I love reading about the life of Jesus and seeing how He interacted with people while He was on this earth. There are so many lessons to draw from His life.

​I particularly am challenged by His compassion. So often I find myself going about my normal life and being so easily irritated by the people around me. I so easily become wrapped up in my schedule and don’t take the time to see the people around me like my Savior saw me before I was saved.
 
Matthew 9 is one of those passages that point to this same compassion. In Matthew 9, Jesus healed a man who was sick and bedridden (9:1-8). He had called Matthew to leave his tax collector job and follow Him (9:9). Jesus sat down with the publican and sinners and had a meal with them. He was never too busy to spend time with the lowest of the low. 

I love a good “how to” video or article online! It is always such a cool thing to sit and watch or read the directions on how to do something new. I love following directions and seeing the finished product of my hard work!

I have recently revived a childhood hobby in my life – building Legos! I love it! All the pieces spread out on the table and a huge book of instructions on how to take hundreds or even thousands of tiny pieces and make them into something so lifelike! But the trick to successful Lego building is to follow the directions.

When I was a kid, I would just build with whatever I had on hand in my huge bucket of Legos. Now that I am older and much more mature, I keep all the pieces for each set separate so that I can easily follow the instructions to build exactly what is intended. 

I love Christmas! Don’t you? There is so much to celebrate, and it’s just a great time to be with family and friends. People are so much more open to the Gospel at Christmas too. Even secular singers take the time to sing about the baby Jesus and the events of the Christmas story. It is one of the only times of the year when people don’t seem reluctant to speak about Jesus. For this and many other reasons, I really do enjoy Christmas. 
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On that first Christmas, there was a very unlikely audience to the initial proclamation of Jesus’ birth. The response of this audience produced some of the first missionaries to tell the Good News of Jesus’ birth! Go back with me to that familiar, but ever so amazing part of the Christmas story in Luke 2, when the angels came to this unlikely audience on a Judean hillside outside the village of Bethlehem.

I was listening to a preacher at a missions conference recently who posed a question about the way that we share the Gospel with unbelievers. His question essentially centered on whether we only witness when there is a clear opportunity handed to us or if we make a concerted effort to go out on purpose to witness to unbelievers.

​I have to admit that my mind was intrigued, and I began to consider my own life. I find that often I leave my witnessing opportunities up to “chance” encounters with unsaved people as I am going about my regular life. As I have pondered on and prayed through these thoughts, I have come to the conclusion that waiting for the opportunities to witness is not wrong. BUT if that is the ONLY time I speak of the wondrous love of my Lord, I may be missing the point of the Great Commission as Christ gave to His disciples prior to His ascension. ​

I am currently in the midst of close to seven months of traveling in the States reporting to churches about what God has done in England during my first term on the field. I have spent over five years in two churches in England, and as I reflect on those years, there are tons of blessings that I have experienced and could share with you. But the unexpected blessing that I have found to be the most precious is the blessing of loneliness.

Now you might be sitting there reading this and thinking that I have lost it. Why would loneliness be a blessing? Well, let me take you back to my childhood and teen years.

My two sisters and I heard my dad tell us repeatedly the following phrase. You might even call it a family motto since today it is posted on the door to my parents’ home as you leave. The phrase is this – “Be a blessing, not a burden.”

​As summer comes to a close, I am enjoying spending these days in the States where it is a bit warmer than I am used to in England. I get to wear my flip-flops and sandals just a little longer over here in the warmer weather. The only problem with wearing sandals is that my feet tend to not stay clean very long.

​On a recent trip to the beach, I was majorly bothered by the sand that finds its way into EVERYTHING including inside my sandals and all over my feet. It took much effort to clean all that sand and dirt off my feet at the bathhouse near the beach. But as soon as I put my foot down, you guessed it, more dirt and sand. I am easily bothered by such a little thing as the sand on my feet. Can you imagine how dirty peoples’ feet would have been in Bible days? Remember it was dusty and sandy in certain parts of Israel. And the people walked pretty much everywhere they went in their sandals. 

I remember when I was a little girl, my parents would tell my sisters and me to wait. Maybe we were waiting for Grandma and Grandpa to arrive for a visit, or we had to wait for our friends to arrive at church or for dinner to be ready. Waiting for the little ones is hard!

Maybe you have said to your little ones before, “Just stand still,” while you were waiting in line at Target. Maybe you have been sitting in the waiting room at the doctor’s office, and you have to remind yourself to stop bouncing your leg up and down and just sit still while you wait. Maybe in church, you have looked down the pew at your kids and given them the “Be Still” stare during Sunday’s sermon.

​Whether we like it or not, waiting is part of life. It seems like we are always waiting for something in life. ​