Because this post is so dear to my heart and one I've been mulling over in my head for a month now, (remember me promising to write it "today"? About a week ago? Yeah. That one), it's been such a seemingly daunting task that I haven't even tried to tackle it. I suppose I want my passion over this to be so stinkin' visible that you can't help but be passionate with me. And I am afraid that I won't do this justice, so I haven't bothered. These words come to you as the result of much prayer.
Well over a month ago, our pastor introduced us to something called Kingdom Assignment. I had never heard of it, and I'm pretty sure most of the people in attendance that day hadn't either. The foundation for Kingdom Assignment stems from the Parable of the Talents in the book of Matthew. If you're not familiar with that parable, I would encourage you to read it here.
Simply put, we need to use what God gives us. He gives us all talents and abilities- He gives us all a voice. But what do we do with them? Do we hide them away like the third man in the story? Or do we invest them in any way we can, not worrying about how it will multiply and just trust that God will use it how He wills?
Do you use your voice? Or do you keep silent, hoping someone else will speak up?
When I signed up for Kingdom Assignment, we were given $50 to fund our assignment. Our prayer was that God would multiply that money in great ways for His Kingdom. I had so much passion, but little vision. I knew that God would somehow use our project to make big things happen. But what?
Well I prayed (lots) and contemplated. Big Hunk & I talked about it lots and would toss ideas around. But when we really thought about it, it was such a huge commitment and I wanted to be sure we were listening for God's voice and not our own.
It's not all hammered out yet, but we are really hoping to be able to hold a benefit concert. We are still waiting on the go ahead from the band we've invited to be part of this (friends of ours), but we are praying this will all happen in the next month or two. All proceeds are going to Morning Star Foundation in Ch!na (they don't even know yet! I'm so excited!), a home that provides care and love to orphaned children that have severe medical conditions- some of which are in need of life-saving surgery. Below are a few pictures of children Morning Star has in their care right now. Just try not to fall in love with those faces!
Luke
Josiah
Matthew
And here is a beautiful post my friend Sally wrote about her recent trip there. We had been praying about using this concert to benefit Morning Star when I read this, and her words were completely God speaking to us, confirming that this is what He wants.
I covet any prayers you could offer on our behalf, and on behalf of Morning Star. We have NO doubt that God has big plans and is going to work in mighty ways through this event. We are so excited to be part of this! We just can't wait to bless the socks off of those precious babies over there, clear across the world. And of course we want to bless Bill & Lynsay, the couple that runs Morning Star, like crazy too. :)
