(The backdrop to this website and my blog)
THE REAR VIEW MIRROR
The compilation of stories for my “on-line blog” is dedicated……….to the Lord Jesus who Himself designed each of these “Divine encounters with people.”
God has moved my husband and me twenty-eight times during our married life. Many have laughed with us in these moves and wondered why there have been so many different locations in which He has placed us. I have had no idea, but when God’s hand orchestrates a move, our response has always been yes. After all, it’s all about Him, isn’t it? He knows what He is up to in each of our lives.
After pondering the idea of writing about these many encounters, it “dawned on me” that maybe God wanted all of these stories and interactions of His grace to be exposed to YOUR HEART and LIFE. God has been moving me about ever since I came out of the womb, and I’ve been on the road ever since. How about the “Guided life of a nomad?”
Could it be that all of these moves were strategically intentional, so God’s agenda in my life could be exposed to yours, and that together we might experience His work and momentum in ordinary people like us.…for extraordinary reasons?
I have a deep appreciation for so many precious friends (you know who you are) who have encouraged me to get these memories on paper. I especially am grateful to my husband Peter, who moved me into action and believed that my attempts in writing would stimulate others to intentionally engage in a practical outreach to others.
I love and rejoice that my mother (now with the Lord), not only adopted me and loved me, but modelled how to love without limits in the most practical of ways.
JOY – PLEASURE – DELIGHT – CHEERFUL – GLADNESS
John 15:11 “These things I have spoken to you, that MY JOY may be in YOU, and that YOUR JOY may be may FULL.”
Aren’t these lovely words! They’re full of hope, promise, purpose and power. Our world and the values of our culture, only sparingly offer these fulfilling moments, and they are only valued and appreciated through “positive experiences.”
A good question might be: Can we experience joy, delight, and gladness only when things are going right; or when things are going our way? Perhaps we should consider the words “superficial, momentary and temporary when we reflect on that question. Why? Because exterior happiness can change…because it’s reliant on the circumstance going on around us being good.
Our Creator/God introduces through His word the concept of experiencing a deeper joy, an intrinsic delight, and a gladness that can be ours even when life’s experiences aren’t all fun and games. Life in reality, is a hard pill to swallow if we’re living and looking exclusively for the positive experiences.
God’s joy is an inner experience….an inner reality that’s not dependent upon our circumstances. It’s grounded in the fact that God’s presence brings unseen qualities to wherever we are and in whatever the reality we are travelling through.
Two of God’s many gifts to me have been courage and conviction. I’m a “people person” and through His sovereignty in everyday living, He always moves me out of my “comfort zone.” I’m convinced through the many years of walking with Him, that this is the “highway” He’s directing us to walk.
We’ve all heard the phrase, “bloom where you’re planted.” Well, God has uprooted and planted us many times in our years of marriage. I’ve thought about calling this website ….”Learning How to Be New Again.” But in putting down roots and then being transplanted that many times, you feel like the soil around you must be kept so loose that it won’t hurt so much when you are uprooted and pulled out again to be repositioned elsewhere.
In one of our dwellings, a neighbor walked by one day as I was rearranging the plants in our front yard. He pointed out that one plant in particular was sagging and drooping. I informed him that days earlier I had transplanted it, and that it looks the way it does because it is in its “adjustment period.”
Sometimes I just burst out laughing because I’ve discovered after a transitional move of house, that I often can’t recall things or locate things, and I feel like I’m just dangling on a string in my new surroundings. I remember after our move to Canada, someone asked for my home telephone and cell number, and I responded, “Haven’t a clue!”
So the next time you’re transplanting a plant or a bush in your yard, treat them tenderly, and they’ll bloom at the right time after their roots become established. Just like me, I know that I’ll bloom again when my roots find their comfort zone.
After our personal root system seems more settled, we need to begin to look around at where we’re living and at who is living around us. To get to know the people who live around you, (and by the way, that IS our closest mission field), we need to get out of our “comfort zone” (our house) and burst onto our neighbor’s turf, respectfully of course, and wander in the field of their lives.
Most importantly we need to prepare ourselves through prayer first. We need to speak with God about the people……before we speak to people about God. That’s where the opportunities and ideas begin to flow from. For it is God Who arranges these ‘Divine Opportunities” and then prompts us to enter in at His bidding. We don’t have to create the opportunities. They will flow into our lives; if we’re alert to God’s prompting, and He’ll move on us to ‘join Him’ in what He wants to do in that person’s life.
Perhaps like you, I’ve found it thrilling to see how our Father builds rapport with others and sets the stage so-to-speak on how our lives enter and dovetail into theirs by helping, serving, befriending, and by just being kind to others just where “they are.”
Many of you (at least those over 40 years of age) will no doubt remember an organization called “Welcome Wagon.” When this agency received a call from a family new in the area, they gather information on many helpful services, coupons, maps, etc., and a representative would bring them over to the new resident. They help introduce a newcomer to the neighborhood of all the facilities and businesses that can bring a needed service to a new family who may know next to nothing about the area to which they have moved.
Well, as the Scriptures indicate, we are AMBASSADORS for Christ. We’re like the “welcome wagon” on behalf of Almighty God to our world. If this doesn’t create a host of ideas and yearnings within you, you need to draw closer to His heart. The reason I say that is because people are the number one love of His heart, and they are His top priority!
People are the only things we can take to heaven when we move there. Yes, l00% of us are going to stop breathing here on earth (if the rapture doesn’t occur in our lifetime). Then we’re going to leave ‘everything else’ behind.
So His priority is PEOPLE. Once our hearts have cashed in on that, we’ll be incessantly investigating and pursuing ways of reaching them for Him.
You know that when you enjoy an Italian meal loaded with garlic, you don’t need to announce to those around you, “Hey, I’ve just eaten garlic.” You can be confident that they will be aware of your recent ingest of garlic before you are even l8 inches away. The presence of garlic just oozes out.
In that we are His “personal representatives, we carry around within us the presence of God……that’s the Holy Spirit within. We are alive with a love, hope, kindness and grace that is yearning to ‘ooze out of us.’
So, how do we let God, through His Holy Spirit, emanate out of our lives? There are numerous (too numerous to count) practical opportunities that I guess many of us never think about where God would love to reach out of our lives and into others. You’re now asking, where is it and how would and could this “oozing of the Divine” from our lives occur?
He uses our bodies: eyes to see and observe, ears to hear, hands to create, bake, help etc., minds to discern when another needs help or with sensitivity and emotion sit with someone who is grieving or troubled. God yearns to move us toward their homes and yards to lend a hand, and on and on and on. The sky is the limit.
LET’S GET PRACTICAL and put sneakers on missional living (being the hands and feet of Jesus). Jesus didn’t die for us just so we could hang around down here on earth waiting for His call to come “home.” We’ve got work, wonderful work to do while here.
Many years ago we lived in a small town and behind our home there were 20 acres of farm land. Each year the farmer would plant different crops. One particular season he planted and harvested potatoes. One morning when I was having my devotions, I came to the verse in John 4:35 about the “fields that are ripe for harvesting.”
John 4:35 “Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white ripe for harvest.”
Later in the afternoon I phoned my neighbor and asked if she’d enjoy some fresh potatoes? Following the harvest, the farmer had given me permission to enjoy an afternoon of personal gleaning in his field.
With my neighbor, we dressed for the occasion (high boots and old clothes). Our travel was a distance of only about 40 feet and we were ready for activity and productivity. I must admit that I didn’t expect a large yield as the field had been harvested several times by machinery just days prior. But if we had just gleaned a dozen potatoes, it would have made us happy campers.
We entered the furrows which were about 12 inches high (that surprised me already), and settling our footing in our cumbersome boots we were instantly surprised when we saw thousands (and I’m not exaggerating here) of potatoes that were hidden under the soil.
They were just lying there, ready to be ‘gathered in.” It didn’t take us long to realize these luscious potatoes just needed SOMEONE TO COME ALONG AND “NOTICE THEM” AND MOVE AWAY THE EARTH THAT WAS HIDING THEM.
Could I ask you to re-read the last paragraph above????? Is the penny dropping, are you getting it, are you seeing the vivid illustration painted here?????
There, in that field, it dawned on me. That’s a field ripe for harvest. I didn’t need a sign in the sky from the Lord announcing that truth. God was using this field of unharvested potatoes to get my attention. I needed this living illustration to help me be aware of the “unnoticed fields” around my life that God wanted to harvest through me. Change the word potato to people…..and you’re on the same page as God’s heart for people.
What dawned on me was that’s us…..in our churches and in our lives; we need to move out of our own lives and out of our churches and set aside our own agendas and vacation in the fields and the lives of others around us.
It was as though the Lord was shouting to my heart, that I’m to be moving around “in others’ lives (into their fields of living).” When I do that, I’ll then be able to see and view the Lord’s perspective of their need of Him. When I do that and begin to “touch their lives on their turf,” they gradually become my “treasure” and my “field” to cultivate, care for, love and harvest.
Then……………where my treasure is (my heart for people), therein develops my ministry to them. So this is how my passion for my neighbors began. It’s in God’s sovereignty and cooperation with us “who” our neighbors will be.
Then, as He opens the doors of opportunity and a rapport with them, our eyes will be opened to the practical opportunities that are right there before us.
Helping others in ways that are practical helps to move the “dirt covering the field of need in their lives” and expose them to the love and presence of God within us.
The Bible verse that sparked my being INTENTIONAL in my outreach was l Peter 2:17 which reads: “Honor all men.” People need to be “noticed, carefully observed, honored….ON PURPOSE.” We can all 1 Peter 2:17 people. That allows God to ooze out of us and garnish us with JOY!
Let’s be real! PEOPLE ARE NOT FLOCKING TO OUR CHURCHES AND BIBLE STUDIES. So we need to get out there, prayerfully and carefully, and let God saturate others from the “practical pores” of our lives.
Matthew 10:42 “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”
This reveals to us that GOD NOTICES, BLESSES AND USES EVERY TINY LITTLE THING WE DO FOR OTHERS…..on His behalf. He blesses our efforts….any and every effort. But He can’t bless an effort that isn’t made!
Some years ago I was leading a ladies Bible Study and we all took several weeks to prepare and write our personal story of how we saw our need for Jesus Christ, and describe the difference He has made in our lives. I encouraged all of the women to listen as each lady shared their story of how God worked in their lives to help them become aware and understand fully the love God had for them.
We were to listen for the “ways” that God had used people to touch the lives of others with His love. We listened intently to each woman’s sharing who they reached out to, as well as how and what was it they did.
All stories of a conversion are miraculous….because they are God’s story….written over our lives. So, for anyone who is a committed follower of Jesus Christ……you have a story….and it needs to be told. People can argue and dispute God, but they cannot argue with your personal story. It’s yours!
At the end of several weeks of listening to everyone’s story, I instructed the women as they listened, to write down the one or two ways in which each woman’s life was touched. Interestingly, none of them spoke that it was through a sermon!
For pastors who may be reading this…..don’t despair because the messages God gives you are for us, and you are used by the Lord to prompt us to get out there and shine for Jesus. So keep up your good Biblical preaching because your messages are reaching our hearts and lives for outreach in the fields where we live our lives.
From the twenty-one women who shared, we gleaned (I love that word) about 70 practical ways of how to reach out to others in actions that God could use to love ‘em into His family.
“You don’t accidentally live this kind of life. You make up your mind and determine who you want to be, and daily choose to die to the rest. You surrender yourself to live in the tension of where you’ll always be stretched and often broken. You accept that while there are far easier ways to live or exist, you were born for nothing less.
Beth Moore said in a study “TRUE RELIGION IS ALL HANDS ON DECK AND ALL HEADS OUT OF THE SAND.”
You will discover that people are truly yearning to hear of practical encounters with the Living God. And we want to enter into the experience of seeing God at work in everyday life and with everyday people.
Let’s get on board with first- Peter 2 seven-teening others by being intentional and practical in allowing our Creator God to touch others through our lives.
Putting our “shoe soles” and “heart souls” into living this way will require us to get out of our “comfort zone” for sure. But that’s the highway to “Kingdom” travel if we want to see God powerfully at work in us; and, at the same time, allow others to see what He can do with any available human. Notice I said “available” not talented. God doesn’t need our ability….so much as our availability. He will use “your ability” as He views your “availability.”
Where God guides, He provides. Where God directs, He equips.
Our obedience to what seems to be the tiniest of invitations God brings before us to join Him in loving others PRACTICALLY, will give you JOY, and it will be the “oxygen of your own outreach…..guaranteed.” I’m not the brightest bulb in town, but I’ve learned that “whatever we bring to the Lord to use,” He can use and He can bless.
So, my prayer is that your life will be magnetically touched by these stories, so that you will begin to see what God might do with you….in the “potato fields of your life” as you put your boots on and walk into the harvest fields of those you live around.
They are stories of people God has lovingly introduced to my heart and my life: and, who have been used by Him to teach me more about learning to “be an expression of God’s love to others” in everyday ways.
Yes, our lives are to create a “compelling environment” to help people draw closer to Jesus.
If we consider the scenario of Jesus at a well chatting with a Samaritan woman, we can all identify that this encounter was with an ORDINARY WOMAN….in an ORDINARY WAY…..ON AN ORDINARY DAY….FOR EXTRAORDINARY PURPOSES. We may not have her tainted background, but we’ve all been broken by our sins, regardless of their size or appearance. Our lives, like her life, needed His forgiveness, mercy, and grace.
Our hearts should be thrilled because we all live ORDINARY LIVES on ORDINARY STREETS, in ORDINARY HOMES housing an EXTRAORDINARY GOD for HIS EXTRAORDINARY PURPOSES!! And life doesn’t get more purposeful than that!
This is when the journey began, and you have had a glimpse in my rear view mirror.
Cups of Cold Water 