52 card pick-up

I will never forget the day my grandpa asked me if He could teach me to play 52 card pick-up. Obviously, I was a little naive because I was about 13 and sat listening intently for the directions to the game! Man, my grandpa sure got a good laugh at my expense that day!

I have thought about that memory a lot in the last few months as I really feel like God is showing me how to play 52 card pick-up with my life! It started sometime last fall when I felt like He dumped out all my "cards" and one by one I have had to pick them up and decide things like...do I really believe this about life...why do I believe this...what do I do about this...is this honoring to the Lord...how in the world did this end up in my life and so on.

I have had to ask myself though questions. Questions like...If I really believe that God is who He says He is and that this is not my home because He has a wonderful place planned for me then why in the world I am so concerned about making my life here so comfortable?

Or what about the 26,000 children who die everyday around the world of PREVENTABLE diseases...what I am doing about that?

If I believe that the Bible is the true and inerrant word of God then verses like Matthew 25:40 (Whatever you did for one of the least of these you did for me) have got me wondering what have I done for Jesus lately?

I could go on and on and on about all the "cards" He is having me pick up. There are cards I am having to throw out because they just don't fit and new cards that the Lord is placing in front of me that I am trying to learn how to live with and to live out.

To be completely honest, there are some days when I think it would be easier to go back to the blissfully ignorant girl I have been for so long. The girl who just settled for the regular routine. The girl who actually believed that spending time at church and volunteering to teach children's choir was what it meant when the bible said to "take up my cross daily and follow Him". Yes, that may be easier but like the Avalon song says...Lord, I don't want to go somewhere if I know that You're not there because I know that me without You is a lie.

So 52 card pick up it is! I am praying that He will show me everything that needs to go in order to be more like Him and that He will give me the strength to do it even when it hurts.

I am praying that God will grab all of our hearts and open our eyes and hearts to the "least of these" who are near and far and that He will give us a burden for them and a strong desire to obey His word to take care of them!