My life seems like a constant cliff hanger. I feel as if He takes me in and out of the furnace over and over again and for this I BLESS HIS HOLY NAME! While there is pain in the offering, there is also inexpressible JOY! Let me explain...
I wanted many children all from my own womb. But more than this, I wanted His will for my life. That is what He is giving me.
After my second tubal pregnancy I realized 3 children was all I could I give birth to and I wanted to adopt a fatherless child through DHS. But more than this I wanted His plan for my life. I see it unfolding.
God closed my womb to open up my heart for more children than I could bare on my own in an orphanage on the coast of west Africa. This has brought more joy than giving birth to 10,000 babies! To have Him align my heart with His for the orphan has brought sorrow and suffering. He sent me into a great battle to fight the injustice surrounding their broken lives. I now know Him in ways I NEVER would have had I not taken up my cross and followed Him. This is worth everything I have! Over 3 years into caring for and defending these precious ones I have found that I am less in love with the world and what it has to offer and more devoted to the One who gave His life so these children would know His love.
I still wanted to adopt but I did NOT want to be a foster parent. I did not want to care for the fatherless in this way. There was too much at risk for me emotionally. After all, I was doing my part by taking care of the orphans in Sierra Leone, right Lord? Isn't that enough? You see I tend to love very deeply, which can also bring a lot of pain. I do not like pain!
I ended up being a foster parent in a supernatural, very unconventional way. Completely God! You see God called us to take in 2 foster children we had only known a few weeks into our 4 bedroom, 1,800 square foot house with no substation on our $57,000 a year salary. We had no running vehicle and I was already spread thin homeschooling our 3 boys while helping run our ministry for the orphans. AWWW But He does not ask for my obedience when it makes sense or it seems like the right timing. He asked me to trust and obey Him regardless of my feelings or circumstances. 5 months into our journey we took in our foster children's 4 month old baby sister. I had given this precious one a baby shower when she was still in her mommy's tummy and was certain she was staying with her mommy. Again, I did not see how we would have the room, time, money...but I obeyed. And of course JOY came along with everything else we needed. He surrounded us with support from the body of Christ and poured out His Spirit in immeasurable ways. He has faithfully, no more than faithfully, provided MORE THAN ENOUGH of everything...money, time, energy, love, support. I could type for hours telling you unending stories of His faithfulness just in this situation alone.
This is where I am at this morning... I want these children to never leave our home. Ever. I have cried so many tears in the last 2 days at the mere thought of it. Our home has been a revolving door for the broken, the wanderer and the fatherless for the last 13 years of our marriage. I get ZERO credit for this. In fact I have fought God almost every time He brings new people and every time He takes them out. You see, I want stability in my circumstances. He wants stability in my soul. I want happiness, He wants me to have deep, everlasting JOY! In my pride I want people to look at our life and see order, He wants people to look at our life and see that He is the order in our chaos. I want people to see I have it all together, He wants people to see that I will be a fool for Christ!
He has reminded me this morning that my life is NOT my own. It was bought with a high price. I am to be a living sacrifice. I am to imitate His submission in the garden the night before He went to the cross. If He wants to bring 1,000 more people through our home so that we can speak the gospel to them, live out the gospel for them and share the gospel with them, then so be it! I will say it is an honor, a JOY, no matter the pain, no matter the cost...because to do His will is what the cross DEMANDS of me!
I don't know how long these children will be in our home. I don't know if Jerome will be given his next breath. I don't know if I will step foot on another plane to Africa to see the orphans I love so much. I don't know, I don't know, I don't know.
What I do know is that Jesus Christ is enough for me. He is all I need. And I will live to do His will. When what I desperately want doesn't line up with His plan for my life, I will bow my will to His and bless His Name. There is no greater joy than to follow Him where ever He leads. There is no greater joy than to welcome in my life whatever suffering He wants to bring, I know it is always for my highest joy and for the glory of His great Name!
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
Help Us Spread the Gospel
This is from Jerome:
Help Me Introduce Thousands to the Word of God!
In March of 2012 I will be leading a team to Sierra Leone in a mission to spread the gospel. Our main purpose will be to preach the gospel to villages that have small Christian populations but have virtually no access to the bible. In some of these villages there are even Christian pastors that do not have a complete copy of the word of God. I and some others feel a calling from the Lord to preach the gospel to those still not saved and to take 10,000 bibles to pass out to anyone who will take one so when we leave they will be able to know Him in a complete way. We will be providing training for the Pastors and leaders but all of our training will be to point them to a dependence on the word of God.
I am asking for your help in several ways.
1. Pray! To raise the money and resources for such a trip is beyond us. Not to mention that we do not have the ability to change our own hearts much less the hearts of those who were brought up in different belief systems. We need the Holy Spirit to open doors and in particular to provide the leaders that will lead in these areas after we are gone.
2. Consider! There are several bold evangelists that have already committed to go on this trip. These are humble men who love the gospel and love individuals in a way that humbles me. We have a few medical personnel that are considering going for medical clinics in the villages we visit and we have a medical team from a sister ministry that we are in talks with to unify our efforts. Some of you are called! Please consider coming and helping. If you have ever desired to be in an ACTS like environment, this is it! Do not be scared GOD WILL PROVIDE if you will say yes.
3. Give! We do not have a total cost for this trip right now but we are sending the first thousand bibles over in less than 2 weeks on a container! Please consider donating a bible. The smaller the bible the better. But we will accept any and all copies of His Word. You can drop them off on our porch or in front of our garage. Our address is: 1700 Godhania Rd. Edmond. There is also a drop off location in OKC. Here is a link for more info: http://www.wix.com/cdrwenski/orphans We need to raise another $1500 to pay for bibles and shipping. Please consider giving. All donations are tax deductible and can be made to Komeo International Ministries and mailed to us at PO Box 21586 OKC,OK 73156
4. Stay Tuned! I will send out a more complete list of our plan in the future.
In His Service,
Jerome Crawford
www.komeo.org
Please feel free to forward on or somehow get your church or bible study involved in helping you help us spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Help Me Introduce Thousands to the Word of God!
In March of 2012 I will be leading a team to Sierra Leone in a mission to spread the gospel. Our main purpose will be to preach the gospel to villages that have small Christian populations but have virtually no access to the bible. In some of these villages there are even Christian pastors that do not have a complete copy of the word of God. I and some others feel a calling from the Lord to preach the gospel to those still not saved and to take 10,000 bibles to pass out to anyone who will take one so when we leave they will be able to know Him in a complete way. We will be providing training for the Pastors and leaders but all of our training will be to point them to a dependence on the word of God.
I am asking for your help in several ways.
1. Pray! To raise the money and resources for such a trip is beyond us. Not to mention that we do not have the ability to change our own hearts much less the hearts of those who were brought up in different belief systems. We need the Holy Spirit to open doors and in particular to provide the leaders that will lead in these areas after we are gone.
2. Consider! There are several bold evangelists that have already committed to go on this trip. These are humble men who love the gospel and love individuals in a way that humbles me. We have a few medical personnel that are considering going for medical clinics in the villages we visit and we have a medical team from a sister ministry that we are in talks with to unify our efforts. Some of you are called! Please consider coming and helping. If you have ever desired to be in an ACTS like environment, this is it! Do not be scared GOD WILL PROVIDE if you will say yes.
3. Give! We do not have a total cost for this trip right now but we are sending the first thousand bibles over in less than 2 weeks on a container! Please consider donating a bible. The smaller the bible the better. But we will accept any and all copies of His Word. You can drop them off on our porch or in front of our garage. Our address is: 1700 Godhania Rd. Edmond. There is also a drop off location in OKC. Here is a link for more info: http://www.wix.com/cdrwenski/orphans We need to raise another $1500 to pay for bibles and shipping. Please consider giving. All donations are tax deductible and can be made to Komeo International Ministries and mailed to us at PO Box 21586 OKC,OK 73156
4. Stay Tuned! I will send out a more complete list of our plan in the future.
In His Service,
Jerome Crawford
www.komeo.org
Please feel free to forward on or somehow get your church or bible study involved in helping you help us spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
The Lost Are Found
Written by Jerome Crawford...
Today I had to drive all over the Southside for lunch. I have to do this at least once or twice a week so this is not anything foreign. But this time it was a little different. It is amazing how I can get so lost in the details of today that I forget the Great things He has done. As I drove today I past Southeast High school and I remembered. There is a little nail shop directly north of the high school. I used and dealt drugs there (it was a little restaurant then). I remember… A shooting involving a friend… Several fights… the messed up personalities of the kids I would hang out with. I kept driving and passed an apartment complex where I was involved with a drug deal gone bad. A guy stole some drugs from me and I came looking for him with a 45cal. When I set out to find him I was fully ready to shoot him if necessary (over $300 in drugs) I found him but was filled with fear that I would kill him if I pulled the gun so I just let him go. As I drove I ran into dozens of empty, violent desperate memories. I passed a grocery store on 59th that I used to frequent with my roommate. We would get high and laugh and act crazy there about once a week. He was pretty normal compared to the rest of us...one of the most amazing musicians I had ever met. We laughed so much. Every now and then he would talk about us killing ourselves. One night he talked 3 people into it and they all tried to talked me into it. I refused really I thought it was just an act. Several years ago he shot his wife and then killed himself in front of his three kids. I passed a lot of laughs and smiles but none of them real they all will or have ended in death. They would be great for reality TV but pain was the only thing that was real. Just an endless struggle to try to find some relief or at least fool everyone. We all knew the truth we just were too strong to be broken. Most of these memories were from 20 years ago but I remember like it was yesterday.
I was listing to my iPod and singing the whole time as I remembered. I started to sing a Hillsong live song ...
The lost are found! The blind shall see! The lame shall walk! The dead shall live!!
For this reason I will Love Your Holy Name! I was dead but now I live!! How powerful you are God to save me! Some will look at a star and marvel at your power but I will look in the mirror and know that You are unstoppable! HOW CAN I EVER THANK YOU!!! I AM ALIVE AND FILLED WITH PURPOSE AND HOPE!! HOW I LONG TO BE WITH YOU!!! . Please forgive my pride, my selfishness. How can I ever be discontent with the feast that You put in front of me. You are truly Good in all You do. Sometimes I wish You would just strip me clean and make me live a completely sinless life but that would be too easy for You! Instead You raise me as a child teaching me to long for Your name like baby longs for a mother's embrace. I was so ashamed, empty and foolish. Now I just want more of You. I want to know You the unstoppable God!
Today I had to drive all over the Southside for lunch. I have to do this at least once or twice a week so this is not anything foreign. But this time it was a little different. It is amazing how I can get so lost in the details of today that I forget the Great things He has done. As I drove today I past Southeast High school and I remembered. There is a little nail shop directly north of the high school. I used and dealt drugs there (it was a little restaurant then). I remember… A shooting involving a friend… Several fights… the messed up personalities of the kids I would hang out with. I kept driving and passed an apartment complex where I was involved with a drug deal gone bad. A guy stole some drugs from me and I came looking for him with a 45cal. When I set out to find him I was fully ready to shoot him if necessary (over $300 in drugs) I found him but was filled with fear that I would kill him if I pulled the gun so I just let him go. As I drove I ran into dozens of empty, violent desperate memories. I passed a grocery store on 59th that I used to frequent with my roommate. We would get high and laugh and act crazy there about once a week. He was pretty normal compared to the rest of us...one of the most amazing musicians I had ever met. We laughed so much. Every now and then he would talk about us killing ourselves. One night he talked 3 people into it and they all tried to talked me into it. I refused really I thought it was just an act. Several years ago he shot his wife and then killed himself in front of his three kids. I passed a lot of laughs and smiles but none of them real they all will or have ended in death. They would be great for reality TV but pain was the only thing that was real. Just an endless struggle to try to find some relief or at least fool everyone. We all knew the truth we just were too strong to be broken. Most of these memories were from 20 years ago but I remember like it was yesterday.
I was listing to my iPod and singing the whole time as I remembered. I started to sing a Hillsong live song ...
The lost are found! The blind shall see! The lame shall walk! The dead shall live!!
For this reason I will Love Your Holy Name! I was dead but now I live!! How powerful you are God to save me! Some will look at a star and marvel at your power but I will look in the mirror and know that You are unstoppable! HOW CAN I EVER THANK YOU!!! I AM ALIVE AND FILLED WITH PURPOSE AND HOPE!! HOW I LONG TO BE WITH YOU!!! . Please forgive my pride, my selfishness. How can I ever be discontent with the feast that You put in front of me. You are truly Good in all You do. Sometimes I wish You would just strip me clean and make me live a completely sinless life but that would be too easy for You! Instead You raise me as a child teaching me to long for Your name like baby longs for a mother's embrace. I was so ashamed, empty and foolish. Now I just want more of You. I want to know You the unstoppable God!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
13 IS MY LUCKY NUMBER!
Written by my precious husband...love that man!
They say 13 is an unlucky number but Today is it the number that is causing me to yell praise to His name. You see 13 years ago in a little bicycle factory converted into a church a ceremony was performed that has enriched my life beyond measure. On that day I heard “I do” come out of the mouth of the greatest gift that my Father ever gave me! Unselfish , Redeemed, Pure, Beautiful, Sweet and in love with Him.. That is what I saw in your eyes as you said, “I do”. If I had known on that day what the next 13 years held in store for me I would have danced and shouted for joy, screaming for joy as Craig asked me to commit everything I had to you.
I know you are insecure! I know how you struggle with thinking you are not a good wife. And I know my sin in not encouraging you more. But I am telling you before our God that you are my Joy in Him. That if I lost you today I would need the faith of Job to survive. I am telling you before our God that if I had the opportunity to press a button and have the same kids and life with any other woman I WOULD NOT PRESS THAT BUTTON!
No other woman would I be able to sit with and just talk about the scriptures for hours, knowing that you are sharing my joy. In worship I see you next to me and I know you are right there with me in desperation, awestruck of Him. When He calls me to suffer for His name I know you are not a wife that will say “give me safety and security”. He provides all that I need and you are in Him and I need you! Yes in His Unending Love He provides a side of Himself through you. Together we stand as ONE with Him. The darkness trembles when we are unified in Him! May it always be so!
I beg You Lord and Father please let us be together 13 times 13 thousand years into eternity! May we be found in You together as one! Complete at Your feet worshiping you! May you give us strength to fight Lord! We will not rest until the Lost are Found, until the blind can see, until the lame walk and until the dead shall live! Lord I know you are near to us! Please help us let our light shine for You. Together we live to KNOW YOU!! Without you we would have already have been divorced, empty and pointless BUT WITH YOU I REJOICE THAT YOU HAVE DONE THE IMOSSIBLE FOR THIRTEEN YEARS IN OUR LIVES! HA! Two hopeless people who could not even hold down a relationship for longer than a month now have walked through the fire and somehow You have kept us!! You are able! You are mighty! Let everyone praise Your name! Those that know us know that You have done the impossible! May our relationship bring you glory for all time! Please continue to bring Glory to Your name through us Lord! I do not know what You will is Lord but may I wake up every day of this fight and see my beautiful and passionate companion. I want to battle with no other! Keep us Lord! We are weak without You! One day without You is enough for us to be crushed! But one day with You and we can change the world and that is what WE WANT!! To Honor You!
Thank You for giving me 13 YEARS with one so strong in You!!!
They say 13 is an unlucky number but Today is it the number that is causing me to yell praise to His name. You see 13 years ago in a little bicycle factory converted into a church a ceremony was performed that has enriched my life beyond measure. On that day I heard “I do” come out of the mouth of the greatest gift that my Father ever gave me! Unselfish , Redeemed, Pure, Beautiful, Sweet and in love with Him.. That is what I saw in your eyes as you said, “I do”. If I had known on that day what the next 13 years held in store for me I would have danced and shouted for joy, screaming for joy as Craig asked me to commit everything I had to you.
I know you are insecure! I know how you struggle with thinking you are not a good wife. And I know my sin in not encouraging you more. But I am telling you before our God that you are my Joy in Him. That if I lost you today I would need the faith of Job to survive. I am telling you before our God that if I had the opportunity to press a button and have the same kids and life with any other woman I WOULD NOT PRESS THAT BUTTON!
No other woman would I be able to sit with and just talk about the scriptures for hours, knowing that you are sharing my joy. In worship I see you next to me and I know you are right there with me in desperation, awestruck of Him. When He calls me to suffer for His name I know you are not a wife that will say “give me safety and security”. He provides all that I need and you are in Him and I need you! Yes in His Unending Love He provides a side of Himself through you. Together we stand as ONE with Him. The darkness trembles when we are unified in Him! May it always be so!
I beg You Lord and Father please let us be together 13 times 13 thousand years into eternity! May we be found in You together as one! Complete at Your feet worshiping you! May you give us strength to fight Lord! We will not rest until the Lost are Found, until the blind can see, until the lame walk and until the dead shall live! Lord I know you are near to us! Please help us let our light shine for You. Together we live to KNOW YOU!! Without you we would have already have been divorced, empty and pointless BUT WITH YOU I REJOICE THAT YOU HAVE DONE THE IMOSSIBLE FOR THIRTEEN YEARS IN OUR LIVES! HA! Two hopeless people who could not even hold down a relationship for longer than a month now have walked through the fire and somehow You have kept us!! You are able! You are mighty! Let everyone praise Your name! Those that know us know that You have done the impossible! May our relationship bring you glory for all time! Please continue to bring Glory to Your name through us Lord! I do not know what You will is Lord but may I wake up every day of this fight and see my beautiful and passionate companion. I want to battle with no other! Keep us Lord! We are weak without You! One day without You is enough for us to be crushed! But one day with You and we can change the world and that is what WE WANT!! To Honor You!
Thank You for giving me 13 YEARS with one so strong in You!!!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Desperate for His Grace
I've been home from Sierra Leone for less than 24 hours. My house is a mess, my laundry is piled up, I am sleep deprived and exhausted and my heart hurts from being freshly separated from the children in the Wellington Orphanage.
Most of all I am a wreck on the inside. I just spent an hour crying on my bedroom floor and this was the second time today.
I want to love Jesus more than I do. I want to know Him more, have more faith in who He is and what He has promised. My heart aches for more of Him. I want less of myself. I want to know and walk in the freedom and grace that He paid for on the cross. I want my heart to burn with more passion for His great Name. I want to be washed in His word. I want to look to Him for all of my satisfaction. I don't want to go outside of His will or long for anything outside of Him. I want to realize more fully just how alive He is and how close He is. I want to be at war with my sin and selfishness and pride. I want to desire His word more than food and His Spirit more than water.
I am such a mess. I needed His grace desperately when He called me, yet I need this same grace as desperately today, to get through this moment. I am nothing without Him. He is the only good thing in me and He is the only One who can offer me hope.
I will never understand why He called me. There are so many who have it together much more than I. I am constantly faced with my weaknesses and my inability to keep it all together. There are many who are more patient and loving and kind and organized and efficient...
Even after walking with Him all these years I still feel weak and desperate and scared to be separated from Him. He is my only Hope...still my only Hope. Without Him I would destroy myself and hurt all those around me.
Yet because He lives inside of me, this great God has called me to great things. He has called me, the impatient woman who struggles to keep her house in order and selfishly battles serving her family, to be a wife and a mom. He has called me, the one who doesn't return emails or phone calls, to be a friend. He calls me, the one who doesn't like to go 2 miles away from her house, to go to Africa 3 times a year to encourage orphans. He calls me to things outside of myself and my natural limits and giftings. He calls me to be a living sacrifice.
Some days I think I just can not do it. I can not bare to take another trip across the ocean to spend time with children only to cry half way home 2 weeks later. I can not not meet the physical and emotional needs of my own 3 children. I can't open myself up to fully love 2 extra children not knowing when their last day in our home will be. I can't serve my husband as though I were serving Jesus when at the end of the day I am holding on by a thread. I just don't have it in me.
Today was one of those days. He let me come to the end of myself. I can't do anything He has asked of me. I can't. I don't have what it takes in my natural ability or giftings.
After crying out to Him begging for strength and mercy...He reminded me through Romans that His grace is what saved me and His grace is what I must rely on every moment of every good and bad day. He is able to keep all of His promises to me. He is able to to make His grace abound towards me in my moments of weakness and trial and sin. If He gave His Son for me while I was His enemy, how much more now that I have been adopted by Him, does He lavish His love and grace on me.
I will never understand how He loves me the way He does. I will never understand how come He keeps calling me to partner with Him to love and serve and be poured out in the same way He was...I am not worthy. I will never understand why He is so patient and long suffering even when I stubbornly try to go outside of Him to find satisfaction for my soul. I will never understand how come this awesome and wonderful and mighty God has given me, of all people, such honor and purpose and unlimited chances when I fail so much. I am choosing to accept the mystery of not understanding. I don't have to fully understand, I simply must worship Him for the greatness of who He is and live in humility at His feet seeking Him with all that I am. I want to want Him, I want to obey Him, I want to depend on Him, I want to lose myself completely inside of His Son so that He can be more glorified through my messy and broken life!!!!
I want for my heart to know that His grace is sufficent for me today, tomorrow and every day after that...
Most of all I am a wreck on the inside. I just spent an hour crying on my bedroom floor and this was the second time today.
I want to love Jesus more than I do. I want to know Him more, have more faith in who He is and what He has promised. My heart aches for more of Him. I want less of myself. I want to know and walk in the freedom and grace that He paid for on the cross. I want my heart to burn with more passion for His great Name. I want to be washed in His word. I want to look to Him for all of my satisfaction. I don't want to go outside of His will or long for anything outside of Him. I want to realize more fully just how alive He is and how close He is. I want to be at war with my sin and selfishness and pride. I want to desire His word more than food and His Spirit more than water.
I am such a mess. I needed His grace desperately when He called me, yet I need this same grace as desperately today, to get through this moment. I am nothing without Him. He is the only good thing in me and He is the only One who can offer me hope.
I will never understand why He called me. There are so many who have it together much more than I. I am constantly faced with my weaknesses and my inability to keep it all together. There are many who are more patient and loving and kind and organized and efficient...
Even after walking with Him all these years I still feel weak and desperate and scared to be separated from Him. He is my only Hope...still my only Hope. Without Him I would destroy myself and hurt all those around me.
Yet because He lives inside of me, this great God has called me to great things. He has called me, the impatient woman who struggles to keep her house in order and selfishly battles serving her family, to be a wife and a mom. He has called me, the one who doesn't return emails or phone calls, to be a friend. He calls me, the one who doesn't like to go 2 miles away from her house, to go to Africa 3 times a year to encourage orphans. He calls me to things outside of myself and my natural limits and giftings. He calls me to be a living sacrifice.
Some days I think I just can not do it. I can not bare to take another trip across the ocean to spend time with children only to cry half way home 2 weeks later. I can not not meet the physical and emotional needs of my own 3 children. I can't open myself up to fully love 2 extra children not knowing when their last day in our home will be. I can't serve my husband as though I were serving Jesus when at the end of the day I am holding on by a thread. I just don't have it in me.
Today was one of those days. He let me come to the end of myself. I can't do anything He has asked of me. I can't. I don't have what it takes in my natural ability or giftings.
After crying out to Him begging for strength and mercy...He reminded me through Romans that His grace is what saved me and His grace is what I must rely on every moment of every good and bad day. He is able to keep all of His promises to me. He is able to to make His grace abound towards me in my moments of weakness and trial and sin. If He gave His Son for me while I was His enemy, how much more now that I have been adopted by Him, does He lavish His love and grace on me.
I will never understand how He loves me the way He does. I will never understand how come He keeps calling me to partner with Him to love and serve and be poured out in the same way He was...I am not worthy. I will never understand why He is so patient and long suffering even when I stubbornly try to go outside of Him to find satisfaction for my soul. I will never understand how come this awesome and wonderful and mighty God has given me, of all people, such honor and purpose and unlimited chances when I fail so much. I am choosing to accept the mystery of not understanding. I don't have to fully understand, I simply must worship Him for the greatness of who He is and live in humility at His feet seeking Him with all that I am. I want to want Him, I want to obey Him, I want to depend on Him, I want to lose myself completely inside of His Son so that He can be more glorified through my messy and broken life!!!!
I want for my heart to know that His grace is sufficent for me today, tomorrow and every day after that...
Monday, July 11, 2011
Help a Sweet Foster Child Feed 100 Orphans
Sweet Lexi walked into our room this Wednesday night. I have some presents for the Orphans! She said with excitement. In her hands was a plastic container filled with various treasures. On the top of the container the name Dresdon was marked out and below she had written “Orphans”. I was so blessed when I looked inside. There was a makeup bag filled with all the money she had saved, some notebooks, some toys and two bags of crackers. The crackers by far were what she was most excited about. She asked Shanna “How many girls are there at the orphanage?” Shanna replied 40 or so. He face went a little sad “I guess they will have to share. I heard you talk about how they only eat rice and sauce and I thought they would really like to eat something different”.
Fast Forward to Sunday night bible study. Shanna was setting at the table telling several persons the story of Lexi’s generosity. When it got to the part about the crackers someone said “that reminds me of the story of the little boy with the loaves and fishes that Jesus used to feed the 5 thousand”. When those words where spoke I knew that God wanted to use Lexi’s crackeers to feed the orphans. Before I knew it I spoke out and said we need to sell those crackers for her so she can feed the orphans. A few people laughed and I felt a little embarrassed. I could not escape the thought though. As me and Shanna left I asked her how many crackers Lexi had donated. “I do not know,” she replied. I told her go home and count them. I told her we need to sell them and let Lexi buy fruit and eggs (we have received no donations for fruit and eggs for this trip) for the orphans for while you are in Africa. She went home and counted. There were 13. Exactly how many days she will be there.
This is where you come in. HA! I feel stupid asking for this but I want to ask you to help a sweet foster child see that The One that adopted her can feed 100 orphans for 13 days through her offering of 13 crackers. Please pray about donating $100 per cracker to Komeo ministry. Each cracker will be one day of fruit and eggs for 102 children. This will be tax deductible and yes I will give you the cracker. This is the kicker though. The team is leaving on Wednesday so you will have to contact. Shana Rutz, Shanna Crawford, Amy Kernel or me and let me know as quick as you can. 100% of your money will go to fruit and eggs than Shana and Shanna will be buying this week for the children.
In His Service,
Jerome Crawford
405.618.7055
Shanna Crawford
570.5334
Shana Rutz
405.659.6802
Amy Kernal
405.537.0451
Fast Forward to Sunday night bible study. Shanna was setting at the table telling several persons the story of Lexi’s generosity. When it got to the part about the crackers someone said “that reminds me of the story of the little boy with the loaves and fishes that Jesus used to feed the 5 thousand”. When those words where spoke I knew that God wanted to use Lexi’s crackeers to feed the orphans. Before I knew it I spoke out and said we need to sell those crackers for her so she can feed the orphans. A few people laughed and I felt a little embarrassed. I could not escape the thought though. As me and Shanna left I asked her how many crackers Lexi had donated. “I do not know,” she replied. I told her go home and count them. I told her we need to sell them and let Lexi buy fruit and eggs (we have received no donations for fruit and eggs for this trip) for the orphans for while you are in Africa. She went home and counted. There were 13. Exactly how many days she will be there.
This is where you come in. HA! I feel stupid asking for this but I want to ask you to help a sweet foster child see that The One that adopted her can feed 100 orphans for 13 days through her offering of 13 crackers. Please pray about donating $100 per cracker to Komeo ministry. Each cracker will be one day of fruit and eggs for 102 children. This will be tax deductible and yes I will give you the cracker. This is the kicker though. The team is leaving on Wednesday so you will have to contact. Shana Rutz, Shanna Crawford, Amy Kernel or me and let me know as quick as you can. 100% of your money will go to fruit and eggs than Shana and Shanna will be buying this week for the children.
In His Service,
Jerome Crawford
405.618.7055
Shanna Crawford
570.5334
Shana Rutz
405.659.6802
Amy Kernal
405.537.0451
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Daily Giving Up EVERYTHING!
"Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple." Jesus
What does it look like to follow Jesus. Giving up everything. EVERYTHING?!?! It means I must completely lose my life for His sake to truly find my life. And little by little I am dying to myself, letting my life go and finding a truer more glorious life inside of Christ.
What does giving up everything really mean? As for me, it means putting everything on the alter...my hopes, dreams, desires, money, time, influence, resources...everything is His to use in whatever way He chooses. This is where I want to live. I don't want to draw lines in the sand and tell Him, you can not ask me to cross this line, I am at my limit. I don't even know my limit. I don't even know my own heart. I don't even know myself.
So today, I am entrusting all that I am to all that He is and asking Him to have full reign. I want to be poured out, serving Him in various ways with the gifts He has given me. I want to live for His approval alone, counting every praise from man as nothing compared to knowing my Lord is pleased with me. I want to worship Him in opening my home to strangers, I want to glorify Him in teaching my children why a lady bug has spots, I want to magnify Him as I wash my husband's dirty laundry. I want to open my ears to hear His voice and follow where He leads...working when I need to work, resting when I need to rest, playing when I need to play. I want to let Him have complete control...looking to Him moment by moment for the agenda of my day. I have many plans in my own heart, but I offer them up for His plans. I want my life to count for eternity today and tomorrow...and the next day.
Lord, have your way. I give up everything I am today to follow you. I want to be your disciple more than I want to get my checklist done, more than I want to see my hope's come to pass, more than I want to have a perfectly clean house, more than I want quiet, mild-mannered children :) Lord, today I want you more than I want life itself today!!!
What does it look like to follow Jesus. Giving up everything. EVERYTHING?!?! It means I must completely lose my life for His sake to truly find my life. And little by little I am dying to myself, letting my life go and finding a truer more glorious life inside of Christ.
What does giving up everything really mean? As for me, it means putting everything on the alter...my hopes, dreams, desires, money, time, influence, resources...everything is His to use in whatever way He chooses. This is where I want to live. I don't want to draw lines in the sand and tell Him, you can not ask me to cross this line, I am at my limit. I don't even know my limit. I don't even know my own heart. I don't even know myself.
So today, I am entrusting all that I am to all that He is and asking Him to have full reign. I want to be poured out, serving Him in various ways with the gifts He has given me. I want to live for His approval alone, counting every praise from man as nothing compared to knowing my Lord is pleased with me. I want to worship Him in opening my home to strangers, I want to glorify Him in teaching my children why a lady bug has spots, I want to magnify Him as I wash my husband's dirty laundry. I want to open my ears to hear His voice and follow where He leads...working when I need to work, resting when I need to rest, playing when I need to play. I want to let Him have complete control...looking to Him moment by moment for the agenda of my day. I have many plans in my own heart, but I offer them up for His plans. I want my life to count for eternity today and tomorrow...and the next day.
Lord, have your way. I give up everything I am today to follow you. I want to be your disciple more than I want to get my checklist done, more than I want to see my hope's come to pass, more than I want to have a perfectly clean house, more than I want quiet, mild-mannered children :) Lord, today I want you more than I want life itself today!!!
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