Hello my bloggie friends. I have so must to tell you about what I have learned in the next week, but for tonight you will have to make due with a new poem ...


Child of Mine

Child of mine
Lend me your ear
Come, cast down your sorrows
Let go of your fears
Deny the world’s lies
For they are not real
Trade them in now
For my truths revealed
For I know of your weakness
Your fears and your pride
I know how you stumble
I’ve heard when you cried
I know all your secrets
So, stop trying to hide
From your Father who loves you
Who in you resides
It’s time to go deeper
To surrender it all
To let go of your life
And answer my call
For you are my child
Held tight in my hand
Come, there are truths
You must understand
By me you are cherished
Your appointment’s divine
I formed, made, and chose you
At the beginning of time
You’re called for a purpose
Nothing’s by chance
You’re not defined
By your circumstance
So come now surrender
Just lay it all down
Stop chasing things
That just can’t be found
For I am sufficient
I’m all that you need
I’m your protector, your healer,
Come rest at my feet
For I am waiting
I’m drawing you near
It’s time to go deeper
You’ve nothing to fear.

May we all go deeper ... deeper in love with God ... deeper in obedience to God ... deeper in relationship to God ... deeper in God's Word .... and may we do it with excitement and dedication.

Lisa

I want to share a post that another friend of mine just shared on Facebook. I think that it paints an amazing perspective of hope and faith when facing a problem that is so big it feels impossible to face or do anything about. She is a missionary and writes about the trying to make a difference in the poverty of Costa Rica.

“I’m gonna go fight poverty for two and a half hours. Two and a half hours on a Tuesday morning to solve the biggest problem in the world. What a joke. We will show up with a bag full of bread and an armload of bananas, and the children will clamber around us like ducks at a pond. A bunch of little ducklings, falling all over each other for a bit of bread and a soft pat on the head.

And for 2 and a half hours we will laugh and play and eat, and we will talk about Jesus. And when we leave, they will be just as poor as when we arrived. Poverty taunts us as we drive away. It’s overwhelming. The problem is so big, and we are so small. It feels ridiculous… showing up to war wielding a loaf of bread.

Of course that’s how David showed up. Just a shepherd boy with some bread for his brothers, a kid who was quick with a sling shot. He chose for battle against a giant, not a sword, or the kings armor, but five smooth stones. And he won.

He said to the giant:”You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” ~1 Samuel 17

I kind of love that. I’m going to feed the ducks, now. And then, with all my might, I will hurl a tiny pebble at their giant enemy. And I hope it hurts like hell.“

And I love that.

So pick up your pebbles, people. Here we go...

First, I think that each of us should hurl some pebbles at this massive giant ... see my last post for a great way to do so ... BUT think this also holds an superb truth for us in every day life ... what giants are you facing? A friend of mine just found out she has breast cancer ... hurl some pebbles. Another is lost in a marriage that desperately needs healing ... hurl some pebbles. Another has grown bitter over the years and just can't seem to find her way back to peace ... hurl some pebbles. What battle are you running from? Stop, take a deep breath, remember who is fighting with you, and hurl some pebbles!

Lisa

When Words Make a Difference

There are so many times that I log on and see all those hearts on the map and wonder about each one of you. I wonder who you are ... what your lives are like ... if you really stop in a read the ramblings of this Arizona girl. I wonder if God speaks to you through these words ... and I wonder if these words make a difference at all. I have shared so many moments of my life and learning. I have been transparent with total strangers ... and have loved reading the blogs of those who post here. Funny how we can share this cyber-life here together.

Today's blog is going to be a bit different, and I would ask that you read all the way through and then pray about being part of this most amazing opportunity ... I am, and will be praying, that God raises up people to do so.

It all begins with an amazing couple of people who started a non-profit called Remember the Poor that seeks to provide for the people of Uganda in Africa. They work tirelessly to make a difference and provide ways for others to do the same. Enter another amazing family that has started a church called The Mission, who's focus is reaching the lost and reaching out the the orphans and widows of this world. Working hand in hand, God has used these people to bring an opportunity of compassion and love to anyone that is interested. You see, this small group of people is doing something amazing, they are working to support an orphanage in Kisii, Kenya.

This orphanage is run by a man and his wife that have such hearts for these lost children. They have taken them in and are doing everything they can to provide food and education for these kids, but they do need help. That is where we come in. God is moving to provide for these kids through whomever is willing! I could pause here to tell you stories of poverty that would fill your heart with sorrow, show you pictures that would break your heart ... but I won't. There is really no way to truly understand the depth of it unless you go there and witness their reality through the window of ours here in America. It is horrible. It is uncomfortable. It is easier to ignore, than to bear the weight of the truth of it. I know. I too have struggled with it, struggled with choosing to see what is happening there ... embracing the reality of it ... to let it sink into my soul and be unsettled about it. This is not about guilt though ... instead it is about Love ... it is about using what we have to help others ... to be God's hands and feet ... to be a blessing ... to build relationships. This is an opportunity to help children who are in need of help. Let me introduce you to a couple of them.

Meet Brian.

Diana ...


And Norah.

These are just 3 of the 15 children that need sponsors. You can sponsor their food and medical care or their school tuition (they are required to pay tuition by the government if they are to go to school) or both. A partial sponsorship is $45 a month, and a full sponsorship (food, medical, and tuition) is $90 a month. Your donation would be processed through Remember the Poor and will be 100% tax deductible. The best part is that teams from the states go out a few times a year and you are encouraged to send your child letters, photos, and small gifts. They will know you as their family here in the states ... you will have the chance to build relationships with a child on the other side of this earth ... to this child, you will be God's hands and feet. My family is going to sponsor one of the children partially (it is what we can do right now) anyone want to take the other half and help us to sponsor him/her fully? This world is really not such a big place, and we as humanity are really not that different from one another ... these children ... they are like our own ... young, fun-loving, and God's treasures ... would you please pray about helping?

If you are so led, please click on this link (The Mission) to go and fill out a form online. Message me if you want to join me in making the sponsorship of one of these children full.

May God's will be the object of your heart's desire ...

Lisa

A Little Too Much Me

I was listening to a Sermon yesterday and the Pastor was talking about letting God permeate all of your life. How He must be the center and all things us must be wrapped around and flow through Him, that His glory might be know to others ... to the nations ... to the lost that do not know Him yet. His graphic organizer of this was a set of concentric circles with God at the middle, and I as I sat looking at that set of nested circles I began to see how much like an onion I am and how much more there is that I have not surrendered. I can look at the layers on the floor and call them by name ... my children, my marriage, my work, my tongue, my health and so on. It is easy to look at the pile and remember the sometimes painful separations as these layers were peeled from me through times of deep learning and relinquished to my King ... mine and no longer mine ... these area's of my life are such blessings to me now. It is easy to forget that there is still so much more to me on the cutting board. The deeper, inner parts still so tightly bound to each other that I am not even sure how to call them by name. What are these parts that I have yet to surrender, and why do I tense up a little at the thought of doing so. Why does the idea of surrender bring trepidation, when the result brings such peace? I don't think it is the letting go. I don't think it is the fear that the Lord will be surprised or wouldn't want to the part that I am giving. I don't think it is the fear of having those deepest parts named and revealed. I think it is more a desire to not loose myself, an innate instinct to preserve self ... combined with an ominous fear over just how much is left hidden in reserve if I did daily ask the Lord to take every peace of me ... to peal back layers one by one ... carving daily a piece of self that I might get to the heart of all those circles.

How funny is it that my human response to surrender focuses on and responds to the process or surrender versus the rewards? Intellectually I get it, intellectually I want it ... but, my heart lingers pulled in a daily tug-of-war to surrender or to control. What I do know is the LORD is firm in His stance. He wants me all ... every layer surrendered. He is not a God of pieces ... He is a God of all or nothing ... black or white ... and although He is patient and waits for our hearts to align to His will ... he will not settle for anything but everything. It all comes down to daily surrender ... beginning with praying daily that He would show me that which I am holding onto ... that He would ask and take each layer ... naming it ... claiming it ... and receiving it for His glory. By daily praying for less of me, and more of Him. By willing releasing my grasp on control and letting Him have His will, with me standing in the middle of it ... instead of opposition to it.

We all have these layers. Layers that are too cherished. Layers that are too painful to release. Layers that are too comfortable. Layers that feel like they would just tear our world in two if we just gave in. Hurts that are held to long, when forgiveness feels like to big a pill to swallow. Areas of pride, that bring selfish pleasure ... rather than eternal glory. Addictions, gossip, the glittery trappings of the world, big things, little things ... things named and unnamed. I think the overwhelming fear is not that God would not take them and relieve us of them ... but that He would.

Oh Lord, search me and expose me. Call to my heart, mind, and soul the desire to let go ... to die daily in self ... to stand in your will when it comes to surrender instead of opposition. Bring me to a daily understanding of what it means to really belong to you ...

Lisa