An Atheist and a Christian walk into a Chapel...

Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, doesn't it??

Many of you who know me, and truly know me, know that I am a Christian. Now, I'm not perfect, but I strive to live the best I can, love the best I can, and spread love like Christ wants us all to. So my blog today is about something that happened to me today that made me realize that we have a lot of work to do as Christians. Here's what happened:

Tuesday's are PWOC days. For all non acronym people and all non-military people, that means Protestant Women of the Chapel. It's an awesome group of women! Anyways, we Bible study, praise and worship God, and help spread Christ's love. Today, I got up and got the kids ready for school, baked a cake since it was my class's turn to feed everyone, got myself ready, grabbed my music, my husband's phone that he left at home, and headed on over to Memorial Chapel. My husband said he would pick his phone up at the chapel after his meetings. 

So I get to the chapel, play piano and sing with the other lovely ladies on the praise team, and go to my class after announcements. I finally get a call a little after 11am that my husband was on his way. I leave my class to go wait at the front for my husband. As I was standing there by the front door, I over-hear the conversation of the chaplain assistant and another soldier. (It's a really small office with an open door right by the front door. It's super COZY at this chapel.) I make a joking remark to the chaplain assistant (many of you know I am a person that jokes around, like if someone says, "I'll be there" I will say, "Psh, no you won't".) So, the other soldier turns around, and it is an officer, and he didn't think it was funny. Some of you are going, "Oh no you didn't!" Well, oh yes I did. He then tells me that his wife has passed away and he was there to get everything moved along so he could be with his kids. Ok, so now I felt like a HUGE jerk. So my husband pulls up. I run out and give him his phone, and he leaves. I went back in. I don't know exactly why I did what I did next, but I just felt like I HAD to. I went into the chaplain's office and told the man I was sorry for his loss, I didn't mean to offend him, and then asked if there was anything that I could personally do for him...Could our prayer group pray for him and his family? What he said next broke my heart. He said, with tears in his eyes, "I'm atheist, and so was she, but sure, you can pray all you want. Her name was..." I told him we would be praying for his family. I went back to my class and let them know what had happened. I cried. Others cried. We had lost a sister military wife, and she was atheist. So we prayed for that family. Many are praying tonight for that family. So, why the blog post you ask?

Tonight we are praying for someone that is gone and that woman's family. And that is great. I hope that her family is reached, blessed, and turns to Jesus! I cried and others cried and mourned her not knowing the love of Jesus Christ. So I ask you this: why do we mourn after there is no hope for a non-believer?? Why aren't we mourning those that do not know him NOW and are still HERE? Why aren't we shouting from the rooftops that Jesus is love?? Why aren't we stopping to say hello to our neighbor, that person in the super market, our teachers, friends, fellow army wives and telling them about the LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST! Or inviting them to church? Or shoot, even DINNER! It truly boggles my mind! What a revelation I have had today! We get so caught up in the people whom we know have Christ that we forget that we need to be DISCIPLES! We need to tell all the nations! All the people! We need to speak love, kindness, forgiveness. We need to turn the other cheek and we need to reach out and help those that don't know HIM! Teach by example. Lead by example. And minister to all. 

Just Be...

So I was just singing my daughter to sleep. I always sing the same song to her. She calls it "Tender Shepherd". The real name of the song is "Come Unto Me". My mom sang it to me, I started singing it to my kids when I was still pregnant with them, and now, my daughter asks for it every night. And tonight, I cried. You see, there is the possibility of a deployment coming up, nursing school on the horizon, a new business venture with Pangea Organics, and dreams that seem to never be within grasp. All that and autistic children. There are some that would say "suck it up" or "put on your big girl panties", but they have never had to really worry about whether their children were ever going to be normal or not. One of the things that was running through my mind as I sang was "how am I going to get through the drs appointments, the medication changes, everything that goes along with having special needs children...by myself...without my best friend, my love, my husband here?" And I realized that I have been singing this amazing song, but never really listened to the words or let them settle on my heart. Scriptural reference is Matthew 11:28.

"Hear the blessed savior calling the oppressed,

1. “Oh, ye heavy-laden, come to Me and rest;
   Come, no longer tarry, I your load will bear,
   Bring Me every burden, bring Me every care.”
   • Come unto Me, I will give you rest;
     Take My yoke upon you, hear Me and be blest;
     I am meek and lowly, come and trust My might;
     Come, My yoke is easy, and My burden’s light.
2. Are you disappointed, wand’ring here and there,
   Dragging chains of doubt and loaded down with care?
   Do unholy feelings struggle in your breast?
   Bring your case to Jesus—He will give you rest.
3. Stumbling on the mountains dark with sin and shame,
   Stumbling toward the pit of hell’s consuming flame;
   By the pow’rs of sin deluded and oppressed,
   Hear the tender Shepherd, “Come to Me and rest.”
4. Have you by temptation often conquered been,
   Has a sense of weakness brought distress within?
   Christ will sanctify you, if you’ll claim His best;
   In the Holy Spirit, He will give you rest."

There are some in this world that say "Just Be". I have realized that I can't "just be". Maybe some people can get away with that, but I can't just be. I have to give it all away, even the "be" part. I have to lay my heavy burden at the feet of my Savior, my Heavenly Father, and let Him take care of it. He said that he would give me rest, so I have to let him take the load off my shoulders and so that I can have peace and rest. If I don't, I will be consumed by my life instead of me living it in God's grace. I already have the grace, so how do I let it all go? How does that work? I am still trying to figure it out. If you were looking for answers to deep questions, you are reading the wrong blog, lol, 'cause I am still trying to figure that all out for myself. So if anyone that reads this has figured out the "Let go and Let God" part of all this, please share! I just wanted to share my inner most feelings tonight.