Proud to be an American!

I have baby fingerprint smudges on the back sliding glass door as she stands against it watching her daddy grill.

There's homemade ice cream base chilling in the fridge.

I'm busy chopping celery and onion to put into potato salad.

A little kitten has adopted us... And our older daughter has adopted her right back, beginning to assume responsibility over the care of this kitten.

Between our home and the one next door, there runs a ditch with two places to cross - one near the street where it flattens out, and the other toward the back where an earthen bridge appears. Our daughter, the three girls next door and the two behind us use that going back and forth.

Last night, the father of the three girls invited their friends over to watch him set off the fireworks he'd bought, leading to a fabulous technicolor display amidst little girl squeals and giggles. I stood on our porch thinking, "This is exactly the type of place I wanted to raise my children."

This morning, we attended worship. It still bothers me to see the American flag fly in church - that whole separation of church and state thing, and I don't want our church to co-opt its will to that of the state in any way, as cautioned by Dietrict Bonhoeffer some 70-80 years or so ago.

I have all these things - fingerprints on glass, food in the fridge, safety in our neighborhood and church - BY GOD! By the grace of God and the sacrifices of so many brave men and women over the last 234 years, I have freedom to work, to live and to worship as I see fit. I praise God for all the ways that God has blessed me, and I thank God for allowing me to be born an American.

My prayer is that God will keep us free through the next two years and that the President will repent of his evil ways, even going so far as to step down. What is your prayer for America?

Humbled by Chance

Sunday I was having... personal issues of a spiritual nature.  We'd just finished our study of Francis Chan's Crazy Love in our Sunday morning small group, and we'd discussed at length how to show God's "crazy love" to others.  I have no problem with showing God's love to people; my problem currently is, how do I do more of it?

I want to minister to people.  I want to go out and feed the poor and help clothe the naked.  However, with two children at home with me and a home-based business, how in the world would I find the time to do this?  I don't want to risk my girls' safety, even though I might be perfectly comfortable going into situations of questionable safety.  Yet, I still want to serve others.

Then on Sunday afternoon, I came home and had a direct message on Twitter from a friend, needing to talk over some spiritual concerns she's been having.  We're still working together on those, but the fact of the matter was, it dawned on me that, through Twitter and Facebook, I have ways of ministering to people that others might not have.

In messaging my friend and asking her permission to mention our discussion on my blog, I shared what I'd been feeling angst about.  She replied that she had sensed something had been "off" in me when she messaged me.  Funny part is, no one - not my husband, my best friend or the Twitterverse - knew what was on my mind and in my heart.  I'd also sensed something had been "off" in her, just a vibe I'd picked up in her tweets and Facebook posts in recent days.  Our exchanges - what we said, when we said it - were anointed by the One who knows ALL about us both.

This is for all you ministers out there, both those who are ministers by calling and those who are ministers by simply being Christian.  Let these words encourage you when you're not feeling as if you're doing enough, and pray that God will open up your eyes to see where the opportunities to minister are.  You may have a particular ministry setting that's special to you.

What's your favorite place to minister, and if you have a target audience, who are they?