Jun 12, 2011 | Stories, The Good Word
Several weeks ago, the Hubs came down from an extended rendezvous with the magical spreadsheet of glory. That’s the one where he keeps track of our incomings and outgoings, and our multiple bank accounts in three different countries and three different currencies. Inside the multiple tabs of awesomeness, he can type in the latest exchange rate and everything will update.
Sorry this post isn’t about that, it’s really just a thing of organizational beauty, and just one more reason why the hubs is a hero.
Moving on.
The Hubs came downstairs and said we probably had a decision to make: rent or health insurance. The numbers didn’t indicate that we were going to be able to pay for both in the coming month. Which was kind of concerning since we also have an international move in front of us. And those aren’t cheap. Part of the problem was that our health insurance hadn’t reimbursed us for the cost of the 9 minutes of labour and delivery which were the arrival of Baby Brother.
Waiting on several thousand Rands worth of reimbursement, which were the result of a data entry error on the part of our gynecologist’s assistant, and seeing that the assistant was in no hurry to correct her error, the picture was a little bleak for getting things sorted out. (And even with the reimbursement back in our bank account, things were still going to be tight.)
We knew that it wasn’t just a matter of rent or health insurance, though. We knew behind door number three, God could come through and do something to make a way for us. We decided to pray and trust that He would lead us. We prayed, and felt like we should wait.
After church the next day, we arrived home to a message from a friend on Facebook who had shared about our ministry and our move with a foundation back in the States. The news: they’d met the night before and decided to send us a gift. A big one. If it came in in time, it would cover our rent, our health insurance and the cost of shipping our stuff to the States. And we’d have money left over to buy the Bear an ice cream cone, his daily request when he sees the ice cream shop while we’re on the way home from the gym.
We knew this was God’s way of answering our prayers. It was like He was saying “Hold on, help is coming…just trust Me and hang in there.”
But four weeks later, there was no sign of the big check.
It started to feel like we were facing the mountain again, with everything ahead of us and no certainty on how things would come together. As doubt grew in our hearts, we knew we had to hold on to God. Whether or not the check comes in, God is our portion and our provision.
In God we trust.
We didn’t have the funds at the beginning of the month, and our gyne’s assistant was dragging her feet about the reimbursement. Our bank contacted us to find out what they should do, since we were about to be in overdraft. When we explained our situation, they were kind enough to simply wait a couple of days for the reimbursement to come through and square things up…free of charge!
We knew somehow God was saying it was going to be okay, and, indeed, it was.
There wasn’t a huge mountain tumbling into the sea moment — it was more like we just stepped over a little molehill in our path.
Finally, about five weeks later, the check we were expecting arrived in the P.O. Box of the ministry that handles our gifts. We were incredibly encouraged that God came through and made this provision for us — and as our job is about to transition, this is the perfect timing for this gift, to cover our moving costs and help with the time we’re between homes and jobs. And we can get the Bear that ice cream.
In God we continue to trust.
“Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley; That the glory of the Lord will be revealed, And all flesh will see {it} together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” {Isaiah 40: 4&5, NAS}
In SO many ways provision has been magically appearing and things have been coming together for us in this transition. I’d like to share a few more stories of how God has been paving the way for us, on our road to North Carolina…so come back tomorrow for Part Two!
xCC
This post turned into a bit of a series! Here are the links to each part…
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
The Conclusion
Jun 14, 2010 | The Good Word
I was following along with a conversation on a friend’s website about entitlement the other day. And I began to recognise something that has been changing in me without me being fuly cognizant of it: I’m becoming aware that there is more (and more) “rubbish†in my heart, and I need help taking out the trash.
What’s all this rubbish I’ve been recognizing? (You need to pronounce rubbish with a British accent to fully enjoy it.) Well, among other things, I’m specifically aware of an entitlement attitude. A mindset that makes me feel sorry for myself (Self Pity is a Dangerous Bedfellow!) when things don’t go the way I think I deserve for them to go. Let me help you out, with actual, personal examples.
I might do think to myself:
“I’ve been praying and asking for this particular thing for ages. It isn’t something that costs very much money. I haven’t been spending much on anything else — in fact, I’ve been very careful with our budget. Why don’t I have what I’ve been praying for?â€
“I really wish we had just a little extra cashflow just to be able to eat out or treat ourselves a bit more every once in a while. I mean, we work so hard — don’t we deserve it?â€
These are just a couple of surface examples of a deeper issue that is very ingrained in my western, rights-mentality mindset. If I can justify in my mind why I deserve it, then indeed, it is so, and I deserve it.
But here’s the issue.
I am suddenly faced with the reality of the millions of people a stone’s throw (okay a couple miles) away from me who live in poverty. And I mean dirt floor, corrugated tin wall and roof, cooking on an open fire and making about $12 for a good day’s work poverty. Suddenly, now it’s a reality and not just pictures on TV of emaciated children with distended bellies and flies all around who almost make you not want to act because you don’t see any hope in it. Now I see these relatively healthy adults, mothers my age with children the Bear’s age, caught in a web where lack of education, disease, hunger and a number of other circumstances combine to keep advancement and hope for the future just out of reach. And now some new questions come to mind when this entitlement mentality rears its ugly head.
Do you deserve? But wouldn’t that mean they deserve too?
Have you earned it? Or have the opportunities and privileges of your life made it possible?
It would just make things easier? Think about all the things you take for granted that would make it “easier†for someone else. (Like owning a car…a home in a secure area…even a dishwasher!)
Eventually I find myself aware that once again, there is rubbish in my heart. There are attitudes that need correction. There is trash that needs collection.
And the gracious God who has indeed blessed me exceeding and abundantly is willing to look in, forgive me, and even help me take out the trash.
I suddenly see that the biggest gift I’ve received so far in looking to the eyes of people who have so little is the realisation that I already have so, so much.
Much more than I need.
Much, much more than I deserve.
I am undeserving of the free grace, the free gift of Jesus. I’m undeserving of all that I have in addition.
And that realisation is leading me to a mentality of thankfulness — and Lord knows, that’s where I want to stay.
The Sermon in a Nutshell: If we can see all that we have as a gift of grace, we are better able to handle it when life as we know it isn’t our cup of tea. We might even realise instead that it’s not the exact flavour tea we were looking for, but it’s tea nonetheless. And any tea’s better than no tea at all!
xCC
May 10, 2010 | Prayers in Poetry & Prose, Scotland
I‘m not one for creating a religious rule to abide by any means. Or for saying something always ought to be done a certain way, at a certain time, or in a certain place. (Since Jesus seemed to move in different ways at different times.) So please don’t think for a moment that with the following I intend to create a rule for you to begin to abide by as soon as you’ve finished reading this post.
Lately I have taken the time every now and then to get on my knees before God. I often sit and read my Bible on the couch in our living room while the Bear is napping. I’ll pray for a while, just sitting there quietly.
Sometimes, however, I just want to make sure I remind myself that God is God and I am not. I am glad that He calls me His friend. I also want to revere Him as my Lord and King.
Out of a desire to do so, the other day I spent a few minutes on my knees in prayer. A great calm met me there, and I felt peace at just having taken the time to bow myself before a Holy, Holy God. There was a great reverent intimacy in that moment, and I was glad I had listened to the prompting to get low. It reminded me of some lovely lyrics from a song that is sung by Nicole Mullen (and some other folks):
I get on my knees, I get on my knees,
There I am before the love that changes me.
See I don’t know how, but there’s power,
When I’m on my knees.
If you find yourself struggling to focus, distracted, or perhaps just unable to dig deeper in prayer, I would love to recommend getting on your knees before your heavenly Father. Ask Him to help you pray if you don’t know how to pray or what to pray. Sometimes the most simple acts of worship can have incredibly profound results.
xCC
Apr 23, 2010 | Stories, The Good Word
There is a special quote that has a special place in my heart for lots of reasons, and every time it comes to mind it seems that I gain some new insight from it:
Earth is crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God;
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes —
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.
{Elizabeth Barrett Browning}
I was thinking about this quote just last night in reference to a friend of mine who is very dear to me. She would be utterly and completely embarrassed if I told you her name, so I will instead just refer to her as a dear friend, and leave it at that.
My dear friend has these really special qualities. She is incredibly humble, incredibly gentle. She is thoughtful and very careful with her words. She is very tender, too, and because of that, she bruises easily, so to speak.
I realised in a way, when I was speaking with her recently, that she is a lot like the bush spoken of in the Elizabeth Barrett Browning quote above. People miss out on the deepness, the specialness, and the unique godliness that is in her, because she carries herself so humbly you won’t see it unless you take the time to look for it. She hungers and thirsts for righteousness like few people I have ever had the privilege of knowing. But if you don’t get to know her, you’re just going to miss it. If you don’t look, you just won’t see the beauty that is in this special woman after God’s own heart.
In Exodus 3, Moses turned aside to see the burning bush, perhaps to understand why it was burning but didn’t burn up. He responded to the holiness of God, as God directed him, by taking off his shoes. His respect for God’s holiness made way for him to receive the words and revelation God had for him.
The thing is, I think a lot of people are like my dear friend. There is something special worth celebrating. Now don’t be afraid that I might be going New Age on you — the thing that there is that is inherently good in each of us is the thing that has to do with us being created in the image of a good and loving God. And I believe there is something of our loving and good God built into who we are, because created things bear the mark of their creators. Van Goghs are different from Monets and Picassos. Apples are different from Toshibas and Dells. There is something of the creator in the created thing, but sometimes we have to look for it.
If we aren’t looking for the Imago Dei (as this theological concept is often referred to in Latin) in the people around us, if we aren’t looking for the things that are worth celebrating, then we are likely to just sit around and pluck blackberries. We’ll miss opportunities to praise the things that are praiseworthy. We aren’t gonna take off our shoes and witness the holiness — let me reiterate it’s not our own holiness, but the holiness of the God in whose image we are created. If only we could remember that every person who comes across our path is someone for whom Christ gave His life on the cross.
It is a worthwhile old saying, that every person has a story. There are lots of stories I’m hoping to tell you in the days ahead, because I think they will be good for you and me both to hear and remember and take off our shoes and receive. But I think we’ll also be changed for the better if we receive each other, and look for and celebrate the Imago Dei — that beautiful part of us that is somewhere in there, because of Whose we are.
Have you seen any reasons to take off your shoes lately?
xCC
Apr 20, 2010 | Travel..ling Tuesdays
Once again this Travelling Tuesday is filled with a gift I’ve been eager to unwrap. The gift of giving, and finding again and again, that you cannot out-give God. Even in giving, you find that you receive more in return — and my cup is overflowing.
As I shared last week, we visited an area called Overcome Heights on Thursday. We had the awesome privilege of teaming up with a ministry there called Living Hope, and we put shoes on the feet of close to 70 children. Many of those children arrived with bare feet and left with perhaps their first pair of shoes.
I’ll try not to wax on too long about this special moment since Travelling Tuesdays are about photos, but I have to say that it was just such a wonderful gift to give away shoes in Overcome Heights. When you come face to face with the reality of poverty, you find yourself newly aware of how very, very much you have to be thankful for. How very, very little cause you have for complaint. How very, very privileged you are if you have a roof over your head… a few changes of clothes… more than one or two pairs of shoes for your feet.
It is a gift to come face to face with the reality of poverty, to let it become more than just pictures on TV and in magazines, to let it become the faces of children that you pick up, touch, hold, talk to — it becomes more than just an idea. It becomes real. And if you let it, it will change you for the better. You can’t have the same outlook you had yesterday. Contentment, and joy, should be easier to grasp.
I hope that as I take a moment to share these realities with you, that you’ll receive this gift, too. That you’ll unwrap it, think about it, hold it in your heart for a while, and maybe even let it change the way you look at life.
As always, saving my favourites for last, check out this awesome wagon!!! These boys were having a blast.
The little one going for a ride received a new pair of shoes, but I think he took them home and kept wearing his old worn-through ones because he didn’t want to mess up his new shoes.
These boys were looking at each others’ shoes for ages. So sweet.
My prayer is that Overcome Heights will be a prophetic name. That these children, who are being ministered to by the awesome volunteers at Living Hope, will overcome heights, and will grow up to change the world for the better.
This is what it’s all about.
I hope you were encouraged this Travelling Tuesday! May you enjoy your journey today, and out of all that you’ve received, find ways to give!
xCC
Would you like to join in the Travelling Tuesday fun? Just create your own Travelling Tuesday post on your blog or site, and enter the link to your Travelling Tuesday Post below. Your photos can be from a trip around the world a year ago, or from your backyard yesterday. Just be sure to put a link back here on your site, so others can join in the adventure!
This post was linked up to Tuesdays Unwrapped at Chatting at the Sky.
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