Something about one of my kids being sick strikes fear into my heart. Older more experienced moms probably laugh at me. Thankfully I'm blessed and have healthy children. They don't get sick very often, so when they do, I have a moment of panic. I'm always concerned if I'm doing it right. Am I making it worse? Should they go to the dr? Should they go to the hospital? Should I do nothing? Hopefully we'll make it through childhood lucky, but heaven help me when one of them breaks a bone or something. I don't have any amazing biblical tie in for this, it's just mommy talk. Last week I started a series of sorts. I did a post about what God was showing me about Living Simply. My first post was about Seeing God. Funny part about that, God showed me that at the perfect time. I've really needed that over the last week.
Today though is Investing In Others. One thing God has really been showing me about living simply is that it's so much easier when I'm not focusing on what I don't have/what I want/what I think I should have if I'm focusing on others. One of my biggest prayers over the last few years has been that God would give me more of a servents heart. I've been praying that God would give me people to invest myself in for no other purpose than to show them Himself (God). Through the simple fact that Aaron and I are in youth ministry, we've been automatically given on average 6 or 7 opportunities for investment (our awesome youth group). But, ultimately, we need to ask God to show us 1 or 2 people that we can really pour ourselves into. Last week I started rereading a ministry book called Girls Ministry, 101. by Whitney Prosperi. I got it when Aaron and I first went into ministry, and it was a really good book. I decided to go back through it and refresh a little bit. One of the statments she makes really stuck out to me... We utilize our time best when we invest in someone elses life. In our day and age it's so easy to fill our time with stuff. And not all of it is bad stuff, but it's definitely stuff. We also have many many ways to invest in someone elses life. Social media makes it so easy for me to keep up with my youth group girls. Text messaging is easy too. All those things are great, but I do think the best way to invest in someone is to be physically present with them. I can facebook and text people all I want and still not be 100% mentally with that person. But, physically being with someone means time. I know that sometimes I hardly have time to think straight let alone fit in a coffee date or a quick ice cream trip. But when I do fit them in, I've never regreted it and I've never seen it as time wasted. Ok, so I need to be physically present with people, but what else? I've come to realize that the best way to invest in someone is to just speak truth to that person as often as you can. Be real, be honest, be open. Listen. Be understanding. Ask God to have His eyes. See that person how He sees them. One of the crazy things about investing is someone else is that I've learned more about myself. It can be scary. My life is a mess, how could I possibly invest in someone else when I can't keep my life straight. Honestly, because you never know if that person is right where you are. You could be helping them walk the same road you are. It's taken me a while to learn this lesson... I've NEVER met 1 person who's totally together. I've met so many women and thought, whoa! check her out! She's so put together, her family is perfect, her life is great. It's taken me maturing spiritually (a little) to realize that most people are just like me. Maybe not as spastic and unorganized, but no one is perfect. So, what that being said, God has showed me that investing in someone will take the focus off of how complicated I think my life is. I need to ask God to show me someone I can invest in and I need to see them through His eyes. I need to be willing to make time for that person and I need to be real, open, and honest with them. This is investing in others.
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I feel like over the last few days, God has been presenting me with a challenge. Maybe not so much a challenge but more of a cleansing or refining. Earlier this week I was thinking about our finances (as I often do) and I was thinking about more things we can trim out of our budget to help ease some of the shortfall we have. And I felt like the Lord said... can you live simply? At first I was like... um, simply? Like... Amish? But then I felt like the Lord asked me if how I'm living now and what I have now is simple? Do I have a simple life? Honestly, I couldn't answer yes. But, I didn't exactly know why. I pondered this for a few days....
Then suddenly, it started coming to me. No really, suddenly. At midnight. I laid in bed with all these things God was giving me. I knew I was never going to remember them, so I hopped out of bed and started rumaging through the dark looking for a pen and paper (I woke Aaron from a dead sleep and he thought I was crazy). I got them written down, laid back down and closed my eyes. But, God wasn't done. So, here at I am at 12:09am writing out this blog post because I feel like I need to put down exactly what God is telling me. Living Simply are these 6 things in no certain order: S- See God I- Invest in Others M- Make Room for God P- Pray About Everything L- Live Limitless Y- Yoke Yourself with Other Believers I know it seems kind of crazy that these 6 things can lead to living simply, but I guess God is telling me they can. So, over the next few weeks I'm going to go through each one of them and how they apply to my life and how I feel God is telling me they will help me live more simply. So, no better place to start that right now! S Some of what opened this line of thought was the passage of scripture that was used in a sermon I heard tonight. It's out of 2 Kings 6:15-17... 15 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked. 16 “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more I than those who are with them.” 17 And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. The servent was afraid. He saw that they were obviously outnumbered and immediately he asked "Oh no! What now?!" and Elisha's answer was pretty simple- Do not be afraid. How many times (even in the last day or week) have I said "Oh no, God, not again". Or "Oh great, God, how are we going to fix this?", Or even, "God, are you even there?". In the midst of the servents fear, Elisha prayed that God would open his eyes and he would see. And what exactly did he see? He saw horses and chariots of fire. Heck Yes! I've asked God for a lot of things. I've asked Him for money, I've asked Him for health, I've asked Him for love, I've even asked Him for forgivness. But if I just asked to see Him and see how he's working IN me and FOR me, would I feel the need to basically beg Him for those other things on a daily basis? Maybe what they says is true... Seeing is believing. If I ask to see God, maybe my life would be a little more simple because I would spend less time worrying about what I think God isn't doing and spend more time enjoying what I know He is doing. Today I'm asking to See God. |
HEY, I'M JESSICA!
Christian. Wife. Mommy. Daughter. Pastor. Friend. Saved.Redeemed. Beloved.
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