GO GIVE SERVE

Jim's mission trip updates:
Day 1: here
Day 1 continued: here
Day 2: here
Day 3: here
Day 4: here
Day 5: here
Day 6: here

Every Mom knows that, after a trip...when you get home...there is still a lot of work to do in order to get things back to normal.

When Jim got home from his mission trip, he had a ton of laundry. The same laundry that, just 8 days before, I had washed, dried and folded...in preparation for his trip. I tried to make sure he had everything he needed before he left. And, then, after he came home, I washed, dried and folded his laundry again.

Now, I'm not comparing doing laundry to going on an actual mission trip. What I AM saying is that there are different ways to serve. 

Because people need clothes to wear when they go, right? And the other people around would appreciate if the clothes were CLEAN...or at least started out that way.

I've heard people kind of sniff their noses, and say how "easy" it is for people to "just" write a check (instead of actually going on a mission trip). Like it's a cop-out or something.

Really? There's no way for us to know a person's financial situation, and it's not for us to judge.

And, anyway, last time I checked...cars, buses, trains, planes and boats need some sort of gas or fuel to make them go...and that costs money. Pilots and drivers need to be paid. Supplies like tools, food, construction materials, and medicine...they aren't free. Someone either buys them or donates them.

And, someone needs to hold down the fort at home.

This time of year, there are lots of opportunities to serve. If God calls you to go...then GO. But if He doesn't, then GIVE so someone else can.

Write a check. Donate supplies. Wash clothes, watch kids, help with carpool, cook a meal, send a card, mow a yard...or come to the aid of a frazzled mom in a stalled car.

Take up the slack.

And PRAY.

"There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work." 1 Corinthians 12: 4-6