Heart Challenge

Have you ever been stuck? I'm talking stuck in the snow, stuck in a ditch, stuck in a small space, stuck inside a sleeping bag and someone is sitting on the opening and won't move?? (That happened to me once by my brother an unnamed source, it was scary.) Anyway, what do you do when you are actually stuck? I'm of the type to panic. Freak out. Get all crazy in the head and start to reverse, drive, reverse, drive, shift to 2nd gear, reverse, drive, reverse. Sometimes I get out of the stuck spot and sometimes I get myself deeper... Sometimes I just need someone to help me GET OUT, and sometimes I just need to calm down. 

Once, I was stuck on the side of the road. I had decided to go grocery shopping late at night and I was driving to the Winco in Federal Way, and my tire blew. Ben had to come and save me. And guess what? I went on to Winco and he went home. We must have really needed those groceries. Or maybe, if I remember correctly, Caleb and Nathan were 3 and I needed some "time."

Anyway, on to the real reason for this post. Since moving to Spokane, settling in, moving to the country, settling in, raising chickens, raising kids, making new friends and helping the kids make some too, I was getting a little stuck. I didn't really know that my heart was slowly slipping into the ditch of snow (read: complacency) but it was. And I'm not upset that it was going there, because all it meant was that God was going to have to do something to wake me up and help me GET OUT.

It's amazing how God gets us unstuck. His usual ways are: parting seas, floods/arks, knocking over giants, whale tummies, closing the mouths of lions, making the sun stop in it's place, healing when someone simply touches his clothes. Buuuuuut, I must be a really simple person, because for me it was none of the above. It was a text from a friend (read: Mrs. Bee) and a blog challenge. So here it comes....

HEART CHALLENGE--- What if Jesus was serious when He said... "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." Matthew 25:40

Here's how the Message Bible puts it:

"I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.....
Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me---you did it to me."

What if! What if...and my heart starts beating. Like, a wild crazy beating, like, oh man, I've been stuck and I see it now and what do I want to do about it? So for a few days I went drive, reverse, drive, reverse, 2nd gear (what IS this gear when you drive an automatic anyway??), and then I just decided to calm down and let Him GET ME OUT. But one thing I had decided was this--- when I get out, I'm bringing my kids with me. I want their hearts to beat with compassion for the least. I want their eyes to see and their souls to act. I want to see and to act with them.

So, readers, if you want, you can come on this journey with us! It'll be simple because my kids are involved and they make me keep it real. Simplicity with Power.

Here's how we are going to start. This is how Jesus is leading us out of the stuck place:

#1- Granola bars.
#2- Pennies.

Simple plan #1: Buy granola bars at Costco. Give them to the homeless people we see. Easy. The homeless are on all the street corners we drive by. And the kids always want me to read the signs to them, or give them the snack (sometimes half eaten) that we have in the car. Now, we will drive around with granola bars and give them away. I like this plan because it's who my kids and I see day to day, and we're building a heart of compassion! Awesome.

Simple plan #2: At the boys' school they are doing a penny drive for the Washington Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. They came home with passion comparable to when they did the rubber ducky cookie dough fundraiser. So we are collecting all the spare change around the house. And, get this, they began by emptying their own piggy banks first! I love that they want to help and they want to know how they are helping and they ask questions about cancer and why the kids don't have hair. And although I see the tears well up in my boys' eyes when we talk about it, I rejoice in the compassion that is evident in those wet eyes.

So this month we might not be feeding the homeless under the bridge or praying for kids at the hospital, but we are taking baby steps to get there! Join us if you'd like and please, post in the comments what you do to take your kids on a journey to serve the least. I need ideas because I can't afford to get stuck again. Heart. Beat.

With urgency ~ Ms. Simplicity

Check out my friends' response to this blog/heart challenge! Here and Here