the trash brigade

They say that many hands make the work light. Even little hands. Teaching my kids to have a servant's heart at a young age is very important to me, and they think it is a special treat to get to help.

For some reason, our road gets to be the dumping ground for beer cans and McDonalds cups, and since the snow has finally melted, all that rubbish has been uncovered. My kiddos are ready to be outside more enjoying the sun, even if it is not too warm yet. After a long morning with them not wanting to take naps, we decided to head outdoors and start making good use of our time. I gave each kid a bag…the girls were my "trash girls" and my little man was in charge of the aluminum cans. (We might as well turn the cans in and get something for the effort). The kids thought it was a blast cleaning up trash. We walked to the next farm in each direction and completely filled three trash bags full of junk. We plan to hit a few more sections of road in the next few weeks, but the section we did the other day sure has made a difference.

And my little helpers did make the work so much more enjoyable!

the cost

I've had some requests to start blogging again, so I will intro 2014 with some thoughts of late.

I am reading three books right now, and those combined have given some great insight and urgency into my life. David Platt's Follow Me; Adoniram Judson, a biography of America's first missionary, who served in Burma; and Fit to Serve by Coach Powers.

My dear friend Noel, serving as a missionary to the Czech Republic, gave me Coach Powers' book to read and it has been very encouraging to my goals to get my body in shape after having three children. Powers states that "humanity is the pinnacle of God's creative work….and our physical fitness is wholeness in the body and within one's spirit." Though we live in a fallen world, God wants to restore as much as possible so that we can accomplish our destiny and finish the race set before us! The point of our strength should not be to impress the world with outwardly beauty but instead to find our strength to serve the Lord with obedience and abundance. I love this line from the book: "The first reason we should become physically fit is because Jesus paid for our freedom." Our bodies are important because, with them, we carry out our mission assignments to further the purposes of his kingdom.

Follow Me. A call to die. A call to live. David is such an incredible writer  - if you haven't read the book yet, I definitely suggest you read it. Reading this book deepens my conviction that in the next ten years other countries will begin sending their missionaries to America, because WE are lost! David has this paragraph from the book that speaks on repentance. "We can't fathom a Christian on the other side of the world believing that a wooden god can save them, but we have no problem believing that religion, money, possessions, food, fame, sex, sports, status, and success can satisfy us. Do we actually think we have fewer idols to let go of in our repentance?" I have many friends who are missionaries, but as the Lord hasn't called us to a foreign mission ground, we are building our ministry here, where I guarantee taking a stand for Jesus will become increasingly more unpopular and controversial. It is imperative that we teach our children to be willing to walk away from everything this earth has to offer and stand for Jesus, even in the face of death.

I found the biography of Adoniram Judson in the church library. The more I read the more my heart wanted to know about him and his journey. Judson was the first foreign missionary from America, and his heart was for the people of Burma. His translation of the Bible into the native Burmese language is still the only Bible translation for the Burmese people. His life was filled with heartache, starting with the miscarriage of his first child on the boat from America, the loss of his wife Ann, and two more of their children. Judson remarried a widowed missionary's wife named Sarah, who also died along with four more of their children. Judson remarried while in America to Emily Chubbock who returned to Burma with Judson, where their daughter Emily Frances was born. In 1850, Judson's wife Emily would lose both 61-year old Judson, and their newborn son Charles within ten days of one another. Two years later she would die at the age of 36. To love a people so much as to sacrifice everything so that they know Christ is what this life is truly all about! To this day, there are still people risking their lives to save the Karen and Kachin people of Burma, and they need our prayers!

To bring it home, when you give it all to Christ, it all is for his glory. He knows what will bring to him the greatest glory, and we submit ourselves to his mission, and pray for those who are lost. My dear friend Pat was such a man, and his wife Cheryl is so strong in Jesus that even in her loss she brings hope. I look at Emily and Judson….and Pat and Cheryl….and know that serving with your spouse in the greatest journey on earth is never for naught. The cost is great.