A Story of Generosity

"A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed." Proverbs 11:25


Yesterday my friend drove 3 1/2 hours to Anderson, Indiana so he could be the volunteer speaker during a chapel service at The Christian Center (TCC). TCC is a homeless shelter for men and it is where I work. Each week volunteers host 2 chapel services for the residents of the center. The goals of the chapel services are to introduce or reintroduce Christ to men who find themselves fighting countless battles. Some men fight battles of addiction, others harbor bitterness and un-forgiveness from past abuse, while others battle guilt and self hatred from being the abuser.

I was floored that my friend would drive 3 1/2 hours one way to spend an hour talking with these men, just to turn back around the same night and drive 3 1/2 hours home. Talk about generous. It made me stop and wonder how I had been generous recently. Would I do what he did?

After the service, my friend told me that one of the residents insisted on giving him $10 for gas money as a thank you for traveling to speak with them. This particular resident does not have a job. In fact, he has been looking for one for a long time with no luck. Instead of holding onto the little cash he had, he gave it away. Talk about generous.

Today I found out that the resident who gave my friend $10 has been making a little bit of money from a small business in town. The owner of a local shop gives him $10 to shovel snow off of the sidewalks leading up to the front doors of the shop. A few days ago the business owner offered to give this man $20 if he shoveled an additional area. What do you think this man did? He invited another Christian Center resident to join him so they could split the money. Wow. Talk about generous.

How many times have I held back from giving something to someone just because I didn’t want to “run out” of whatever I’m afraid to give away? I’m even sometimes stingy with gum! I don’t want to give away my last piece because what if I need it?

I witness these stories, or I am the recipient of someone’s immense generosity and I am ashamed of myself. My friend sacrificed gas money, sleep, and time to extend hope and a listening ear. A man living in a homeless shelter gave his small day’s wages to my friend for gas money. The same jobless man gave another person the opportunity to make $10 when he could have made $20 for himself. Jesus Christ gave up His life, so that I may live to choose Him. Talk about generous.

"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 1 Peter 4:8-10"

I am humbled and thankful for God’s reminders to be generous through people. These stories I just told are perfect examples of why community is so essential to knowing Christ richly and deeply. Jesus’ love knows no socio-economic class, age, or gender. His love is waiting to be revealed to us through anyone who has been changed by His love. I recognized Christ’s love and generosity through a preacher and a homeless man, and in Christ’s love and generosity I can call them both friends. Praise God.

New Found Freedom

Hey friends! I am excited to share with you some news, so I’ll just get right into it! The Holy Spirit has been whispering truths into my mind. The truth I’m hearing is so different from the strongholds that have been dominating my thoughts. I can sense God saying that “it is time.” It is time for my mind to be FREE. “When anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2 Corinthians 3:16-17

I don’t know why I am just now beginning to understand things I never understood before, but it is getting me pumped! Romans 12:1-2 says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God- this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is- His good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

I do not know where you stand in your relationship with Christ right now. You may be in wonder over God’s love, or you may wonder if His love really exists. All I can offer is my heart, so here it is. My entire life I have battled with the same detestable strongholds. They may wear different disguises, but the strongholds of fear, self doubt, shame, and guilt are often at the root of my decisions. Thankfully, God is chipping away the old and bringing the new. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17 While I have dark moments of questioning, I choose to believe through the daily grind that God loves me, He has breathed purpose into me, and I will follow His Word.

Earlier I said I wasn’t sure exactly why I was just now willing to understand these new lessons, but I lied. =0) It is my firm belief that without daily disciplines (prayer, reading the Word, asking questions and discussing issues with Christian people, etc.), it will be difficult to hear the big lessons in life, and freedom from strongholds will be nearly impossible. The process of becoming new is just that, a process. It isn’t instant. I want God to just get rid of my addictive personality that is clothed in shame and guilt and extreme fear. I want Him to zap me of my insecurity. I get disappointed, angry, confused, and hurt when I pray and pray for Him to do things and they don’t happen. But like I said, it is a daily commitment to let go of control and let God do His transforming work. That is how we recognize His will. “. . . be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is. . .” This is hard work.

The process of having a renewed mind in Christ can be painful, but what I am learning is that when I embrace suffering and my own weakness, I am inviting Grace and Mercy into my life. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” 2 Corinthians 11:9. God longs for us to be FREE in the forgiveness of Jesus Christ and FREE in the teachings of the Holy Spirit. Will you choose to let Him set you free?

I’m not a scholarly theologian or a pastor. I don’t have all the answers. I am a mess in so many areas of my life and I have a long way to go on this journey of faith, but I do know that God is renewing my mind. I am experiencing FREEDOM like no other. It isn’t by my own doing. It is the result of an all powerful, awe-inspiring God.

I wasn’t going to share this because it is kind of a vulnerable thing, but I wrote a poem about my recent journey. I think it sums up what I’m trying to say. I pray that you begin to understand that you no longer have to allow strongholds to control your mind. As Beth Moore says, “Strongholds are only pretending to have more power over your mind than Christ. It simply isn’t true.”

Untitled

I sit alone in the silence
No one here to rescue me
No one here to rescue me from the thoughts in my head
Doubt, fear, and guilt fill me with dread

Oh God, where are you in the pain?
I can barely see through tears that sting
The silence is deafening
Then I hear you beckoning
Rescue me! Oh God rescue me!

So you stretch out your Mighty Hand
You’ve had enough
You’ve had enough of the thoughts in my head
Now its peace, grace, and love you being to thread

Oh God, please hold me in the pain
For I know you intend to kill the shame
Your glory is deafening
I can hear you beckoning
You’ve rescued me! Oh God you’ve rescued me!

May the storm of thoughts that lie and bind
Be torn away, get left behind
Cause you’re transforming my heart and renewing my mind
You’re transforming this heart, renewing this mind
I’m free! I am free!
Thank you God, I am finally free. . .


Songs that keep inspiring this new found freedom:

Beautiful Things, Gungor

Your Hands, JJ Heller
Where the Spirit of the Lord Is, Chris Tomlin

Snow Day Memories

Snow day! Wait . . . snow DAYS! My heart jumped with excitement as I got a text from my coworker saying three beautiful words, “Work is cancelled.” Oh the bliss of snow days. I remember in elementary school standing in front of the TV as the school closings scrolled slowly across the bottom of the screen. It was torture waiting to see if West Carrollton City Schools were closed since we were at the end of the very long alphabet. “T. . . U. . . V . . . W. . . West Carrollton!” My three siblings and I would scream with much joy, and go play in the snow. You know, as I am typing this I also remember the four of us longing for a fire place to get warm after a busy afternoon of building snowmen and snow forts. I guess you could call us desperate because I remember cramming ourselves together in the laundry room warming our hands around the Pilot light flame. I’m laughing so hard as I’m typing this. I’m sure the sight of four little kids shivering around a flame to stay warm was either very adorable, or very pathetic. I’m going to romanticize the memory and go with adorable. I hope as you read you are reaching back into your memories and smiling at the ridiculous things you did as a kid.

It is funny how things change when you get older. I mean, I still screamed with joy when I found out about my two snow days, but instead of going to play outside I celebrated by sleeping for another 5 hours. I guess that’s getting older for ya. I honestly think the only time I moved was to either go to the bathroom or get more junk food.

Question for all three of you who are reading this: Why is it that when a storm of any kind is about to hit, we find it completely necessary to stock up on chips and dip, cookies, pop, and other various junk foods? I don’t typically buy junk food but when I found out the “Iceocalypse” was going to hit, my friends Jess and Travis and I bought the grossest foods in the store so we wouldn’t “go hungry.” Again, I’m laughing.

I conclude this blog post by recommending the movie “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.” I’m not sure if you put movies in quotations or if you underline it like a book. Forgive my poor grammar. Anyway, the movie is a heart-wrenching- sob-your-eyes-out-I want-justice-now-kind-of-movie. If you like that kind of emotional roller coaster, please rent it.

I suppose every blog post so far has described some sort of Spiritual impact in my life. I guess I just felt compelled to write about a few memories that could be classified as “significant nothings" instead, but I did experience Christ’s love in the midst of my junk food eating, not moving, movie watching snow days. I experienced His hospitality in my friends, Jess and Travis, who let me stay at their house because I was scared of being trapped in my house without power. I experienced His caring Spirit when friends and family called or texted to see if I was okay. I experienced His grace when I took some time to journal and pray. I’m actually still trying to sift through those thoughts, so another blog soon to come. All in all, I experienced Christ in the forced rest and I am grateful for His presence. Not every moment has to be profound to recognize His power and love. He is in our every day, and every moment.

Stay safe in the “storm of the century” everyone.

Love,

Lindsey