To The Point of Exhaustion

Last night we finished up Missions Conference at my church.

Having grown up all my life in good churches as well as attending Bible College, I've been involved with approximately 32 Missions Conferences.

If I haven't surrendered my life to the Lord's work by now, I'm a pretty sad case.  The truth is, I've given my life to God a long time ago – to go wherever He wants me to go and do whatever He wants me to do.

Every time I attend a Missions Conference, my heart is burdened for all the people around the world who do not know Jesus, and who do not have someone to tell them about Him.  My heart is stirred to work harder towards telling those I already know about His love.

This year was no different, and I thought, “Lord, what would you have me to do?”  many times throughout the services.

God answered in one specific way long after the final service had ended last night.  We were home and getting ready for bed.  We were all worn out, and naturally I wanted to get into bed as soon as possible.

But my husband and I could sense that the children needed some attention from Mommy and Daddy.  They had been rushed through the days of this past week to make sure everything was ready for church on time.  Daddy came in the door from work at the last minute every night, and we would all hurry out the door.  We enjoyed some fellowship with the missionaries after the services every night and then we would hurry back and make a mad dash for bed to get as much sleep as possible before another busy day arrived.

Last night we really felt that, as tired as we were, we should take the time to play with them, give them some tickles and cuddles, sing some songs, and just re-charge their “love batteries”.

Then it was off to bed.  My oldest, who always seems to be high need when it comes to how much attention he gets, asked me to sing him a song.  Thinking of how exhausted I was and how I had already “paid my dues” by playing with him, I started to say “Not tonight.”

But that's when the Holy Spirit spoke to me.  “You go to Missions Conference and tell me that you'll do whatever I ask you to do.  You sing the song that says you'll “spend and spare not” when it comes to how much you'll invest in people.  You've said that you're willing to minister to people even when it's exhausting.  Well, here's your chance.  Here's a little soul that needs your ministry, and even though you're exhausted, you need to keep going.  You can't give up just because you're tired.”

Wow!  My heart was challenged to give my everything to this ministry of being a “keeper at home”.  That is truly the primary thing God has called me to do.

It might seem more glamorous to work to the point of exhaustion when it's something “important” like being in a “real” ministry.  But if we were to ask someone in the ministry, I would imagine they'd say it's not exactly more fun to be called in the middle of the night by a drug addict threatening to kill you than it is to sing a song to your kid before bed.

I have been giving up way too easily.  I have been so concerned about the souls in my community and around the world to whom I'd like to minister that I've failed to see just how important these little souls are.

This one

And this one

And this one

No longer am I going to base my decision to sing or not to sing a song before bed on how tired I am.  I'm not going to give up on the housework just because I want to go to bed.  I'm not going to tune out the little voices asking me to read a book just because I have a list of things that I'm trying to get done.

These little ones are just too important!

So what if I'm tired?  If I tell myself I wouldn't let something as simple as exhaustion stop me from ministering to the heathen, I should never let it stop me at home!

I can claim the verse “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” for the big things, and I can claim it in my little space at home.

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Time, Money, Health (Part 4)

If you missed it, you can read part 1 here, part 2 here and part 3 here.

Photo Credit

After we successfully polished off 40 boxes of Pop-tarts, I was so disgusted that “buying” the free junk food with coupons really wasn't even a temptation any more.  I continued to coupon, but gladly passed up any type of food that I felt would be bad at all for my family.  I kept whittling down my list of foods that I was willing to purchase.  Eventually I got to the point where all I did was to skim the lists on the coupon blogs looking for great sales on meat and vegetables and coupons for things like cheese and eggs.  I renewed my allegiance to ALDI and only went to the big stores if there were several of my approved items on sale.

Photo Credit

(I did continue to coupon at the drug stores, and for a time got more heavily involved in that than ever.  I got a lot of free necessities for our family like diapers and toilet paper and made a lot of money selling all the excess freebies.  But that's another story for another time.)

It was around that same time that I happened to win a blog giveaway for a bunch of Dave Ramsey‘s books and other products.  My husband and I both read The Total Money Makeover, more out of curiosity than anything.  We had both grown up in homes where debt was never a problem, and we carried that over into our marriage.  We didn't spend money on things we didn't need, we saved up and paid cash for big purchases, and we felt like we were doing just fine financially.

What did this guy have to say that we didn't already know?

As it turned out, he knew quite a bit more than we did…

I’ll be sharing the next step in our journey in the next post in this series.  Be sure to subscribe to email updates or follow me on Facebook so you won’t miss it!

You’re So Pretty!

My 5 year old tells me all the time, “Mommy, you're pretty.”  I love it, and it makes my heart melt!

Yesterday, he gave me this flower, and of course I thanked him profusely.  I then tucked it in my hair.

“Mommy, you look pretty!” he squealed in delight.

Believe me, my outward appearance was anything but pretty.  My hair was an absolute mess from running around outside with the kids and I had no makeup on.

But that's not what he noticed.  To him, I was pretty because I was pouring out love and attention on him.

Outward beauty is such an unimportant thing compared to the inner beauty that we all can possess if we are living a life in love with Jesus.

He's not looking at the way we look on the outside.

1 Samuel 16:7  for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.

1 Peter 3:3-4  Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;  But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

What do you want others to notice about you?  That you're the most fashionably dressed woman they know?  That your hair, nails, and makeup are always perfect?  That you obviously spend a considerable amount of time primping in front of the mirror?

Or do you want them to see past the outside and think you're beautiful because they know you love them?

Do you glow with the radiance that flows from a pure heart?

Proverbs 31:30  Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.

Free Thanksgiving Printable

Here's a new printable I cooked up for November.

I got all the way to the end and realized I had not created it full size, so this one is a 4×6 instead of an 8×10.  It's nice to have a little variety in picture size anyway, right?

Just click on the picture to download and print.

Did You Know That You Can…

…paint your shoes?!

A long time ago I saw that my friend Laine had painted a pair of her shoes that were getting old and scuffed.

Last week I had a chance to put that tidbit of knowledge to good use.

My black flats had gotten old and nasty, plus they somehow had gotten too small for me.  Seriously?  Your feet grow when you're this old?

Anyway, I didn't think about it much through the summer because I always wore black sandals.  The other day I got all dressed to go run errands, but before I left I realized I didn't have any shoes to match, other than the old, nasty, too-small shoes.

I did, however, have two pairs of brown flats, one of which always got scuffed on the toes no matter how much I tried to protect them.

I had some black acrylic paint on hand, and I decided that today was the day to give myself some black shoes.

I didn't have a foam brush, so I just grabbed a kitchen sponge, squirted some of the paint on it, took a deep breath, and started painting.

It worked!

My picture is horrible since it was dark when I decided to take it, and it's still too dark this morning to try again.

But let me tell you – you cannot tell that black is not the original color of these shoes!

They're leather, and when I first painted them, they looked fine, but they were kind of dull.  But the longer they sit, the more they're taking on the appearance and texture of the leather.

Can I just say that I love blogs?  And I love it when people blog about all the who-woulda-thought things that they do!

And I'm also thankful that God provided a pair of black shoes for me – for free!

Election Thoughts: What Now?

 

It almost seems surreal that President Obama will be in office for four more years, sanctioning the merciless slaughter of thousands more helpless babies, re-defining God's sacred ordinance of marriage, redistributing wealth from those who actually worked for it to those who think they deserve a handout, plunging our nation even deeper into incomprehensible debt, and stripping the citizens of this country of the very freedoms for which this country was founded.

To be honest, although I voted for him, Mitt Romney would not have been much better.  The process of our country's deterioration may have slowed a little, but our country remains in a downward spiral.

A president or a political party cannot be blamed.  Is not America ruled by the people?  Have we not chosen the succession of political leaders throughout history?

It seems that with each term, the leaders that are elected are more and more corrupt.  Why?  Certainly some have made their way into office through unjust means, but most have been elected into office by people who share the values of those leaders.  In other words, corrupt leaders are elected by corrupt people.

Additionally, I am sickened by the fact that issues such as physician-assisted suicide, gay marriage and legalized recreational marijuana were even up for consideration on the ballots of several states.

How has our nation gotten to this point and what in the world do we do now?

We as Christians need to do the same things we should have been doing all along, but have miserably dropped the ball.

1. Pray for our leaders.  Pray for their salvation.  Pray for courage for the Godly leaders who are standing boldly for righteousness in the midst of perversity.  Instead of bashing the president, pray for him.   1 Timothy 2:1-4  I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;   Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

2. Witness.  Wicked people elect wicked leaders.  The people of this country are wicked because Christians have not been following God's command to preach the gospel to every creature.  Jesus is returning soon.  How many people will be left behind to suffer judgment because you did not tell them how they could be saved?

 

3. Get our eyes on Jesus.  We Christians have been living our lives with an earthly mindset rather than an eternal mindset.  We're enamored with the things of this world, and we have allowed them to distract us from laying up treasures in heaven where moth and rust will not corrupt and where thieves do not break through and steal.  Jesus has become only part of our life instead of the center of our life.  We prove our lack of love and devotion to Him by the way we spend our time, the way we spend our money, and the things that are important to us.  We enjoy earthly pleasures, but with subtlety they've blinded us to the fact that we're living lives no different than the world.  No wonder we're not seeing any positive change in our country!  We are becoming just like the unsaved who we would not expect to make Biblical decisions.  We need to remember the old song Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face.  And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace.  You may be spending time today ranting on Facebook about the negative direction our country is heading, but how much time have you spent in a quiet place getting to know Jesus better?

4. Trust God.  Worrying about the future is not going to change anything.  Instead, pray.  Then purposely think on good things.  Peace comes when you leave your life in God's hands.      Philippians 4:6-8  Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.  Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. 

5. Look for our heavenly citizenship.  Although I believe we should do everything we can to be good American citizens, this is not my home.  In the midst of a description of heroes of the faith, the writer of Hebrews says this:  These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.  For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.  And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.  But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.  As hostility toward Biblical values continues to rise, remember that this is only a temporary residence.   For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Our country needs revival, but it will only come from Christians who are totally enamored with Jesus, have turned their eyes from the pleasures this world has to offer, who love people as Christ loved us, and who are not afraid to stand up for what's right because they are looking for their eternal citizenship!