People might look at you funny.
The way you live their life might be changed or interrupted.
You might have to give up something to make room for another.
And, what if the child God places in your home doesn't look, act, or fit into the image you had hoped for?
And, well, that would be hard.
And hard is something we avoid.
But can I remind you for just a minute how hard the price of our comfort is on them?
I often wonder where Christians came up with the idea that being a Christian resembled anything close to easy?
I often wonder how so often we miss the entire point of what Jesus is all about?
He is so much more than going to church on Sunday, memorizing verses of the bible, wearing a cross around your neck, and praying at the dinner table.
And can I just tell you something else?
Life is never going to be easy- regardless of how hard we try to put up those walls of protection, regardless of our attempt to make all the right decisions and all the right plans.
And can I remind you that the greatest gifts in life did not come easy either?
Life is never going to be easy- regardless of how hard we try to put up those walls of protection, regardless of our attempt to make all the right decisions and all the right plans.
And can I remind you that the greatest gifts in life did not come easy either?
When you claim to know the Lord and you call yourself a Christian you are not signing up for easy. As a matter of fact, I can almost guarantee you that God will call you out of your comfort zone, out of your ordinary existence and into a life that you never imagined for your self.
It will be a life that is all about HIM...a life that that glorifies HIM- not you.
So go ahead and love your God so much that you are willing to get out there, get a little crazy, not worry about what anyone thinks...
Get your hands dirty
SERVE
GIVE
LOVE
make your life COUNT.
You might get hurt, you might be uncomfortable, you might not be popular-you might not even recognize yourself when He is done...
but the one thing I can promise you that it will be worth. it. all.
42 comments:
Thank you, Amy, for showing each of us the truth about following our Lord. No, being a Christian is not easy...and I stand in awe the way HE has changed me through those "hard" times. I cannot imagine my life any other way!!
We are at a very critical point in our lives and are in deep prayer about where the Lord is leading our family. I feel major change coming our way, and I'm giddy with excitement!!
Keep shouting HIS NAME from the rooftops- we all need to hear it!!
In Him,
E
All I can say is Amen....our culture of comfortable Christians needs to be reminded of the real mission....giving our life to HIM and dying to ourselves!
I LOVE THIS POST! Thank you for writing it! That image of the poor hand will forever be in my memory!
AMEN. Very hard and totally worth it.
Amy, sometimes I feel like I get more out of reading your blog then I do at church service. We just brought two little ones from the DRC in November and are already thinking about adopting again. I keep thinking how crazy that seems. How crazy everyone else will think I am. But when I read your last few blog posts, it makes perfect since. Thank you.
true that. and linked. :)
Amen! Great post. Following Jesus means we will suffer for His name. I delight in those sufferings, I delight in knowing that He is stripping me of all that I am and making me more like Him. Jesus is enough!
Amy, Thanks you have no idea how much I needed this post today...bless you
Crying....because we definitely think we should be comfortable way tooo often. Why? Breaks my heart.
Love so many of your posts; but this one especially speaks to me. It has not been easy with our most recent arrival...it has been harder then I thought it would be. Sometimes I feel envious that others her age seem to have settled in easier. The ones we will bring home soon will not be easy either; I needed to be reminded we didn't sign up for "easy". Thank you. Hope you don't mind if I link to this?? I could not explain it better then you have. Blessings, Jennifer
You really know how to drive home a point. Amen!
Amen Amen and Amen!! Great post, thank you for sharing your heart. Couldn't agree more. It might be hard but it IS worth it.
awesome post!!! thank you!!!!
Beautifully writen and completely true!!
Once again, an incredible post. You are so absolutely right...God never promised easy...but He promised to never leave us nor forsake us....to always walk with us. And when the road of adoption and life in general gets hard, He is always there and sometimes it's so easy to forget that and try and go it alone.
Thank you for sharing this post and your heart.
Blessings.
Amen! This is awesome! I for one am enjoying the not so easy life of following after Christ. He is changing me in ways I never imagined!
moving, Spirit-inspired, post. I'm borrowing your pic of the hand as I had a post swimming in my head where you just took the words out of my mouth and it fits perfectly.
While it infuriates me that governments think they can take from the rich and give to the poor...
It infuriates me just as much that the rich (i.e. every American) wont wake up and willingly give to the poor... I think many will be waking up to their error all too late.
Wow. My pastor just said those exact words,"Get your hands dirty" this past Sunday in reference to Loving your Neighbor. That just being nice to your actual "neighbor" is not enough. It must be time to really get my hands dirty! Thanks for the reinforcement!
Amen sister! He has radically changed my life and my plans. It is not easy but I agree with you...SO VERY WORTH IT! Love your post!
Amy, I feel like I should just stream your blog into mine -- I want to repost everything you write!!! Thank you for your words of challenge, wisdom and love. You're a inspiration to so many of us!
AMEN! Once again we are on the same page again!
Love you,
Jill
Amy,
Great post! The Lord has been encouraging me to speak the same things! I just wrote about something similar yesterday!
Absolutely excellent post! I would love to share this post with some of my blog friends also! Very well written and heartfelt! Thank you and bless you.
Worth it! This is a resounding theme in posts I've been reading lately. We're on our way to starting the process to become foster parents and this is the phrase that I will be remembering through all of it. It is worth it because they are worth it.
Thanks!
Amen! Well said!
Wow. Your posts have a way of hitting home. I've been conplaining to God about how hard things are...think He wante me to see this post to let me know the whining needs to stop?
We are going through foster classes and I JUST posted about our indecision...and all of the questions...
a friend directed me here. I am glad she did.
I love you Amy...you really GET IT!
Thank you for being their voice!!!
Love and blessings,
Robin
God has given you such talent expressing your thoughts and feelings in a way that inspires so many. Thanks for taking the time to share your gifts. Keep it up!
Great words of encouragement!
Really great post. This is why I have such a problem with religion, people profess to be this or that but they have no actions.
This post is awesome!
Good stuff friend. I have found over and over that Jesus is right there, in the smack dab MIDDLE of the HARD!! :)
I really needed to read this today! I have been getting anxious about our next child coming home(from Ethiopia) because I have been worried that my life might become "difficult"! I am falling into that same trap that I fell into before our daughter came home from Guatemala. I am asking the same questions again... What if she has a difficult time adjusting? What if something is wrong with her? What if the other kids don't bond with her? But God already has a plan for everything, and I know that even if things are difficult, the blessing will be even bigger!
Thanks you!
Yes. Yes. YES. Thank you for your bold heart...this is only the 2nd time I've been moved to comment on a blog. As an adoptive parent who longs to be yet more involved in this work of caring for His little ones, I am moved beyond words at your proclamation of the hard-hitting Truth here.
May he continue to stir things up in all of us...
Peace to your beautiful family,
christa wells
I am SO glad I've found your blog once again! You are so uplifting and inspiring. THANK YOU for this post! It keeps reminding me that I'm NOT going crazy, despite what my family and friends may think with our choice to adopt internationall (and a baby at that, like, common - are we NOT too old to do that)!!!
Thanks...keep these posts coming!
Blessinngs
Tara
Amy ,
Beautiful family. Just came across your blog and would love to ask you some questions. My email is funk50@charter.net and our blog is www.campfunk.blogspot.com
Wondered if you fundraised and how you do meals/groceries with a big family? Thanks!
Jill
I love this post! My husband and I have a way of always going against the "normal" and sometimes even feel like aliens in this world. None of it matters though because we have learned that if we don't follow Christ even when it seems crazy then we miss out on some pretty big blessings.
We have actually made a crazy move right now putting total trust in God and we know without a shadow of a doubt that as long as we are follong HIS will that he will carry us.
Very, very deep and convicting post and I love it. I can't imagine life any other way than it being hard in one way or the other almost every day. Truly if it is not one thing its another but the rewards that come from adopting and all the other things are simply priceless. There is absoultely nothing better in this world and that is nothing compared to what Jesus did for us, nothing.
wow. amen.
Amy- You inspire me! Angi C/ Indiana
I know I'm a little late commenting, but I had to chime in and tell you how convicting this post is. Thank you for posting this and getting the heart of what Christianity is all about. Thank you for posting this and I am linking up to it on my blog.
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