Giving up Control.....

My Bible study has been reading “Ms. Understood” by Jen Hatmaker. I just finished the last chapter yesterday and was inspired by the women’s stories she included. Jen provided information about several of her small group members and their extraordinary stories. One friend she wrote about had climbed the corporate ladder and was already an executive at Fox by her late twenties. She felt that she needed to change her life, so she quit her job & planned on traveling the world for a year. During a trip to India she visited an orphanage. After seeing the deplorable conditions – such as wooden slats for beds and children who were suffering from malnutrition – she decided to take action & do something about it. She set up an organization to renovate the orphanages in India, to not only provide suitable living conditions and food, but these organizations also provide computer skill training and education for the children, so they now are equipped with the skills necessary to survive after they leave the orphanage. There are now (5) children’s homes & (1) unwed mothers home. Here are some stats that I took from her website:
(http://www.miraclefoundation.org/index.php):

“There are 25 million orphaned children in India and the number is growing. It is estimated that one million orphans enter the system each year. All of these children share a similar story. A life of poverty, with no family to care for them, nurture them or nourish them. Many live on the streets and the "lucky" ones live in overcrowded, under-funded orphanages. The state of orphaned children in India is heart-breaking.
· An estimated 31% of the babies surviving past the age of one will die before the age of five
· Approximately 18% of children under five in India are moderately to severely underweight
· The rapid spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic has resulted in India possessing the largest number of AIDS orphans in the world
· UNICEF reports that 25 million orphans are living in India—a number equivalent to the population of the entire state of Texas “

What a difference this one woman made! It is so amazing how God can work through one person to change the world! We often think that we aren’t capable of accomplishing something that seems so out of our reach, but we forget that we are not alone; if we allow God to work through us anything can be accomplished!

Is there some charity, mission trip or other outreach program that God has laid on your heart? Are you always coming up with excuses as to why you can’t participate? I challenge each of you to really pray about what God’s calling is for you, maybe you’re way ahead of me & are already doing this! I’ve had a desire to participate in some type of outreach for awhile, but as soon as the thought even enters my mind….excuses keep piling up “I don’t have the time” or “I don’t have the money” or “I’m not qualified to do this” etc. The simple answer to this is prayer! I’m going to pray about what type of outreach I would like to volunteer with and then write it down. Then I’m going to write down all of the excuses that pop in my head…and pray specifically asking God if it’s His will for me to serve in this outreach, to please remove the obstacles that I’m facing. I don’t know what will come from this, but I really feel like I need to do something. Honestly it makes me quite nervous to give up control (like I ever really had control :) ) & give it up to God.

A month or so ago, I decided to read a book of the Bible as my morning devotions, I randomly picked the book of James. James 1:14-17 says “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead”. I know this may sound harsh, and I don’t believe that this verse is saying that the way to heaven is through works – not faith. But I do believe that if we have a true and sincere faith in God and believe what the Bible says is true, that we will have a desire to serve each other and help those that are less fortunate than us.

I know that I’ve rambled on and on in this blog, but this is something that has been on my heart – so I thought I would share :)

I’ve read several of Jen Hatmaker’s books and have also attended one of her conferences – I’ve really enjoyed the books & would highly recommend reading them! She has a great sense of humor and is able to relate to her readers through her humor and simple explanations of Biblical principles.

Check out her website at http://www.jenhatmaker.com/. My favorite is “A Modern Girls Guide to Bible Study”