It's in the small things

God is in the details.  The small, almost hidden details.

And that is where I find His tenderness the most dear.

Today my heart grieved as I lost my friend Caitlin to a battle with cancer.  And it broke again because I knew I would have to tell my nine students that she died.  My sweet students who have been praying for Caitlin since day one.  The students who raise their hands in church and ask for prayer for Caitlin.  My students who I had to grieve with last April over the loss of their classmate, Marissa.  And I had to tell them that Caitlin was gone.

And as I sat during nap time, rubbing the back of a crying child I prayed and asked, What can I do?  What can I do to help them?  To help them see You in this.  To see the joy.

Then I thought of the Celebration Cake.  I follow a blog by author Katie Ganshert.  And she is having a Pinterest contest/war with another author Becky Wade.  Their contest this week was making a Celebration Cake.

We could make a celebration cake.  Today.  Now.  In the sadness.   To celebrate that Jesus died so that we could have eternal life.  To celebrate that Caitlin rests in Jesus. To celebrate that we will see her again at Christ's return.  To celebrate her life.  To celebrate Jesus.  To celebrate the joy in the sadness.

So we did.  Box cake.  Container of frosting.

  Sprinkles

















Popsicle sticks with pom-poms.
















We celebrated with tears and laughter.

Here is what amazes me.  Here is God in the details.

The Celebration Cake contest was this week.  This week.
Matthew had to run home in the middle of the day (today) to meet an house insurance person, so he was able to grab the cake supplies for me.
I had cake supplies because of an event I am planning.
I have been trying to focus more on joy because of the Joy Dare and 1000 Gifts and in this when I was trying to focus on it I thought of the Celebration Cake.

Small, insignificant cluster of blogs, cake supplies, Bible study reading 1000 Gifts, and an insurance visit.  But I feel that they were designed by God, to bring comfort to my students and I in this sadness.

I know there will be more things.  More God moments.  I await to see His face in all things.  Because God is here.


1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.  For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.  For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.  Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Handouts?

You've seen them standing on the side of a road.  The cardboard sign.   "Out of work.  Need help.  God bless."  Or some variation.



And I always feel a tug.  When I was in high school I read a book by Melody Carlson about a girl, Chloe who wants to help the people she encounters asking for money or help without giving money.

See, it's always a question...what are the people going to do with the money?  I'm sure there are many arguments entangled with that question, but I think it's kind of a valid question.  But then it brings up another question.  What do you do then, when you are driving through somewhere and you see someone by a stoplight, asking for help?

In the book Chloe goes and buys McDonald's books that have the $1 gift certificate tear-outs.  So instead of handing out a couple dollars, she hands them a couple of $1 gift certificates and feels that she has given them help to get food, without giving cash.



Personally, I thought it was perfect.  So Matthew and I did that.  We bought some books and kept them in our cars to pass out.  And we did!  It seemed a perfect little solution...until McDonald's decided to stop selling those.  (I don't know if all of them have, but ours did.)

So for a while now we've had nothing in our cars. And we don't carry cash.  So there was nothing to give.

Then...there was Pinterest.

One day I was scanning along at ideas when I was stopped by this one.


And so a new idea has been born.  Today we bought the supplies. We didn't do it exactly like what was shown, but...it was a great start.  I loved the three basics.  Feed their needs, provide warmth, and feed their souls.














We now each have four gallon ziplock bags in our cars.  Something for physical needs (toothbrush, soap, snacks) and something for their spiritual needs (Steps to Christ.)  We didn't include winter stuff because winter is headed out of here, but when it gets that time we'll be picking some up to add.



I was laying out the supplies today and sorting them into bags and Matthew said, "Where did you get this idea again?"  I smiled, "Pinterest."  We laughed because he often asks me that when I'm trying something new and that is often the answer.  But here's to say that Pinterest has good things and I hope that in sharing this you are inspired to find your own way to help those in need.

Matthew 25

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Joy Dare

I am doing the Joy Dare this year.  I thought I would share some of the joys so far.

9- "If you need more rice, ask me."
12- The moose in the blue dawn.
13- Luke 11:1-4 Knowing Jesus wants me to ask.
15- Northern lights at -1 degrees.
19- Jason grocery shopping for me.
25- Willa
29- Getting to be part of the Wishing on Willows launch team.
32- Sabbath celebration candles
57- Standing upfront singing with my students.  I love my students so much.  It amazes me.
63- Reading Frankie's Orange with Caitlin.
70- My Bible
74- Real friendships, good friendship in Ckvl.
75- The love of Jesus from Tai Tai
78- Contra-dancing for two hours! So much fun!
88- My guest bathroom as a shelter from tornado.
92- Seeing Mama.
103- The hugs of my little students
113- Cheryle to help grade papers.
138- Handprint tree from Caitlin (Dominic's sister).
140- Hope in giving to Ganshert adoption.
148- Ckvl

We shall be called...

In December Matthew and I went to an Andrew Peterson concert.  Before intermission he shared that he had recently been on tour with Steven Curtis Chapman.  During the Steven Curtis Chapman concerts they would play a video about Show Hope.  

Here is a similar video:


And as Andrew Peterson watched it night after night on tour he began to feel the need to do something.  To be a part of the adoption miracle.  So he went home (from being away on tour for weeks while his wife was at home alone with their three children), put down his bags, and said, "We need to adopt."  At the concert he laughed and said, "I'm not going to share what happened next."  His point was that, while he was moved about adoption, he and his family are not the ones called to adopt.  However.  And this is a HUGE however.  He believes that everyone is called to do something to help.  



James 1:27 says, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

We may not be able to take an orphan or widow into our homes, but we can look after them. 

 “One of Show Hope’s biggest needs is sponsors and they need people willing to step up and give so that these children can find homes,” he shares. “For me to get to work with Show Hope and to be a small part in building the kingdom in this way, to show these children the love of Jesus, is profoundly moving,” Peterson continues. “It’s a small price to pay for a blessing that big.”

I review books and in part of that I have come to know an author, Katie Ganshert.  Through her blog and facebook updates I have read about her and her family as they move toward adopting a beautiful child from the DR Congo in Africa.

They, like many families who adopt, fund-raise  apply for grants, and do what they can to raise the money so they can fund the adoption process.  Adoption isn't cheap, but that's where the rest of us come in.  We can help.

One of the Gansherts' fundraisers involves a 500 piece puzzle.  Each puzzle piece can be sponsored for $10 and your name, or whoever's name you want written, will be written on the back.  Here is what they Gansherts wrote:

"When the puzzle is all put together, we will frame it in a double-sided glass frame and hang it in our little one's bedroom.

And someday....someday.....when our child's old enough to understand, we'll take that frame off the wall and we'll snuggle up in a chair and we'll turn that picture around and we'll point at all the names. I'll read each one out loud and with this precious child wrapped in my arms, I'll whisper, "Look how much you were loved. Look at how much you were wanted. Look at all these people who helped bring you home."

Maybe you aren't called to adopt.  But you are called to help.  To show love to the orphans.

I encourage you to be a piece of the puzzle, a piece of the miracle of adoption.

You can go through Show Hope to help sponsor grants for families who are adopting, or you can find families to support individually.

But do something.  Be Christ's hands and feet.


ps. This is day one of the Ganshert puzzle



And this is day ten:


There are still 315 puzzle pieces to go.  Doesn't it thrill your soul to see those puzzle pieces?  To know that each one is someone saying, "I love you, I care for you little child even though I don't know you."

Matthew and I sponsored on the first day.  We knew it was something we had to be a part of.  I want that little child to know, when he or she sees our names that they were loved by strangers and prayed for by strangers--that are all a part of the body of Christ.

Won't you consider being a part of the miracle of adoption?

Focus

When I was fifteen I went on a summer trip with the summer-school workers.  During that time I was uncertain about how to handle a certain friendship.  I wasn't sure if I could trust them, or even should.  I was praying about it. On that trip we visited a little white church.  I picked up the Bible in the front pew pocket and flipped open to Psalm 146 and read verse 3, "Do not put your trust in princes, in moral men who cannot save."



Sitting in that pew, holding a Bible that was not my own, I felt a little shocked to have such a clear answer that I did not want to hear.  I wanted to hear that I could trust this person and that the future was clear.  When I got to my own Bible, I underlined that verse.

Recently I have been laying open my heart to God, asking Him why people can be so cruel--whether intentionally or not.  I prayed for peace.  I wrote in my prayer journal, "Jesus, I need Your peace.  I really, really do....Help me to focus on You, You, You.  Let me love You and listen with all that I am. I need to mediate more on You and Your Word.  More on You."  And then I sat there.  Feeling the anxiety and restlessness  rise up in my heart.

So I opened the Bible.  And I was given Psalm 146.

I am not to trust in princes, in people, who cannot save.
I am blessed if God is my help and my hope is in the Lord.
God alone is faithful forever.
He will provide for me, and set me free.  (Free, free.  Oh, God, could it be possible to be free of the heartache?)
Eyes to see, lifted up--loved by the Lord.
The defenseless provided for.  My weakness will be protected by His strength and love.
The wicked frustrated.
Focus my eyes on Him who reigns.



That was five days ago.

Yesterday I was reading Calm My Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow and God spoke again.

This time it was from Jeremiah 17:5-8

"Thus says the Lord, 'Cursed is the man who trust in mankind and makes flesh his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord.  For he will be like a bush in the desert and will not see when prosperity comes, but will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, a land of salt without inhabitant.'



'Blessed is the man who trust in the Lord, and who trust is in he Lord.  For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit.'"



I have been more worried about what others say, think of me, say behind my back, etc. than trusting in God.  Where has my focus been?  My focus has been on if man is pleased with me then I feel satisfied and fulfilled. And because of that I have been a dry bush.

This morning He spoke again.

In Luke 12:4-7

"I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more.  But I will show you whom you should fear; Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell.  Yes, I tell you, fear him.  Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies?  Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.  Indeed, the very hairs of your heard are all numbered.  Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."



I have been more worried about others than about how God feels about my actions, in-actions  etc.  I have been basing my emotions on people instead of God.  I am fearing the wrong thing.  God controls my destiny, not man.

And then the part that made my heart constrict with joy and painful longing, "Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."



God has not forgotten me.  No, instead He loves me so very much.  I need to focus my eyes on Him.  Human love may come and go, but His love remains.  I am not forgotten.  I am loved.

Part of this morning's journal entry: "Why/how is it on certain day, certain passages overwhelm me with Your love? Thank You."

From fifteen to twenty-six apparently I am learning the same lesson.  Where is my focus going to be?  On men or on God?  Do I want to be a dried up bush?  Or a tree planted by a water, that never fears?