Day 315 A Blessing in Confined Places

Dear friends,

I can't get out much these days. Homeschooling is a big commitment, and an absolute labor of love. It doesn't afford much contact with the outside world though, except those 2 mornings a week we go to Our Savior's school for Spanish and lunch with the David's class chums. (We also took a bike ride today at the Corning Preserve. Fabulous!) I do of course go to work at the hospital too, so I guess I'm exaggerating a bit about the confinement. The point I'm trying to make is this: I'm asking God to bring people in to my life who need encouragement. There are times in our lives (when our children are very young, when someone in our family is chronically ill, etc...) where reaching out to others is not so easy. It's one thing to write a check and support the poor - and it is our duty to do so - but it is something else, more personal, more "costly" in a way, to be there for someone in their need. And since the top tier of my priority list right now features David John's education, there's a limit to how far from home I can go to be a friend to someone. So I prayed this morning, "Lord, bring someone to me, at the right time, even with my little time." (As an aside, this time with my son IS part of God's plan for my life. Our families are the royal flush of service to God).

The Great One doesn't lay a heavy burden on us to do for Him. First of all, most of all, He wants us to be with Him. The times I have strived to do for God have often ended in burn out and dissatisfaction. But when I have asked God to be the initiator of any kind of loving works, when it's been an overflow from the relationship between Jesus and me, it's been a true joy. If we're stuck in the house, as my friend Alma has been for years during the winter months, we can be incredibly loving and effective by praying for folks near and far. Alma has no doubt single handedly moved the heart of God in mighty ways. This little lady with a debilitating disease is a powerhouse of love and truth. And she's stuck in her house alot. The Great One sure isn't limited by walls.

I say all this friends, because I know what it is to feel guilty about "not doing enough". The enemy of our souls can mess us up good with that one. I remember the 180 that occurred in my thinking the day I read this scripture in the New Testament:

"This is the work of God: to believe in the One He has sent".

Can you stand it? Believing is the cornerstone of good works! Put your energies into believing the Lord Jesus Christ, and the fruit of good works will surely grow. At the perfect time.

Graciously, God did send me someone to encourage today. Someone dear and precious bearing a heartache only He can fix. But He does send folks like us to be a leaning post as those around us struggle on the pilgrim road. Or are trying to find the sacred highway in the first place. Since no one has more experience than I in doing the leaning, I know this to be true. A wicked disaster provides first hand knowledge of the power of faith proved real by works of mercy. I leaned on so many of you when I was not strong. Sometimes, you actually had to pick me up and carry me over the boulders and obstacles. How can I ever adequately thank you? I can only do my best to pay it forward, since it would be impossible to pay it back...

Don't fret about not doing enough. Stay close to the One and Only, and ask Him to bring the ones you're meant to help. He does it in a thousand different ways, so be ready for anything. Because if you are praying to be a blessing, that's a prayer that will get answered with a yes for sure. It may wind up being something that seems so small to you, but turns out to be the lynch pin of God's whole plan.

Your friend on the pilgrim road,

Loriann