, I just ask that you mention and provide links for (1)this post as the originator of the award (Dan King of Management by God), (2) the person that awarded it to you, Shalene and then (3) name and sites of the five that you believe are fulfilling the role of a disciple of Christ.
I choose:
Paul Peterson of PaulPetersonLive
Rindy of Experiencing The Journey
And all of the Guys involved in A Complete 180 (that right there puts me over 5, but who’s counting
)
My thanks again to Shalene. And thank you to everyone who holds me accountable and keeps me on target. I am truly blessed.
DM! He was actually viewer 1,006, but since he is the only one who made his presence known, He gets the prize. And a great big “Thank You” for being one of the people who comes to check out my blog. I am honored.
Really, I don’t have a prize, but I can give some link love. DM has a couple of blogs, so head on over to:
http://ialsoliveonafarm.wordpress.com/ AND http://hearttoheart.wordpress.com/
DM has lots of great insight, and a pretty sharp wit.
Enjoy!
UPDATE 09/18/2007
Honorable Mention goes to….. May I have the envelope, please?
Paul Peterson of PaulPetersonLive! Paul chimed in on the “Upcoming Milestone” post that he wanted some of this action. Since my blog is up over the 1,020 mark, and he helped me get there, I can give him some link love too.
PaulPetersonLive.com This guy & his wife are good friends of mine. They have moved their family to Georgia to learn how to plant a church. You can follow along with him, as he travels out loud. He has a heart for the lost, and he wants EVERYONE to meet Jesus. I am blessed for ever having met them, for sure. If it sounds like I am gushing, I am. He is the pastor who performed our wedding, prayed with my husband when he accepted Christ, and he is an all-around awesome force for the Kingdom. You will not be disappointed, trust me.
Thanks Paul!
Art left a comment to “Interesting – Chapter 4“, and I would like to make my reply here, where it will get more “air time” than if I left it as another comment.
Art asked:
I think it’s great that you’re so committed to tithing. But, I want to play “devil’s advocate” (so to speak) here for a moment… What if you don’t continue to get these unexpected “returns” or, more likely, they arrive in non-monetary form and are not as easily recognized?
And to that, I reply:
I am so glad that you asked that question. I believe that the bigger lesson to be learned here is that blessings come in all shapes and sizes. I want to hone the skills that teach me to recognize where God is, no matter what He is doing and how He is doing it.
To answer your real question “What if I don’t continue to get “returns”…”, I will keep doing what I am doing. I will put my money in the offering, regardless of what I do or do not receive. You see, the earth and everything in it belongs to the LORD. Yes, even the 90% that I “keep”. None of it is mine. Naked I came into this world, Naked I will depart. My obedience CANNOT be contingent upon what I expect to get out of it. Either I love the LORD with all of my heart, all of my soul, and all of my mind, or I don’t. It’s that simple.
Jesus said “If you love me, then you will obey what I command.” That is pretty cut and dry, right there.
I know that many of you think that I am a little bit north of South Carolina on this. I wish that I could explain the inexplicable joy and peace that surround me. As I said to a friend of mine “Once you get a taste of what it is that the LORD has for you, all you can think about is getting more & more.” Personally, I want more. And if God so chooses to never bless me again, I would be sad, but I would have the memories of all of the blessings past to reflect upon. I’d wager that in the replaying of those events, I would stumble upon some that I missed, so I would still get blessed anyhow.
I’ve said before that I do not expect a dollar for dollar return. In Malachi 3:10, God said “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.” He didn’t say that he would repay wheat for wheat, silver for silver. He said he would throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that I will not have room enough for it. (emphasis mine)
I don’t know about you, but I am going to go buy a raincoat.
Today is my second paycheck after the resolution to “Tithe No Matter What”. So, my second tithe check will be written for Sunday.
In the mail today, I received a dividend check from my car insurance agent because “when financial results are better than expected and business conditions permit, we are pleased to return part of your premium”.
$15.90 for no good reason. The ironic thing about it is that we went to KMart tonight after work because the Babies & I need new socks. I spent $21, and when I get home, $16 of it is right back in my hands.
Who would have thought…?
Hey Everybody! As of right this second, I have 970 views to my blog – almost 1,000! So, who wants to be the 1,000th visitor? You have to start leaving comments, so that I can track it.
I am so blessed that you all have stopped by. This is fun!
Thank you!
Today was the launch of our new ventures at church. I am the coffee hostess for the Starbucks coffee. (You can read about the coffee bar here ). Last night, as we were saying bedtime prayers, I prayed “LORD, send the people to church, send the Harvest. God, I hope we have so many people that I have to run out and buy more coffee!”
I was one coffee pot away from that becoming a reality! I had purchased one bag of Starbucks, this being the first week and all. I didn’t expect thousands of people, but I surely didn’t think that we would use a whole bag.
I asked. He answered. Next week, I am buying two!
Today is my husband’s birthday. Last week, I asked the LORD for wisdom to know what to do/not do, say/not say. As you recall, he is “in-communicado”. As I was conversing with God about this, I distinctly felt in my spirit “I want to move on this”.
Now, who am I to argue? I continued to seek the correct form of contact, as well as the words chosen. When prayer requests were taken this past week in Sunday School, I asked that everyone would hold him up in prayer on his birthday.
I finally decided on email, with just the right thing to say. I was worried that maybe a text msg wouldn’t go through or some other goofy thing. Email seemed best.
Yesterday, I called the church office to go over some things with our secretary. She also is a great friend and awesome warrior, and I asked her to remember my husband as well.
Not 10 minutes after I talked to her, I received an email from him. For no reason. No earthly reason at all. But God!
While I am not surprised to see God’s Hand, I am continually amazed at what He decides to do & how He decides to do it.
Fast forward to Today: My son’s first day of Pre-School, this afternoon.
Parents attend with their child for the first day at our school, so I took a vacation day. Over the weekend, the Babies and I caught the sniffles, with me feeling yucky this morning. They were up at 6:45 am. We got up, got a drink, and they settled down to watch Curious George. I told them that I was going to lie down again, while they were watching TV.
I really wanted to spend some time talking to the LORD about things. This is where the boldness comes in.
The thought “the earth and everything in it is His” jumped into my mind’s eye. And I prayed:
“LORD, those babies sitting out there are Yours, and if You want them to be without their daddy, then I have to trust You, but it really seems contrary to Your character. My husband is Yours, and if You want him away from his wife and children, well, ok, but I don’t think so. I am Your child too, and if You want me to be without him, I don’t know why, but… LORD, You said “I hate divorce”. You said that You will turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children. You created marriage & family. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today & forever. Yesterday, You gave us the whole story of Hosea. Yesterday, You said that our marriage would be healed.
LORD, what about today? Is today just as good as any other for him to come home? Why not today? ”
I know what you are going to say – “That was pretty darn gutsy!” I know! I couldn’t believe it myself when it all happened. But He has said “My word will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. (Isa 55:11)” He wants us to pray Scripture. He wants us to apply His word to our lives, situations, relationships, loved ones, enemies. As a friend of mine put it “We are supposed to bug the snot out of God”.
I hope that I didn’t cross any boundaries, but I surely did get bold!
