On Monday night our small group was able to complete the second part of our Generosity Project, which was to meet the family in person and deliver the care packages to their home. The family is moving from home to home and they desperately needed bed supplies such as sleeping bags, pillows, sheets, air mattresses, etc. since they never know where they will be sleeping.
All in all, the night was a complete success! Everyone in our small group, except for one couple, was able to make it to the family's home to deliver the care packages. The mom did not speak English so our group member Amy was able to translate for us the whole time and we were soooo thankful that she could do that for us. The family was so overjoyed with the new bed/sleeping items and you could see a huge burden had been lifted off of the mother.
We spent the evening talking with the mom and the kids and ended up driving over to Wendy's to get the family some frosty's and some hamburgers for dinner. When we arrived back at the home, another woman was now there. She was the sister of the dad. She and her family live next door to the family we were helping and their home was horribly damaged too. She asked our group if we would be able to help her too. We immediately told her we would do everything that we could to help her family too. Our small group leaders knew of another small group that was looking for a family to help, so we are hoping that we will be able to pair them up. If not, then we will be going back over there this weekend to help the other family out.
It was so amazing to see Jesus in action and to see where Jesus really wants our hearts and priorities to be - in serving Him and in loving people. It is so easy to get caught up in this world and the typical American dream of having cars, owning a home, having a nice job, having kids, etc. But when that becomes your main focus in life, that is a huge problem. We need to forget about the "American Dream" and seek the Kingdom of Heaven. I have to constantly remind myself of this when I start to get preoccupied with things of this earth.
The world constantly tries to tell us what is important in life and most often it is in direct opposition to what Jesus says is important. We are aliens here. We are not supposed to be comfortable here...this is not our home. I know this to be true yet it is so hard to do it sometimes. I have to daily check myself and make sure that I am seeking the will of the LORD and not the will of Carissa or Jared or the world. Why spend time and money fixing up our own place (that is perfectly fine and though small on American standards, is much more than what most of the world has) when we could be using our time and money to help others who really need it.
The Bible study that our group just completed was about generosity, giving the way Jesus intends us to, viewing our possessions the way they ought to be viewed, and knowing that Jesus is our true Provider. It is so easy to say that Jesus is our true provider, but it is so hard to actually live like that or to actually "put your money where your mouth is." What I learned from the study was to give what Jesus wants you to give...give beyond what feels comfortable and what makes sense...give even when it feels scary to give...give in faith...knowing that Jesus will be your Provider (Jehovah Jirah) and that in Him you can trust...not your bank account, not your stocks, not your assets, not your jobs, not yourselves.
The family that we helped did not have a home...their home was infested with mold and completely unlivable and they had 4 children under the age of 14. All of their possessions were lost and ruined. Yet I at times have the audacity to complain that I don't have the bedroom furniture that I want or that we need to get our 401k higher or that I would really like to get a new car or whatever. I have known Jesus for so long and yet I still need Him to continually reach into my soul and flush the evil and selfishness out. I need Him to constantly give me His heart and His vision. Ugh...the flesh is so frustrating!!
My journey with Christ has been so awesome, yet at times it feels like it has been so long and so exhausting, and I feel a lot of it has to do with me wanting to do what I want to do and what feels easy and comfortable and being selfish and prideful and hateful. I undulate from the times when I am walking so closely with Christ and the times when I hardly open the Bible. It doesn't make any sense how one can be so close to Christ and then so far away. But the journey is not over and I am so grateful that Christ will never leave us. What a huge sigh of relief will be uttered when we are finally in heaven with Christ with our new bodies...holy as He is holy... at the feet of our LORD...finally!
All in all, the night was a complete success! Everyone in our small group, except for one couple, was able to make it to the family's home to deliver the care packages. The mom did not speak English so our group member Amy was able to translate for us the whole time and we were soooo thankful that she could do that for us. The family was so overjoyed with the new bed/sleeping items and you could see a huge burden had been lifted off of the mother.
We spent the evening talking with the mom and the kids and ended up driving over to Wendy's to get the family some frosty's and some hamburgers for dinner. When we arrived back at the home, another woman was now there. She was the sister of the dad. She and her family live next door to the family we were helping and their home was horribly damaged too. She asked our group if we would be able to help her too. We immediately told her we would do everything that we could to help her family too. Our small group leaders knew of another small group that was looking for a family to help, so we are hoping that we will be able to pair them up. If not, then we will be going back over there this weekend to help the other family out.
It was so amazing to see Jesus in action and to see where Jesus really wants our hearts and priorities to be - in serving Him and in loving people. It is so easy to get caught up in this world and the typical American dream of having cars, owning a home, having a nice job, having kids, etc. But when that becomes your main focus in life, that is a huge problem. We need to forget about the "American Dream" and seek the Kingdom of Heaven. I have to constantly remind myself of this when I start to get preoccupied with things of this earth.
The world constantly tries to tell us what is important in life and most often it is in direct opposition to what Jesus says is important. We are aliens here. We are not supposed to be comfortable here...this is not our home. I know this to be true yet it is so hard to do it sometimes. I have to daily check myself and make sure that I am seeking the will of the LORD and not the will of Carissa or Jared or the world. Why spend time and money fixing up our own place (that is perfectly fine and though small on American standards, is much more than what most of the world has) when we could be using our time and money to help others who really need it.
The Bible study that our group just completed was about generosity, giving the way Jesus intends us to, viewing our possessions the way they ought to be viewed, and knowing that Jesus is our true Provider. It is so easy to say that Jesus is our true provider, but it is so hard to actually live like that or to actually "put your money where your mouth is." What I learned from the study was to give what Jesus wants you to give...give beyond what feels comfortable and what makes sense...give even when it feels scary to give...give in faith...knowing that Jesus will be your Provider (Jehovah Jirah) and that in Him you can trust...not your bank account, not your stocks, not your assets, not your jobs, not yourselves.
The family that we helped did not have a home...their home was infested with mold and completely unlivable and they had 4 children under the age of 14. All of their possessions were lost and ruined. Yet I at times have the audacity to complain that I don't have the bedroom furniture that I want or that we need to get our 401k higher or that I would really like to get a new car or whatever. I have known Jesus for so long and yet I still need Him to continually reach into my soul and flush the evil and selfishness out. I need Him to constantly give me His heart and His vision. Ugh...the flesh is so frustrating!!
My journey with Christ has been so awesome, yet at times it feels like it has been so long and so exhausting, and I feel a lot of it has to do with me wanting to do what I want to do and what feels easy and comfortable and being selfish and prideful and hateful. I undulate from the times when I am walking so closely with Christ and the times when I hardly open the Bible. It doesn't make any sense how one can be so close to Christ and then so far away. But the journey is not over and I am so grateful that Christ will never leave us. What a huge sigh of relief will be uttered when we are finally in heaven with Christ with our new bodies...holy as He is holy... at the feet of our LORD...finally!
(HOME AT LAST by Danny Hahlbohm)
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