Month: August 2010

Today was another great sermon that directly touched my heart. It was about making prayer a priority. There were two things that stuck out to me although they weren’t bullet points of the sermon.

1) Prayer Brings Accountability

A little boy prays: Dear God – please make me a better boy. But if you don’t that’s okay. I’m having a lot of fun right now!

We might laugh at the honesty of the little boy’s prayer but we’re not necessarily much different. By avoiding intimate prayer – we allow ourselves to continue in our behavior without accountability from Him. If we empty ourselves out – we can allow for the Holy Spirit to fill us up. Then He can guide us – He can lead us. But ridding ourselves of “self” requires us to be honest and forthright with Him.

2) Prayer Can Happen Anywhere, Anytime

I have witnessed first hand the power of prayer. I have seen what Christ can do when we call out His name. Jesus sits on the right hand of God – interceding on our behalf. Have you ever noticed that Jesus is never in a hurry but full of patience and compassion? The only time we see Him running – is to welcome home a lost son.

It’s so much easier to talk about the importance of prayer – to preach about it – than it is to actually do it. We just don’t have time. We have so much noise in our lives. We become too distracted too easily.  We know what we’re “supposed” to do  – but we just don’t make the time to do it. We often think that the only way we can really pray is to set aside a certain amount of time. If we can’t take an entire 15 minutes – then we choose to do it another day. Taking time out to pray is important but prayer can happen anywhere and at anytime.

A reminder of that is a little green dot that is on my watch. We were given a little dot – to put on our cell phone, our watch, or any place that we look at constantly. When we see the dot – we pray on the spot. Pretty easy….

No Time,  Too Much To Do

I knelt to pray but not for long,
I had too much to do.
I had to hurry and get to work
For bills would soon be due.

So I knelt and said a hurried prayer,
And jumped up off my knees.
My Christian duty was now done
My soul could rest at ease…..

All day long I had no time
To spread a word of cheer.
No time to speak of Christ to friends,
They’d laugh at me I’d fear.

No time, no time, too much to do,
That was my constant cry.
No time to give to souls in need
But at last the time, the time to die.

Then before the Lord was I,
I came and stood with downcast eyes.
For in His hands GOD held a book;
It was the “Book Of Life”.

GOD looked into His book and said
“Your name I cannot find.
I once was going to write it down…
But never found the time”

I started watching a movie and the next thing I knew I was dreaming of Kandiance, Pam, Jenny, and Virginia. They were dancing and laughing. They were surrounded by 17 beautiful children…many who took their last breaths in my arms. I remember their little Haitian faces so vividly.

I hadn’t thought about some of them in a long time but their smiling faces and healed bodies brought me to tears even in my sleep. Little Josue was finally walking, Charlie was playing ball, Minoushka was playing patty-cake, Nikea was singing, Mica was hiding behind Janide, Lovedi was crawling, and Meray was no longer swollen from wet malnutrition. I had a total peace come over me and woke up only when Malaya asked me why I was crying. They were sweet, happy tears.

This song kept playing through my head as I thought about them…

When I get where I’m going
on the far side of the sky.
The first thing that I’m gonna do
Is spread my wings and fly.

I’m gonna land beside a lion,
and run my fingers through his mane.
Or I might find out what it’s like
To ride a drop of rain

Chorus
Yeah when I get where I’m going,
there’ll be only happy tears.
I will shed the sins and struggles,
I have carried all these years.
And I’ll leave my heart wide open,
I will love and have no fear.
Yeah when I get where I’m going,
Don’t cry for me down here.

I’m gonna walk with my grandaddy,
and he’ll match me step for step,
and I’ll tell him how I missed him,
every minute since he left.
Then I’ll hug his neck.

(Chorus)

So much pain and so much darkness,
in this world we stumble through.
All these questions, I can’t answer,
so much work to do.

But when I get where I’m going,
and I see my Maker’s face.
I’ll stand forever in the light,
of His amazing grace.
Yeah when I get where I’m going,
there’ll be only happy tears.
Hallelujah!
I will love and have no fear.
When I get where I’m going.

Yeah when I get where I’m going….

There is much suffering in the world – very much. Material suffering is suffering from hunger, suffering from homelessness, from all kinds of disease; but I still think that the greatest suffering is being lonely, feeling unloved, just having no one. I have come more and more to realize that being unwanted is the worst disease that any human being can ever experience.

In these times of development, the whole world runs and is hurried. But there are some who fall down on the way and have no strength to go ahead. These are the ones we must care about. Let us be very sincere in our dealings with each other and have courage to accept each other as we are. Do not be surprised at or become preoccupied with each other’s failure; rather see and find the good in each other, for each one of us is created in the image of God.

-Mother Teresa

***

So often times we think that we have to go to a foreign country – or even down to the inner cities (places where physical suffering is more obvious)- – – in order to really make a difference. It’s simply not true. Perhaps it seems easier to know what to do  – they’re hungry so we feed them. They need clothes? Let me check my closet. But those that suffer in silence – feeling unloved and lonely- that is a ministry just begging for us to be involved in and it can be done ANYWHERE.

Momma Gigi and I took a lunch break today and decided to grab a salad at the Texas Roadhouse. There was a gentleman – perhaps in his 40’s – sitting at a table by himself. There were two menus and the waiter asked if there was someone else joining him? “No. It’s just me. It’s always just me.”

He sat there by himself – fingers tapping the table. He sipped his water and sat in silence. He wasn’t playing with a cell phone, texting, or even looking at the TV. He just seemed to be sitting there – alone.

NOW – most of you might think that what we did is absolutely ridiculous or embarrassing even. But Momma Gigi and I both couldn’t help but feel the nudging from something Greater – so we asked the gentleman if we could join him. Surprised to say the least – he laughed and said “really?”

Steve is from Lexington. He’s never been married and has no children. He works for an insurance company. Every day he eats lunch by himself. He’s a big fan of UK basketball and has always wanted to see a game – but feels weird going by himself. He’s a polite man, very quiet. It felt like you could look right through him. We had an awkward start but ended in a beautiful lunch together. He told me he hasn’t had lunch with someone in months. He thanked us for the conversation and went on his way.

***

How many times have you seen people going to the movies by themselves? Going out to eat by themselves? Or they’re sick and never had anyone visit them? When we were at the hospital with the babies – we had more visitors than we could count on two hands. But the room right next to us – it looked to be a single mom and her child. No one came to see her. No one came and relieved her.

God has challenged me this week to look for those that suffer in the silence that is all around them. To be His face not just to the Haitian people – but to those that walk past me every single day – and I just never noticed…..

There is suffering out there on all levels and in every neighborhood.

Just a matter of whether our hearts are open to seeing it…..and whether we choose to do anything about it.

Today was spent mostly in the ER with Asher and Levi. Asher started getting sick on Friday. By Sunday he was weak and lethargic. So this morning I decided to take him to the ER because he couldn’t keep anything “in”. As I was loading him up – Momma Gigi came out with Levi. While I was with Asher all night – she was up with Levi.

The boys were diagnosed with the Rotavirus! Ugh. Very contagious and a miserable virus to have. There’s not much you can do besides treat the nausea and give IV’s. Nothing you can do for the diarrhea. This is a virus that kills about 2 million children a year. Mostly in under developed countries – like Haiti.

I found myself in tears this morning while we waited in the ER. My dad had given me this book called “In The Heart of The World” – by Mother Teresa. Once the babies had settled down – I opened it and read this story:

A Beautiful Example of Love

A man came to our house and said, “My only child is dying! The doctor has prescribed a medicine that you can only get in England.”

We have permission from our government to store life-saving medicines that are gathered from all over the country. We have many people who go from house to house to gather leftover medicines. And they bring them to us and we give them to our poor people.

While we were talking, a man came in with a basket of medicines. I looked at that basket: right on the top was the very medicine that the man needed for his dying child! If it had been underneath, I wouldn’t have seen it. If he had come earlier or later, I would not have remembered. He came just in time.

As I stood in front of that basket I thought, “There are millions of children in the world, and God is concerned with that little child in Calcutta. To send that man at that very moment! To put that medicine right on the top, so I could see it!”

See God’s tender concern for you and for me! He would do the same thing for each of you.

****

Amazing that I read that story – at the very moment I’m in the ER (and not in Haiti)- where I saw first hand –  that God cares about two little babies named Asher and Levi.