Sometimes all we need in life is a healthy dose of getting off our rump and doing something for others.
I don’t usually talk about ‘getting down’ on my blog, but on Friday night I had a horrible time of aching for my parents, wishing things would have turned out differently, and wondering why God allowed things to happen as He did. I cried, cried some more, and felt completely horrible.
Today I had no room for such things. I woke up early this morning and headed over to Lynn and Kim’s apartment (
for the last time) to help them move into their new home. We moved all day. It was hot. I was tired, sweaty, and hungry by the time we finished.
I had barely enough time to run home, shower, get dressed and head to a friend’s 30 birthday party. I spent the next hour and half celebrating someone else life. I left the party with just enough time to make it to our first Spanish ministry fellowship and pick up what I needed to get along the way.
Once I arrived, I experienced service as someone who needed an interpreter. The songs were all in Spanish, the message was interpreted, and many of the people who attended only spoke Spanish. I was the ‘outsider.’ I was attending not to get anything for myself, but to give. Anyone who knows our God knows that that is not how He works. You cannot give without getting something in return.
It was a great service and even though it was held in someone’s backyard with lawn chairs and portable amps, the presence of God was there. It was simply beautiful in every way. It is amazing how the Holy Ghost crosses all lines; language, ethnic, societal, and cultural. You may not even be able to speak the same language as the person standing next to you, but your Spirits speak the same and there is a connection nonetheless.
I wish I could say that I never ‘get down’; however, that would not be the case. It would be great to always have the ability to give without needing to be filled. It would certainly make me feel as if I am getting closer to being what I am supposed to be. I am only human, and I needed today.
I needed to spend my whole day doing, thinking, and giving to others. It has filled me. After all this time living for God surely I would know that I can only be continually filled when I am continually pouring myself out. I should know by now that focusing on me causes my cup to become stagnant and bitter. Only when I am poured out can I be filled again.
What a great gift it is to be able to work in the Kingdom of God and be a part of the body of Christ! It is a joy to be a part of something that is forever flowing, forever fresh, forever new, forever clean, and forever filling. Taste and see… the Lord is good!
