Category: willing hands

Open Eyes

It was something in the scrolling through the Bible School material, the constant planes, the play passports we were ordering for the kids, Daddy’s old passport Rachael has been playing with, Daddy’s new passport sitting on the counter, the missionaries and countless children on our missions wall, the adoption stories I have read and celebrated with as children from desperate situations in and out of the States have found their Jesus-loving forever families… something in it all brought a tear to my eyes.

This years VBS theme is “Amazing Adventures” and is airplane themed. Each year Matt, Mark and I tackle the sixth grade class. Usually by sixth grade VBS is no longer cool. The glamor and flare of VBS has become commonplace and the kids are coming because their parents are involved or their little siblings wanted to go. Matt, Mark and I try to take that opportunity to not focus on the cute- VBS, but instead we lean more on the side of “cooler” stuff. I have enjoyed the challenge of transforming a brightly-lit, plane Sunday school room into a basketball court in the Bronx, an outdoor Western Scene and various other “slightly on the edge” themes in VBS pasts. This year we’re going “world travel” in our theme, erring on the side of transforming the room into an airport hanger with country flags hanging. We’ve erred on the dog tag, military, and world travel side of the cute airplane theme, choosing our symbol to be a bomber.

While I am one to believe that the Word does not speak void or does not need dressed up to speak, it is nice to pray over and try to break down barriers and allow the kids to be comfortable in their uncomfortable skins.

But all the airplanes and passports and luggage and country flags carry so much more today than they have in the years past.

Monday we drop Matt off with his Daddy at the airport with hugs and kisses. He and his Dad are going on a preview trip to Haiti in preparation of planning next year’s first-ever youth mission trip out of the country. Matt’s vaccinations, malaria medicine, and travel preparations have filled our household conversations for a few weeks now. This will be Matt’s first trip out of the country and I am as certain as can be on this side of Heaven that it will not be his last.

Haiti has brought up so many conversations: adoption focus, world missions, our family’s involvement in world missions, local missions, potential 3 year missions stints with our family, short-term missions, bringing the gospel to unreached people, who constitutes as unreached people, and so many more topics. God has really been using the past few years to open our hearts and our minds to the reality of His hand around the World. Isn’t it funny how you can learn that God loves the whole world and God has the whole world in His hands, but as you allow God to breathe the Truth of that into your heart it’s like the blinders come off?

Matt surprised me this past Christmas with a future trip to Jos, Nigeria, to visit and see firsthand the community for which I have been praying. The community that is displayed on our missions wall through a few pictures. The community that we track the time of with our “Nigeria clock.” The children, the faces, the hearts…. needless to say it was overwhelming. I would never have anticipated seeing or meeting these people and have been content to just love them from across the ocean.

With God’s timing and the reality of vaccinations, this trip has been postponed to next year. (Yellow fever does not have a pregnancy equivalent and dying, I’m hoping, is not on the agenda). While my heart looks forward to and longs for the adventure to visit such dear friends and the Nigerian people, I am so excited at the prospect of seeing the fruit of Will and Theresa’s labor in the Lord as they begin to close out their 3 year mission stint, turning the work over to those that they have trained and invested in for three years: the Nigerians.

And then there’s the heart for the world that God is opening inside of me as He reveals His heart for mankind – no matter how sinful. I am blessed to be in the shelter of His hand, for His full heart for His people is beyond me to comprehend. But He is such a good God that He would even dare to open my eyes to His compassion.

Missions adventure readings have flooded our household. Conversations about the nations and God’s heart for the nations have saturated our dinner tables and family walks. Practical sacrifices and being useful to the Lord here and now has filled our planning in more ways than financial planning.

This all comes to mind upon thinking about passports, luggage and airplanes.

Something in it all brought a tear to my eyes.

It was the heart of God.

The heart of God.

– Thankful.

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The Least

While sitting on my porch swing during the girls afternoon nap, I was reading the Word. I read a bit about doing unto “the least of these” (Matt. 25:40) serving Jesus. I flipped on to the next passage in our daily Scripture Readings and read Philippians chapter 1. Paul spoke there of how his current situation was spreading the gospel.

I was just praying in my heart to use my home as a ministry when I looked up from the Bible to see a young teenager stumbling across the road, carrying a baby pumpkin seat. The afternoon sun had come out and the girl was obviously fatigued. My first thought was wishing I had a stroller to give her to help her with her load. But then thinking of how God has not given us so much to give out, I then thought what I had.

I walked over to the road and offered her a drink, in which she gladly came. Asking her about her baby, she offered that she was 3 months old. I came out of the house with a drink and peaked in on the little one. A huge smile came from the baby that melted my heart. I instantly thought how the child had no control over the situation and my heart immediately thought of the many, many children needing adoption from situations far worse.

The young mother asked me for a phone. When I came out from the house with our phone, she proceeded to call someone nearby and explain that she believed she was miscarrying, had been refused help from someone she knew and saw up the street, and needed someone to watch the baby while she went to the hospital. The person on the phone offered their help to watch the child and the conversation ended. I offered the mother a few female supplies to help and then she walked on with a bit more energy in her step.

I was stuck at the house with two sleeping little ones otherwise I would have happily driven her to her destination. But I am so amazed how the Lord opened an opportunity literally from my front porch to serve someone in their need. And how that precious baby’s smile is burned into my mind.

I hope and pray the Lord NEVER stops bringing people by our house.

God blows me away!

Ministry is all around us.

All we need is willing hands. 

– To the least of these, my Jesus.

*** Please hear my heart that I am not trying to brag and bring glory to myself in this post. Instead, I just wanted to share the goodness of our God to use open and willing hands. Many times I have far from open and willing hands, but this time was different and God just blew me away.

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