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. :)
How awesome is that Melody?! You have such a big, caring heart! I'm so proud of you and proud to be able to call you my friend! Love you! Summer <3
ReplyDeleteJust back from women's retreat or I would have posted sooner. I can't tell you how excited I am over this. It just shows the multiplier of our Father's love and what happens we Christians act. Here, I was feeling like my week did not amount to much and then from my week we start a fundraiser to raise more money for my 6 little friends!! I am so proud of you and love your heart!!!! This whole thing makes my heart smile wide!
ReplyDeleteI so hope that we can make it!!!
My church just went through a very similar assignment. We have declared 2010 as the year of multiplication.
ReplyDeleteGood for you Melody! I hope it all works out.
Multiply, multiply, multiply!
How awesome!!!!I pray it all falls into place! So cool!
ReplyDeleteWell i tried to comment on this the day that you wrote it but obvioulsly i was unsuccesful. So i am here now and decided to write what i wanted to share.
ReplyDeleteI think it is so aweasome what your church is doing, i think that it is so important to use your gifts. The day before you wrote your blog i was talking to autumn about the importance of gifts. I said " what if you dad, earthly dad that is, gave you a gift that was so precious to him, a gift that he had been wanting to give you for a long time. He was so excited for the day that he would present it to you and was so excited to see you open it. The day finally arrived and the look on his eyes was one of joy and anticipation. He hands you the gift, waits for you to open it and then gets a saddness in his heart when you rip it open and then toss it to the side. He doesnt say anything or doesnt make you feel bad, but his heart is hurt and walks away in saddness. You put your beautiful gift in the closet and it eventually starts collecting dust. The father watches this gift sit on the shelf, and wonders when it will come out, but never pressures his daughter about it and never forces her to use it. He knows one day she will bring it out and he knows one day she will use it.
I said dont you think your dad would be sad, or hurt.
I told her that is sort of how our Lord looks at us. Here He gives us the most wonderful gift in all the world and sometimes we too just put our gifts in the closet and watch them collect dust. But the Lord never pressures us to use them, just waits patienly for us to bring them out. And when we do bring them out, and dust them off they are so beautiful........