Servanthood

This is a post I've been thinking on for a while. I'm not sure it's for anyone else as much as it is for me, but I'm gonna share it here anyway.

Lately I've been feeling very burdened by all that we do at church. Sometimes I feel like it is taking over our lives. So, Patrick and I began to pray about what I should give up. The answer that we both got was choir. I had a little bit of a hard time with that because, to be honest, in my flesh it was my favorite. I love to sing. I always have, but the truth of the matter is that it was taking away from our time at home together and just because I'm not in choir, doesn't mean I can't sing. I'm always going to sing, in the sanctuary at church, in the car, in the shower, with my children, when I'm alone, etc.

So, here's the lesson that the Lord is teaching me:
My heart is truly to serve. It always has been. I've always been the type to never want to accept help, but always willing to freely give it. Here's the thing though, I can't do it begrudgingly. I've got to start doing it with a right heart. I'm not doing the stuff at church that I consider to be an extreme amount of fun. Honestly, I looked forward to the day that all my kids moved out of Little Praisers, so I wouldn't have to be back there. But, the Lord had different plans. We work back there now, more than we did when Mason was in there. Why? Because, we prayed and asked the Lord to show us what was the biggest need in our church, because that's where we wanted to serve. So, here we are in Little Praisers 3 (and sometimes more) times a month. Then He lays it on our hearts to work with the older children as well, so now we're in Kids Quest once a month. I do a lot of cooking for the church as well and to be honest, cooking is not my favorite thing, I don't totally dislike it, but it is definitely not what I would call fun, but that's another need that, fun or not, I can help to meet.

We're always talking about the church body, and I've come to the conclusion, that I want our family to be a vital body part, and that means obedience and sacrifice. It means laying ourselves down and being willing to do things that are outside of our comfort zone and that don't seem fun. I have always told my children, it isn't true obedience if you are not doing it with a right heart. Honestly, my heart has not been right. I've felt burdened and tired and just wanted to throw in the towel. I'm definitely praying and I'm going to be really working on being joyful, because truthfully, I am thankful that He finds me worthy to be used.

Pastor Greg has spoken about the Word saying "you reap what you sow" and I had always thought of that in terms of bad stuff, if you treat someone badly then someone will treat you badly, that kind of thing. He pointed out that also means the good stuff. He even went as far as to say, that if you have a need, then sow that need. If you need help cleaning your house, help someone clean theirs. If you need help with your children, help someone with theirs. If you need help with your yard work, help someone with theirs, you get the picture. Well, the really neat thing that we have noticed is, although I'm not good at asking for or accepting help, since we have been serving as much as we are, we have not had a need that has gone unmet. People are constantly offering to help with things we need and often insisting. It's amazing.

I am so thankful that the Lord has sent us to this church. We have grown tremendously since we've been there. I have learned that if I want the church to be all that the Lord desires it to be, then I must be willing to do whatever He desires me to do.

I would encourage you to ask yourself, what part of the body are you, if it's not as big a part as you think it should be then ask the Lord where you are most needed and be willing to sacrifice and do something that isn't normally your cup of tea. You will be blessed for it.

Have an amazing day!