Volunteering vs. Paid Work

Is there a difference really?  Between working for pay and volunteering?  What is the unseen benefit of working?  What is the "pay" for volunteering?  God has given me several opportunities to give of my time and energy to people around me.  I have no job that pays money, but I realize that I have been learning and growing through this time of volunteer-ism.  God is forming me more into the person He wants me to be, and that is payment enough.

Colossians 3:17

And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Are You Adopted?

(I have been saving this for a few months, waiting for the right words to come.  I hope that it will be a blessing to you!)

I heard a missionary speak some time ago and it got me thinking. Wow, did it get me thinking!

Among all the chaos of life and the busy-ness of motherhood my brain has slipped away, a bit, from my love of language and linguistics. The missionary couple who spoke work in Africa, mostly in Bible translation.  One story they shared was of a student at the seminary who is studying the term that we translate to "adoption" in English Bibles.  (If I knew how to write it in Greek here, I would!)  So, in East Africa there is a tradition, or ceremony in which people are adopted into a family. But only adults are adopted in this particular culture. ???  Interesting!  This leads me down the path of adoption there being a fully cognizant decision, made both by the adoptee and the adopter(s).  Wow.  What an amazing biblical comparison!  God wants to adopt US and yet He allows us the right whether or not we want to BE adopted by Him.  Isn't that beautiful!

I love the topic of adoption since our two sons came to our family through adoption.  But while they didn't have a choice in their earthly adoptions, they DO have a choice about their HEAVENLY adoptions.

Have you chosen to be adopted?  I would love to hear about it!

A chisel

Along the line of "Blogging Without Obligation" it has been WAY TOO LONG since I have posted anything here.

Here is what God is speaking to me about these days:

In a blog He's telling me who I am: 7 True Things About You

In a song he's telling me it's ok to step out in faith: Something Beautiful

And my church closed down.

I heard an acquaintance saying recently that if a church does "x", it just should close down. If a church does "y", it should just close it's doors. Now she doesn't know me, or my church, and I chose to keep quiet and allow her to let out her steam. My church DID close down. Now, we haven't technically closed our doors, but we have no name anymore, and a small group of us are undergoing some training by our pastor in order for us to launch a new church. And God is speaking to me through that, too.

Now back to what God is speaking to me about:

In our training God is telling me that He'll never give up on me--in fact He's only just beginning to show me how much He can use me for His purposes here on earth. He's showing me that sometimes the chisel is large and heavy, and sometimes the chisel is small and delicate.

 In the past I have had pastors that wanted to do what this pastor is doing, but didn't know how. I have had pastors who encouraged me in my faith and walk with the Lord, but didn't know how to push me beyond my comfort zone to do the impossible with God. This pastor is leading us on a journey that will have huge ramifications that will last for eternity, and he is modeling for us in his own life what that will look like. He said that he wants to make things easy for unbelievers, and hard for believers. He's pushing us and equipping us for what is ahead and being the heavy chisel we need, while showing us that the gentle chisel will be saved for unbelievers, who need to know that God loves them, no matter what they've done, no matter how they've lived, no matter what.

If you need a chisel today, try reading the blog entry linked above at Inspired to Action. Then go live like you believe it.

Avoidance tactics aren't working

The more I get rid of in this house, the more seems to creep in on me. Really. I'm resting my arms on paper just to type this post! And avoiding cleaning it up isn't working. It's all still there.

Do you ever try to avoid God, hoping He'll go away and leave you alone for a while? You know, so you can feel better about not reading your Bible, or praying or talking about Jesus with those around you that need Him?

I'm so glad that just like these papers on my desk, God does NOT go away, and He will be right here waiting to forgive me when I am ready to come back to Him and follow Him again.

Lord, You gave me this message of grace to share with my readers. Thank You for forgiving me. Help me to do what I need to do. Amen.

Merry Christmas!

I got a gift this week that I will cherish for a long time. It was in the form of a sermon, believe it or not! :) The pastor preached out of 2 Corinthians 4:1-11 and Matthew 6:19-21. The nugget that I walked away with, is the fact that I have to spend time on something to show evidence that I love it. Treasure it, then I will love it.

Now, I struggle with keeping my house out of complete chaos, and most of the time I'd rather not be doing the things it takes to keep it tidy. With that attitude I have begun to love my house less and less. What do I need to do to treasure my home? I don't think the pastor had that in mind for his challenge at the end of his message! But as I think about, and try to implement ways to show my family that I love my home, the message of salvation rings in my ear. How much do I spend time with my Savior to show my love for Him? How much do I spend sharing Christ with the lost, to show my love for them?

Merry Christmas my friends. And may the light of Jesus shine brightly in you in the coming new year!

Thrilling Thursday!

A few months ago we had an apple tree cut down in our back yard. It was the only large tree in our back yard. It was a nice shade tree, but the apples were not edible. Likely it was a variety called "Early Transparent" which is not known for it's tasty apples, but is good for cross-pollinating other apple trees. So, it was a beautiful old tree that gave nice shade and lots of rotten apples to clean up after in the fall. And maybe some cross-pollinating benefits for some neighbor's apple tree. Somewhere. But it was very old and starting to rot in places. And the few branches that had been grafted on were not producing good apples either, even though they were supposedly edible varieties.

So, the tree was cut down. And we've had an 18" stump in our yard since then that basically has just reminded me of how many things in our back yard we have gotten rid of or cut down to make it truly our own design. We got rid of a statue of Mary, mother of Jesus. We got rid of two LARGE metal poles that held up a clothes line. We got rid of some small tree in the back of the yard. I can't remember what it was, but it had berries on it and the birds liked it. We moved three rose bushes into the front yard. They had been trained as climbers and are now back to their proper height. You're welcome. We got rid of the stuff that supported the "climbing" roses. We re-purposed the cinder blocks that had been used to support some IVY(!) that decorated the fountain and cement pond in front of the statue of Mary the mother of Jesus.

Our backyard now is the home of a beautiful grape arbor with two grape vines, three columnar apple trees, a dwarf cherry tree, a clump of ever-bearing raspberries and a modest garden which will have Walla Walla sweet onions, zucchini, pickling cucumbers, red potatoes, Yukon Gold potatoes, and some tomatoes, probably beefsteak or Romas.

But I got side tracked didn't I? Today was thrilling because the reminder of the way our yard WAS is GONE! We had the tree stump ground up today. And now I have some wood shavings to put in my compost bin. I'm happy! And I'm looking forward to spending hours and hours out in God's creation this summer, part of which is in my backyard.

Monday Mayhem

Today we attended our first birthday party of the school year. There have been at least 2-3 others already, but we didn't make it to those. The host family opted for the local fast food playland, and the boys had a great time. However, we didn't get home at the usual time, and my day is almost over before it even has begun! I really like my afternoons. Homework, if any, gets done after lunch time, then naptime and quietness prevail. There is just not enough quietness most days if you ask me! And today there is even less! Oh well. I wonder if the Lord likes quietness. He probably does. Especially when we spend some quiet time with Him. Think I'm gonna go do that right now! :D ~Jen