Vision

This year God graciously brought a younger woman to me and I've been able to share my faith-journey and life with her on a weekly basis. Right now I am reading the book Spiritual Mothering by Susan Hunt to find good advice on how to fulfill the role of "older woman" more impactfully than I do now.

In the forward alone were nuggets to share. It was written by George Grant.

It is women mentoring women. It is older women caring for younger women - teaching, nurturing, and encouraging them. She draws on a wealth of Scriptural material to illumine the righteous and venerable tradition of people actually investing themselves in people - rather than in programs, projects, or perspectives.

That struck me! We can get so caught up in a program or project that we miss the people. Generally, I would classify myself as a non-people person. Plainly speaking, I do not get energized by being with others, rather they just wear me out. I am invigorated by spending time alone - reading, praying, thinking. I can never get enough of it. I know God created me this way; however, I also know that He calls us to care for others. The life of a Christian is not about oneself, but about serving and caring for others. For some that is easier than others.

I'm an idea person. I literally have file box after file box of ideas all waiting to be discovered. I am beginning to see that possibly God has given me the personality and design to be a writer, but I feel woefully inadequate when it comes to expressing myself. Seeing that God has maybe designed me for a certain purpose gives me hope, but I can't get self-absorbed to the point that I forget about the people. There are my family members, my neighbors, my friends, my co-workers, my fellow homeschoolers, and so many more with whom I come in contact throughout my days. Who am I focused on? Them or me? Who does Christ call me to serve? Them or me?

1 Peter 4:9-11 (New International Version)
Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Mr. Grant ends the forward with this quote by Theodore Roosevelt:

Do we see as we ought to see? Do we see the warrior witnesses round about us - or are we like the servants of Elisha, purblind and incognizant of the battle raging in our midst? Do we see the Savior before us - or are we like the disciples on the way to Emmaus, obsessed and possessed by our own concerns? Do we see - or are we casting about in darkness, flailing with sightless eyes? With what encumbrances have we ballasted the Gospel of grace with our lack of vision? Surely the Kingdom of Righteousness does not lack for resources. Surely the church is not bereft of ingenuity. Surely the just have bounteous opportunities. Yea and indeed, the single and solitary need - of the hour, the day, the epoch - is vision: the vision to see, the vision to do, and more, the vision to be. Lord of the Harvest, give us we pray: great men, great women, and great families. Lord of the Harvest, give us we pray: vision - the vision of gallant greatness.

My prayer is that you will have a blessed New Year as you strive to serve others in Christ!