Wait, I thought I was supposed to only be a SAHM?

Last month, I blogged about a strange feeling I had. I felt I should sell all my possessions and give to the poor. I haven't exactly done that. I'm married and can't simply sell our stuff or give it away.

Scripture is the only thing set in stone, not my strange feeling that may or may not be from the Lord. Scripture says that I'm to obey and submit to my husband, and that is what I must do. (Ephesians 5; Colossians 3; 1 Peter 3) Therefore, I've talked to my hubby about my feelings and urge to live simpler and give away what we don't need. That's as far as I can go right now.

Disclaimer: I am convinced that God is sovereign and there are no coincidences. Everything happens for God glorifying reasons and somehow fits into a grander picture than I can see. However, I've been offered a job, and it seems completely random to me.

With this job, I could work from home. It isn't time consuming. It includes social media, which I love. It also includes blogging, which may fall under "social media." I'm not sure. It would be extra income. There may be health insurance. I may be able to use my love of Jesus, teaching children, couponing, homemaking, educational technology, literature... I don't know exactly what all I may be able to use.

Now, I think back to the urge lately to give to the poor. Perhaps, God is using this random job opportunity to give us what we need to give away.

More money means more to give. More to give means more ways to reach the least of these. Reaching the least of these means serving Christ in a tangible way. Serving Christ in a tangible way reaps beautiful everlasting rewards. Everlasting rewards mean a heart filled with all the treasures found in God. All the treasures found in God satisfy a soul completely!

Tomorrow I'll be tidying up my resumé, (It has lain dormant in our attic for nearly 5 years.) and answering interview questions. At first, I was terrified and unsure about whether to even accept the job offer. However, God showed me in His Word recently that He'll take care of me in this venture, and so here I am: A SAHM who may be venturing into the world of Social Media, only to see what the Lord would have us do with the money. What?! 



[Jesus said,] “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
(Luke 12:32-34 ESV)


"You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
(Psalm 16:11 ESV)

I will remember the deeds of the LORD.

I read the Bible, and I see God's faithfulness to His people everywhere. The Old Testament is covered in His loving pursuit of Israel, even in their open defiance. The New Testament brings in Jesus to fulfill God's "Special Rescue Plan" as Caleb's Bible reads. All throughout history God's been faithful to His children. He still is, even now, in a small subdivision in South Georgia.

(Most of this list shows God's faithfulness to provide financially, because of my hubby's job loss. We've been paying extra close attention.)

• Got WIC two days before Donny was laid off. The appointment had been scheduled for months. 
• Applied and was approved for a credit card for emergencies a few days before Donny lost his job. If we had waited, we'd have had no income. No income = no credit card. (We know that a credit card is dangerous water, but it's paid for the dogs' vet bill, grooming, and some groceries. We are treading thoughtfully.) 
• Hubby's former employer gave us two extra weeks of pay PLUS an extra month of health insurance. 
• During our extra month of insurance, Caleb had his four-month checkup at the Pediatrician's office. 
• The day before our insurance ran out, Caleb had his one-and-only physical therapy appointment. (PT said he'll need to come back in a month, but she won't charge us to check up on him.) 
• A part of Caleb's head is flat, so the PT said to let him sit in a Bumbo or exersaucer. Got both of these from my cousin just a couple of weeks ago. 
• $200 was left in our mailbox inside an envelope that read, "We love you." From whom? We know not.
• Family and friends have been extremely generous. They've bought us food and Caleb formula. They've given us gift cards, babysat for free, and hired Donny to work. 
• We are receiving assistance to pay the last of our hospital bills, possibly all of it.
• One of my besties has the same eye prescription as me. She usually wears her glasses, so she has given me months and months worth of contacts.
• We have just enough money to pay our bills for April.
• With our Tax Return we were able to give to our church AND MTWJapan. 

I'm sure that God has done immeasurably more than this, but this is what we've noticed. We do have small eyes.

In response to what God's done for us, I say with Asaph: "I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work and meditate on your mighty deeds [...and] tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders he has done." (Psalm 77:11-12; 78:4b)

...one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.

• March 9: I chose to limit my use of FB and blogs to give my heart and mind a break from so much stimulation.

• March 18: Scripture Memory for Brittany and me is Psalm 63:1-2. "O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory." 

• March 21: While praying for Japan I feel God say to my heart, "Sell your possessions and give to the poor."

• March 22: Luke 12:33-34 is part of my daily reading. "Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." 

• March 24: Blogged through some of the mixed signals that we send to our children about loving God more than all other things. 

• March 25: Similar mixed signals were discussed in Shepherding a Child's Heart, page 46.

I journaled through of all of this, and here's my current, rather sandy conclusion. God is calling me to: 

1. thirst and faint for Him in a way that I never have.
2. sacrifice all the clutter that vies for my affections and attention.
3. sell whatever I must and give to the poor.
4. find my treasure in heaven and in God alone.

so that I "glorify God and enjoy Him forever," and send only that message to Caleb. 

After all this, I open my Bible to pray through Psalm 146. (It's where I am in reading through the Psalms.) The Psalmist writes that God "executes justice for the oppressed," "gives food to the hungry," and that "The LORD watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless..." 

Then I turn to the Gospels to read. I'm currently in Luke 14. 

I read in Jesus' Parable of the Wedding Banquet: “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled." 

Then, Jesus says, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple...So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. 

Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” 

Reading and praying through all of this, I know that God is calling me to renounce and sacrifice whatever I must in order to love and treasure Him above all things.

Now what?

Father, Your will be done in my life as it is in heaven. In Jesus' Name. Amen.