A Reflection of Heaven

In Bolivia there is an amazing wonder. It is called Salar de Uyuni. It is the largest salt flat in the world. A salt flat is a large area covered with a layer of salt. During the rainy season this place gets covered with a shallow layer of water. The result? The largest natural mirror in the world. The sky is reflected in the water.

When people walk there, it looks like they are up in the sky walking on the clouds. What a neat place! A place that is a reflection of the heavens.

I want to be like that place. I want to reflect the beauty of Heaven. I want to look like Jesus in the way I think, talk, act and live. I want to reflect God's amazing grace, kindness, patience and goodness.

To do that, I need to live very close to God. I need to cover and soak my mind in the water of God's Word. I need to live out God's Word in my day-to-day life through God's power. 

When we think and live according to God's Word, we will reflect more and more the beauty of God.

May Moses' desire and prayer be ours. 

"Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us."

Psalm 90:17

Irritations

 Life is filled with irritations. One winter, we had wet wood. This winter, we've had a dog, which for me has brought new irritations! Sometimes it's ants, flies, doctor appointments, rain, mud, drought, heat and sometimes it's things that have broken.

At the moment our washing machine doesn't work properly. On Saturday, as Johan had to work, I took all the children down to the laundromat to wash our dirty laundry. Since it was raining and the washing from the day before was still drying, I decided to use the dryer aswell. The driers are stacked up two high. I put my washing in the bottom drier, paid for my load and turned it on. I was highly annoyed at myself when the empty top dryer started up. I had paid for the wrong drier! And there was no stopping it. I had used my money to dry nothing! But I chose to laugh at myself and once again paid for my load.

If we wait until we have no irritations to be happy, thankful and content, it will never happen. When one irritations passes, there's usually a new one there to replace it. 

What we should do is learn to be content in whatever state we are in. We can be thankful for the irritations we don't have and all the blessings we do have. We can also remember that pearls come through irritations and that pearls are simply victory over irritations.

Life on earth would not be worth much if every source of irritation were removed. Yet most of us rebel against the things that irritate us, and count as heavy loss what ought to be rich gain. We are told that the oyster is wiser; that when an irritating object, like a bit of sand, gets under the “mantle” of his shell, he simply covers it with the most precious part of his being and makes of it a pearl. The irritation that it was causing is stopped by encrusting it with the pearly formation. A true pearl is therefore simply a victory over irritation. Every irritation that gets into our lives today is an opportunity for pearl culture. The more irritations the devil flings at us, the more pearls we may have. We need only to welcome them and cover them completely with love, that most precious part of us, and the irritation will be smothered out as the pearl comes into being. What a store of pearls we may have, if we will! ~Richard Seume

A God That Can't Be Stolen

When Jacob secretly fled from Laban with his wives and children, Rachel stole her father's idols.
Imagine having a God that could be stolen! A helpless God that couldn't protect Himself!
I am so glad that my God can't be stolen. Nothing can separate me from Him. 

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39

But thinking about it, while worshiping idols is a foreign idea to me, it is still possible for me to have idols. Idols that can be stolen or taken away in an instant. My home, my health, my husband, my children, my possessions, my money, my freedom and so on.

If these things were taken away, would I still have what I love and value the most? As devastating as it would be, would I still have what I live for? Do I love God more than anything? Are my treasures on earth or in Heaven?

And what about you? Is what means the most to you something that can be stolen?

Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. Psalm 73:25

The Value of Children

Yesterday morning I helped for the first time at a preschool. Our Christian school has a little preschool one morning a week and all of our children went to it. Now as all of my children are at school and a new preschool helper was needed, I am helping.

But before I went, I read my children a Bible story at the breakfast table. We were up to the story of Jesus blessing the children. What a fitting story! 

Jesus wasn't too busy for children. He didn't think they were any less important than anyone else. He made time in His busyness to be with them and bless them.

What an example to us!

It's easy to think that's it's less important to teach the littles ones as they don't understand so much.

It's easy to underestimate the value of working with children, whether it's mothering, changing nappies, feeding babies, reading stories, cuddles, playing, going for a walk, school teaching or homeschooling.

It also applies to the special needs children who don't understand as much as the others. They're just as important!

Lessons from Rahab etc.

 

In this video I share some thoughts, recipes, tips, and Bible lessons from my week. I also share 3 more playlists that I've made and a Christian Movie that I liked.

Montana Chocolate Chip Biscuits
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup (125g) butter
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

2 cups rolled oats 

13/4 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup chocolate chips

Mix together the first 6 ingredients. In separate bowl mix next 5 ingredients. Add 2nd mix to 1st mix. Bake on greased or lined trays for approximately 8 mins at 190C.

Chicken Pie

2 cups chicken broth (stock)

2 tblsp flour

2 cups diced cooked potatoes

2 cups diced cooked carrots

2 cups peas

2 tblsp chopped cooked celery

1 small onion, chopped and cooked

2 cups diced cooked chicken

Buttered bread crumbs or pie dough rolled out to fit oblong baking pan.

Preheat oven to 180C (350F). Heat broth. Add 2 tblsp flour to make a thin gravy. Mix with vegetables and chicken. Pour into oblong baking pan and cover with bread crumbs or pie dough. Bake for 1 hour.

If Jesus Was In Disguise...

 Yesterday I was picking up some medication at our local pharmacy which is in the same carpark as our supermarket. I was driving through the carpark on my way out when I say another car coming. For some reason I purposely stopped and let the other car go first. Then I saw who was driving the car and I was so glad I did. It was an elderly lady I knew from our outreach dinner!

Yesterday an elderly lady rang up. I thought it was someone ringing about The Little Haven, so I listened patiently. (I didn't catch her first words properly.) When she asked why she hadn't got her newspaper recently, I realized she had the wrong number! But the fact I thought she was ringing about the Little Haven, made me more patient. I am someone who does not like talking on the phone! And most of the phone calls we get are not people we know, which is annoying. You know, like surveys, spammers, or people fundraising for something.

There are times I've had a phone call after a few annoying ones, and I've thought it was another time waster. I was a bit short with them, and then realized they were ringing up in connection to my husband's outreaches!

My point is, how we view people can entirely change how we treat them. If we view them as a time waster, we can be very impatient. If we view them as someone we are trying to reach, we will be much more patient and kind. If we saw every human as someone we are trying to reach, what would we change? Often, we can be so focused on what we are doing and where we are going, that people across our path can just seem like hindrances.

I read a story to my children once about a railroad conductor. There was an old lame man at the station who was going to board the train. Because of how poor and lame he looked, the conductor treated him very unkindly. He was absolutely horrified when someone told him that the old lame man was the president of the railroad!

It makes me think that if Jesus was in disguise in our area, how horrified might we be?

I read another story recently which brought tears to my eyes. I will tell it how I remember it. A guy became a Christian and turned up at a conservative church where people were dressed up and everything was very proper. He came in with bare feet, jeans, a tshirt and scruffy hair. He walked down the aisle and couldn't find a chair. So, at the front of the church he just sat down on the carpet so he could listen to the preacher. Slowly making his way down the aisle to this guy came an old elder with a walking stick. Every body watched to see what this elder would do with this guy who was so out of place and sitting on the floor. He painfully knelt down and joined him on the carpet! (I don't know about you, but I thought he was going to kick him out.) Tears still come to my eyes every time I think of the ending of that story!

How do we view people? How do we treat people?

 These thoughts are to challenge myself, but I hope they will challenge and inspire someone else aswell.

"Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Matthew 25:40

Vlog--Activities with Lydia, Too much to do...

 

In this video I show you some of the activities we've been doing at home including some of Lydia's school activities, a Christian movie that encourages generosity and love for others, and two ways God's answered my prayers/showed me an answer recently.

Which Backpack are You Carrying?

 Two people went on a hike. They both had backpacks. The girl had a small backpack with essentials. The boy had a large backpack with everything they might possibly need. Talk about being prepared! The only problem was he could hardly lift his! Having to lug this heavy pack around slowed them down. The girl told him to leave it, but there was no way he would. Later on there was an accident and he fell off a cliff into the lake below. The girl looked down and all she could see was a big backpack floating in the water. The heavy weight was keeping the boy under. She dove in, pack and all, and was able to get his head above water and pull him to land. In the end, he finally let go of all those things they might need!

I heard this story recently, and while I doubt it's true, I think it's a perfect object lesson. I can't get the picture of that heavy backpack out of my mind---slowing them down on the track and holding the boy under the water. And the fact that it was the person with the small backpack that could help someone else. The person with the big pack could hardly take care of himself! There are lessons we can learn from this, both spiritual and practical. 

1)First, the practical.

Stuff can be a heavy weight. It's possible to drown and be overwhelmed by stuff. Like that boy, we can hang on to everything we might need in the future. It's hard to let things go that we might need one day. But if we don't, we have to care for it, clean it, organize it, store it and let it fill up our space. Instead of being free to help others, we are too busy trying to take care of all our stuff. But oh, the relief we feel when we let it go! It is like a big heavy pack dropping off our back down to the cliff below. While it's hard and painful to let go and trust God for the future, it's also hard to have that heavy burden to lug around. Like the girl with the small backpack, there are things we need. We can't live with nothing. But there is a limit to how much we need. We can choose between a heavy pack or a light pack. We aren't all the same and we all have different capacities for how much we can manage. The girl also needed help in the story at times, but not because of the pack she was carrying. We all need help sometimes (and some heavy burdens we carry are not our choice), but the help we need shouldn't be self-inflicted!

2)Now, the spiritual. 

Hebrews 12:1-2 says,...let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Looking unto Jesus...

The Christian life is like a race or a hike. We need to travel light! There are many things that can weigh us down and make our growth much more slow than necessary. 

Unbelief and wanting to see before we will trust
Fear, worry and all the what ifs

Covetousness, greed and attachment to things

Envy and jealousy

Sin and guilt from the past (if it's been dealt with and forgiven, it doesn't need to be a weight)

Pride and the fear of what people will think

Friends that are a negative influence

Impatience

etc.

What is hindering your spiritual growth? What is stopping you from taking the next step? What are you not willing to give up?

Here are some things that should be in your backpack!

Faith, Prayer, Contentment, Thankfulness, Patience, Love for God and others, Humility, Peace, Trust, Joy, Self control, Perseverance etc.

The Bible also says in Psalm 55:22 Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

Are you bringing all the things that burden you to the Lord in prayer?

O what peace we often forfeit,

O what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer!

Making the Hardest Day a Favourite Day...

 (Chewy Oatmeal Cookies, Date Balls, Oaty Pancakes,  Potato Fritters and Easy Pizza Dough Recipes below.)

Today I talk about the day of the week I find the hardest, but how I've found ways to make it a favourite day! I also share a frugal living tip, some easy recipes, some thoughts about love, two ways to use up leftovers and a few others things/thoughts. Recipes below.

Chewy Oatmeal Cookies
1 cup butter softened (225g)

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla 

2 cups flour

2 cups oats

11/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup each raising/chocolate chips

In a large bowl cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat well. Combine flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and add to creamed mixture. Mix well. Stir in raisins and chocolate chips. Drop teaspoons on tray. Cook 9-10 minutes at 180C.

Date Balls

2 cups dates (approx)

11/2 cups coconut

3-4 tblsp cocoa

(optional) nuts or seeds

Cut dates. Process all ingredients until fine. Add some hot water--enough to make the mixture sticky enough to roll. Roll into balls and in coconut. Put in the fridge to become hard.

Pizza Dough

1 sachet dry yeast (active)

1 tsp white sugar

1 cup warm water

21/2 cups flour

2 tblsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Add in other ingredients and knead lightly. 

Cook 230C for 15-20 minutes

Potato Fritters

Mix equal amounts of mashed potatoes and flour. Add 1tsp baking powder, 1 egg and any extras--chopped bacon/ham, parsley, cheese, chicken stock, paprika, salt and pepper etc.

Roll into balls. Fry on both sides.

Oaty Pancakes

3/4 cup milk

3/4 cup rolled oats

1 large egg

1/2 cup self-raising flour

3 tblsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

25g (2tblsp) butter

Pour the milk over the oats and leave to stand for a few minutes. Add egg and beat with a fork. Sift in flour, sugar and salt (Don't mix). Melt the butter in a non-stick pan in which pancakes will cook later. Add melted butter to bowl and mix everything. (Don't mix too much). Pour some pancake mixture into the hot pan to make a round pancake. When bubbles burst on tops of the pancake, turn it over. Cook second side until the center springs back when lightly pressed. Adjust the heat if necessary, so next pancakes are golden brown.

Through Different Eyes

Last weekend, my husband asked me to go with him to pick up some gates he'd brought. He needed help lifting them onto the trailer. I hadn't seen a photo of them and in my mind I had a picture of a nice 'pretty' set of gates. However when we arrived I was surprised to see not just a set of gates, but a whole fence in pieces. And they did not look pretty to me. Thankfully I had changed into old clothes and gumboots, as I got very dirty carrying them. They were steel, dirty and very heavy! The dismal thoughts going through my mind was "What a lot of junk! What are we going to do with them? Are you sure you didn't make a mistake buying these? Where are we going to put them?" I kept these thoughts to myself and when we were back at our home, I again helped lift them out. When my husband started telling me how much the gates and fence were worth, it struck me that as a welder, he saw them through completely different eyes to me. These gates are the kind of work he does. He knows just how much time and effort have gone into them and how much money they are worth. He knows their value and their opportunity. (He can also picture things better than I can. I find it hard to picture a fence when I see it in a heap!)

Isn't that a small picture of the difference in the way we think compared to the way God thinks?

When we see people, sometimes we think nearly as negatively as I thought about the gates. "What a mess! What can their life be useful for?" And yet God is their Creator. He knows their value and what their life could become. He sees them as someone worth sending Jesus to die for.

What about our own life? We may think of ourselves with pride and not see our sin and yet God knows who we really are. He sees every thing wrong we do and everything right we don't do. But He also knows our value. He doesn't see us as useless. If we have been forgiven and cleansed and our lives are yielded to Him, He sees the great potential--- "Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Colossians 1:27)

What about our problems and trials? We often view them as a nuisance. A hinderance to what we are wanting to do. An annoying obstacle that needs removing. We beg God to remove them as quick as possible. Yet God knows their value. He knows that if we are surrendered to Him, those trials are tools to rub off our rough edges and transform us into the image of Christ. He knows how good they are for us.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thought than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9

If I Perish, I Perish

 Do you ever find yourself thinking, I'll only do a certain thing if it has the outcome I want? I'll only do what God has put in my heart to do, if I know it will turn out well? I don't want to do it if people will misunderstand and judge me! I only want to do it if I can choose the outcome!

I found myself thinking thoughts like this awhile ago, and it shocked and humbled me. Because I should do what I do because God wants me to do it, regardless of what the outcome will be. I should be obedient to God no matter what happens. The outcome is irrelevant!

Thismorning I read Esther's words in my Bible. Esther had a difficult situation. Her people, the Jews, were going to be killed. She, the queen, was the only one who could do something about it. She could appeal to the king. The problem was that she was only allowed to go into the king's presence if she was called for. Otherwise she could be put to death. So to appeal to the king, she had to risk her life. To try and save all the Jew's lives, she had to forget about her own life. At first she said, I can't do that! But in the end she said "We'll fast for three days, and then I will go. And if I perish, I perish." She was willing to go to the king on behalf of her people, not knowing what the outcome would be. She didn't say, "I'll only go if I know the king will be happy to see me. I'll only go if there is a happy ending." She went because it was the right thing to do and what God had called her to do. It did have a good outcome and a happy ending.

But that is not always the case. Think of Jim Elliot, Nate Saint and the other guys who were missionaries to the Auca Indians. They did the same thing as Esther. They risked their lives to take the gospel to the Auca's. "If I perish, I perish." They had to obey God not knowing what the outcome would be. They were all killed. It was not the outcome they hoped for. But through their deaths, eventually that tribe was won! The mission was still accomplished, just not the way they had hoped.

Think of Joseph. He had integrity and did what was right when Potiphar's wife tried to get him to sin. And what was the outcome? Prison for at least two years! But eventually there was a good outcome.

Then there were the disciples. Jesus' death on the cross was not the outcome they expected! It seemed like a terrible ending. But through it a way was made for us to be saved!

What about you? Are you bitter because of an unexpected outcome? Are you willing to obey God and follow his plan for your life, no matter what happens? Are you like Esther, "If I perish, I perish?"

Loving Like Lydia

 Lydia and I were walking down the main street on our way to her eye test. I saw a man ahead of us and thought, "He looks creepy, I'll avoid him." Lydia also noticed him. As we passed him, she gave him her friendliest wave and a loud Hello. Straight away I felt convicted as I noticed the contrast in mine and Lydia's reactions. I had thought, That person is scary, so I'll treat him likewise. Whereas Lydia had thought, There's a person, I'll say Hello! 

Lydia has no sense of danger and it's not wrong to be careful. But I realized that I have the tendency to mentally categorize all people and treat them accordingly. There's a friend, I'll say Hello. That person looks strange, I won't talk to them. That person is unusual, I'll stay away from them. That person is old, that person is from a different culture, that person is different to me, that person has a big accent, that person isn't dressed very nicely and so on.

Instead I should be like Lydia and also like Jesus. I should think, There's a human being, I'll treat them kindly. There's a person that God created, I'll show love to them. There's a person with a soul, I'll be friendly. There's a person that God cares about, I'll care about them too.

Jesus didn't stay away from people who were different to Him. If He had, He'd have to stay away from everyone! He showed love to lepers, tax collectors, harlots, crazy men and all people considered 'bad.' He cared about EVERYONE. 

    When James was talking about treating everyone equally, he said, Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? James 2:4

But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin and are convinced of the law as transgressors. James 2:9

Love like Lydia!

Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone

On Thursday night we went to the Community Dinner in our church hall. (People from our church all help with this, but it is my husband, Johan, who organizes it and who leads it each time.) There was a big group of people there from the community, mostly elderly people. But one person who had said they were coming was missing. We got told that he had passed away a few days earlier. We were sad and shocked. This man had been coming to the Little Haven for the last 6 months (The Little Haven is a building we have in the middle of town which is set up as a drop in center). We had been seeing him every Friday and even though he was old, it was very unexpected.

It made me feel sad, but it also made me realize how important the Little Haven is. For the last 6 months of his life, this man heard the gospel regularly. Although we don't know his heart or if he responded, we know he heard it--he had the opportunity.

I help Johan at the Little Haven each Friday. We serve tea, coffee and biscuits and a hot lunch at 12. Johan usually shares a few words from the Bible before he gives thanks for the food. I help with the cooking and the dishes, while Johan talks to the people. One Thursday a month we cook a meal for the Golden Oldies (Senior Citizens). And lately we have been open every second Sunday afternoon to share more about the Bible.

The truth is, although I do enjoy it, I never feel like going! It is out of my comfort zone and I would rather stay at home. It takes time and energy--there's a lot of dishes! It is a time commitment and a small sacrifice. I sometimes grudge that.

But it is so important! It is giving people--especially people who are close to death--the opportunity to be saved. It is giving them another chance.

Lord, help me to willingly give my time and energy so others can have a chance to hear the gospel. Help me to love these people and care about them. Help me to be more friendly and warm. Help me to remember that every time I see them may be the last.

What kind of ministry has God given you? I hope this encourages you that it IS important and it IS worth the sacrifice!

Comforting Others--Do We Have to Know What It's Like?

  Thoughts on 2 Corinthians 1:3-11 (part 6)

"...that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble,..." 2 Corinthians 1:4

7. We can comfort others in ANY trouble.
Have you ever felt like you can't help somebody because you don't know what it's like to go through what they're going through? It's easy to feel helpless because we don't know what to say.
In the last 5 years, I have gone through some hard times. Our fourth baby was born with Down Syndrome and heart problems. Her first year we were in hospital as much as we were home. Then two years ago, I had two miscarriages in a row. There were a lot of people who helped and encouraged us through both of these hard times. Yet in the first case, most of those people didn't know what it was like to have a baby with Down Syndrome or with heart problems. There were a few who did, and it was very nice to talk to those people and ask them questions. But the people who didn't know, were also a great help and comfort to us. 

When I had my miscarriages, I discovered that a lot of my friends had also had one at some point. It was so nice to talk to those who had been through something similar. But the people who didn't know what it was like, were just as helpful. My sisters, who don't know what it's like to even have their own child, were a comfort to me.They sent me flowers, chocolates, loving messages and encouraging songs etc.  My mum came and stayed the second time and helped me out with babysitting etc. She didn't know what it was like, but she was a huge help and comfort to me just by being there for me and doing what she could.
 I have never lost someone really close to me, so I don't know what that's like. But that doesn't mean that I can't be a help to someone who has suffered in that way. I can't say, "I know how you feel" or "I know what it's like," but I can say, "I'm so sorry, that must be awful." I can still send them loving messages or cards, give them a hug, pray for them or help in some practical way. I might feel lost as in what to say, but I can help just by being there and showing I care.
Whatever you have been through or haven't been through, you can be a comfort and a help to others who need it. 

Choose When You Don't Feel

 Some times it's easy to be loving, cheerful, content, happy, thankful, prayerful, confident, patient, kind, hardworking, generous, unselfish, faithful in Bible reading etc. It's easy to be those things when we feel like being them.

But other times it's plain difficult. We feel discontent, lazy, miserable, scared, frustrated, greedy, unkind, grumpy. We don't feel like reading the Bible or praying. What do we do then?
I have found that I can't change or choose my feelings. But I can choose my actions. I can choose to act cheerful, to pray, to read the Bible, to trust God, to give, to speak kindly, to do some work etc. And when I do those things, often feeling follows. Not always--sometimes we just have to wait it out, have a rest, get a good nights sleep or deal with whatever is causing those feelings.
 But often when I choose to be cheerful, I start to feel more happyl. When I choose to be kind, I start to feel more loving. When I choose to pray, I feel like praying more. When I choose to get busy with jobs, I start to feel more motivated. When I choose to count my blessings, I start to feel more thankful.

God Comforts Us ...

Thoughts on 2 Corinthians 1:3-11 (part 2)
2. God comforts us to make us comforters.
"...the God of all comfort;
Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble,..."
God doesn't comfort us just to make us comfortable, but so that we can comfort others. 
Here are two definitions of comfort that I found.
1. to lessen the sadness or sorrow of someone and to strengthen by inspiring with hope and restoring a cheerful outlook.
2. to give strength and hope to.
Are you sharing the comfort that God has given you? Are you a comforter?

Useful or Comfortable?

I found a nice picture book of Florence Nightingale in a second hand shop. Last night I was reading it, and although it was made for children, it really spoke to me.
She grew up in a very wealthy family and was expected to enjoy a comfortable easy life. Instead she was unhappy at all the misery of the poor and sick around her. To the horror of her family, she spent her life helping better other people's lives.

The last paragraph of the book is very touching. 
It would have been easy for Florence Nightingale to live a life of comfort. Instead, she lived as she believed she should, working hard to help others. Her determination to be useful became an example for the entire world.

Compared to most people in the world, I am also very rich. I have a Christian heritage, a stable marriage and home, church family and friends, the Bible, a home in Heaven, a relationship with God, a house to live in, food on the table, clothes to wear and so on.
Am I like Florence or the rest of her family? Do I just sit back and enjoy the comforts? Or do I care about others and their needs? Do I sacrifice my time, money, energy, talents etc. to help others physically and spiritually? Is it my desire to be useful or comfortable?
 God didn't put me on this earth to enjoy myself and be comfortable. He put me here to serve Him and others. That takes sacrifice.
I am very thankful for all the blessings I have, and I do enjoy and appreciate them. But I don't want to be selfish and not care about people who don't have what I have. I can't help everybody, but I can share what I can with who I can, and God can bless it.

"For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom  for many." Mark 10:45

Loving and Using

How easy it is to get things mixed up! Instead of loving people and using things, we love our things and use people. 

This is my prayer.

The Conductor's Mistake--Audio Story

An old story of a conductor who mistreats one of the men on board the train because he looks poor and lame. He is horrified when he finds out who the man really is! A story about how we should treat everyone with kindness.

Keep Planting

Planting seeds is risky! Not all seeds grow and your money, time and work can be wasted. But how do plants grow without someone taking that risk? What would our world look like if no one planted seeds?
Plant seeds are not the only seeds we can sow. We can sow seeds of kindness, love, and friendship. Seeds of the gospel. We plant seeds in our children's lives. Seeds of truth, wisdom, the Bible, and all the different things we can teach them. We plant seeds in our own life by reading and meditating on God's Word etc.
Seeds don't sprout up immediately. They take a lot of time, patience and consistent care. 
I am not a patient person. I like to see results. Immediately!!
These verses have been a big help to me, encouraging me to keep going, keep planting and have hope that at least some of the seeds will grow.

He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.
As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.
In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.  Ecclesiastes 11:4-6

Keep on planting good seeds and water them faithfully with prayer. It is the only way to reap a harvest.