KNOCK, KNOCK.... who's there???

You don’t have to literally raise your hand here… but if you find yourself smiling while you read this, then you’re guilty as charged (as am I)!!!

Here’s the scenario: 

You’re standing by whatever window overlooks your driveway.

To your sheer terror, you see someone driving up your driveway… unannounced.

Your house is a disaster.

YOU are a disaster.

As they approach your front door, your reaction is one of the following: 

            a).  You scream to someone in the house:  “QUICK… run out there!! Don’t let them in!!  Stall!!! Stall!!!

            b).  You quick throw all the dirty dishes into the oven and the laundry room becomes a catch-all for everything else.

            c).  You let them in and spend the majority of the visit apologizing and fretting about what they must think.

  

Sound familiar??  Most likely we’ve all been there.  I know I have been utterly AMAZED at how fast I can move when I need to under those circumstances.  What exactly am I trying to prove anyway?? What image am I trying to maintain??  I feel “exposed” for the imperfect person I really am. 

Revelations 3:20 says “Here I am!! I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with Me.”  If I’m honest with myself (and you), I’d have to admit to pulling some of the same stunts listed above with Christ.  I may make excuses for my actions, or try to hide the raw truth of my brokenness.  There are times when I may even feel like ignoring the knock altogether.  But He’s there… standing at the front door of my soul…. knocking.  Not just once in awhile.  But constantly.  Persistently.  He REALLY wants to spend time with ME!!  He wants to come in.  And the beauty of it is, when I open the door and let Him in… it’s ME he’s focused on.  Not my imperfections.  Not my mess.  Oh, He knows the disaster is there all right… He knew it before I even opened the door.  In the midst of the mess though, His face is focused on ME.  He wants my heart…  not perfection.   

Don’t wait until you feel that everything in your life is neat and tidy.  Don’t wait until you think you are worthy of a visit from someone such as Him. 

INVITE HIM IN. 

INVITE HIM to come into the daily situations of your life.  Constantly.  Persistently.

INVITE HIM INTO… the whole ugly mess.

SEGUE

I'm struggling with what to do with posting about my time in Guatemala.  Words will never do the experience justice.  Where do I begin?? Yet to just move on without going into it??  HHHmmmm.... not so sure.  How do I move from the brokenness and redemption I saw there... into a new cake recipe??   There's a lot I need to reconcile in my heart and mind about what we saw; about the amazing people we met.  So, right now I'm just going to say that the words I can't seem to find to truly relate the experience,  will find their way into future posts... because the experience is forever in my heart.

Forgive me if the change seems abrupt.

CAN touch this...

Those of you who know me know that I am a country girl more than a city girl.  Enjoying time in the country, you come across vultures now and then.  They have to be my least favorite animal (besides snakes mentioned in the  earlier "Lift Up Your Head" post that is!!!).  They disgust me as I watch them eat the remains of what is left of a carcass... after whatever animal first made it it's prey.  They pick at the leftovers.  

That's the vision that came to me today as I stood high on top of a cemetery hill in Guatemala City, overlooking the city dump, watching upwards of 11,000 people below me scavenge through trash as the dump trucks unloaded their cargo... bulldozers pushing it towards the edges.   Tears flowed as I watched thousands of human beings literally competing with thousands of vultures.... for the leftovers.... for survival.  

These people are the lowest of the low on the social ladder.  They are the "untouchables"... to everyone, except Christ.  Our Christ would reach out His hand and touch the leper.  Our Christ would touch the unclean.  Our Christ embraced the unwanted.

With vultures swarming and swooping around me... I watched these people and realized that they are God's children down there.  FULLY as much as I am.   I have to wonder if His heart mourns and if He weeps as I did... when He sees what has become of His world.

Red and yellow, black and white... we are ALL precious.. in HIS SIGHT.

HOLA

When I was a little girl, my family attended a pretty traditional Reformed Church.  While I'm very thankful for that upbringing, one particular part of the service really bothered me.  The minister would stand up and say in his very booming voice "Whom shall I send??? Who will go for me??" and we all were to respond "Here am I Lord, send me".  Well, I have a secret to share (ssshhh... don't tell my parents).  I used to mouth the words... or skip them altogether.  I was terrified that if I actually SAID the words, God would take me up on that offer and send me to some foreign land!!  Considering that at this very moment, I'm sitting in Chichicastenango, Guatemala, I'd say that plan didn't work out so well for me!!  Ha!! I guess God was onto my scheme.  He probably had a good chuckle over that little girl so many years ago.

Seriously now, my heart did change after a number of years.  Until this point though, my heart for international mission was expressed through my pocketbook only... and it's time to put my mouth where my money is.  It's time to check this out up close and personal.  I've already had quite an awakening... and know there's more to come.

There's a song I especially love.  Here's the link if you have a couple minutes to check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGr8as7pPBE

God made it emphatically clear in His Word that we are to care for the widows, the orphans and those in need.  We are to be His hands and feet.  Opportunities are all around us.  You certainly don't need to cross an ocean to find them.  They exist in our own backyards... in our communities... in our own country.  They're there... we just need to be open to seeing them.

Whether it's cooking meals for a family in need... slipping a family in need a gas card... spending some extra time with a widow... donating clothes... writing a check to a charity... or heading to a far away land.... we have the OPPORTUNITY to be the hands and feet of Jesus.  To show His love.  That's what this life is all about, isn't it?? Giving.  Giving of ourselves, our time, our financial blessings.  And in giving, we receive blessing.

If you'd like to, please join me in making this prayer part of your daily life:

"Give me eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart willing to respond to the need You put before me."

Just be ready... because HE WILL.

(p.s. please pray for health and safety as we continue our journey)

PINK DOORS (... part 3)

Time to wind this 3-part series up.  Fast forward with me a couple weeks later.  I’m at the Captivating Retreat (www.ransomedheart.org) in the Colorado Rockies.  I was surrounded by 450 Christian women… and a bunkmate who I found out was NOT a Christian at that point yet.  She was searching… and was there at the suggestion of a friend.  On the final morning of the retreat, we bumped into each other at the coffee shop.  We were both there bright and early waiting for it to open when we started up a conversation on finding ways to help others.  She told me how she was involved in an animal rescue organization… and I began telling her about my opportunity to help Compassionate Heart with their dinner.  I told her about meeting these “kids” and how the blessed me so much.  As I told her the “wait for Easter, wait for Easter, it’s the very best part” story… a smile came across her face and tears rolled down her cheeks.

You see, my friends… it doesn’t matter if we don’t look like everyone else… or even if we do!! It doesn’t matter if our personality is a little more “colorful” than some… or if we are by nature quiet and reserved.  God NEVER once said “oops” when he created someone or something.  Scripture tells us quite the contrary:  “… and He said, it is GOOD”.   We were created and put here for a purpose… each and every one of us for HIS purpose.  FOR HIS GLORY.   To radiate His love to the world.  We are each unique by His design… and valuable.     

I have no idea why the connection was placed in my heart, but every time I drove past the pink door barn this summer on my way to the cottage, I smiled warmly inside. I have a new appreciation for it.  I love it now.  I see value.  I see uniqueness.  I see beautiful personality.  I see that young woman who made my Easter… who was SO willing and eager to share “the best part”.    

How will God use you??  He can, you know.  God used a freckle face little boy to take down Goliath.  He used a man named Moses who had a speech impediment to approach the mighty Pharaoh.  And he used a special needs young woman to touch a non-believer’s heart clear across the country. 

LET HIM. 

ASK HIM to use YOU… in your own unique way.   

In the special way He designed ONLY you. 

... Pink Doors and all.   

PINK DOORS (... part 2)

(Welcome back for story time!!)

Last spring I became involved with a beautiful local ministry called Compassionate Heart.  They are an organization that opens its doors and hearts to special needs young adults, ages 14-35.  They have a “club” type atmosphere where they can build friendships, learn about God, and hang out with peer mentors from area high schools.  If you’d like to check them out, they’re at www.compheart.org .  Anyway, they had asked me to decorate the Pinnacle Center for their annual fund raising dinner.  I was happy to help, but didn’t feel right that I’d never seen what their organization was about… nor had I met any of the participants.  To be honest, I had very little (if any) experience with people who have special needs… and will admit to being uncomfortable around them because of that lack of exposure.  I met my girlfriend there one afternoon to just “hang out”.  It was a remarkable experience.   What a great ministry.  What awesome young people!!  During “couch time”, the topic was Easter since it was just around the corner.  The woman leading the lesson was holding up those colorful plastic eggs,  shaking them until one of the participants guessed what was in them from the previous week’s lessons.  When they got to one particular egg, a young man raised his hand and guessed that it was a cross made of nails they had seen the prior week.  He was right.  They started talking about how Jesus had died on the cross for them.  At that moment… a girl from the back of the room started bouncing up and down on the couch raising her hand anxiously in the air and shouting “Wait for Easter, wait for Easter, it’s the VERY BEST PART!!!”.  She was SO enthusiastic.  The leader continued her discussion about the nail cross in the plastic egg… and once again, the girl bounced up and down eagerly saying “But wait for Easter, wait for Easter, it’s the very best part!!!”  Her enthusiasm, joy and love was SO PURE… it brought tears to my eyes.  You see, I had been so busy getting things ready for the fundraising event that I really hadn’t even thought much about Easter.  I said to myself at that moment, “Young lady… little do you know, you were MY EASTER this year”.  

STAY TUNED.   We'll finally wrap this all up.... tomorrow.  

PINK DOORS (... part 1)

I’m drawn to old barns.  To me, they have a beauty about them… a mystique of sorts.  They seem to echo “a life well lived”.
 I wonder what stories are held within their weathered walls.  I can be a bit fussy on what qualifies a “cool old barn” and what doesn’t.   A certain amount of wear and tear is charming; authentic size and shape is important; the setting, color.... ect.  All these things factor into whether or not I see a barn as having “value” or not.  That’s why when the owners of a certain set of barns on the way to our family cottage decided to paint the doors and windows HOT PINK… I was aghast!!

Seriously… who would do such a thing to such a beautiful barn!!  Were they trying to be funny?? PLEASE tell me they were just using up old paint!!!  How could they!!  It didn’t look like all the other barns I loved.  To me, it had lost its value.   

HOLD THAT THOUGHT PLEASE,  because I have a story for you.... tomorrow.