Yesterday I was traveling to Wal-Mart to pick up a few much needed items like shampoo and saline solution when I saw a woman – clad in a flowing green outfit sitting on the grass along the driveway. Exhaustion pained her face as she hopelessly held out her cardboard sign: “Traveling. Broke. Hungry.” This was complimented with a peace sign in the corner. My heart was instantly flooded with an overwhelming amount of emotions. First of all, I was excited because whenever I see people like this alongside the road they are usually scruffy men with giant bags, and I find it necessary to honor my parents request not to associate with them when I am by myself.
Today, however, it was different – it was a lady! I felt like for once, I could actually help someone in this type of situation. I pleaded with the Lord, “God please keep her there! Please! I really want to bless her day. If you keep her there until I get out of this store, I’ll get her something. Please Lord! Help her stay there!”I noticed not many cars were even giving her and the little cardboard sign a second glance, yet my heart felt moved to get her something while I ran my errands.
The Lord laid it on my heart to buy her something with sustenance – food. I headed to the juice aisle, not knowing what to get, and having a constant conversation with the Lord asking Him, as if He would somehow pull it off the shelf for me and stick it in the cart. Reflecting on this small moment in time, I realize now that is essentially just what He did. Standing in the juice aisle I found myself gathering a favorite of mine – a 100% juice mix with servings of fruit and vegetables.
Okay Lord, so now what do I get this lady to eat? “Special K peanut butter protein bars” rang in my mind. Before I knew what I was doing, I instinctively was wheeling my cart across the store to retrieve these protein bars. The funniest thing about choosing this type of protein bar is rather interesting. You see to funny understand the implications of this very small, seemingly insignificant gesture one must know two important bits of information: 1) they are my favorite and Wal-Mart has been out of them since June. 2) There was only one box in the whole store on this shelf.
I contemplated getting another kind, but was quickly reminded that there was only one box of these, clearly the Lord wanted this lady to have this box of protein bars. Perhaps it was my nerves and excitement warring against one another in a giant dance of my mind and heart that caused me to forget where I parked my car – but it took me a few minutes to realize I was on the entirely opposite side of the parking lot than where I was looking for my vehicle. I had a clear plan etched out in my mind. I would jump in the car and drive across the parking lot to see if the lady was still sitting on the grass. If she was, which I dearly hoped so I would give her the food and tell her it was a blessing from the Lord – if not, I would keep it. Plain, short, simple, and sweet.
I was emotionally relieved as I pulled my Jeep up behind where the lady was sitting. She glanced over, exhausting still etched on her face. “Hey!” she called. I answered back politely with a “Hello!” Then something on her face twitched, jolted almost, as I moved toward her. She spoke again, “Is that…is that food?” “Yes Maham!” I answered excitedly. Throwing her arms straight up in the air she nearly sung, she was so excited, “Yes! Score! I’m sooo hungry!”
She ran over to me and as I placed the food items into her hands, her tired eyes met mine for a split second. “Here you go! I saw you sitting here and wanted to get you a little something. God bless you!” I said. “Well, bless you too dear!” she said back. She seemed most excited to share with her friends that were somewhere near by, but nowhere that I could see. Tossing her arms around my neck she gave me a thankful hug and skipped off to explore her gifts on the grass. She gave me a peace sign and I turned away. Without thinking I turned around and called back to her, “Excuse me Mam! What’s your name?” “My name? Oh, it’s Lindsay! Yours?” “Christy! God bless you Lindsay!”
I walked back to my car nearly skipping, nearly crying, and I realized how something so simple, so intentional vastly changed the outcome of my day – and Lindsay’s too. As I drove away she was beaming with a thankful smile, waving and giving me the peace sign, I smiled inside thinking about how great God is for entrusting us to do little things like this that bless His beloved children.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
a glimpse of my heart on July 17, 2009
I felt really weepy today. I was emotionally a wild assortment of things – awestruck, grateful, thoughtful, peaceful, nervous, curious, determined, blessed, and plain ol’ overwhelmed by the goodness and faithfulness of God. All week I have been sitting in with the oldest girl’s group for devotion time. Every day this week I have had the opportunity to speak truth in the lives of these girls and to have it reflected back into my own heart. I realize now, today was no different.
As I think about this time, there is one girl who stands out in my mind whom the Lord has struck my heart with this week – Brooke Gregory. Brooke is a beautiful young lady, full of life and energy. She has diabetes and her family struggles financially, but this doesn’t seem to debilitate her spirits and drive for life. All week Brooke has been pretty open in asking questions about God, relationships, and living a life that honors God – as well as sharing information from her own life. Today, as Brooke spoke her thoughts my heart was moved and I began to weep – as the Lord reminded me of His call upon my life – and showed me a glimpse of the promise and purpose He has for this little sister of mine, Brooke.
Brooke shared thoughts she has had about desiring her family to be protected and that she believes her life will be somewhat short – that she wants to be a missionary in other countries, telling people about Jesus. This is important to consider because this girl does not go to church – and most of her Christian influence comes from her being at camp. According to her counselors, she has grown and changed significantly over the summer. Bless the Lord!
The words Brooke spoke to me in the office this afternoon as she checked her blood sugar are still ringing in my mind and heart, “Miss Christy, I’m going to be a missionary one day and maybe I’ll see you out there too.” Perhaps it was her pointing, or the simple delight and laughter that danced in her eyes as she said those encouraging words to me, regardless of what it was exactly, these words spoken triggered something at the very depth of my heart and I became weepy again – with a joyful, dance worthy excitement stirring up in me as well.
My thought process was one of gratitude, thankfulness, fear, and expectation. I am amazed how God reminded me of how very different this season of waiting is for me, through His call on the life of a precious daughter – His beloved, Brooke. I believe with all my heart she will be a missionary some day serving the Lord – even unto death. There’s a fire in her heart – ready to be consumed by Christ. Lord, let Your will be done in Brooke’s life – and my life too! I am reminded of some song lyrics sung by some brothers in Christ, Atlantic, “All I am, for all You are – nothing else can satisfy God – all I am – for all You are – nothing else can satisfy…”.
As I think about this time, there is one girl who stands out in my mind whom the Lord has struck my heart with this week – Brooke Gregory. Brooke is a beautiful young lady, full of life and energy. She has diabetes and her family struggles financially, but this doesn’t seem to debilitate her spirits and drive for life. All week Brooke has been pretty open in asking questions about God, relationships, and living a life that honors God – as well as sharing information from her own life. Today, as Brooke spoke her thoughts my heart was moved and I began to weep – as the Lord reminded me of His call upon my life – and showed me a glimpse of the promise and purpose He has for this little sister of mine, Brooke.
Brooke shared thoughts she has had about desiring her family to be protected and that she believes her life will be somewhat short – that she wants to be a missionary in other countries, telling people about Jesus. This is important to consider because this girl does not go to church – and most of her Christian influence comes from her being at camp. According to her counselors, she has grown and changed significantly over the summer. Bless the Lord!
The words Brooke spoke to me in the office this afternoon as she checked her blood sugar are still ringing in my mind and heart, “Miss Christy, I’m going to be a missionary one day and maybe I’ll see you out there too.” Perhaps it was her pointing, or the simple delight and laughter that danced in her eyes as she said those encouraging words to me, regardless of what it was exactly, these words spoken triggered something at the very depth of my heart and I became weepy again – with a joyful, dance worthy excitement stirring up in me as well.
My thought process was one of gratitude, thankfulness, fear, and expectation. I am amazed how God reminded me of how very different this season of waiting is for me, through His call on the life of a precious daughter – His beloved, Brooke. I believe with all my heart she will be a missionary some day serving the Lord – even unto death. There’s a fire in her heart – ready to be consumed by Christ. Lord, let Your will be done in Brooke’s life – and my life too! I am reminded of some song lyrics sung by some brothers in Christ, Atlantic, “All I am, for all You are – nothing else can satisfy God – all I am – for all You are – nothing else can satisfy…”.
lifeguarding
The other day I was lifeguarding in the pool, once again for my ‘little sisters’ in group #1. All of a sudden Madison called out to me excitedly, “Look Miss Christy! Look! I’m swimming to you!”. I gave her thumbs up and a smile as she climbed out of the pool preparing to jump. “Did you see that Miss Christy!? Are you so very proud of me for doing such a great job?” I assumed Madison must have had someone tell her she did such a great job at something for her to parrot this grand statement to me completely off the cuff and without prodding.
This showed me Madison’s trust in me as a person responsible for her care. She knew I would be watching – all she needed to do was call to get my attention – and even without calling out, she had my attention – watching for her safety, and she could delight herself in swimming rather than worrying about saving her own life in the pool.
I related this to how we try to get God’s attention sometimes. What we do not always realize is that we already have His full attention – yet still we cry out. “Look Abba! Did you see that? Are you so very proud of me for doing such a great job?” Sometimes I feel like God smiles on us and says, “Beloved, look! Look what I have done through you – you gave a valiant effort. Come my weak little one, let me teach you how to find true strength.”
It is important to realize Madison is completely capable of swimming without me and jumping too, but her childlike excitement made me chuckle inside – and reflection on it now, I get a picture of presenting myself before the Lord with a similar childlike faith – carrying with it a belief that He loves me simply because I am His child – and I can delight in knowing He is watching me try, attempt, fail, and succeed – all according to His great plan for my life. In the future I will continue to venture boldly and courageously down the pathway God has designed and ordained for my life – trusting that He is watching – protecting – and guiding me along the way.
This showed me Madison’s trust in me as a person responsible for her care. She knew I would be watching – all she needed to do was call to get my attention – and even without calling out, she had my attention – watching for her safety, and she could delight herself in swimming rather than worrying about saving her own life in the pool.
I related this to how we try to get God’s attention sometimes. What we do not always realize is that we already have His full attention – yet still we cry out. “Look Abba! Did you see that? Are you so very proud of me for doing such a great job?” Sometimes I feel like God smiles on us and says, “Beloved, look! Look what I have done through you – you gave a valiant effort. Come my weak little one, let me teach you how to find true strength.”
It is important to realize Madison is completely capable of swimming without me and jumping too, but her childlike excitement made me chuckle inside – and reflection on it now, I get a picture of presenting myself before the Lord with a similar childlike faith – carrying with it a belief that He loves me simply because I am His child – and I can delight in knowing He is watching me try, attempt, fail, and succeed – all according to His great plan for my life. In the future I will continue to venture boldly and courageously down the pathway God has designed and ordained for my life – trusting that He is watching – protecting – and guiding me along the way.
Monday, July 13, 2009
4th of July weekend in South Carolina
(These are some pictures from my trip - explaining a little bit of what I did during my weekend of the 4th. They sort've go backwards in showing my journey - I was able to visit some dear friends from BBC traveling on *EMPOWERED* this summer, went hiking at some falls in the local area, and saw fireworks in downtown Greenville. We stayed at the Power's house in Central,SC and had a blessed weekend of fellowship & fun.)
beautiful movement
It amazes me how easily little ones capture our hearts with their smiles, hugs, and cuddliness. One of my favorite groups to work with here at Hephzibah is the 5-6 year olds. Both groups (boys and girls), have little ones in them who are special to my heart. I have recently noticed the great lengths of growth they have had over the last seven weeks of summer – growing from shy to more outgoing, hesitant to bold, and uneasy to trusting. Granted these changes have not been blatant nor cold turkey, however, they have been a gradual, blessed, sweet process. Each week of loving on these little boys and girls as individuals – showing them their uniqueness and special qualities God has made them with has allowed for many open, trusting doors in their lives.
I think this is important to recognize because there is nothing yet at camp, which I have found to be more precious than the excitement of little ones to see you – their beaming smiles, open arms, and mouths full of stories to tell about their families, vacations, pets, or whatever else is presently important to them. It is heart-melting when a little one takes you by the hand and jumping up and down squeals, “Miss Christy! Are you going to be with us!?” or when they crawl into your lap during circle meets and tilt their heads to rest on your shoulder because they feel safely loved by Christ who loves them through you.
For example, one of our Hindu little girls Megha, has refused to participate in many things at camp. We had a volunteer group visit from Virginia for a week and the ladies from the group blessed us with a worship dance class for all the girls. I was able to participate with my little sister-friends, and for the most part we had a blast. Megha, however refused each day to join us. She stood, stone faced in the middle of the gym, not moving until the end of class. We tried everything – being silly, being serious, asking nicely, and dancing around her, but each time the response was the same, a big fat “NO!” – Until Friday that is.
Friday was a pivotal moment for Megha and our group. In the afternoon we had a mass dance time with all the girls groups at camp – because each group had learned a part of the song routine. We all got into place on the floor and when the music started, Miss Hannah caught my attention to tell me Megha was dancing. Furthermore, to make things even more astounding – she was doing all the right steps, yet she hadn’t busted a single dance move the entire week! I felt victory and great joy welling up in my heart. Finally, she was dancing – and to top it all off, she was smiling too.
The principle involved was one of perseverance and patience. Many may have been frustrated or even tempted to give up on this stubborn little girl, but constant encouragement, silliness, and persistence led us to a beautiful moment of growth in Megha’s life. It was a moment worth celebrating. Our dance was finally complete, when everyone participated!
Reflecting on this experience I am reminded of how “slowly” the body of Christ seems to move forward in life. Sometimes our brothers and sisters are stubborn as mules and we feel like we are talking to brick walls, or not being heard/understood – all the while, we are being tested, and choosing to wait for that beautiful moment when the stubbornness is released is so worth the battle and perseverance to get there.
I think this is important to recognize because there is nothing yet at camp, which I have found to be more precious than the excitement of little ones to see you – their beaming smiles, open arms, and mouths full of stories to tell about their families, vacations, pets, or whatever else is presently important to them. It is heart-melting when a little one takes you by the hand and jumping up and down squeals, “Miss Christy! Are you going to be with us!?” or when they crawl into your lap during circle meets and tilt their heads to rest on your shoulder because they feel safely loved by Christ who loves them through you.
For example, one of our Hindu little girls Megha, has refused to participate in many things at camp. We had a volunteer group visit from Virginia for a week and the ladies from the group blessed us with a worship dance class for all the girls. I was able to participate with my little sister-friends, and for the most part we had a blast. Megha, however refused each day to join us. She stood, stone faced in the middle of the gym, not moving until the end of class. We tried everything – being silly, being serious, asking nicely, and dancing around her, but each time the response was the same, a big fat “NO!” – Until Friday that is.
Friday was a pivotal moment for Megha and our group. In the afternoon we had a mass dance time with all the girls groups at camp – because each group had learned a part of the song routine. We all got into place on the floor and when the music started, Miss Hannah caught my attention to tell me Megha was dancing. Furthermore, to make things even more astounding – she was doing all the right steps, yet she hadn’t busted a single dance move the entire week! I felt victory and great joy welling up in my heart. Finally, she was dancing – and to top it all off, she was smiling too.
The principle involved was one of perseverance and patience. Many may have been frustrated or even tempted to give up on this stubborn little girl, but constant encouragement, silliness, and persistence led us to a beautiful moment of growth in Megha’s life. It was a moment worth celebrating. Our dance was finally complete, when everyone participated!
Reflecting on this experience I am reminded of how “slowly” the body of Christ seems to move forward in life. Sometimes our brothers and sisters are stubborn as mules and we feel like we are talking to brick walls, or not being heard/understood – all the while, we are being tested, and choosing to wait for that beautiful moment when the stubbornness is released is so worth the battle and perseverance to get there.
Friday, July 03, 2009
'Lord of my laughter'
Wednesday was a truly blessed day. As I reflect upon all the events, work, rewards, and blessings I encountered I cannot help but smile. There is nothing quite like jumping in a car with the Lord, driving four hours up the highway to see someone you love. Over the last week I have been fairly emotionally overwhelmed – only not in a frustrating, weighty way. Rather, I have been emotionally overwhelmed in the sense that I desire nothing more than to prance, skip, dance, and sing – all while declaring, “my cup overflows!” from Psalm 23. Surely the goodness of the Lord is worthy of our reverence, our faithfulness, our praise, our time, efforts, energy, motivations, aspirations, dreams, hopes, everything!
As I observed the EXALT youth choir ministering Wednesday I was thankful for the Lord’s goodness and bringing together this fine group of young people to learn more about Him, each other, and His love. My favorite song the choir sang struck deeply at my heart in a place the Lord has been recently investigating. The words to the song go something like this: “You’re the Lord of my days, the King of my nights – Lord of my laughter – Sovereign in sorrow – You’re the Prince of my Praise, Love of my Life, You never leave me, You’re always faithful…”
Let’s just say I noticed a little “dust on the mantle” in this area of my life and I needed that “white glove” reminder that purity of speech is essential. Granted I do not cuss up a storm, nor do I intentionally make cuts at people. In fact, I am a strong advocate against sarcasm and fictitious misleading remarks. However, I am human and quite vulnerable to slipping up in the sarcasm department once in awhile, when others around me practice it regularly. Sometimes I’m even guilty of laughing when others practice sarcasm.
Thankfully I notice it right away and though people always encourage me when I make those remarks saying things like “Good one!” I never find myself proud – rather I find myself backtracking in my mind with some small ounce of despair wondering how in the world my tongue managed to maneuver its way down that path to dispose those words upon some helpless person. Yikes!
This is important because as the choir sang I was reminded that Christ should be the ‘Lord of my laughter and the Prince of my praise’. I am reminded of a worship song that says, “On my lips there’s a shout of praise” and how the book of James speaks about how the tongue both blesses and curses – sometimes even in the same breath – that’s crazy and really motivates me to continually be conscious about what I say. I am not meant so speak by men’s standards, but rather by standards of holiness that honor both God and His creation with my actions, thoughts, and WORDS.
"Speak only that which is useful for building up the body of Christ..."
As I observed the EXALT youth choir ministering Wednesday I was thankful for the Lord’s goodness and bringing together this fine group of young people to learn more about Him, each other, and His love. My favorite song the choir sang struck deeply at my heart in a place the Lord has been recently investigating. The words to the song go something like this: “You’re the Lord of my days, the King of my nights – Lord of my laughter – Sovereign in sorrow – You’re the Prince of my Praise, Love of my Life, You never leave me, You’re always faithful…”
Let’s just say I noticed a little “dust on the mantle” in this area of my life and I needed that “white glove” reminder that purity of speech is essential. Granted I do not cuss up a storm, nor do I intentionally make cuts at people. In fact, I am a strong advocate against sarcasm and fictitious misleading remarks. However, I am human and quite vulnerable to slipping up in the sarcasm department once in awhile, when others around me practice it regularly. Sometimes I’m even guilty of laughing when others practice sarcasm.
Thankfully I notice it right away and though people always encourage me when I make those remarks saying things like “Good one!” I never find myself proud – rather I find myself backtracking in my mind with some small ounce of despair wondering how in the world my tongue managed to maneuver its way down that path to dispose those words upon some helpless person. Yikes!
This is important because as the choir sang I was reminded that Christ should be the ‘Lord of my laughter and the Prince of my praise’. I am reminded of a worship song that says, “On my lips there’s a shout of praise” and how the book of James speaks about how the tongue both blesses and curses – sometimes even in the same breath – that’s crazy and really motivates me to continually be conscious about what I say. I am not meant so speak by men’s standards, but rather by standards of holiness that honor both God and His creation with my actions, thoughts, and WORDS.
"Speak only that which is useful for building up the body of Christ..."
EXALT adventures
Drove up to Gastonia, NC on Wednesday to visit with my sister Weizi-lou and to watch the EXALT choir -from Bethany Bible College. While there I had a little adventure to the crafts store with my music director's wife and daughter and enjoyed a blessed time of worship led by the choir.
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