Opportuni-TEAs

Each "day the good Lord gives us" (Daddy) is full of opportunities to be salt and light in this world.

As beloved "sheep" of the Great Shepherd, believers need to rise and shine and serve Him and others.

How does one know God's will in this time of much trouble, tragedies and  unrest in our world? Our country? Our state? Our city?

God's word holds the answer. (1Peter 2:13-17)

• Do good. (v. 15)
• Live as servants of God. (v. 16)
• Honor everyone.  (v. 16) "Honoring others involves maintaining respectful consideration." (Cole Huffman, 7/10/2016) 
• Love the brotherhood. (v. 17) 
• Fear God. (v. 17)

"Rise and Shine" and sip and savor a cuppa opportuni-TEA to glorify God and serve others----remembering that "Righteousness exalts a nation!" (Proverbs 14:34)

Scarci-TEA to Opportuni-TEA

"In our weakness He is strong" is a familiar verse to most Christians. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

However, last week in Turkey, I saw the essence of that verse in a new light. His light. 

I saw my scarcity as His opportunity. 

My opening keynote speech was delivered with "scarce" light and "new" bifocals which made clearly reading my notes virtually impossible. 

The result had me sharing words  and experiences which I had not written down. Afterwards, a lady tearfully approached me and said thanks for sharing. 

"I thought I was the only one who had ever experienced that ." she said. 

We talked and it was as if the Lord used those words to release her from guilt and to renew a "right spirit" within her.

When my physical strength waned from lack of sleep, younger members of the team came alongside this "senior member" and offered "an arm" as we climbed the hill in Ulus toward the castle.

Last Wednesday, as we walked the road above the refugee camp, I was privileged to deliver food to families living down those narrow paths past the garbage. 

A needy place. A place of abandoned properties. A place with hungry children.

A place where the possibility of ISIS members roamed. A place deemed unsafe by some. A place of scarcity of food, both physical and spiritual. (Matthew 25:35)

At one crowded "home" a Syrian gentlemen invited us in. His "stove" offered us heat, and though he offered tea, we politely declined by "patting our chest"---  a gesture of thanks, but no thanks, as we were unable to accept because of time constraints. 

This stranger invited us in.....and offered hospitality out of his meagerness. S asked if we could pray.  He said yes. Together......Syrians, Turks and Americans bowed in prayer. 

I saw scarcity in lives of others that God used as an opportunity for the household of faith to share His love with both food and prayer. (Pix of family removed for their safety.)

Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, (Isaiah 58:10)

In Turkey, my cuppa scarci-TEA was clearly filled many times with His opportuni-TEAs.

Opportunities to allow me to experience afresh His sufficiency for myself as well as others.

opportuni-TEA

So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith. (Galatians 6:10, NASB)

Today is "National Pie Day," according to yesterday's Commercial Appeal. This year the designated day, January 23, falls on a Thursday. That info certainly jogged my memory of a by-gone era. 

At our house 31 years ago, when daughter Molly was 3 yrs. old, we designated Thursdays as "our" pie day. Flexible hours, while teaching at the University during that time, worked well with our endeavor. Together we rolled & pinched pie dough, added various fillings and then delivered them to neighbors, newcomers, and folks who could use a lift, as well as Sunday School and Bible Study teachers.

One week our recipient was Molly's Community Bible Study Children's leader, "Miss" Pam. We, with people from all over the Memphis community, met at 2nd Pres. to hear the teaching of God's Word from Katherine Phillips. So.....not knowing where "Miss" Pam lived, Molly just took the pie to her at CBS.

Year's later, a board member of the Neighborhood School purchased one of Molly's village paintings from her "Contemporary Folk Art for the Soul" series for the inner city Christian school. Hanging the picture at the school Molly, the artist, & "Miss Pam," the board member, made the connection of baker and recipient----of a pie almost 30 years earlier. A blessing "unknowingly" reciprocated. 

My cuppa today is filled with opportuni-TEA to pour out a blessing to another in the household of faith. 

I think I'll bake a pie!

I did----HHS' Debbie J's famous Pecan Pie