The Day I Stopped Reading The Bible

The Day I Stopped Reading This

This "girls weekend" had been planned for a while, and I for one was super-excited to get away with these two ladies.  We had become quite close since our international mission trip to the Dominican Republic.  We were headed to Branson, MO.

Just the girls.  Yes!

With Google maps loaded on phones, we three girls set out to have some weekend fun. And....fun, we had.

It was in the backseat of Andrea's car that God kicked my gut with this question, as we were in the middle of catching up with each other.

"When are you going to stop dancing around my Word, and start doing what it says?"

Ouch.

That was the day that I stopped reading the Bible.

I stopped reading, and started studying it.  I now....stop and study words, I pray over it.  I dwell on it, I absorb God's truth like a sponge.  Verse by verse.

James 1:22 -25  "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says.  Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.  But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it-he will be blessed in what he does."

When I dwell on God's Word, I am doing more than just reading it in a year.  For me that plan is too fast because I am a slow learner.  When I stop and do what the Bible says, I am reflecting God's truth.  I can remember what I am called to do, to be His Light.  I have freedom in the truth that I read.  I have forgiveness, I am reminded of His love for me.  I could go on and on....and will.

I stopped reading the Bible that day, and started studying it.  I started doing what the Bible says.

I am pursuing God's purity.  That is God's best for me.

How about you?

Guess What Happened Next?

It was a normal Sunday afternoon as my husband and I walked through the store.  I had been praying this idea through for months but I didn't know how to broach the subject.  So in my outside-only-voice, cranked to 11, I just blurted it out.  

"One day, I would like to sponsor a child with Mission of Mercy!"

Terry's response?  "I have wanted to do that too!"

Guess what happened next?

We hurried through the store, drove home, popped up our laptop and chose a child at the Mission of Mercy website.  It was that easy.  God had prepared both of our hearts to offer compassion to little Eskarlin, who lives in the Dominican Republic.  

Me & Eskarlin

Guess what happened next? 

God blessed me with an opportunity to go on a mission trip with Mission of Mercy to travel to the DR and and I had the pleasure of meeting Eskarlin.  You will not believe it when I tell you that this chic with the "outside" voice got real silent and overwhelmed with emotion.  With Mission of Mercy mission trips, you get to meet your sponsored.  It's one of the most incredible experiences ever.  

Guess what happened next?

Nhondudozo, me, and Nomphilo

God lead me to sponsor two more little precious girls in Swaziland, Nomphilo and Nhondudozo.  And then God opened the door for me to travel to Swaziland and feed them.  Again I got to meet them both and I got to share lunch with them.  One of the most humbling experiences ever.  God melted our hearts together and I pray for all my girls daily.  

Guess what happened next?  

This loud talker is praying for more opportunities to give the Mission of Mercy kids a voice.  You can make an eternal investment right now with your sponsorship and you can be a voice for a child too.  Your sponsorship speaks so loud into their lives, your support of $34 a month, spans the miles that separate.  But mostly God will increase your heart to make them a part of your loving family. 

Guess what happens next?  

Pray about how you can be involved with sponsorship with Mission of Mercy, and then act on what God has shown you.  I am praying for you and hope you will choose a child of your own!   

It's one way to live compassion.  It is that easy.  One.Child.Matters.

Music Monday - {Always}

Very rarely do I re-post a song for Music Monday, but the song "Always" is hitting repeat in my mind.  There are so many songs that are speaking to me right now, and this is one of them.

I actually posted this from almost a year ago.  

One valuable lesson that God has been teaching me as I prepared for my mission trip to Honduras and now..applying it again to life at home is the word "unchanging".  One other team member talked about her word for the trip was "satisfy".

I can see how God works these two words together in our life.  

Only...God satisfies...and He is unchanging.

Always.

When we have trouble surrounding us, when chaos abounds, when fear hits like an anvil in our hearts...

God is always there and He is the only person who satisfies.  He gives us peace in place of fear, he gives us strength in our dependency, He gives us rest in our trust.

These unchangeable truths go hand in hand, or work independently too as we journey through this life.

Our help comes from the Lord, He is our portion. God helps in good times and bad.  In sorrow and joy.  In peace and in war.  God satisfies and is always there for us.  He never leaves us alone to battle or wage war on our own.

Whatever you're facing....know that God knows...and He won't abandon you or leave you to figure things out by ourselves.  If we ask, He will help.  

And what I have always found...is ...HIS answers are always better and satisfying.  Always.

The Blocks That Build

During the mission trip to Honduras, we had floors to pour, walls to build, and bathrooms to finish.  And in Honduras there are no cement mixer trucks or even machines that mix.  They do things the old-fashioned way.  Needless to say there was a lot of sweat equity in each layer of blocks.

The teams mixed bags of concrete, water, rock together to make a kitchen floor, a cinder block shower, some bathroom stalls and walls for some classrooms.  This team of strangers worked together like a well-oiled machine to make the living conditions of families better and improve the Mission of Mercy Child Development Project.  Even though we loaded up with our best tools and muscles, we know that God made things the construction possible.  He worked through each pair of hands as His plan came together.

God made much out of our little.   

They don't have much in the way of building supplies.  We even scraped the extra cement from the layers of mortar that plopped on the ground and recycled it back into the mix.  What's a few blades of grass or a few more dirt crumbles?  Outside of using our hands we used a plastic scoop to collect as much waste as we could.  Every drop of mortar was important.

Before the crew actually started though I took a few minutes to reflect on the foundation of the projects. It was well planned and mapped out with forms and strings to keep the blocks aligned.  There was some rebar to strengthened the corners.  The foreman took some time to make a plan for the best result.  A firm foundation is critical in the strength of the building as a whole.  

He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.  Luke 6:48

There is a layer of prayer that bonds foundations too and God reminded me that prayer is the secret strength that makes our faith foundation strong.  He has His best plans laid out for us, held together with His lovely disciplines and great rules for living as lined out in His Word.  All we need to do is live according to His blueprint as he has designed.  His truth keep us aligned.  He even gives us glimpses of His power with miracles that strengthen our walls.  As we look to Him as our Foreman, He makes His wise plans painstakingly beautiful.  

God makes much out of our little.

Even when He has to scrape our leftovers.

That's a firm faith foundation built on trust in the Master Craftsman.

A Lesson From The Book of Honduran Hospitality

This past week I traveled to Honduras on a mission trip.  I didn't expect to meet such hospitality but the Hondurans are very welcoming people.  I was surprised by their open door policy and ironically a lot of homes don't have doors.  


The Honduran community in which we served was very open to our presence all week.  They were the most gracious hosts.  Maybe they were just curious about two bus loads of white Americanos driving down their dirt roads.


Whatever the reason, as we were there to serve them with our open hands, they received our help.  They weren't too proud, offended or insulted in anyway.  Some even opened their homes and set out chairs for us to sit and chat with them.   The kids came in close to play.


We made some community visits while we were there and one father made a decision for Christ.  He graciously invited us in as we asked him a few pointed questions.  In his humble kitchen he invited Jesus to come into his burdened heart.  He invited the Savior in as the gospel flooded his home.


Our supervisor at the Mission of Mercy project was most hospitable and tolerant of our girl-power-cinder-block-laying-abilities.  He didn't say a word about how the blocks might have been a little crooked.  He was very understanding of our lack of construction skills and didn't say a word.  He graciously let us invade his work space for four days of sweaty toils.


The mission team felt at home in the community of Choluteca.  The Hondurans opened their homes, they opened their hearts, they opened their church doors to worship as one.  The team held many kids in their laps and they were open to the kindness of Christ.

"Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality." Romans 12:13

It was evident that God is at work in their little community, with the Mission of Mercy staff on the ground, and with the work He is doing through the church.  God opened their hearts to welcome strangers in, we welcomed their hospitality and brought the gospel message.

These hospitable Hondurans' challenge me to swing wide and prop open the mission-minded-doors of my heart for God to build faith in me. 

This Is Mission Trip Season

Hope Smiles

When preparing for a mission trip, I start praying towards the destination the day I understand that I am supposed to go. My list of prayers covers a variety of topics from safe travel, to providing enough funding, to bringing the right team together, and to being used by God. There are so many details that need to be in place before one steps foot out the door. 

The one of the biggest prayer circles I present before the Father is to accomplish His work in my heart. I don't want to wait until I get on foreign soil for Him to prepare it.

God always brings back my first mission trip experience in the Dominican Republic.  It was a hot day, on that little hill, when God burned the call of missions on my heart.  It was an unforgettably tender moment when He showed me His hope spoken by the hopeless.  He also showed me how my life was filled with distractions in the worldly life I was living.  That trip was a game-changer. 


My American dream was quickly cast aside when it collided with wide-spread poverty, and buried with the disadvantaged. That message was life-changing, not only for me but for most my team members.

I believe there are lessons that can only be taught on the mission field outside the church pew.  God always prepares you as you pray to prepare.

If you ask, He will move you  
to see their needs...
to humbly serve...
to love them as He loves.

Isn't that the point of going and being Christ to the nations?  

It's in missions that I can see my-God purpose.  

Once I see His heart...how can I say no?