Author: restorationmusings

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My Favorite Missionary

Today, I’d like to share a story with you.  The story of my favorite missionary.   I don’t know that I ever knew a missionary personally when I was kid.  I heard lots of stories about them from the likes of Jim Elliot and others.  My story today, though, is about a missionary I knew personally.  Now, if you had known her, you may not think of her as a missionary, but believe me she was.  When I was about 11, my parents planted a church.  Well, that’s what we call it now, then my dad called it, “starting a new work.”  As this church started to grow, lots of new families joined us.  One family that joined us were the Murrays.  I could tell countless stories of this family and their impact on my life, but today is Margaret’s story.  Margaret was in her 20s or so when I met her.  We became friends, that may seem odd to you that an 11 year old and a twenty-something would be friends.  But, see, Margaret wasn’t your average twenty-something, she had been born with some health challenges, hydrocephalus I believe, and her intellectual/emotional functioning level was about 10.  

Margaret was kind.  Compassionate.  Loved by all she met, and loved everyone she met.  She was special in the best kind of way.  As things happened, I continued to grow and mature, but Margaret stayed about 10.  I went away to college, got married, but Margaret stayed her kind and innocent self.  

She did some maturing though, she learned to drive, she got a job.  She was making great strides into independence.  She helped take care of her mother who had the debilitating disease of Multiple Sclerosis.  Margaret also got saved.  She accepted Jesus as her savior and was baptized by my dad.  We were all so proud of Margaret.  Then one day, her progress came to a halt.  

I’m not really sure what happened.  I was away at college.  But my mom called one day and said Margaret is very sick.  There were countless tests run, countless doctors brought it.  I never did get a clear diagnosis.  All I know is I went to see Margaret when I came home from break and she just wasn’t the same.  Walking and talking had become difficult.  She could no longer take care of herself.  Then, I heard she couldn’t feed herself.  She was declining so fast, but they really weren’t sure why.  

Mr. and Mrs. Murray (Margaret’s parents) had to make the challenging decision to place her in a care facility as Mr. Murray couldn’t care for her and Mrs. Murray by himself.  Margaret had to have a feeding tube and other things, just to keep her alive.  Everyday her parents went to see her.  They would sit by her bed and talk and simply be present.  They would watch Gaither Homecoming Videos with her as this brought peace and comfort to them all.  At the same time of Margaret’s significant decline, her mother was declining as well.  The Murrays could no longer come to church, so my dad brought church to them.  Once a week, my dad took a message to the care facility and shared it with the 3 of them.  One day we were visiting and noticed that Margaret had the same question for any person that entered her room. 

 “Do you know my Jesus?” she asked.  

Every person Margaret encountered she asked that question.  “Do you know my Jesus?” Margaret became the teacher to all of us in that moment.  She taught us that the most important question you can ask someone is “Do you know my Jesus?”  Margaret had experienced the joy of salvation.  The peace of God’s transformative power.  Margaret had come to know Jesus in a real and intimate way and she wanted others too as well.  

So today, I want you to know 2 things that are not required to be a missionary and 2 things that are.  Let’s start with what’s not required.  

  1. Ability
  2. Location

Often, we have this idea about missionaries.  They’re the young people that travel the world spreading the gospel.  They can walk and get around easily.  They have lots of energy.  They can endure physical hardships.  But that’s not the case.  Margaret taught me that even laying in a bed with a feeding tube, you can still be a missionary.  All you have to do is ask the question, “Do you know my Jesus?”

The other is location.  We often think of missionaries as those who go to foreign countries and different cultures.  We don’t really talk about being a missionary where you are.  Margaret taught me location doesn’t matter.  Margaret stayed in that care facility until she went home to be with the Lord.  But the confines of her bed or wheelchair didn’t mean anything.  She asked every person she encountered, “Do you know my Jesus?” and she was always ready to tell them about Jesus.  She was ready to tell them what the Lord had done in her life. 

So, no matter your ability or your location, you can still be a missionary.  You can still spread the gospel to whoever you encounter.  

Now, the 2 things that are required. 

  1. Love the Lord
  2. Willingness to share

You must have a love for the Lord.  Love him with your whole heart, mind, soul, everything you have.  

You must be willing.  It’s not always easy.  A willing heart is a necessity.  Willing to tell people about your Jesus.  What’s he’s done for you.  What he’s brought you through.  How you’ve seen him.  You must be willing to share.  

Margaret became quite well known at her care facility.  Kindness does that.  It has a tendency to make you known.  So much so that one of her nurses posted a sign on her door that said, “Do you know my Jesus?” I guess as a preparation for what you would be asked when you entered her room.  

When Margaret died, it was a harsh blow to her family, our church, and to those who had lived and worked with Margaret at her care facility.  

I have this picture in my head of when Margaret got to heaven being somewhat like Mary Magdalene when Jesus appeared to her in the garden after his resurrection.  I’m pretty sure ran and jumped into his arms and said, “My Jesus!” because that’s who he was.  He was hers.  He was her friend.  He was her savior.  

I don’t have any statistics for you today on how many she won to the Lord.  I don’t think it matters.  I do know that my dad taught her an old song written by Vep Ellis with her question as the title, “Do You Know My Jesus?”

It goes…

Have you a heart that’s weary

Tending a load of care?

Are you a soul that’s seeking

Rest from the burden you bear?

Do you know (Do you know) my Jesus?

Do you know (Do you know) my Friend?

Have you heard He loves you?

And that He will abide ’til the end?

Who knows your disappointments?

Who hears each time you cry?

Who understands your heartaches?

Who dries the tears from your eyes?

Do you know (Do you know) my Jesus?

Do you know (Do you know) my Friend?

Have you heard He loves you?

And that He will abide ’til the end?

Have you heard He loves you?

And that He will abide ’til the end?

Remember, ability and location don’t matter, love of God and willingness do.  May we all be good missionaries, just like Margaret. 

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Some of y’all never… and it shows

I love a good meme.  I’m not sure who invented the idea, but I’d like to thank them for the endless entertainment I’ve gotten from this art form.  One of my recent favorites is a text based one from Twitter that says, “Some of y’all never (fill in the blank) and it shows.”

For instance, “some of y’all were never line leaders in elementary school and it shows.”

“Some of y’all never watched Dr. Phil and it shows.” and the memes go on and on.

A few weeks ago, my husband and I were in church and the worship band begins one of my recent favorite songs.  Just the drum intro and I was ready to get going.  I mean, like aerobic exercise worship time.  The song begins, worship team is doing a great job leading and I begin to look around because surely others in the congregation are going to join me in my excitement.  I mean, this is worth getting excited over. But they didn’t.  They calmly (tried) to clap to the beat.  Most of the congregation almost seemed annoyed by this new worship song.

The band continued, the worship leader tried to help the congregation see the value of the words, but nothing. Suddenly, this meme comes to mind… Some of y’all have never (fill in the blank) and it shows.

Some of y’all have never been in a place where the only thing you can do is worship.

Some of y’all have never faced a giant so big you didn’t know how to fight but you knew God had equipped you with the ability to worship him and that was all you needed.

Some of y’all have never felt so alone and desperate that God was all you had.

Some of y’all have never been in a position of spiritual warfare for your family and were so fatigued of the enemy’s tactics all you could do was sing.

Some of y’all have never been in those places and it shows.  It shows in your worship.  It shows in your commitment.  It shows in your community.  It shows in how you live your life.  Some of y’all have never encountered Jesus and it shows.

My grandmother was about 5’1″.  But she was a giant in faith.  One of her most famous lines I quote to myself often is, “I’m not afraid of you or 40 devils like you.”.  I always thought it was so sassy, southern woman of her to say that.  However, I’ve realized she wasn’t afraid because she had been through some battles and she knew that she could take on anything she faced because God was on her side.  She could sing at the top of her lungs that there ain’t no grave gonna hold her body down, because she’d faced death.  She could worship and walk through the lowest valley because God had never left her or forsaken her.  And she certainly wasn’t afraid of the devil because he was already defeated.

Granny had faced some giants, defeated the enemy, survived the unimaginable, and it showed.

She also used to tell me that “every pot has to sit on his own bottom”.  So much rich theology in that statement.  What Granny was telling me was that she couldn’t believe for me.  She, my dad, my mom, my aunts, my uncles, none of them could worship for me, none of them could accept Jesus, for me, that I had to do that for myself.  And boy, was she right.

As an adult, I faced circumstances and giants that I wished I hadn’t.  I fought giants, I walked in the shadow of death, I walked through the desert.  Granny never would have chosen for me to experience any of those things.  However, she knew that in order for this pot to sit on its own bottom, it had to experience some things.

So, when I worship, when I face trials, my experience is different than those who have never walked through anything.  I’ve walked out of the grave of sin and shame. I’ve been where a melody is my only weapon because Jesus comes to fight for me.  I’ve seen the goodness of God in the land of the living.

If you fit in the “Some of y’all have never…” category, my prayer for you is that you start experiencing some things because nothing makes your faith stronger than facing adversity.

Consider* it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  James 1:2-4

*Consider here doesn’t mean think about it, it means count on it.

I should have rushed a club instead of rushing the marriage.
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We are Family

One of the number one things I’ve taken grief for in my life is being an only child.  People always have something to say when they discover this fact.

“Oh, that explains so much.”

“Really?  Well, I guess I can see that.”

“Huh.  You don’t really act like an only child.”

I’ve gotten all of those responses and more.  Well, I’m sure that my being an only child has formed a lot of my thinking and even probably explains why I think or feel about things how I do.  I was not an only child by my parents’ choice.  My mother would have had a houseful had she been able.  But God saw fit to just give them me.  I always liked to think they reached perfection with the first go-round, so why try anymore, but they saw it differently.  My parents, more than once, have referenced my birth as a miracle.  They had been married for 10 years when I was born.  Doctors had said it probably wouldn’t happen.  They had started the adoption process.  But God thought differently.

So, here I am as an only child, raising 5, (yes, 5) children with my husband.  There is so much I don’t understand.  First, the rules of shotgun.  I just don’t get the specialness of the front seat.  Or gosh, with our kids the passenger side back seat.  They call “dibs” on everything.  It’s been quite the learning curve having more than 1 child.  I wouldn’t trade the lessons for anything.

Another lesson came at basketball last night.  Our family is blended. A “yours and mine” situation, we say there will be no “ours”, but in truth, they’re all ours.  The girls were watching the youngest brother play basketball.  My daughter’s half-sister (her dad’s daughter) sat with us.  Our good friend’s boys also sat with us to cheer on their brother and my son. The youngest of those boys is the most delightful of boys you’ll ever meet.  Caden accepts and loves without question.  He has come to refer to my son, Matthew as one of his “brudders”.  As I sat there the thought came to me, in our very imperfect family structure sits this perfect mosaic of what God sees in us.  He views all believers like Caden views Matthew, just another one of the “brudders”.

Granted, there are no half-siblings, step-siblings, or family friends in the family of God.  And as a wise woman once said, God doesn’t have any grandchildren either.  However, no matter how we came to our salvation experience- as a child, a teenager, an adult, or an older adult, God views us the same.  It doesn’t matter if you have this amazing testimony of how God saved you from the depths of sin or how he kept you since you were a child, we are all the same.  Accepted.  Loved.  Called his own.  He values each one of us.

I sometimes struggle with the family of God, not always understanding how that dynamic is supposed to work.  You know, since I’m an only child.  However, the more I see my kids interact and grow, the more I understand.

Are your “brudders” (or sisters) doing something worth cheering on?  Then, cheer them on.

Do they need some encouragement? Encourage them.

Do they need accountability? Step in.

Do they need discipleship? Help them.

Thankfully, as a part of the family of God, I’m no longer an only child.  I’ve got lots of “brudders” and sisters to celebrate with and to mourn with, to encourage, to be encouraged by, and all the things that families do.  It’s really a great thing to be a part of this family.

 

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Life Advice

We had lots of adventures in that apartment.  There were a lot of frozen burritos, Power Bars and Walmart brand Diet Coke consumed.  Dairy Queen runs for Blizzards right before they closed.  Late night studying and study groups.  Boyfriends came and went and came again.  (For more about this read, Rush a Club, don’t rush a marriage) There were birthday parties, engagements, and late nights of Billy Blank’s Tae Bo workouts (in order to burn off the Dairy Queen Blizzards).

At the ripe old age of 20, I was ready to be completely independent and take on the world.  Well, almost.  I’d already lived in a dorm and an on-campus apartment but this was real.  I had a real landlord and real bills.  Of course, I was rolling in money with all that I’d saved from my summer job and the amazing hourly wage from my on-campus job.  When my parents moved me in it was probably as big a milestone for them as for me.  I’m certain my mom was way more apprehensive than I was.  However, my dad seemed to keep the apprehension under wraps and stepped in with some solid advice.

“Two important things to remember,” he said.  “Number 1, Lock the doors and double check them. Number 2, Take out the trash.”

Solid, logical, practical dad advice.  These pieces of advice were important but I didn’t realize how important until I had long moved out of that apartment on 20th St.

Lock the doors.  This seems like adulting 101.  Keep your doors locked to keep people out and protect your stuff.  Locked doors will keep you safe while you sleep.  Locked doors keep unwanted visitors (both animal and human) out.  However, as I’ve thought about this practical advice, I’ve taken it as spiritual advice.  I want to keep out the enemy out of my life?  Lock away what he wants to access.  The enemy has come to seek, kill, and destroy me, so I have to lock him out.  He wants my peace.  He wants my joy.  He wants my confidence.  He wants yours too.  How do you lock the door on those?  Through truth.

When the enemy threatens my peace, the response is “Abundant peace belongs to those who love Your instruction; nothing makes them stumble.” Psalm 119:165.

When he wants my joy “You reveal the path of life to me; in Your presence is abundant joy; in Your right hand are eternal pleasures. ”  Psalm 16:11

When he wants my confidence, “God is within her, she will not fall.” Psalm 46:5a  Combatting his attacks by locking out lies with truth will work every time.

Take out the trash– This seems so obvious, right?  Of course, we’re going to take out the trash.  That’s just gross not to take it out.  However, the more I was around other college students, I realized how some people don’t take the trash out regularly.  I also realized when we were the ones responsible for it EVERY TIME, it seemed like such a time-consuming burden that could easily be put off another day.

When I take this lesson as a spiritual one, it can cause deep exposure.  Trash in our life is the sin.  Sin needs to be dealt with on the daily.  If you ignore the little sins, they pile up and soon jobs are lost, relationships ruined, and you sit and wonder exactly what got you to that point.  Most believers don’t wake up one day and go, “today is the day I cheat on my spouse” or “today is the day I gamble with my company’s money and lose”.

Most of the time it begins with small decisions, small sins, that pile and stack in the corner until the stench of them overtake the whole house.  So, take out the trash.  Stay committed to time in God’s presence.  Stay committed to dealing with the small temptations and taking thoughts captive (putting them in the right spot in your brain).  If we deal with the little sins, God is faithful to keep us from temptation we can’t handle.  “God is faithful, and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation,

He will also provide a way of escape so that you are able to bear it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13.

Solid adulting advice from my dad became solid spiritual advice as I grew up.  I still check my doors every night.  I have a wonderful husband who usually takes out our trash, but I take it out if I see it needs to be taken out.  Whether you’re full on adulting and need the spiritual reminders or you’re brand new to living on your own and need practical advice, remember this: lock your doors and take out the trash.

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