When God Says Speak...

    My heart has been especially heavy today.  God has all the sudden laid upon my heart a person that I haven't been close to for several years now.  This person is struggling, and they really and truly need God's hand.  They need God to step in and move in their situation.  My heart aches for this person.  They were my friend.  They once sat with me in a dark hallway as I sobbed uncontrollably after finding out that I had miscarried a second time.  They hugged me tightly as I greeted visitors at my dad's wake.  They were a strong constant in my life and they never let me down.
    And today, they're alone...and they're broken....and I can't help them.

    So today, as I was pondering on all this.  I was thinking about this person, and what I could do for them.  I was thinking about what I could do besides pray for them.  What I want to do is go to where this person is and show them some compassion.  As I was thinking about this person, and what I would say to them if I could, God spoke to me...
    God said, "Someone somewhere needs to hear what you're thinking.  What you and I are talking about....someone somewhere needs to hear this.  You need to say what I'm telling you to say."

What God is telling me to say is this:

    Somewhere, someone is sitting alone, and you are broken and you are empty and you've taken yourself as far as you can go, and right about now you're realizing that you have hit rock bottom.  Right about now, you are realizing that there's no place else to go.  And right now, Satan is sitting next to you and he's telling you that this is it.  You are done.  This is your life, for the rest of your life, and then you'll die.  And maybe, just maybe, you're thinking that that would be okay, because dying kind of seems like it would be better than where you are right now.  But I promise you that you are not too far gone.  Because there's someone else there with you right now, and HE is greater than Satan and he loves you, and I promise you there is absolutely no place that his love can't reach.
     He wants you to reach out to him.  He wants you to give your life to him.  If you've never known him, he wants to know you.  And if you've known him but strayed away...he wants you back.  And He is willing to fight this battle that you're facing right now.  He is wanting you to trust this to him.  All you have to do is ask him to.  He wants to take over your situation.
    Don't let Satan take your life from you anymore.  Let today be the very last day that you do this alone.  Let today be the first day of the rest of your life with Jesus.  He wants to be your protector.  He doesn't care what you've done or where you've been or even what you're doing right now.  He cares that you need him, and he will be there for you.  He will come right to where you are.  All you have to do is open your heart to him and the possibility of his love in your life.  Oh friend....how he will change your situation.  How he will break your chains and take your pain and make a way for you.  He will wake you up and he will open your eyes and he will free you of your burdens, and it will be so much better than where you are right now.  And I promise, you will never regret turning to him.  I promise, he will never leave you...he will never ever let you down as long as you lean on him.
    Today is the day that you decide whom you will serve.  Today is the day.
    How do I know all this?? How could I possibly understand what you're going through?  I've never been through anything compared to what you are facing right now.  Your heart is broken and you are alone and nobody understands.  And all of that is probably true.  I've never been on drugs.  I've never lost anyone to addiction.  I've never contemplated suicide.  I've never been abused or molested.  I've never been raped.  I've never lived on the streets.  I've never been thinking about abortion.  I've never watched my parents use drugs or beat one another.  I've never wondered where my next meal would come from.  Truthfully, I don't know what it's like to be in your shoes, but God does.  He will meet you in whatever mess you're in.  He will love you no matter where you are...or what decision you've made, and it doesn't matter what I or anyone else thinks about anything.  The only person that matters is you, and your relationship with a man who can change everything for you.  There is no place he wouldn't go to get to you.  Just call out his name, and let him in.

Dear God,
    Please take my words and place them in the heart of someone who needs them. Bless anyone who reads this and feels your love in their hearts.  Bless those who need you, Lord.  Be near them Lord, and hear them when they call.  Raise them up Lord, and intervene in their lives and situations Lord.  Heal their hearts and strengthen their spirits.  I ask all these things in Your name, heavenly Father.  Allow my words to only Glorify you and no one else.  
   Lord, Thank you for my salvation.  But more than that, thank you for meeting me in the messes that I've made through out my life.  Thank you for intervening when I did not deserve it, and thank you for keeping me hid in the rock.  You are my hope and my salvation, and I know that I am nothing without you.

Praise your name,
Amen   


 

The Newsboys Concert and Learning From My Children....

           There are days in my life as a mother that I spend all of my time teaching my children.  Instructing them to do or not do certain things.  Be careful.  Don't be mean to your brother/sister.  Watch your temper.  Be kind to one another.  Hey, don't touch that...it's hot.  Don't run with that, you'll jam it in your eye.  Don't squeeze the cat she'll scratch you.  That's enough screen time, go do something constructive.  Help me set the table.  I could literally go on all day about all the things I say to my children in a day trying to teach them to be a good person and not be an inconsiderate mean spirited person.

            

           Moreover, I spend even more time in my day preaching at them.  Your sibling is the best friend you have in this world...love them...don't be mean to them.  Pray for others...don't judge them.  If someone wrongs you...love them anyway.  Just because someone else does something you know is wrong, doesn't mean it's okay for you to do that something.  Again, all day long.

           There are things that I remember my mom teaching me.   A lot of things were very similar to what I say.  I was an only child, so I didn't hear a lot of things about being mean to other people.  The one thing I do remember my mom doing is quoting bible scripture to me.  One in particular, "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh".  Those were her exact words.  And it was mostly in reference to a song or television show that I was listening or watching.  I would usually roll my eyes and think, "Geez Loiuse, she needs new material."  But if her intent was to ingrain that into my heart and spirit, she succeeded.  When I hear someone speaking hatefully or heartlessly, I think to myself, "They must be putting black tar into their hearts, and that makes them act that way...out of the abundance of the heart..."

          Some days, I wonder if she ever wondered if she was making a difference.  If her words were sinking in...or if they were just going 'in one ear and out the other'.  On days when my children have tested every breath of my patience and I just about had all that I can take, I wonder...."Is anything I am saying at ALL sinking in to their brains?  DO they have brains?? or Did they knock them out while pummeling one another?  I whisper, "Lord, do you see me down here??? I'm screwing this up!! Little help down here would be great, thanks."

          Our youth choir went to a Newsboys concert over the weekend.  They're a contemporary christian group that sings a song called God's NOT Dead.  There's also a movie franchise based on the song.  Our youth loves having movie nights and watching these christian movies, and they also LOVE the Newsboys.  As a reward for a summer of fund raising for a sound system for our church, we decided to take them all to their concert.

          Saturday, roughly thirty of us made our way to Lexington, KY to see our concert, leaving early enough so that we could stop each hour, stretch our legs, fellowship, and eat before.  When we arrived, we were pleased to find that the seats were first come, first serve, and we found seats fairly close to the stage and settled in.  The concert, (my first ever, and most of the kids first as well) was amazing.  So uplifting.  Everyone there was there to serve and praise the Lord.  Our children were on their feet with their hands in the air praising God.  Dancing and singing.  The spirit was so sweet in that place, it was like nothing I'd ever felt before in my life.  Roughly 2,000 people in attendance, everyone worshipping the Lord, but everyone worshipping differently.  

        Toward the end of the opening acts, and just before the Newsboys came on stage, a man stepped out to tell about a cause that they sponsored through the concert.  A project called childfund.org.  In this project, you sponsor a child in a povertied area such as Uganda.  You write that child letters and they write letters to you.  You pay 33.00 a month, and that amount of money covers medications, food and water for that child for the entire month.  The man went on to testify about how he had sponsored a child when he was younger and it had lead him to go on a mission trip to Africa where he met and adopted two children, one of which was placed into a garbage bag and dropped off at one of the mission sights nearly dead.  

  

         He told his children's story, and showed us pictures of them when he met them and pictures of them now, growing and thriving at home with him and his wife.  I have to admit, when I saw it all, it warmed my heart for the man, but I had no desire to sponsor a child myself, mostly because it had always been pounded into my head that charity starts at home, and it should.  But I think also, charity should go where God places it on your heart to send it.  Finally, the man says, "if you would like to sponsor a child, please raise your hand, and someone will bring a form to fill out."

        Immediately several of our children in the youth raised up their hands.  One child was crying.  Both of my children looked back at me with sad eyes and furrowed brows, and that was when I felt it.  The tug....God was placing it on these children's hearts to help.  Our youth sponsored a little girl that night the same age as Carley.  She lives in a home in Africa that was converted to Christian by missionaries.  The family does struggle to survive, and so we will be helping with her care and checking in on her.  We will write her letters and each child from our youth will set aside 67 cents a week for her.  

        That night...my children taught me something.  God does not care what country you are from...he loves you...and if you need taken care of and you belong to him...he will send someone to take care of you.  He laid it upon our children's hearts to help someone. 

What love...what amazing love....

Love that can only be given after having experienced it yourself...

We can never give that kind of love without first knowing it...

And the greatest love there is in this world is the love that Jesus showed when he gave everything for me. 

That day, I didn't need to ask myself if my children were paying attention when I said, "Love other people".  I knew they were.  I had to look up and say, "Thank you God.  I guess I'm not screwing this up as much as I thought I was."  

Matthew 19:14King James Version (KJV)

14 But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.