The Most Important Work Has Begun

You may be wondering what is going on with the other work that I do… the work with the children in the church.  In short, the last few months have been great.  I am very pleased to see how our children’s ministry has developed over the last few years.  I still need more hands to help, especially men, but the groups that we formed are truly developing and taking on the character of the individuals that take part in the groups.  The children are learning, growing, and developing, and I am very happy.

However I spent most of the last few months observing and scheming (the good kind) for the future.  In a dream in May of 2007 God gave me a glimpse of what these children can and will become for Haiti and the world, and I am aiming for that mark, a mark that is much higher than most would imagine when they imagine the purpose and depth of a children’s ministry.  Without going into the dream, it would be very hard to explain, so I will say (with faith) that if you watch and read for long enough, you will see it for yourself (and I believe soon).  So that you can get a glimpse, read the following entry from my journal from a Bible Study that I did with a group of children yesterday.  This group is a group of hand-selected, 10-14 year-old “disciples” that I will have with me for the next four months, pouring into them everything that I know.

Yesterday was quite possibly the most important moment of my ministry so far.  I had my first Bible Study with my kids.  What I showed them was nothing “cute” or “childish.”  I shared with them deep spiritual truth.  The best part is that they really seemed to get it.  They really, really did… and they LOVED it.

We talked about the Purpose of Man within the scheme of creation.  (Light subject, I know…).  I showed them how each day of creation prepared the earth for what would come next.  Light was created first because nothing can exist without light.  Land and sea separated in preparation for a diversity of vegetation and creatures.  Vegetation came forth in preparation for creatures.  Seasons were created to prepare for creatures whose navigation and behaviors change in response to the seasons and times of the month.  Then came birds, fish, and creatures on the ground… and on the sixth day: MAN.

I had the children reflect for a moment.  They meditated on the scriptures and each came up with their own questions about it.  Most of their questions were answered by other children, not myself.  They were on a roll with these questions and answers, but I stopped them in order to ask my own question and open their eyes to something deep and wondrous.  My question: If everything that is created on a given day is a preparation for the days that would follow, then for what was man created?  All of the rest of creation was a preparation for something else… What was man a preparation for?

We chewed on that one for quite awhile, talking about how man was created to rule over the earth with God’s character (Gen 1:26), but I told them to think along the same logic that we applied for the rest of creation.  Day six was the creation of man, day seven was God’s day of rest… What are we here for?  We started to talk about God’s rest.  I pushed them on to debate amongst themselves “where can God rest comfortably?”  To GOD, what is so special about the heavens?  What is so special about the earth?  He created them both.  Can there ever be a place that is really good enough for him to rest in?  Then one of them made a comment that made me think of Isaiah 66:1-2:

“Thus says the LORD: Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”

They were on the right track, so I told them to listen closely and I let them have it…  “Man was created on the sixth day so that God could find a place to rest on the seventh.  Man was created for God’s pleasure and to experience the pleasure of God.” Their eyes lit up.  They smiled… their mouths opened wide, yet they were speechless.  They Got it… God opened up their spirits and deposited the first of many treasures into their hearts.  It was suddenly real to them that they were created to KNOW the God of all creation.

We didn’t talk much afterward.  There wasn’t much else to say.  It was a time to reflect.  I had them each pull out their notebooks and had them do their first Journal entry.  They wrote down their revelations and reflections for more than 15 minutes, filling entire pages, and their reflections were beautiful and so very sincere.  I told them that their journals were for their eyes only, unless they chose to share.  Two decided to share what they wrote, and suddenly I became the student (just as God promised in my dream).

“After what I just learned I can see clearly that God’s desire is to be at home in my heart.  That is why I ask that he forgives me of all of the wrong that I do.  I ask him for strength so that I can walk straight, and I ask for wisdom so that I can continue to go deeper into his word and learn what is pleasing to him.  I know that if I stay at his feet I will find all that I need, desire, and ask for…”

“After learning how much God did to prepare a place for me to find all that I need so that I can live well and to be comfortable, what else could I do but make my heart a comfortable and beautiful place for him to live?  It’s the least that I could do for a God that is so good to me.  I want to do all that I can to prepare my heart to be a home for him.  I know that with his help, I can and will arrive at my goal to please Him…”

At this, Brian Clark (a ZHOP prayer warrior who is here with me this week) congratulated them on “knowing more than 99% of the American Church.”  After they shared their reflections, we worshiped and prayed, just as we did before we began.  The first time was great, but this time as we sang “Lord, I give you my heart…” there was a deep, solemn sincerity that can only come from a revelation of the goodness of God.

So if you are wondering what I am really up to in Haiti… there you have it… yet somehow in all actually, only a small part of it…  Please pray for me and pray for my little ones.

To my former classmates

It’s been a little over 4 years since we were all in the same room, throwing off our red caps and toasting to the new adventure ahead. On that day, I had the honor of sharing with you a bit of wisdom that I was fortunate enough to receive at an early age. Since then, some of you have graduated, some of you took a break from studies, some of you never pursued further education. Whichever category you fall into… the message I delivered was, and still is for you. Here it is again… in case you forgot it, or in case you didn’t really hear it the first time (I’m not offended–I wanted to get out of that hot gym myself). We have six years until our reunion. I hope that when we see each other again we will all be “solid chocolate bunnies,” full of “essence.” Oh, you forgot what I’m talking about? Now you HAVE to read on… Make sure to watch the video at the end. It Goes along with it. enJOY.

Good afternoon Class of 2004,

Thirteen years and we’ve finally made it. For most of us, the majority of the past thirteen years of our lives has boiled down to this one day. Graduation day; the only known cure to senioritis. It’s so exciting isn’t it? In a few moments we are going to get that diploma, flip our tassels, and walk out those doors, possibly for the last time. And when we get out there we’ll realize…. Oh my gosh, my life begins now! Now what? Well let me give you a head start on that. What is expected is that you take what you learned from here over the years, go out and do whatever it is that you love to do and be a success. But, you see, success is a word that people misuse everyday. In today’s society we have defined the word with money, big houses, fancy cars, and for those who are “down” with today’s slang, bling bling, and ice and rims. Mr. Webster defines success as a favorable or desirable outcome. You see, although we all may look good with the bling, that doesn’t fit my definition of success. I don’t know about you but the favorable outcome that I desire for my life is not to be fancy or famous, it’s to be fulfilled.

There have been thousands, maybe even millions of “successful” people who have lived and died miserable because they did not know how to measure success. They did not know what they were really living for, and they were never fulfilled. Let me tell you about a man named Solomon. Solomon had everything that you would think that a man could hope for. He was the king of an entire nation for 40 years, and he had acquired riches untold. He had not just one palace, not just two palaces. In fact, he had so many palaces they aren’t even sure how many palaces he had. As the writer of the entire book of Proverbs, Solomon is known by many as the wisest man to have ever lived. How about this one, guys? Solomon had about a thousand wives and concubines. (I always think it’s funny to see how the guys react to that. It always seems that all of the young guys are dreaming of what it would be like, while the married men are thinking one’s enough, thank you.–[pause for old people laughter]) But getting back to the point, Solomon had everything his heart desired. So he thought. Because as his time on Earth came to a close, this is what he had to say about everything he had worked to achieve.

“Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly meaningless! EVERYTHING is meaningless! What does a man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun? All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. My heart took delight in all my work and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.”
—-Ecclesiastes 1:2,3,8 & 2:10b-11

Might I remind you that this was the wisest, and probably the richest, man to have ever lived? He had everything that we all dream of. And if Solomon was not content with what he had, I can tell you right now that you can spend you life chasing everything that the world has to offer, but you will never catch enough of it. We spend our entire lives collecting things to fill our homes, but the fullest rooms in our houses are closets, attics, and storage rooms. You adults know what I’m talking about. When will we realize that our lives can be so much more than stuff?!

By a show of hands, how many of you remember getting candy every Easter when you were little? Do you remember that first time you got one of those giant chocolate bunnies? Oh yeah, I remember my first one. I remember thinking “Mom has lost her mind! Seven kids with seven giant chocolate bars… What does she think is going to happen?” Well, she knew what she was doing, as usual. I unwrapped the thing, held in out in front of me with my eyes wide and a huge grin on my face thinking “this is gonna be the best thing that I have ever tasted.” So I finally bring it to my mouth, take a huge bite into it and my mouth is still empty. I turn it over and nothing drips out. I look inside and… It was HOLLOW! I felt so cheated. That was the first and last giant chocolate bunny that I had ever tasted. You see, that company spends so much time and effort building up that bunny so that it is appealing, but it’s worthless because it has no cream filling, no caramel, no marshmallow, no nougat, nothing! It has no essence.

Friends, our lives can be the same way. Many of you will still figure it out the hard way. You will spend all of your time building yourself up. You may be rich, you may be popular, you may be powerful, but in the end, you will feel like have accomplished nothing, unless you have found that essence. I know that there are adults out there that can testify to this, and please do! This is something that we always need to be reminded of. What is it that we live for? At the end of his life, Solomon realized that there were only two things worth living for. 1.)Serving God and 2.)Serving his people. Why is that? Because both of these purposes produce eternal results. Service to the people around you leaves a legacy. Not only do people remember those who serve them, they strive to serve like them. It produces a ripple effect that will go on for ages. I think we all realized that in November of 2002 (the people present at her funeral were a testimony that my mother actually lived. Service like hers never ceases to produce results.) We are just tiny dots on a timeline, but in your short lifetime on earth, you can make an impact that will last forever. And tell me, is there any better way to produce eternal results that to serve an eternal being? People come and people go. Money is spent as quickly as it is earned. Games are retired as quickly as they are begun. But God was, is, and will always be. And that is why I have chosen to make my life his.

I believe that every single one of us has what it takes to be successful. But can you really be successful without ever truly being fulfilled? We can spend the rest of our lives building up whatever it is in this world that we think that we want, but without the right purpose, we are just empty chocolate bunnies. Friends, if you want to live a life to the fullest, live for a purpose that is greater than yourselves. Live for a purpose greater than yourselves. It is in this that we find a reason for today and the hope for a future. Thank you, and may God bless you in whatever you do.

The Search for Relevance: Misty Edwards

Short Version:

Long Version:

Search for Misty Edwards on YouTube.