Sacrificial Giving-Plus Qualifiers in #7QT

I wrote this article in a burst of inspiration from the Holy Spirit's prompting to share this idea.  After I finished it and reread for editing I became afraid that I wasn't worthy to share this message.  It has been sitting in my draft folder for over a week.  I realized I must share it, but here are my seven qualifiers first, before you think I am someone I am not.

1

Inspiration needs perspiration, so just having a revelation in your heart does nothing without a transformation of your soul and habits.  I am praying very hard this Lent for the transformation to become who God wants me to be.

2

I have said it before, I am only a sinner.  There is nothing more special about me, other than God sometimes speaks to me through writing ideas.  However, I read the quote recently, "A saint is just a sinner who kept trying."  I am going to just keep trying.

3

My life is not perfect, my days are not perfect, I am not perfect.  There is so much I do not share publicly, but know that those moments that I am glad no one else sees are real.

4

I do not want to come off as overly pious, nor pompous.  However, I pray often, "Speak, LORD, Your servant is listening."   So, when I considered just burying this article and not publishing, I felt like God would then say, "Hey, I spoke, you just didn't listen." And nobody wants that!

5

It has been my fervrant prayer for years for God to sent me where I can serve Him best.  I have been struggling with feeling like I am not getting anywhere where I can be God's Hands and Feet.  Howevver, I have realized, recently, that God has sent me to a mission field--our town and our home--with plenty of people in need to recieving God's Love and Light.

6

If not me, then who?

7

I would rather try for Christ and fail, then never even try.  

After all those qualifiers, here is the idea God placed on my heart:

At our Lenten Small Group Study, my dear friend, Dara, said that for Lent she was truly trying to give until it hurt, to give above and beyond by true sacrifice.  I began to think of how I could do likewise. When we think of giving, we generally associate it with giving of money, goods, and riches.  However in my reflection on how to live this sacrifice, a radical thought was laid on my heart.  What if I gave mercy until it hurt?  What if I gave of my time and patience and love until it truly hurt?

In the movie Fireproof, a young fire fighter and his wife are on the brink of divorce.  When Caleb, played by Kirk Cameron, seeks pity from his father, this father instead gives him a Love Dare manual.  While Caleb is the one being jilted, he accepts the idea and tries to proceed with the dare. It is daunting at first, cooking breakfast for his wife that she refuses to eat, sending flowers that she will not acknowledge.  Though difficult, his father persuades him to continue. As time passes, Caleb realizes how little sacrificial love he had been sharing.  His marriage is saved in the end, but it is Caleb' s heart that is most transformed.

So this is my challenge.  What if I take those five minutes to snuggle with my son, when I would rather get to read?  What if I woke up early to clean and devoted my mornings to being there for the children?  What if my first action in the morning was to truly pray for God to use me for His Glory instead of calculating how many more minutes I could eek out of my morning to lie in bed a bit longer? What if when my alarm for the Angelus chimes, I completely stop and patiently pray every word regardless of what I am in the middle of doing?  What if I met my husband at the door in a loving welcome instead of hovering over my pots, pans, and email?  What if I stopped craving time for me and sought only time for God?  What if I looked in my Bible six times a day and checked my email once? What if I let the person behind me check out first, held the door a little longer, gave up the primo parking spot, drove gently and joyfully?  What if I forgave instantly, gave blessing for ridicule, prayed earnestly for those who offend me, resolve to be unoffended?  What if I loved the LORD my God with all my heart and all my mind and all my strength and all my soul?

What if...?  It's a tall order but isn't this what being a Christian is all about?  Aren't we called to greater glory?  I know that it will be hard and that I will falter more times than I wish to admit, but instead of feeling the martyr for attempting a brief respite from chocolate and the decadence of western life, I am choosing to truly die to self and live for Him.  I have been feeling so depleted, so run down, and over stretched.  My prayers have been for rest and solitude, for "me time," for vacation.  However, it is in weakness that the power of God is strongest.  As St John wrote, "He must increase as I decrease."  There is no rest apart from God, my sights are set on Heaven, His Yoke I sling over my shoulder and pledge to work for Him alone. My God, I am all in!

5 Fave: Reads from the Internet This Week

This is a quick list of my five a favorite posts or articles that I came across this week.  There is so much out there, but it is always nice when you discover something really worth reading.  Enjoy!

Linking up with Ashley.  Did you read anything worth sharing this week?  Please comment below.

1

We try very hard to limit the use of devices and games in our home. In fact we have no video games (only the exercise type games for the Wii that we play as a family every once in a great while).  I have a Kindle with games and apps for the kids and each one gets 30 minutes a day of "Freetime" they use it about once every other month.  Until we recently moved, the television was kept in a cabinet and was only opened for an hour of educational programming a day, some days we forgot, some weeks we forgot.  Now that the television is in plain sight, I find my boys in particular are constantly asking to watch a show.  However, when we first moved, there was no Internet here for a month, which meant no Netflix, which meant no shows.  For the first three weeks we did not have a television hooked up at all, there were no videos to watch, either.  Although my son protested, after the first couple days, they stopped asking about the television being hooked up.  They just played.  Not that they never played and created before, they did, but without the temptation of instant entertainment, they let their imaginations soar.  We almost didn't hook the TV up at all after that.

This article, which I saw posted multiple places on Facebook, is a startling look at what most young people experience when faced with the absence of their comfort items--music, phones, and the Internet.  While I question the fact that they could not have any personal contact of any kind, even face to face.  I think that it is a wake up call of why culture is going the way it is.  It is nearly impossible to listen to the whispers of God on your heart when you are continually surrounded by distraction and noise.  The need to be entertained crushes the prospect of creativity and ingenuity, it also makes us a very self-centered society.  I really encourage you to read the full article and share it around to family and friends.  

2

As a mom who has had a struggling reader, I truly appreciate Kelly's article about trusting that your child will learn to read. I only wish she wrote it about seven years ago.  Reading is fundamental as the old tag line goes, but it isn't innate.  It also isn't a race.  We, as a society, put such a premium on being the first and checking off our list.  Education is a journey not a to do list.  Just because your child starts reading at four and a half completely independently, like one of mine did, doesn't mean that you have all the answers and he is bound for a PHD from Harvard.  Likewise, a child who takes until ten with intense phonics instruction to really get it, as one of mine did, does not mean you are failing and your child will never amount to anything in life.   Reading is a process and a skill, it is also a key to adventure for the rest of your life.  Raising children that love to read is much more important and raising ones that read early or easily. 

3

We are at the point of the year where homeschooling gets hard.  Hang in there Mama!  If you need some encouragement or streamlining (Don't we all?), check out this post from Homeschool Creations and give you little school a face lift!

4

If you are like me, you are probably looking ahead to next year and beginning to plan.  The ever resourceful Auntie Leila has a wonderful post on how to organize a homeschool notebook in order to design your own curriculum and keep track of what you are accomplishing all year.  I highly recommend checking it out.  I must say that I follow a similar routine but am not very good at keeping consistent records, this post inspired me to do better.  Thanks, Auntie Leila!

5

I really like Simcha Fisher.  She has a way of writing that feels like you are her best friend and she invited you over for tea.  She is always funny, and always real; but more importantly she is always devoutly Catholic.  I discovered her article about confession on Debbie's Facebook page.  It is a lovely read and one that is so appropriate as we head into Lent in a few short weeks.  Never be afraid to seek God's Mercy.  He died for you, just the way you are.

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