A sign - Part 3

**While Part 3 is the end of what I set out to do, it is certainly not the end of allowing God to move**

When we hear the phrase "to use someone," we often view it in a negative light. None of us enjoy being "used" by someone else for their gain. It makes us out to be little more than the means to an end. A tool. An advantage to be used and discarded later when no longer needed.

I want to be "used" by God. I want to be a part of His plan that is much larger than myself.

My hope is to encourage you. My hope is to show you that if He can use me, He can use anyone.

All you have to do is listen and follow.…..even when the path makes no logical sense to us.

This past Tuesday, Kayla and I had the amazing opportunity to see Phillip’s little sibling via ultrasound. Viewing the small, forming face and witnessing this small creation of God “run” around Kayla’s tummy is a miracle in itself. (Unlike with Phillip, we are not finding out the gender until he/she gets here. Who doesn’t love a good surprise?!)

While God’s hand was certainly evident in being able to see the newest member of our family, that is not why I was so eager to find time to sit down and write.

Two months ago, Kayla and I went to the doctor. This “woman” doctor delivered Phillip and we have been able to build a great relationship with her. She is an amazing doctor and an even better person. This particular day, she walked into the exam room with an exasperated look on her face. She said, “Oh, how I am glad to see y’all. Sometimes, I just don’t have any hope for the world. The people I deal with on a daily basis can do me in. It’s always nice to see y’all because you are always in a good mood.” It was evident she was having a stressful day. After checking on Kayla and asking all the normal questions, we had an opportunity to visit with her. She had a smile on her face as we left the office. I chalked it up as a successful encounter of brightening someone’s day.

We drove back home and enjoyed the calm car ride and uninterrupted conversation that anyone with an 18-month-old boy at home can surely appreciate. I can’t exactly remember if it was that day or the next morning, but all the sudden I had it in my mind that I needed to take a book to this doctor on our next visit. Not just any book, but one book in particular. Without a shadow of a doubt, “The Grace Effect” by Larry Taunton was the book. I do remember stopping what I was doing and taking the book out to my car so that I wouldn’t forget it.

“The Grace Effect” initially caught my eye because it contains the story of a family navigating the arduous process of adopting a daughter from Ukraine. From my three trips to Ukraine, I have fallen in love with the country. I also know the dismal statistics regarding Ukrainian orphans. Larry Taunton does a great job of relating a conversation with world-renowned atheist and friend Christopher Hitchens regarding a “god-less” society to his family's experience of bringing their daughter home. I highly recommend any and everyone to take the time to read it.

"I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?' Then I said, 'Here am I! Send me.'" - Isaiah (6:8)

I drive around with the book in my car for a month. Kayla’s next appointment is a few days away and we find out that she will be seeing a different doctor, but her regular doctor will be back next visit. This means riding around with the book in my car for another month.

A couple of weeks ago, I did take the book out of my car so that I could fit all of our “stuff” for the Orrville Tractor Show (add that to your list, Lex!). This past Tuesday rolls around and here we are going back to the doctor for our next routine check-up. I spot the book on the counter and purposely place it next to something I was planning on taking in the car with me. CoCo (aka Mom) graciously came to pick Phillip up so we could make our appointment. While I was helping CoCo strap our ever-energetic toddler into his car seat, Kayla locked up the house and was ready to go.

Oh I don’t think so! I have been waiting two months to deliver this book to this very person! I quickly went back inside, retrieved the book, and we began the hour and fifteen minute drive to the doctor’s office.

First, we had the blessing of the ultrasound. We were both looking forward to that, but I was almost looking forward to visiting with the doctor just as much. After looking at Kayla’s charts, asking questions, and telling us everything looked great, she proceeded to tell us where she was last month. She was on maternity leave. She was on maternity leave because she and her husband were adopting a baby girl.

After visiting, she asked if we have any questions as she prepared to leave the room. I pulled the book out of Kayla’s purse and told her there was one thing I wanted to tell her. I told her about the day she seemed to be having a bad day and how I had been driving the book around for the past two months. I summarized the book and shared how it dealt with God’s love and adoption.

She immediately opened the book and started scanning over the first few pages. With eyes fixed on the worn pages of a book I’ve read multiple times, she says, “Did you know..you didn’t know we were adopting. How...”

As her voice trailed off, the light bulb went off. God is faithful and He will equip those who are willing to follow Him.

We spoke for a few more minutes. I wish that I could accurately describe her reaction in both facial expressions and voice inflections. It was a beautiful moment in the midst of a busy day for all three of us.

She thanked me for picking that book and carrying it around for two months.

I did not pick the book. I only delivered it.

A sign - Part 2

**This is a continuation from Part 1 (go take a few minutes to catch up if you so prefer).**
 
Sometimes, in order to be utilized by God, all we have to do is ask.

 

Pine Glenn is a housing project on Highway 80, next to Craig Field. It was once busy and well-maintained housing for the military base located there. Now, the backside of Pine Glenn is some of the most undesirable housing in all of the Selma area. For 20 years, two ladies I look up to, Joy Thompson and Caroline Anderson, have been ministering to the children of Pine Glenn. They have had the help of many volunteers who committed time, energy, and money to serving these children. Wednesday afternoons during the school year, these inspiring followers of Christ would divide the children into different age groups, share a Bible story, complete a craft, and provide a snack to each child.

I began the weekly drive out to Pine Glenn on Wednesday afternoons a few years ago. I quickly found a role of floater and enforcer. I floated to whichever group needed an extra hand and I enforced the rules by sometimes sending a child home before snack time. Almost a year and a half ago, the building we held the meetings in was destroyed for the most part. The inside was damaged so much by vandalism that there was no way we could afford to fix it and take the risk of it being decimated again.

During the past month we have attempted to find a solution to serve the community. A few weeks ago, our group met at the old building and decided to go door-to-door and share with people what we were wanting to do out there. Seeing as this is not the safest location in the world, someone asked who would stay behind with our belongings and vehicles while everyone else visited with people. Being by far the youngest and the manly bearded man that I am, I volunteered as tribute. The others got in a truck and began to ride around the neighborhood. Standing by my car, alone, and feeling useless, I began to pray. My prayer went something like this, “Father, the workers are here. We want to make a difference. We just don’t know what you want us to do. If you could give us one person to talk to today, one person to hopefully bring joy to, that would be great.” I couldn’t say “amen” in my head before I looked up to see one person on the desolate street I was standing next to. The larger-than-myself man was walking down the street toward me. I began a conversation with myself, with God, asking, “Is this the person you wanted me to talk to?” As he came closer, it was evident that whether he was the right person or not, I was going to have an opportunity to talk to him. I walked across the street and met him. He wanted to know if we were going to fix the building and return to meeting weekly. We both agreed how disappointing it was for someone to disrupt such a great ministry. I gave him our information about the new meeting place and he said he would be glad to help “get the word out.”

He departed and I found myself praying, “Thank you Lord. How bout one more?” Would you believe me if I told you that very moment a young boy with a football walked around the corner and headed straight for me. I thought there was no way this boy is going to walk all the way down this long street to me. Oh, how wrong I was! Eight year old Jermaine walked straight up to me and asked, “Are we meeting today?” We began a conversation, threw the football, and shared a snack together.

Soon, a group of five kids came from the other side of the block after talking with the others in the truck. I couldn’t stop them from immediately going into the ransacked building. I didn’t think they needed to be in there, but there wasn’t much I could do about it either. Finally, I asked one of them what they were doing in there. One young boy proudly held up a poster and said, “This is going on the wall in my room. It is the Ten Commandments!” Another asked if he could have a Bible he found. Of course! Continue your treasure hunt and show me how God can use the wreckage to love His children.

"And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'" - Jesus (Matthew 25:40)
 

Jarvis showed up to walk through the building also. Jarvis is well known to those of us that faithfully came on Wednesday afternoons. He is well known for being kicked out at least once a month, sometimes more often. It never failed that he came back the next week every single time. He is older than the others and wandered throughout the building without picking up one thing or saying a single word. After the others left, I had an opportunity to speak with him. He told me about his love of football and how he hoped to go to college and eventually make it to the NFL. If football didn’t work out, he hoped to learn how to weld. No matter what, he wanted to never live in this place again. He didn’t want to be like the other boys he saw each and every day. He longed for a better life. It was refreshing and heart-breaking to hear this perspective from a 13 year old boy. Then something happened that I never expected. Jarvis said, “We could get it done a whole lot faster if y’all let us help.” “Help with what?” I asked. “Help fix this building back up,” Jarvis responded matter-of-factly. Wow! Here my self-absorbed self was looking for someone that “I” could help. Thirteen year old, always getting kicked out Jarvis was encouraging me more than he will ever know with his heart of wanting to make a difference.

We still do not know what the future of Pine Glenn Ministries will look like. We continue to ask God for guidance because we know He has a plan for the community members there, just like He does for all of us.

A sign - Part 1

First off, a special thanks goes to The Lex, for inspiring me to dust off the old blog.

Secondly, I'm not sure how long this "blogging kick" will last, but there will be 3 parts to this. 

Lately, I have been attempting to keep my heart and mind open to how God would have me serve Him day-to-day and moment-to-moment. I fail more times than I would like to admit, but these are a few things that have happened recently.

Question #1 – How many signs do we encounter on a daily basis? It is impossible to count them. From directions to warnings to advertisements, signs are everywhere. They constantly compete for our attention.

Question #2 – Does God have a plan for our lives? We often want to know. We want to know everything, especially if it pertains to us and our futures. I have found myself guilty of searching for God’s plan for my life through looking for “signs” around me. Message written in a cloud? Directions found in a fortune cookie? Opening a Bible to a random page and reading for guidance? I may or may not have attempted all or none of these.

What if we are too busy looking for “God’s plan” for our lives that we miss His plan for us today in this very moment? Do we really believe we have ended up in this place and situation by happenstance? God has intentionally surrounded us with people and opportunities to be the hands and feet of Christ.

One Monday morning a few weeks back, I was at a local middle school. Every day begins the same way with students leading the Pledge of Allegiance, calling for a minute of silence, and sharing the morning announcements. During that minute of silence I closed my eyes and prayed, “God, it’s Monday. Phillip didn’t sleep through the night. I’m tired. I don’t want to be here…but, if you can use me today, let’s do it. Amen.” 

"He said to them, 'Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.'" - Jesus (Mark 16:15)

A few minutes later the teacher began to show the class a CNN Student News piece on the SmartBoard. News from all over the world was included. There were the Umbrella Protests in Hong Kong and a brain bank for scientists to attempt to find cures for brain diseases among others. As the short video ended, the teacher asked her class of 7^th graders what they thought about the brain bank. Almost all of the reactions were negative or the students were “weirded out” to say the least. She then began to ask about being an organ donor. Most of the students claimed they would never give a kidney to their sibling because the same sibling wouldn’t give them a kidney either. 

As the discussion began to die down, the teacher looked at me in the back of the room and said, “Reverend, what happens to our bodies when we die?” My initial reaction was to look around and see who she was talking to. I’ve never been called Reverend and had to make sure the question was directed toward me. Observing what I already knew, that I was the only person in the back of the room, I responded. “Our bodies are buried in the ground and rot and decay. They become useless after we die.” Not expecting to be called on, but thinking I did a semi-decent job of answering the presented question, I relaxed in my seat believing I would go back to simply observing. 

The teacher then asked, “Reverend, what happens to our souls when we die?” I’m sure it wasn’t a polished, perfect answer, but I think I said, “If we have a relationship with Jesus and trust in Him for our salvation, we will spend eternity in Heaven with Him. If we do not have a relationship with Jesus we will spend eternity separated from Him in Hell.” 

BOOM! I suddenly realize that I asked God to use me today and I proceeded to be given an opportunity to share the most basic Gospel presentation in two sentences. Looking back, I wish I would’ve taken the opportunity to elaborate, but I know that God knew exactly what He was doing. 

I hope you do not see this as a look-at-me moment. I hope you will be inspired and encouraged by the fact that if God has a plan and purpose for me, then He most certainly has one for you. 

The choice is your's. I hope you choose to BE the difference in the world that surrounds you.

Much love,

Rand