Little Things

“Little drops of water,
little grains of sand,
make the mighty ocean
and the beauteous land.”

The words of this familiar poem “Little Drops of Water”, by Julia Carney, floated through my mind as I was getting my little 8 year old sister ready for bed.  Little things…like chatting with my little sister while giving her a bath, like massaging lotion into each other’s feet and backs….

“And the little moments,
humble though they may be,
make the mighty ages
of eternity.”

Little things….Like a church members’ appreciative smile at me as I played violin in church….a hug from a dear grandmotherly lady at church…..

“Little deeds of kindness,
little words of love,
make our earth an Eden,
like the heaven above.”

Little things…like receiving an encouraging card in the mail…like receiving a text message or phone call from a close friend…

“So our little errors
lead the soul away,
from the paths of virtue
into sin to stray.”

            Little things that are so special to receive…little things that would only take a few minutes to give, reminds me of the Bible verse that says “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Little things….a choice to put self aside to help someone in need; a choice to not say the critical words that were on your tongue, a choice to give a helping hand instead of doing what I had planned….

Precious memories…little words…a friend who sticks up for me, a positive comment amid negative ones, an “I appreciate you” a “thank you”, a smile, a sympathizing tear, an “I love you”....It’s the little things in life that matter most….

 “Little seeds of mercy

sown by youthful hands,
grow to bless the nations
far in heathen lands.”

            Jesus cared about little things in life too….a hungry crowd of people who the disciples wanted to send away….the little children of who He said “Forbid them not”….a little man who was so short he had to climb a tree in order to see Him…a little girl who had died….you can see how the little things quickly become big things….it forces me to ask myself the question, what do I call a big thing?  What do I consider something of great importance?  Do I show care and love, affection and appreciation for those around me? Or am I too caught up in my own agenda to enjoy the simple things in life?  What I think matters most, the big things I seek for, or the positions I always dreamed of having….how does God really value them?  He values those who are faithful in the little things.

“Glory then for ever
be to God on high,
beautiful and loving,
to eternity.”

May God be glorified in my life as I put Him and others first by His grace, and do the little things that make a difference!

A Greater Power is at Work in Your Life

You know a greater power is at work in your life when you can take no for an answer and prefer it over not having an answer at all. When you can come through the deepest pain ever and end with having a greater peace than you have ever had before. When you can experience disappointment and come through being thankful for it. When you can look back over what seemed to be the most difficult experiences in your life and see God’s hand leading you through it to the place you are now. When you can go through experiences that you just can’t understand, but somehow they widen your horizons and give you a clearer vision.  When you can look at trials as an opportunity for growth instead of a major disappointment in your life.  When you can look at the people whose words have hurt you the most and be able to forgive them. When you are able to look past their flaws and, instead of discouragement, see the beautiful person God has created them to be, and be able to love them as Christ did even though they disappointed you. When you can be bold and confident and share what God has done for you without being ashamed of your own experiences. When you count it a privilege to suffer a little of what Jesus has suffered for you so you can empathize with others who may have had the same experience.  When you can look at your broken dreams as a sign that the Lord has something better for you than you could ever plan for yourself.  When you can embrace tribulations and see that God must see something beautiful in you, or He wouldn’t take the time to work on you as a refiner takes on his vessel. When you can look back over so-called bad life experiences which you would never have chosen for yourself, experiences that you would have avoided if you could have seen the future, and not regret the decisions you made because now you can see clearly by faith without a shadow of a doubt that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.” When the promises of God are your encouragement, when the Bible is your companion book, when the Word of God is real to you, it is God speaking to you. When you don’t feel the need to have another person in this world understand you and what you are going through because you know that no one can understand you like your Heavenly Father already does. When you can only see the beauty of God, allowing just what you would have never wanted to happen, to show you His great love for you in a more powerful way than ever before. When you finally come to the end of your rope realizing through your own experience that your hope truly is not in yourself but it is in Christ alone. When you can be excited to see how God will lead you in the future even when you don’t know what you will be doing in the next few months from now. When you have experienced the joy and peace of surrender and the sheer amazement to see God using you in a way you would have never dreamed of for yourself, even through your own unworthiness and failures. When you feel a sense of security and possess a freedom that you have always desired, amid awkward situations and in places with people you used to wish you could escape from. When you can kiss your fears and worries goodbye, when you can throw your own plans down the drain, when you can let go and not turn back….it is then that you can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that a greater power is at work in your life, the power of God. And you are finally willing to suffer anything, to face anything ahead you, willing to forget those things which are behind and press forward to the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus because you see that there is something better in store for you. You can finally see past the temporal things and reach forward to the eternal, knowing that God doesn’t just exist, but He is at work in your life. He is your best Friend, He is your Father, your Counselor, your Guide, the One you can cling to through it all!

A True Friend

As I reminisce over the past summer, among the many memories and blessed canvassing experiences, one thing sticks out in my mind; and that is friendship.  The friends made and the friendships strengthened brought joy to the summer amidst the difficulties that came up.  

There are some friends who you just enjoy doing certain things with, there are other friends who come into your life and then they go out, there are some friends who you can have in a certain environment-like school etc. and then when that’s over you no longer keep in touch, and there are some friends who you can share certain things in your life with but not everything….but then there are those special friends who are your sisters at heart, and you know that however many miles you are apart, they will always be close at heart and the next time you meet them again you will just be able to pick up where you last left off.  I was blessed with just a sister and best friend this summer.

As I travel down memory lane these are the fun times I remember most vividly spending with my dear friend Jennita…..

There was our secret hide out behind the gym where we talked and shared together for hours on our day off where no one knew where we were at.  Eating soy ice cream together and listening to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons playing on the CD in the car.  Shopping together for shoes…searching for the largest thrift store….shopping at Goodwill and Salvation Army together and switching clothes over top of the fitting rooms: “Here this is too small for me maybe it will look pretty on you”, “Okay, this is too big for me you try it” “Alright I’ll try it on then.”  Cooking breakfast together in the kitchen and talking over menu ides, combining our two recipes together to make one tasty dish.  Texting each other every day at lunch break when we were not in the same canvassing van.  Exchanging prayer requests and joys and struggles we were facing.  Praying for book goals and seeing God answering prayers and working miracles.  Laughing together...crying together…singing together…Eating together....Going on long walks together out in nature and talking together while we were at it.  Enjoying the simple joys of life together…setting by a creek, swinging on a swing, watching a crawl dad or a Preying mantis or a snake, climbing a tree and setting up in it together, watching fireworks, laying in the grass, smelling the roses….everything in life is sweeter when you have a friend there with you!

                                                              Just having fun together....

                                                                       The crawl dad

                                                                          The snake

                                                                 More kitchen work...

So what is a true friend?  It is someone who will be there for you in good times and bad times.  Someone who will not only have fun with you but will laugh with you and cry with you too.  Someone who brings out the good in you, who brings out the side of you you didn’t know, existed.  Someone whose joyfulness and contentment is contagious to you.  Someone who you can be honest with, someone you may get annoyed with at times but when you tell them that they will quickly forgive you.  Someone who loves you for who you are and lets you be yourself around them.  Someone who understands where you’re coming from when you tell them about your past, someone who has had similar experiences as you and knows what you mean; someone who you don’t have to explain yourself to them twice, someone who hears what you aren’t saying with words.  Someone who notices when you are having a bad day without you even looking at them, someone who knows the tears you have shed even if they didn’t see you crying they just know you were.  Someone who will sacrifice their own time to spend talking with you just when you need them most-whatever times of day it may be.  Someone who is not afraid to point out your weaknesses, someone who can give you good advice and counsel that is backed up by the Bible.  Someone who believes in you and encourages you on even when you are ready to give up.  Someone who asks your opinion and values what you think.  Someone who lets you make your own decisions and values what you think about a situation.  Someone who does not make you feel below them or in any way inferior to them.  Someone who is not afraid to open up to you and share their life and their lives stories with you.  Someone who shares their testimony of how God has worked in their life with you, someone to point you back in the right direction when you have lost your way, someone who leads you to Jesus and shows you Jesus by their own example!  

                                          Best Friends!

“Things will go wrong with every one; sadness and discouragement press every soul; then a personal presence, a friend who will comfort and impart strength,

will turn back the darts of the enemy that are aimed to destroy. 

Christian friends are not half as plentiful as they should be.

In hours of temptation, in a crisis, what a value is a true friend! 

Satan at such times sends along his agents to cause the trembling limbs to stumble; but the true friends who will counsel, who will impart magnetic hopefulness, the calming faith that uplifts the soul,

—oh, such help is worth more than precious pearls.” 

-E.G. White

August 26-My First Day Canvassing in Minnesota

"Are you canvassing today?" my mom asked me.  "I don’t know yet, I think I should but I don’t feel like I am ready to start" I replied.  After lunch I got my laptop and pulled up Google earth looking at the nearby towns for a place to canvass.  I had an idea of the town I would work and started looking in that direction.  As I looked a little town caught my eye.  I zoomed in on it and saw a road going out of town with some houses on it, "I could canvass the houses on that road too since the town is so small", I thought to myself.  "Where do you think you’re going to canvass?" my mom asked me.  "Holt, I think", I replied.  "I have never heard of that town" she said.  "I think I should canvass this country road called Old Ridge Road" I said, "but it is further away than I wanted to drive today."  "Well don’t take too long to decide", she counseled.  I went to a private room and prayed that God would lead me to the right place where He wanted me to work that afternoon.  I have always had a hard time making decisions and after canvassing all summer under canvassing leaders who decided where to take us and told me which roads to work I had not been looking forward to having to make those decisions myself.  "That little town and Old Ridge Road was the first place I found and thought I should canvass there so that must be where God wants me to go" I concluded. 

When I got to the town the population was only 88!  "Wow this is so small!" I thought.  "I wonder why God brought me here!"  "I sure drove a long way to come to such a small town!"  I began to work.  I canvassed the whole town without selling any mega books.  "Well Lord, I don’t know why you brought me here", I prayed.  I started to walk back to my car.  There was a business that looked interesting across from where I had parked and so even though it was Sunday and the business was closed my curiosity got the best of me and I decided to go take a look at what was over there.  When I got there I noticed a house at a fork in the road and the road turned into gravel.  "I should go to that house since I’m right here" I said to myself.  As I walked over to the house I noticed the road sign, it read: Old Ridge Road!  "Why that is the country road I saw on Google earth that I was supposed to canvass!"  I went up to the door and knocked.  An elderly man came to the door and invited me in.  He offered me a chair at the kitchen table, we sat down and I canvassed him on a couple books then we started visiting.  He began to open up to me and share the difficult things he was going through in his life.  He said that his daughter had committed suicide just months before.  He was also just recovering from a heart attack and heart surgery.  He said he had just been telling his sister two days ago how he did not know how much more he could handle.  "Her take on it is that God will not allow more trails than we can bear" he said.  I opened up one of the books I was carrying, Peace Above the Storm, in search of a quote; I found this one and read it to him:  “The trial will not exceed the strength that shall be given us to bear it.”  After I finished reading the quote he said “How much do you want for that book? I want it!”  He bought it and I was able to have a prayer with him, and he was evidently touched. 

As I walked out of the house I was in awe of what the Lord had just done and how He had used me in spite of my unworthiness!  God had just worked a modern day miracle!  He had not only led me to canvass that day, not only led me to what town to work but to the exact road the man lived on at just the time he would be home!  And then he led me to find just the quote he needed to be encouraged by!  The experience was a confirmation to me that even when I don’t know what decision to make the Lord can use me and direct my steps.  I am reminded of the Bible story in Acts where the Holy Spirit led Philip to talk to the Ethiopian man, and all I can say is that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever!  Praise the Lord for how He works!  God is so good!  I love the canvassing work!

This is one of my favorite testimonies from canvassing in Dayton/Kettering Ohio area this summer!  God blessed with so many wonderful experiences!!

A Modern Day Woman at the Well

June 11~~It was mid-afternoon and many books had been going out in the town we were working in.  When I was picked up from the street I had been canvassing, I noticed that almost everyone else who was canvasing was in the van too, I wondered why. Our leader told us that we had to move to a different town to work because the Chief of Police had asked us to leave town. As we were driving to our next territory, I began to pray for Divine appointments.  I knew that the Lord would not lead us into a different town unless He had a purpose. I remembered the verse that says “All things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28.

It was nearing the end of the day when I met a very nice lady.  She told me that she did not cook at all and handed me back the cookbook.  I said, “Okay, that’s fine; I have something better!” and proceeded to canvass her on the the message books (the spiritual books).  In our conversation she asked what religion I was, and I told her that I was a Seventh-day Adventist.  She said, “Oh, I have some Adventist friends, and I have even been to an Adventist church before.” “I liked going to that church,” she continued, “I could handle it because I could back up everything they said from the Bible.”  “You know denominations don’t matter as long as we are all Christians and following the Bible.”  After showing her a couple books she asked me, “So, I’m curious; what others do you have?”  That is just the question I love to hear!  So I showed her all five message books I had, she liked all the books a lot.  And she said, “Well, hum, which one can I live without.  I only have $40.00.”  So I told her that I would leave her all five books for $40.00. “Okay, I’m greedy so I will take them all if you’re sure you can do that without getting in trouble.”  I assured her that I was happy to leave all the books with her.  As she was getting the money out of her car she said, “It is interesting that you came today. If you would have come yesterday, I would not have had the money but the Lord sent me an unexpected blessing.”  I told her that we had not planned to come to that town, but she was an answer to my prayer.  She told me that I had been the highlight of her day.  

Before I left I was able to sign her up for correspondence Bible studies because she is very busy with her local church teaching Sunday school and doing bible studies and other activities.  I had a prayer with her, and she assured me that even if no one else bought a book in the entire neighborhood that the books would have an impact on many people because she would be using them and sharing them with her friends and neighbors. 

As I was getting ready leave, I asked her for water because it was a hot day. She said she was going to offer me water before I left.  It was so inspiring to see how God arranges Divine appointments!  And there are definitely still modern day women at the well who are hungering for the truth and will share it with everyone they know as soon as they receive it!

Describing Our Heavenly Father

My sisters and I were going on a walk with my dad.  My teenage sister and I were dominating the conversation, while my patient dad was listening to us.  We got to talking about our friends and guys; in the conversation, the comment was made “You know so-and-so isn’t that good looking of a guy”.  My Dad who is very down to earth and practical was ready to give an insightful comment.  “You know”, he said, “Guys are not supposed to be good looking they are men-hardworking men.”  “Well I think that you are pretty handsome” we said and then my little 8 year old sister who had been quiet the whole time piped up “Yes daddy you are very handsome and pretty and good-looking and buff!”  At the last term she used my Dad and sister and I burst out laughing!  When my sister had come home on a break from academy months before it was the first time any of us in the family had heard the term buff!  She had explained what it meant and now my little sister was just thinking of every word that came to her mind to describe what a nice good looking daddy we had! 

As I thought about it, it made me wonder, what kind of influence do I have on others?  Are the words I say words that are worth repeating?  It was said of Jesus that never a man spoke as He spoke.  As a Christian, my words should bear record that I have been with Jesus.  Just as my little 8 year old sister used a word she had heard from her big sister to describe her father, people draw conclusions about our Heavenly Father from the words we say.  Am I using words that they could use to describe Jesus?  Do I speak and act like a child of my Heavenly Father? 

My little sister wanted to use every word that she could think of to describe our Daddy, in her mind he is infallible and he can do anything!  Even deeper yet…is my walk with Jesus like that?  Am I using all the language I can think of to describe what a wonderful Father God I serve?  I should be!  But even all the words that I can come up with cannot fully tell the story of what an awesome Father I have!  It reminds me of what John said when trying to describe the love of God-he couldn’t think of words to express it aright so he wrote “Behold! What manner of love the Father hath bestowed up on us that we should become the sons of God.” 1 John 3:1.  He asks us to look for ourselves to behold the love that God has for us-a love that is truly more than we could ever ask, think, or imagine on our own!  Is my life calling people to behold my precious Savior?  Am I using my words to share with others the love that God has shown to me?