Horses & Abraham

So, the more people I tell what we are planning on doing in two years, the more blank stares I get...especially from other Christians.

God has given us so much!! Over 20 acres of land, 10 horses (11 now), a dozen other various animals, health, kids, a good marriage...just to name a very few.

All that He is wanting, now, is us to give it all up for him! We will, gladly and sadly.

I can't help but be grateful that He isn't asking me to give up one of my children!!

It's what He asked of Abraham, and Abraham did it...gladly and sadly.

I had just told God this earlier last year. "Thank You for all that You've given me! I WILL give it all up if You ask me to..." And He did. And I am.

And most people think I'm crazy (thus the blank stares), but you know, God isn't asking me to give up EVERYTHING, He's just making sure that I will give up anything that would divide my attention from HIM.

I love my horses! I love my farm! I love my country (most of the time)! But I love MY GOD more!!!!

He isn't asking me to give up my kids (although I would if I HAD to). He's asking me to put Him first. He's asking me to bring HIS people to Him, because they can't hear/see Him anymore. I CAN hear/see Him, and I need to share that blessing with others.

He is testing me to make sure that I have an open/willing heart, like Abraham. There won't be a last minute sacrificial lamb, because HE has already come. But I go to the mountain, singing and rejoicing, although a tear in my eye. MY GOD is first and foremost in my life, and I NEED to share Him with others!

I am NOT a saint. I am not a prophet/priest. I am, however, willing...and that is all He needs!

Dead Flowers

This week has been hard so far, and it's only Monday. Today I buried a good friend, and helped a different friend mourn another death.

My friend was in his late 50s (or so), and lost a hard battle with cancer. He knew the end was coming and he went peacfully to his new home in Heaven.

My other friend's loss was much harder, as she was a teen, full of life and died in a sudden car accident.

Both were believers...

This got me thinking about flowers again...as they go hand in hand with death. Coffins covered with flowers, stairs/chairs/tables all strewn with roses/carnations/lillies.

I have a ton of flowers that my girls got me for Mother's Day, this year. I planted them all with tender loving care in various pots all over my front porch. I've faithfully watered, weeded, and fertilized them all the same. But, you know, some of them just aren't doing so well. Some are flourishing. Brilliant colors, fragrant smells greet you at my front door. In the same exact pot are some wilted and even dead flowers. I'm going to pick them out and toss them in the trash...What a waste.

People are so much like flowers...

It is so hard to pour so much time/energy/water into them, to only have them wilt and waste away.

But that is life, and my job is to just keep watering. God will pull the spiritually dead ones out someday...I hope it's not someone I know...

Watering Flowers

OK, so I was reading a blog posted by a friend who just arrived in Italy this past month, and I was hit with a strong sad but good feeling, and God revealed His purpose to me.

I have been thinking/praying: "God I don't know HOW to be a missionary. I wasn't born into a missionary family, and although I know how to 'evangelize', I don't know how to do it in a foreign field."

Well, then I read the blog, and saw my friends photos of her new apartment with flowers along her balcony, and God spoke to me.

I am to go and water flowers in Italy. I am to go an nurture, weed, feed, and give TLC to God's people (flowers). That's all. When the time comes, He will pluck them up, and put them in His vase on display in His home.

When I got that revelation, then it all just seems so simple. I can do that!!!!

I can give up all that He has blessed me with here, and go and do the same in another country! I CAN nurture/water/weed. I don't need to scream that Christ is coming on every street corner (although I will if I have to), I just need to water.

It doesn't matter if the flowers are daisies or dandelions, just give each some of the water God has provided, and they will flourish, each according to HIS will.

Moving Forward...

So we have now met with our "future sender", Team Expansion. Although I believe the meeting went great, we won't have official word for two weeks, then we move forward with formal applications, and a "missionary bootcamp" in October or January.

After that, we are hoping to be official foreign missionaries. Our field will, hoping again, be in Italy.

We are so excited!! I would never had thought that someday a foreign city, esp. Rome, might be my home...NEVER! But, what a God we serve!!

If he can take a Kentucky horse trainer, and turn them into a Roman, then he can do anything ha/ha!

I'll blog more later, when we find something new out...