Love

I sit here and think about what is going on in our lives...friends, family, finances, LIFE...and I come to realize that I have it pretty stinkin awesome!  Within three months of moving nearly 1200 Miles away from what I've always known as home, and not knowing a soul, we have a place where we feel we belong; this is our home!  Even though our families are over 18 hrs away, we know that we are here for a reason, and its home!  We had the discussion tonight, as we often do, on how much we love this area already.  I always tend to chime in with the ever constant feeling that I'm cheating on Arkansas or something!  Arkansas was/is my home....always will be, but I've learned that there is more to home than a specific place.  Our home is ministering with our friends, being in community with others, caring for and praying for our families, and loving everyone we come in contact with!  I've just realized that our home is in our ministries, and when I say ministries, I don't mean the skewed view of ministry that many often have of being in a church, or a non-profit, or a church camp-I mean life, every second of every day.  Our friends, our work, our church, our families, and even something as small as our trips to the grocery store!  God opened a door for Sara and I this evening as we were walking into Harris Teeter(a local grocery store)!  Sure, I play guitar, but thats something I do on my own time right now, but I just so happened to be wearing a shirt that has the picture of a Fender Telecaster on it.  A guy that was working in the fresh produce section named Robert turn, looked at me and asked me what kind of guitar it was on my shirt??HUH  When does someone ever just strike up a conversation anymore?  Anyways, we got to talking, found out the guy used to build custom Guitars, still does on the side, and has an amazing personality.  Even though we weren't able to really get to know the guy, within a 7 min. conversation, God was able to open the door, now I just get to take of and go through it!  I'm praying now that I see this guy every time I go into HT...I want the opportunity to speak with Robert more, find out what makes him tick, find out if he knows Christ, and if not, introduce him!  This is honestly the first time that God has shown me something so clearly!  

Since moving here, I'll tell you over and over, and I'm sure you can tell from previous blogs that God has been pressing the idea of truly loving others on me like you wouldn't believe!  Even two nights ago my heart broke into pieces listing to the testimony that Pastor Jeff's parents were giving.  George(Jeff's Dad) said at an extremely difficult point in their life, he had his pastor come up to him during a major accident and told him that if the Pastor lost one of his kids in the car crash they had just been in in order that George would come back to Christ it would all be worth it in the end!  HOW?  I don't understand that type of love!  My heart broke, because he did end up losing his daughter, and George is using his testimony to help married couples through difficult situations.  God uses everything, and this Pastor had it figured out, even if he lost one of his own kids for someone else, in the end, it would be worth it!  I WANT THAT!!!  Not that I want to lose things, but I want to be able to give up anything so that others will know Christ!  I want others to see love in me, not frustrations, or an attitude, or arrogance!  I want everyone to see that I would be willing to do anything/everything for others to know HIM!  To most this probably makes no sense, but if you are anywhere close to this position, I'm praying for you just as I'm praying for myself, God, Let us see as You see, let us Love as You Love, willing to sacrifice it all, for just one to know You!  Get rid of my pride, take away my selfishness, and don't let me be comfortable knowing that I missed the opportunity to speak to someone about You!  I don't want to feel like I need to apologize to anyone for not living like Christ would want me to because I don't want there to be any chance that I'm the reason someone doesn't know you.  

I pray that with all my heart, I hope all that I come into contact with realize there is a decision to make, to follow or not, and that I am an influence in their life to follow!  Christ will use me no matter what, just depends on how I want to see things happen, the hard way or the easy way!  I'll ask you the same question!