Generous & Ready to Share

Modern-day slave trade. Child prostitution. AIDS orphans. Children living in literal dumps, waiting for their next meal to arrive in a garbage truck. Disease. Starvation. Homelessness. The list goes on. 

Millions of people who have yet to hear the name "Jesus" or have the gospel preached to them.

And here I sit, thinking of a way to save enough money for an espresso machine.

I wrestle daily with questions of, "Is it wrong to buy this?" or "How can I justify this desire?"

The truth I'm learning is this: God blesses us with things. Things aren't inherently bad. 

But as with everything else He gives me - my things are really HIS.

As I write this I look around my home - the home I've worked hard to make into a haven for my family. I love that about being a wife and a mother. But what are my children learning? That life is about having a nice house, lots of toys, and thanking God for them? That's not necessarily wrong. But are the Scriptures on my walls just that - verses on the wall so I'll think we're living the right way? And so others will think that too?

Lately our 3-yr-old has been complaining. A lot. And telling me about all the things she "needs." So I show her videos and pictures of kids across the world living in a trash heap. And I tell her to be grateful for what she has and to eat her peas because "those kids would love to have your peas."

And she says, "Let's go get those kids and bring them to our house."

That's not really what I was aiming for. Gratitude would have been just fine. But action is too much work.

"As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share" - I Timothy 6:17,18.

This is my heart for Radical Crafts. We are so rich. We have gifts and the means to do something good with them. There are so many layers of possibility for God to use us in this - as a witness, as an encouragement to others, as a means of providing for those around the world who have great needs - the greatest of which is know Him.

I pray it's about Him. I'm a selfish, proud person. This cannot be of me, or it will fail. And it should fail.

It has to be His. For His glory and His name's sake.

Join me...pray about what your involvement can be.

In his book, Radical, David Platt shares this quote from a man in his congregation:

"I realize there is never going to come a day when I stand before God and he looks at me and says, 'I wish you would have kept more for yourself.' I'm confident God will take care of me."

I've needed to write this for a long time, but the challenge to do so came as a result of reading what some other women have written as part of a She Speaks conference contest. The She Speaks Conference is about women connecting the hearts of women to the heart of our Father God. Really, Radical Crafts is about my own obedience to the Lord, but I would love it if He chooses to use it in others' lives as well.