Survival of the Fittest

This is the time of year that things get a little crazy at our house.

I'm sparing you the details because your schedule is just like mine. 

I'm no super woman, so casually, last week I announced to Bruce that for the next three weeks we are on survival mode. Then I explained that we would be greeting any unexpected visitors at the door and we would step outside so they would not see the horrible condition of the house...or the left over to go containers from our favorite eating establishment or the laundry that has overtaken my den. We would also not be hosting any sleep overs for the kids, any tupperware parties, book clubs, boy scout meetings or small groups. I then suggested nonchalantly that there may come a time where it's every man for himself. 

And in a moment of pure genius, Bruce said, "OK, what can I do to help you?" ...I'm telling you I'm a blessed girl. 

There was a comfort in those words. Someone who really knows me, knows my tendency to overcommit, to underestimate the amount of work really required for a certain task, someone who is aware of my faults....He could have said a million other caddy things...but instead offered a helping hand. And I took it. Pride in my back pocket and humility on my lips, we mapped out our strategy for the next few weeks...the laundry, the allergy stricken kids, the taekwondo, the piano lessons, the Bible studies, the jobs, the meals. We've got a better handle on it...because someone offered to lend some support. 

Isn't that what God does for us? We get in over our heads and so many times He rescues us from ourselves? No guilt, no shame, no condescending tone of reprimand. When I come to Him overwhelmed, with my list of things I don't know how I'm going to accomplish, He gives perspective, peace, His presence, guidance, strength and comfort. And in humility we can either grab His nail scarred hand or we can continue in our own proud strength. 

I know, for myself, He's given me more clean starts and helping hands than I deserve. If you need one today...all you need to do is reach. He's waiting. 

PS - (I still don't recommend an impromptu visit to the house..it's kind of an "enter at your own risk!"). School's out in 2 weeks!!!

Gideon's PAB

"The international ministry of The Gideons has handed out 1.7 billion Bibles since December of 2012." These were the words that opened the 2013 Hopkins County Gideon Pastor Appreciation Banquet last Tuesday night.

I tried to picture what 1.7 billion Bibles would look like all piled up in stacks and stacks on the floor and my mind was unable to even fathom what that looks like. But thankfully the Gideons know exactly what that looks like. As I sat listening to the testimonies of men and one very vivacious Auxiliary lady, tears filled my eyes to hear how hungry the rest of the world is for the Word of God... Men and Women in Costa Rica with hands cupped around their small New Testament and placed at their hearts, thankful for the opportunity to have a personal copy of HIS Word. Stories of crowded closets in China with people nearly sitting on each other to be able to hear God's Word preached by telecast to their hungry souls....these were the stories I heard. These were the stories that gripped my heart. These were the stories that convicted me.

How careless we are in America, where a Bible sits in a car between Sundays, where the dust can be blown off the front cover or where 3-4 Bibles can be found in a home. The Gideon businessmen have made it their passion to get God's word into the hands of men, women and children so that it can change them, save them, free them, heal them. The same thing God's Word has done and is doing for me....

And...shouldn't everyone have that opportunity to hear, to know, to be changed, freed, saved, healed?

I think so.

You can learn more about how you can personally be involved in the Gideons by clicking HERE .