A Willing Spirit

Psalm 51:10-12 ~

God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 

Do not banish me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 

Restore the joy of your salvation to me,and sustain me by giving me a willing spirit.

This past Saturday my husband and I attended a missions conference where I lead one of the breakout sessions and facilitated a networking session. It was a good day and I came home encouraged. I was encouraged mostly because I was reminded once again to stay the course and remain steadfast in the ministry God has given to me. 

Ministry can be a lonely profession. You have to deal with all kinds of issues, as well as peoples' opinions about what you should or shouldn't do. There are very good and uplifting moments, but for much of the time you are walking with someone through their worst moments. It's a heavy weight that never really goes away. It's definitely not for the faint of heart and not everyone is called to do this. 

Dan and I gladly do it, but I find at least for myself, I need to constantly come back to the Lord and ask for a willing spirit so I can submit to the plan He has for me. I need to seek Him each day so that I can greet the day with joy, which is not something that comes naturally to me. I have to ask for a daily renewal of my spirit or else I can fall quite easily into discouragement or looking to people for my worth. 

I am thankful for the ministry God has called us to do and I am thankful that despite the hard moments, He provides times of refreshment and encouragement along the way. Those times keep me going!

This week I am thankful for the following things.

💓 I started the week with a huge list of "must-do's" which included preparing the breakout session and write two articles. I'm thankful I got it all done.

💓 I needed to come up with a bunch of games for this coming Saturday's fall festival our church is hosting. I'm thankful that I have more than I need (wasn't sure that was going to happen). The rest of this week is going to be pulling together what I need for them.

💓 I'm thankful for the local ministerium prayer group that prayed over Dan and I this past Tuesday. 

💓 Beautiful fall colors.

💓 The opportunity I have each week to teach a Bible study to a group of seniors at a local apartment complex.

💓 A friend who let us stay at her beautiful lakeside house this weekend. I was looking out over the water a bald eagle swooped down and snatched a fish out of the water and flew over my head. Awesome!!! Of course, I didn't have my camera on me at that moment!

💓 Connecting with friends from around our district this weekend.

💓 I was so thankful that a friend whom I went to college with and works for our denomination's refugee and immigrant network came and spoke to our church yesterday morning. She shared about the global refugee crisis and how we can continue to connect with the refugees and immigrants in our community. 

💓 One of the ministries I do is serving as part of our denomination's world fellowship women's ministry team. The team planned the first ever in-person women's event that was going to take place in Cote d'Ivoire, Africa two weeks ago. I was invited to attend and participate in it as part of the women's leadership team. However, I was unable to go for a variety of reasons. 

My friend who spoke in our service had just returned from the event in Africa. Imagine my surprise when she handed me a gift from the women's ministry team. I was so blessed by their generosity and the fact that they included me in this. There were all kinds of goodies in this bag including a beautiful wooden platter. 

💓 Hearing someone share yesterday how God is helping them stay free from addiction. Love how the Lord is working through our congregation.

💓 Little ones who hug me every week.

💓 A restful Sunday afternoon. I came home after a luncheon at our church and sewed a bit and mostly just put my feet up and relaxed.

I'm thankful for another new week to serve the Lord in whatever comes my way.