On ministering when you don’t want to…

Yep, I said it.  There are times when I just flat out don’t want to do it.

Yesterday I woke up at 5:30 in the morning feeling terrible, bad headache, nauseous, just bad.  Then I rode a pretty rocky ferry for an hour… that didn’t help.  When I got home I called Erin and she brought me some medicine, because she’s awesome.  While she was there the precious kids that we love stopped by.  Bethany made them some oatmeal and took it outside b/c I did not want to get off the couch.  Finally I mustered up enough energy to take them some water and say hello.

Well, they were carrying around a bag of clothes that they had dug out of various people’s trashcans.  And since they were going to be walking around awhile they asked if they could leave it in our gate and come back for it around 4.  Of course, I said, and why don’t have some dinner for you?  I was of course thinking I would be feeling better by then.  They left and I promptly feel asleep for the next 3 hours… whoops.  By the time I woke up I still didn’t feel good or have the inclination or really time to cook much of anything.

So what happens when you don’t feel good and precious kids come to your gate anyway?  You end up ordering pizza, reading the Jesus Storybook Bible, and sitting on the driveway chatting for an hour.  It was the best thing I’ve done all week.  And I loved every second of it.  I still went to bed at 8:30 last night, but it was worth it.

It just reminds me that the Lord doesn’t wait for us to be at our best to ask us to be obedient.  In the middle of our weakness, our unshowered, nauseous weakness, He just asks that we obey and share what we’ve been given.  Maybe its food, maybe it’s a word of truth.  Nothing life shattering happened yesterday except a kick in the face reminder that life is not about me.  And if I can’t get my butt of the couch to love on kids that have been digging through the trash all day then I don’t really understand the love the Lord has given me.  So I’m thankful He brought them to the gate.

One day soon I hope to get a picture of these sweet kids to share with you.  For now just pray for them.  They are coming back soon for food and another story :)