Ouch...God stepped on my toes last night...

During the last few days the Lord has impressed upon me the importance of the following verses:

3"Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs - he wants to please his commanding officer." 2 Timothy 2:3,4


My Dad in Uniform


Growing up in a military family - my father served in both the Marines and the Air Force - my husband graduated from The Citadel and my little sister has served both active duty in the Air Force and is still a reservist - I understand what military service means. I admire the wholehearted devotion and self-discipline it requires, the denial of self and the attention to the "master" while denying civilian interests.


Using that analogy, the Lord has been whispering to me recently - "are you involved in any civilian affairs?" You know...the things that "moth and rust will destroy..." After all...the Lord is my commanding officer.


19"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matt. 6:19-21


Despite the Lord's prompting, I had been fairly successfully in squelching the Holy Spirit's still small voice...you know what I mean...


"but Lord, I know I could give the money that I made from the garage sale and the items I sold on E-Bay to help a child, but I really "need" some flowers for my front porch and I "need" to reupholster my dining room chair. After all we have adopted twice in three years and have had three open-heart surgeries in that same amount of time. I think that's enough for right now don't you?" (I'm not proud of this...just being honest.)


But in God's tender mercy He continued to pursue me. He used a post from Kisses from Katie to get my attention again. She is a young American woman in her twenties who has given it ALL up to live in Africa and show the love of Christ. This is what she writes:


"The projects Amazima has started in this community, are wonderful, but only meet the needs of some of the people, only scratching the surface of the problems. God assures me this is OK. If I continue to preach the Gospel and more importantly LIVE the Gospel in this community, though the outward conditions of the people may never change or may change very slowly, but if these people can come with us to Heaven, a few years of suffering will pale in comparison. In the mean time, He allows me to see Him in their faces and to love Him in bandaging their wounds and letting their charcoal and mud covered children curl up in my lap."


(If you've never read this blog...it's a MUST read. This is one wise young woman with an incredible heart for the Lord's work!!)


Then the Holy Spirit got my attention with a blog post from A Place Called Simplicity (another one of my favorite blogs). Her post is called I Didn't Get The Memo which talks about not getting the memo that says we have the right to do what we want to, to decorate our house, have our botox, play our golf or tennis games, pursue our hobbies, retire with our 401K, while those around us are suffering. Funny...I didn't get that memo either...hmmm...


Then I sat down and read Tom Davis's book, Red Letters, Living A Faith That Bleeds. "Okay, okay, Lord. I'm ready to bend a knee. I'm ready to let you be my commander...once again."


I "happened" upon a picture of a little girl, on Tom Davis organization's website - Children's HopeChest, who lives in Swaziland (if you're like me, and I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I had to run to my world map on the wall to find out where Swaziland is. Just an FYI - it's a country located in NorthEast South Africa.)

Thabile is 4ish (birthdays aren't a big deal in Swaziland where only 1 in 10 children will live to be 32) and is in need of a sponsor to make sure she has food in her belly, basic medical care, someone to hug her and tell her that Jesus loves her. So with the money I had in my "garage sale" envelope, I'm going to help little Thabile.

If you come to my house you'll see empty spaces where I usually have flowers...


And my chairs might have a few cracks in them...

But when you look at the windowsill over my kitchen sink you'll see the sweetest face looking back at you...

And in the words of Katie...if she can come to Heaven with me (through having a full belly and some one's loving touch and words that tell her about her Savior, Jesus), it will all be worth it!!