Jesus is in the small stuff

I'm a day late, but here is my Five Minute Friday post!  Today's word prompt is Small.

One November, when I was about 20, we had a very well known minister visit our church and talk about his recent work in Russia.  He was a stateside preacher, but did do a lot of missions work as well, and missions was my heartbeat.  While he was talking about his work in Russia, where he was distributing coats to people who badly needed them, I felt the Holy Spirit nudge me, in a still small voice, to give my brand new coat to him at the end of the night for his next trip.  He wasn't asking for coats, and I didn't think I could even get close enough to him to give it to him.  

Let me backtrack a little here.  I was 20, in my first apartment, and barely making it.  I saved my money to buy this beautiful emerald green coat at a fancy store in town.  It cost me about $150 in 1993.  I was making about $5 an hour, so this coat was nearly a weeks wage for me.  To give this coat up would mean I'd freeze in our frigid Gulf Coast Texas air.  HA!  The bigger issue was that I thought it would be so insignificant and that really, who was I to approach this well known preacher to give my coat.  I thought surely he'll laugh and I'll be embarrassed.

Here's the kicker.  I didn't obey God.  It is the fist time I clearly remember saying "I can't do what you've asked me to do."  First, I felt too small, too insignificant to make a difference.  Second, I made God too small to make a difference through me.  

Jesus is in the small stuff, y'all.  He's in the big stuff, too.  Often times we get stuck in the small stuff thinking it doesn't compare to the big stuff.  But you know what?  It all matters.  We all matter.  YOU matter, and so do I.  Jesus wants to be in the middle of our small stuff just as much as He wants to be in the middle of our big stuff.  

He uses the small stuff to teach us big things about Him, about our Heavenly Father, and about the Grace that abounds.  Jesus often used parables and teachings about using examples of small things and how they make a big impact.  One example of the small thing becoming big was the Parable of the Mustard Seed.  

Matthew 13:32 "It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

I think of the gospel as a mustard seed.  It starts out small when we hear it, and as we grow in our knowledge of Christ, and in our faith, so that seed grows until it becomes a tree.  Then, when we have grown into spiritual trees, we offer shade and refuge to unbelievers with the hope that is in us.  

Don't despise small beginnings.  God wants to use us right where we are.  He'll use our small gift of $25 for the community center in Maubane, South Africa, and He'll use your smile toward a rude person, and He'll use our $5 McDonalds gift card to the homeless guy on the street corner, and He'll use our teaching moments as mothers, and He'll use us in the grocery store, at the bank or at the park.  He is waiting for us to just say YES.  Here I am, Lord.  Send me.  Use me.  Even when I feel insignificant and small, I trust you, and know you can use me.

I've gone over the five minutes this week.  I'm just really passionate about this.  Don't despise small beginnings, middles or ends.  There is so much more I wanted to write about this, but I want to end with a prayer today.

Father, Thank you.  Thank you for using us for your glory.  Thank you for showing us that we are not too small for you.  I pray that each person who reads this post will be encouraged to go all out for you whether you have opened the door for the big things or for the seemingly insignificant things.  I ask that you would put boldness in each one of us to trust that you are in the midst of our small stuff just as much as you are in the big stuff.  In Jesus Name, Amen.

*I still have that emerald green coat sitting in the back of my closet and have not worn it in over 15 years.  It's hard for me to admit that because I do very easily give things away.  I use that coat as a reminder to hold loosely, and listen closely.  God speaks softly most of the time.

Sowing on Good Ground

Five Minute Friday

When I was a teenager, I wanted to be a mom and wife more than anything else in the world.  I wanted to be a missionary wife and mom on top of that.  I wanted to have 7 kids, both naturally and adopted.  I thought I would open an orphanage in Russia and live as a missionary.  I had all these thoughts and plans for my life, but it wasn't the course God had for me.  At least not in the way I imagined.  

Sometimes God changes the course of our plans and directions to best suite HIS plan and purpose for our lives.  My 20 year old self would not have been ready for that kind of challenge.  I had no real idea of what it was like to be a mom, to run a non-profit, to face real adversity.  My non-Type A personality would have caved and drowned in the demands of all of that.

However, God has a way of meeting us right where we are to show us that those dreams were really from Him.  He has a way of bringing us full circle without having to do it our way.  Psalm 18:30 "This God—his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him."  Is that great hope, or what?  His way is perfect, his word proves true.  Those dreams I had as a teenager, they are coming true today.

How?  Well, I've been blessed to be part of this wonderful blogging community over with Lisa Jo Baker.  Every Friday for the past year (at least for me it's been a year), I've joined up with this community to blog on a word prompt.  Today, we are joining arms to raise $150,000 for The Maubane Community Center in South Africa.  The goal is to raise this money from Valentine's Day through Mother's Day, and I believe we can make that happen.  

This is good ground to sow into.  In Matthew 13, Jesus told the parable of the sower.  I will be a witness and say that this is not thorny ground, or rocky ground.  The birds will not come and eat this seed up.  It won't get scorched because it is not deep.  No, this is deep ground.  This is good ground, ready to receive these blessings and do important work for the kingdom here.  

The definition for sow as defined by Merriam-Webster is "to scatter upon the earth for growth; to set in motion; to spread abroad".  I love that "set in motion".  Let's set this project in motion by our sowing.

The first phase of this project is for a community vegetable garden.  This is why we are "sowing" this time around.  Wouldn't it be wonderful to know that as you are feeding your children each night, you are also feeding 400 mouths in South Africa?  Let's work together and make this first phase a reality for these 250 orphans and 150 adults.  Would you consider this?  God has blessed us with an abundance.  We have everything we need at our disposal.  All He asks of us is to love Him and love our neighbors.  This is a great opportunity to do both.  You can click on the box to the right to donate to this first phase to bring food and hope to a community who needs us.  

Father, I thank you for this opportunity to serve you through giving.  Thank you for loving us and giving us the opportunity to love you in return and to show your love to others.  I ask that you would multiply these gifts and cause them to be more than enough.  Thank you for your promise that you can do exceeding, abundantly above all that we could ask or think, and I ask you to do that now.  In Jesus Name, Amen!

Writing With Purpose

It's my favorite writing day of the week.  Five Minute Friday!  You can join us at Lisa Jo Baker's to learn more about it and link up with us.  We'd love to have you join us!  

Go.

Taking a break from blogging was the best and worst idea I had at the end of 2013.  The best idea because I needed to re-evaluate my "why", and the worst because I've had a hard time figuring that "why" out.  Just like exercise, when you take a break, it's hard to get back into the habit of writing regularly.  

I keep my journal, but it's mostly a prayer journal, and I don't write much about what God is working in me.  I also have my children's journals where I write their funny sayings, how much I love them, things I admired about what they did that day, etc.  

But my call, my passion is to write with purpose.  To encourage the hearts of women.  I am an encourager by nature, and gift, afterall.  I can remember the first song I ever wrote at the age of 7.  My mom talks about it all the time, and how much it ministered to her.  I had an 8th grade creative writing class in which I was the first time I realized that I really loved writing.  By the time I got to high school, I realized that I was pretty good at it.  

I don't want to lose sight of writing with purpose, because then it just becomes noise.  I want my words to mean something, and I want to be confident in writing them.  As Lisa Jo Baker said "The thing about writing is that at some point somebody’s going to want to read it. Let them." And, I hope to believe this down to my bones. That someone would want to read what I write. I am determined to be an open book and write with purpose.

Stop.