Matthew 10:28
This morning as I woke I said a prayer asking the Lord to take my day and make it His own. Something that I failed to do the day prior.
Wednesday, a very hectic day for us was to end with a 30 min travel to and from church. My children are learning about missions, through mission friends, RA’s and GA’s, and I for the first time in a long while hopped back onboard the visitation team. All day I was jumping one hurdle after another as the Lord permitted Satan to just try to stall me. And all the while I prayed without ceasing that the Lord would get me to the church. Whew! I was defintly running a race with the endurance of the Lord. Settling in my victory, I trotted downstairs to congregate with the teams and view our prospect list. I admitted that I was nervous and instead of allowing fear to keep me from coming, I used it as fuel to bring me there. We all recieved our assignments or lists and were on our way. The first visit, we couldn’t find the home. Bad directions. The second, no one was at home, and number 3 We Made Contact!!! Well sort of. This was a follow up visit for a husband who had just received Christ and we were dropping off some spiritual growth Material for him. The conversation was going great and we invited them church. We were headed home and a team mate made the comment “We didn’t even ask about her relationship with Christ. At that moment it hit me hard, We missed the most important ingredient to our visit. We forgot Christ at home. We didn’t go in prayer asking that the Holy Spirit prepare our path. We did not invite Jesus to come along. We didn’t even ask the Lord to guide us. Usually before we go out we say a word of prayer to refocus on the mission at hand. But last night, we went out unprepared. I prayed but once a victory was won, Satan used that basking moment as a distraction. I don’t know where my focus was but it was not on Jesus. Next time I will not just say get me to the church. My prayer will be come with me to the church, prepare my heart and those who will hear the message, lead and guide us, giving us the words to say and the actions to do. Take away this fear and bring courage, and although I am scared I pray that you will bring many to your understanding grace this evening. Oh the lessons we learn. Jesus, I will follow YOU!!!! 
This morning, as I lie in bed talking to the Lord He reminded me of last night and in turn I prayed that the Lord would take today and make it his own. Little did I know where He would lead.
I had decided the best beginning to the day would be to dive into scripture. My study material laid resting on my ottoman in the livingroom, so I would have to sneak downstairs, grab it and head up for study, before my family even noticed I was up. Half way down the stairs I heard the clang of dishes in the dishwasher and could see the top of my husbands head at the sink. He was scrubbing away those hard to reach places on our pans. I hit the bottom step, ready to make a B- line for the ottoman and then back up when all of a sudden he smiles, says good morning and then says Do you want to go to the grocery store? We had decided we would do this today before he went on his bike ride. And of course I wanted to dive into scripture. Remember: There is a time for fueling up, and there is also a time to dispense.
I huffed at my husband and told him it will take me a minute. I was determined not to go to the store without a list. I was feeling a little frustrated when the Lord reminded me that I had given Him my day. As I am making the list Kevin asks me to make a deposit while I am out. This is when I find out that he has no plans to spend the morning with me, but to spend it waxing his bike. Upset at this again I huff. And I am reminded that I gave control of my day to the Lord.
I climb up the stairs in a slow go and am deciding on just throwing on some mommy clothes, bluejeans and a tee and just throwing my hair up. Well about a quarter of the way up the Lord reminds me that I must dress for work that every time I go out that door I am representing Him. So I dressed for success! I wore a pair of gray slacks and a stripped shirt and heels ya’ll. Heels and it isn’t even Sunday!!!!
With list in hand I gather all my ingredients needed for the next couple of days, and treated myself to a pair of black flats. As I am approaching my vehicle I am reminded of the world that we now live in today, and I throw my purse in the car, and kept my finger close to the panic button on my key ring as I loaded the groceries into my car. An older gentleman walked by and said Hi and I reciprocated the kind gesture. Then he stopped to make small talk. Opening of course with the weather. I could tell that he was not from Alabama. He had somewhat of a northern accent. Come to find out, he has been quite the traveler. I suppose my attire led him to believe I was a working women, I believe he was surprised to find out that I was a stay at home mom of three children. In which I must share he commented that I don’t look like I should have three children. Oh, I hope I look younger and younger as I grow older. The conversation was such a pleasant one. Can you guess where it led? He commented that I was so happy and joyful. He asked me how are you so happy? I asked him if he really wanted to know. He said yes. I told him it is the love of Christ living within me. He talked of regrets about not involving his family in religion and how he could see that it had some positive effects on those that had grown up with a religous background. I was quick to caution him about the difference in religion and a personal relationship with the Savior. It is not a religion that you are looking for it is Jesus. He expressed that God had not been a part of His life, and I felt that he was searching for Him. In scritpure we are told, to knock and the door will be opened. The holy spirit I know was in this conversation. The holy spirit was knocking at his door. Did you invite Jesus to come in?
Heavenly Father, I ask that you would be with him, help him to understand what it means to answer your call. I pray Lord that you would give him the courage to walk through that door and receive you as his Lord and personal Savior. Grow him up in your ways. Bring Him knowledge and understanding Lord that only you could bring. Remind him Lord that this is not a head or knowledge thing, this is not a works a thing, Salvation is recieved through the heart. In Jesus’ name Amen.
During this conversation he shared how unusual these days it is to talk to a young woman, and thats when I let him in on my little secret. My panic button. He laughed and said I am not the least bit insulted.
You know I couldn’t let fear get in the way of what the Lord had planned for me today. We could miss out on so many wonderful witnessing opportunities.
Here I have been so determined to get out here and make my mark on the world in Jesus’ name, that I forgot how it is done. I am to seek the kingdom of heaven. And then I am to wait for his blessings. In the ministry of Jesus, he did not go to others spreading the word, his light was so bright with the essence of God that people came to Him. This is what happened today. He seen the light of christ within my vessel and wanted to get to know me. But to find out it was not me that he really wanted to know, it was the Jesus inside of me.
Today I didn’t leave the shopping list at home, and I remembered to pick up the main ingredient.
Thank you Jesus for using this broken vessel for your glory.
*** This is off of a key chain of mine and I thought it inspirational.
WORK FOR THE LORD.
THE WORK IS HARD, THE HOURS ARE LONG, AND THE PAY IS LOW, BUT THE RETIREMENT BENEFITS ARE OUT OF THIS WORLD!!!!
No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him. 1 Cor 2:9
