hands and feet

Having just returned from a mission trip to the East Coast with the youth group to help people who's homes have been scarred and beaten by hurricane Sandy last year, my mind continues to swim with all my experiences.

I think of the woman who's house we painted, of how she has been a survivor for so long already, having lived through Nazi concentration camps yet losing part of a limb in the process. How her spirit radiates but under the surface you can feel the scars that life has left. She told stories of how the people that live across the street were able to got upstairs in their houses when the water rose, but not the lady in the one story house. It sits heavy on my heart...

There was also a house we went to work on the gutters...a cute little house. There was a beautiful stone angel and yellow flowers in the front up against the house, but there were also weeds, they were more than a foot high. Just pull the weeds and it would be picture perfect I thought. But then we walked inside, that is where it sunk in. This house is unlivable, gutted, dark and very empty. How does this happen. Tragedy hits and it is the outside that is taken care of when the inside is screaming for repair.  I think of how so many people go through life like this. They maintain an outward appearance of normalcy, picture perfect. Just clean it up a little when things get rough and we'll be alright. But the inside is empty and dark. Too many are hurting and we don't know because we don't see it. We need to look into the windows of their hearts to be able to see inside. Otherwise, no one will know.

I think of the little old lady who's house needs so very much work, it did not even have a floor. How she just soaked up all the attention of those working to rebuild her home. How just as much as she needs her home rebuilt, she also needs relationships, her heart was not full, it was in need.

How much longer can we allow ourselves to be complacent, to just be. We are ok, we have a roof and food and family. Too many people are hurting and have scars and truly need someone to just care and listen.

We went on a mission trip to be the hands and feet of Jesus on the other side of the country. I pray we have come back home and not forgotten that here in our own town, in our own schools, our church and our home, we are still called...be the hands and feet.

don't be troubled or afraid

Sometimes when you read the bible..do you chuckle? Maybe shaking your head, knowing that what the author wrote is so relatable but for a completely different reason?
Maybe my mind is a little too imaginative and the wandery type. But I am sure you can imagine with me...

David...penning the 56th Psalm..some of his words sound like a desperate middle schooler calling for God to help him,

¹ O God, have mercy on me,
for people are hounding me.
My foes attack me all day long.
² I am constantly hounded by those who slander me,
and many are boldly attacking me.

and then...

⁵ They are always twisting what I say;
they spend their days plotting to harm me.
⁶ They come together to spy on me—
watching my every step, eager to kill me.

Ok, hopefully there are no plots for killing...but you understand the drama, right?

 
⁸ You keep track of all my sorrows,
You have collected all my tears in your bottle.

...the good Lord knows how many tears are shed by these young people...

I guess what is reassuring to know is that God did hear His pleas and that He does hear the cries and heartaches of our teens. And He hears our adult woes as well...

It sure is a good thing that He is in charge because there are a lot of middle schoolers out there..a lot of David's. Too many times I feel like a 'David'...oh Lord...why can't life be more simple and there be less hurt and sorrow? Too much pain God....Why not simplify things a bit and do away with all the evil?

...come to think of it..He did that once, and then he promised not to do it again...

And I think about it for a moment...and am pretty glad for it...for that promise and others...

⁴ I praise God for what he has promised.
I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?
What can mere mortals do to me?

You hear that? Mere mortals...they can do nothing to me. Why? Because I trust in God. He has made promises that He will fulfill.

He promises to never leave you or forsake you...

He knows the plans He has for you, they are for good and not for disaster,
to give you a hope and a future.

He will give you rest when you are weary...

He will supply all your needs...



and so very many more...


“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid. John 14:27

 

upside down epic

I have just become tired, it's the same track I have been running.

The laundry has grown to grand proportions.
The kids rooms? Tragedy has struck their rooms..again.
Dishes...kids really need to be helping..all the time.
Dusting..oh, almost forgot that needs to be done. Mostly do that for visitors.
I work all day and am home long enough to check on Grandma and grab a bite to eat and then head out with kids.
Then when we get home or sometimes before, we get Grandma in bed.

I ask myself if I am doing it wrong, if I need to have more lists or a better list. If I need to be more stern with the kids. I even catch myself going into 'comparison mode'. How can my friends houses be so nice yet they have kids too. Do I need to buy the latest book on how to stay more organized?
Then I remember how I found the 'Messies Manual' book, somewhere in my room and how I chuckled when I found it, how ironic. No, a book and lists won't help, except to make a pile bigger.

I don't have a skill set that helps my brain figure things out like how to be more organized and on schedule with cleaning. My skill set? I would say is probably compassion. But I have seen that I save the last of what I have left of my compassion for my family. They get the leftovers of me and who I am.

Grace..that's what I need more of. And then I realize I have it. And that I need to give it away more too. I know the house will always be there and always need cleaning. My kids won't always be here with me though. It is important for me to teach them and remind them that serving is something we should do and do it with joy. But don't put your family and home on the bottom of the list.

I enjoy serving and helping others. I love being plugged in with my church family. I want to be used in the ministry where God has called me. And as much as possible too because that is where my heart is.

But I have realized that what is first and foremost is my relationship with my Creator, so that my foundation is firm and centered. Then my husband and I need to be on the same page and walking together in our relationship with one another and our Creator so that our family will have a strong foundation.
Then after that things fall into place and there really is peace in the storm. Because when things start to get out of control and I feel worn down...I need to be able to slow down and listen to my Fathers voice.
and this is what I hear Him say

 Psalms 103...to paraphrase it..
He loves me, He forgives me, He is compassionate and merciful to me.
He understands me and my weakness, but I also must fear Him and keep His commandments.
His greatest command is to love. He is just and righteous.
His love endures forever for those that fear Him.
..simply praise Him!

Why is this important and how does it relate to me and how I feel about my house/housework and family?

Basically this, he knows that I get tired. He knows how I feel, all the time. The frustration..and weariness. He knows when and why I get mad about the things that I get mad about.
The answer? The resolution? It won't get my laundry or dishes done. It won't make a schedule or slow down my day.
It is this.....

Praise Him...let a song be in your heart. He is your Creator...He has done SO much for you. Be glad for this! Be excited about this! We may be gone tomorrow and the earth won't matter.
Love the things He loves...keep his commandments...especially the most important one...the epic one.
And if you get it..your world will be turned upside down for sure.