Love , Hope, Serve.
Most people who know me know that those three words mean a lot to me. Those three words are on my banner for my blog (look above), those three words are on my journal (my beautiful friend Jackie made for me!) and I have considered tattooing those three words on my wrist.
Some people ask why I love those three words so much and the answer is simple…that is my life prayer.
I want to:
Love unconditionally
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ ; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”
Luke 10:26-28
Hope Unswervingly
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23
And
Serve faithfully.
Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people. Ephesians 6:7
All that sounds great and it makes for a catchy saying, but I’m learning that living it is harder than quoting it.
To be perfectly honest living in a community is hard. There are days when I am all peopled out, and there are days where it takes everything I have within me to not snap at the 11 people I am living with this month. Recently I’ve been convicted of my hypocritical attitude. With everything I have in me I desire to love and serve people through these 11 months, yet I get mad if someone forgets to do their dishes or empty the trash. I’m learning those heart attitudes don’t mix. God has asked me how I expect to unconditionally love people I don’t know when I can’t even mange to unconditionally love those I have around me. Talk about a slap to the face. Here I was praying to love unconditionally and looking for ways to love and serve as a ministry when all along God was giving me many, MANY situations where I was supposed to unconditionally love one of my teammates.
Unconditionally is a hard word to swallow. In fact, I think it is so hard that we sometimes say it so fast that we gloss over the meaning of it. Unconditionally means without any conditions. A synonym for unconditional is unqualified, so not only is love supposed to be without conditions, but it is also supposed to be to those who are unqualified for it. That is the love Jesus has for me, and that is the love He is calling me to give. A love to those who are hard to love: a love that does not expect anything back, even a proper response.
Love is not the only thing I am learning about. I would love to say that my hope is always in the Lord, that I always have full faith in His plan, His power, or His work through me, but sadly I cannot say that. As much as I desire to hope unswervingly, I’m quickly learning how easily distracted I can become by life’s waves. See when Peter stepped out of the boat towards Jesus it wasn’t his lack of faith that made him sink, because for a few steps he was walking on water, rather it was how quickly his faith was replaced by fear as soon as he saw the waves. As much as I hate it, sometimes I am peter. Sometimes my hope swerves, when my eyes swerve from looking towards God.
Last but not least, im learning how to truly serve. I’m learning the difference between working and serving. Although I work all the time, I’m learning how little I actual serve. Serving is more a heart attitude as opposed to a physical action. I know this because I can admit to “serving” with a wrong heart many times. I think I am serving, but in my heart I am bitter. I’m bitter because I don’t like the work, or I think I’m the only one working, or I’m tired…blah blah blah. As much as I hate to admit it, the list goes on and on. To continue with the honesty streak, sometimes ministry on the world race isn’t what I would pick. I would rather be loving on some snot faced child instead of plowing a garden with a shovel, but God has other plans. And if while I’m plowing that garden my heart is wishing I was somewhere else, then what am I accomplishing? I’m working, instead of serving. Jesus didn’t call me to just go through life working and hating it, He called me to serve. That means whether I’m serving a little old village lady by plowing her garden, or playing with a snot faced kid, or even working at a job back home I want to have a servants heart, and serve faithfully.
So there’s another lessoned learned by Marie on this thing called the world race =). Soon I will post a more specific blog about our ministry here in Romania.
Also thanks to everyone that has supported me! I’ve made my April 1st deadline!!!! I’m in the clear until July 1st, and even then I only need around 4,500 more!
