The Smiling Apprentice

Thank you for sending me people
who wear Your smile
fashion Your joy
laugh in Your playfulness
stay through the hiccups
and live their lives for You
giving back and managing well
the talents you gave them
all so we can talk about
my least favorite topic
the green stuff
dun, dun, dun
the columns that can bring
hand-me-down tears from mom
the stamped envelops that add up to
pressure mountains for the man I love
because the bandaids don't really do much
when your appendix is leaking
it feels like opening the chaos closet
in a beautiful pristine home
the top shelf ten percent stands neatly at attention
but the other ninety percent tumbles out at us
like an avalanche of gadgets with no manuels
and it's so much prettier after that latch clicks
help us as the closet door stays open
we hunt for the manuels in all the right places
and we begin to sort the mess
thank You for these amazing volunteers
who inspire us all
to manage well
give generously
and have a little fun with You in the process

"We are intimately linked in this harvest work. Anyone who accepts what you do, accepts me, the One who sent you. Anyone who accepts what I do accepts my Father, who sent me. Accepting a messenger of God is as good as being God's messenger. Accepting someone's help is as good as giving someone help. This is a large work I've called you into, but don't be overwhelmed by it. It's best to start small. Give a cool cup of water to someone who is thirsty, for instance. The smallest act of giving or receiving makes you a true apprentice. You won't lose out on a thing."
Matthew 10:40-42 (Msg)

"Are you living your life in a mindset of convenience or consequence?" Mark Beeson, "Risky Business" Sermon Feb. 16-17

“This is not a game, ... Debt has become a part of who we are. It's become that spoiled child in the grocery store with their lip stuck out: 'I want it. I want it. I deserve it because I breathe air.' And, well, that's an uphill climb in our culture right now, to go against that and say, 'Hey, let's be grownups here. Let's be mature, learn to delay pleasure, save up and pay for things.' . . . I call this the great misunderstanding--the idea that we give because churches need our money . . . Financial peace isn't the acquisition of stuff. It's learning to live on less than you make, so you can give money back and have money to invest. You can't win until you do this.”
Dave Ramsey

"Don’t underestimate your influence. How you live matters. What you do is important. So put on your Big Boy pants and grow up; the weight of your witness depends on it." Mark Beeson