Day 34: "Thinking Like A Servant"

On to day 34 of the The Purpose Driven Life: What On Earth Am I Here For? by Pastor Rick Warren. Man! This chapter makes my head hurt I'm thinkin' so hard. I mean...the more you develop your relationship with GOD, the more you'll realize how many....layers...there are to EVERYTHING. What you have to remember, to keep your sanity, is that we are ALL different & there is not ONE right way to be a servant. There are SO many ways people serve. I can tell you...my wheels are turnin,' but I KNOW God has this. He knows where I'm at. He knows what I don't know & he knows my HEART...and he's got me.

This chapter hits points that have all been in my thoughts, are things I struggle with, are questions I'm trying to answer, etc...so it OVERWHELMED me a little. I'm just going to go through and share some of those points.

"God is always more interested in why we do something than in what we do. Attitudes count more than achievements."

"Unfortunately, a lot of our service is often self-serving. We serve to get others to like us, to be admired, or to achieve our own goals. That is manipulation, not ministry."

"I am, by nature, selfish. I think most about me. That's why humility is a daily struggle, a lesson I must relearn over and over."

"The Bible says, 'If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life.'"

"Servants remember that God owns it all."

"Living for ministry and living for money are mutually exclusive goals."

"God uses money to test your faithfulness as a servant."

"Wealth Builders continue to amass wealth for themselves no matter how much they make, but Kingdom Builders change the rules of the game. They still try to make as much money as they can, but they do it in order to give it away. They use the wealth to fund God's church and its mission in the world."

"It is also not our job to defend ourselves against criticism. Let your Master handle it."

"If you serve like Jesus, you can expect to be criticized. The world, and even much of the church, does not understand what God values."

"Because they remember they are loved and accepted by grace, servants don't have to prove their worth."

"Insecure people are always worrying about how they appear to others. They fear exposure of their weaknesses and hide beneath layers of protective pride and pretensions."

"When you base your worth and identity on your relationship to Christ, you are freed from the expectations of others, and that allows you to really serve them best."

"Henri Nouwen said, 'In order to be of service to others we have to die to them; that is, we have to give up measuring our meaning and value with the yardstick of others...thus we become free to be compassionate.'"

"Point to Ponder: To be a servant I must think like a servant."

Daily Verse: "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus." Philippians 2:5 (NIV)

Daily Question: "Am I usually more concerned about being served or finding ways to serve others?"

From My Journal: Finding ways to serve others...undoubtedly. This can range from my husband and children, to friends and family to complete strangers...and God. I get lost, confused, twisted up about things, etc, but I am a servant.

I have a confession :) I typed this blog 4 or 5 days ago, but felt like I was JUST listing the pieces of it that struck home to me, but I didn't know how to convey what I was feeling/thinking/wanting to convey.

I just finished watching an Oprah interview with The Invisible Child Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Jason Russell. To learn more about his movement read HERE: http://invisiblechildren.com/

There were LOTS of things talked about, but THAT interview will HELP me to EXPLAIN my struggle with this whole..."Thinking Like A Servant."

Here's the cliff notes: Jason Russell had a nervous breakdown/psycotic break/meltdown...whatever you wanna call it. Jason & 2 friends decided to film a documentary in East Africa & ultimately... (straight from The Invisible Children website): "They discovered a war in Uganda that had been going on for 20 years where a brutal warlord named Joseph Kony and his rebel army, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), were abducting children and forcing them to become soldiers." Go check out the website, because what this group of individuals did was TOTALLY coming from the RIGHT place...a place of PASSION for people...for humanity...for wanting to make RIGHT what we know from the CORE of our being is wrong.

They created a video called: KONY 2012. PLEASE watch it when you have some time. It generated an intense, BOLD movement, that my words can't even begin to describe...Questions started being asked that questioned the INTEGRITY of the cause. Jason...feeling SO passionately about it...saw it as questioning HIS integrity right along with it. I can't speak for him, but watching the interview...it seemed as if (from what seemed like a GLOBAL standpoint for him) it was all crumbling. The cause that he believed in was losing it's....value right before his eyes & he felt responsible. He wanted to FIX it & he couldn't sleep. He couldn't do anything, BUT think about the negative reactions...the judgements against the cause (& those he related to himself). It didn't matter that over a million people believed in THE CAUSE, that HE was so passionate about. The judgement of a few (in comparison) &...in my opinion... was the devil's CHANCE to get in and twist things up.

It can happen SO fast. Why is it SO easy to forget all the positive feedback & listen to the negative? Why is that what our natural response has become?

So...I digress a little. In this situation (how I see it) the devil capitalized on Jason's need for positive perception from EVERYONE. He preyed on it...he used it to TRY & defile it all......

Then God stepped in...& Jason's paraphrased words when Oprah asked him about the BIGGER picture of his VERY public breakdown: "It was God's way of plucking my EGO right out of the situation." (He didn't say it quite like that, but that's how I heard it.) All along the way...Jason could have LISTENED to OTHERS when they told him to rest, take a break, reassuring him that his role is coming from the
RIGHT place...he chose not to...(with the devil's help) & God USED that mess that was spiraling out of control to STRIP Jason of his EGO. To make him realize that God's WAY is way easier than the convaluted mess that he's trying to make work....on his own. I mean...GOD uses ALL of us to make his plan work...we are kind of foolish to think that we can go it on our own.

So as we talk about thinking like a servant...How does someone...a leader...that gets bombarded with a plethora of questions daily & who is looked to, to have the answers...How, when questions start bubbling up & that leader doesn't have all the answers, do they NOT hold the responsibility in KNOWING it? I mean...I can see how fast & somewhat easy it could be to get twisted up like Jason did. It happened to me just a few weeks ago on a MUCH smaller level than this & It took me several days to work through it & REALIZE (through prayer & journaling) that I don't have all the answers & how foolish I was to think that I was the ONLY person that had gone through something like this.

The quotes from the book, I made bold, all can be applied to this situation, but I think the one that we ALL need to rest in...especially those that are subject to more criticism is this: "It is also not our job to defend ourselves against criticism. Let your Master handle it." God KNOWS we don't have all the answers. In actuality...we have very little. God will not call us to go it alone...EVER. God wants us to rely on each other...& HIM. I can almost bet money that Jason will be able to hear that inner voice now, enabling him to stop the whirlwind. We may not always like the way God gets his victory, but we're sure glad he got it.

The movement Jason helped start & continues to DEVOTE himself to is so IMPORTANT. It's God's work...no doubt. I admire his tenacity, his strength, his mission, his faith. I admire that he GOT UP after his breakdown & is back at it, full force. I also admire him & his friends ability to: "create with abandon." When I was milling around with the same emotions Jason was dealing with...just muted down, I pulled out a journal that I bought that I hadn't written in yet & along with a lot of other encouraging words...the words "Create with abandon." LEAPED off the page at me. That is what I did. That is what Jason and his friends did. In that moment I TRULY realized it was all okay. It was not as big a deal as what my head was telling me it was. I wasn't going it alone & I not only had friends to support me, but I had friends that new stuff...new stuff to make it BETTER...to REACH more people. If either of us wouldn't have "created with abandon" the people we are helping, wouldn't get the help. I THANK GOD he found a way to speak to me that stopped my whirlwind...& I'm even thankful for Jason's experience. That it could be shared, so people that struggle with the same feelings can learn from it. God knew he could handle it & bounce back WAY stronger.

The leadership role can be a tough one sometimes. You start your work to serve God & serve people, but (because of the role you have) you can start serving your ego & not even know it. Put people in your camp that can "check you."

Buck Up Baby & Ride With Jesus! CREATE WITH ABANDON! That's how we WILL change our world & LEARN to TRULY trust God!

Day 33: "How Real Servants Act"

Today we continue on to Day 33 in the book: The Purpose Driven Life: What On Earth Am I Here For? by Pastor Rick Warren. I am struggling with today's reading. I'm struggling because: I'm a GREAT servant in some areas and a lousy, LOUSY servant in others. I'm doing my best to learn more about The Bible & what it teaches & deepening my relationship with God, but sometimes....I've got a lot more to learn than I thought. BUT THEN, I take a step back...because I realize I'm comparing where I think I was to where I actually am & I need to be content in NOT KNOWING & JUST BE.

I'm working a lot through my head, with this one. Sometimes...some of the things I'm called to do, put me FRONT-&-CENTER. I'm not saying I really WANT that, but sometimes I feel called to be doing just that & this chapter talks about TRUE servants...being content & happy in the shadows. I felt constricted, useless, & just wrong "in the shadows." Kinda like...I was WASTING time & God-given gifts. Right now, where I'm at with it, is that I know all of our ministries & SHAPES are different & some of us will be called to be in more public roles & platforms than others. For that same reason, our role as a SERVANT will be VERY unique to us. I TRULY...don't FULLY understand the who, what, where, why, how to this. I just KNOW it is NECESSARY to become more like Christ. My frustration comes in because there is a fine line we walk with SHARING our experiences with others (which I see as bringing more people to Jesus) & SHARING and losing site of the PURPOSE of sharing.

At this point, I know that God is working on me & giving me more of a SERVANT'S HEART. I can also tell you that I'm A LOT further along than what I was...even two weeks ago, BUT I have a long way to go (yet...also VERY aware that God can speed things up & slow things down...anytime he chooses.) There are several RECENT situations that have happened & PEOPLE that have...re-entered my life in a NEW way...that tests my patience. Like...probably would have avoided these interactions at all costs & could have...relatively easily, but (only by God's grace) I chose not to. I KNOW (in this one particular situation I am talking about) I will have NO CHOICE, but to act as servant. It will be NECESSARY to the safety of the individual.

Something I have learned...the more you KNOW...the more RESPONSIBLE you become. The more successful you become, the more RESPONSIBLE you are for protecting & upholding that success. If you ignore the responsibility than you are ignoring/discarding/forgetting/belittling/down-playing/etc. the KNOWLEDGE & SUCCESS you have. I have ventured from the story a little bit, but I REALLY thought this recent interaction with this one person would be VERY short-lived...& now I view it as a TOTAL BLESSING. I mean...I don't know...if any of you have ever become SO aware of an area of yourself that you need to "work on," but didn't become AWARE of it until you were actually working on it...but that's what happened. Here's a list of some of the things this experience has helped me with: PATIENCE, slowing down, refining a talent/skill that hasn't REALLY been used in quite some time, seeing VALUE in what I bring to the table, seeing how helping another person can allow that person to help me, & CREATING an opportunity to SHARE my walk with God. All that....through one act of serving someone else.

Another thing that comes to mind when I read this chapter is how, in certain circumstances, one of the things I like the very least (washing dishes), I can do HAPPILY in certain situations. I KNOW this may seem silly, but the first time I read this chapter I put forth effort to wash those dishes & other peoples dishes GLADLY. It was WORK to TRY and enjoy it...tough work. Yet, in certain situations I will hop right to it, get it done, & move onto the next thing. In my eyes...the situation where I just do it, is a place where it NEEDS to be done & it needs to be done IN THAT MOMENT. Most other times...I can find LOTS of other things that NEED to be done sooner.

The other thought that really came to mind when reading this chapter is the LEVEL of servitude in my family & friends. I mean I have some friends & family members that are TRUE servants. They don't want anything else, but to help get IT done. Whatever IT might be. I mean...it can be anything from juggling the doctor appointments of 3 family members throughout the week, to riding along with you to HELP....IF you need it, to dropping what they are doing to help someone else accomplish what they NEED to accomplish. Like I said before, God created us all uniquely...right down to the WAY we serve. I think God designed us to long to SERVE others & we all do in some capacity. It's yet another way God created us, to HELP each other.

"Point to Ponder: I serve God by serving others."

Daily Verse: "If you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded." Matthew 10:42 (NLT)

Daily Question: "Which of the six characteristics of real servants offers the greatest challenge to me?

From my Journal: Doing every task with equal dedication. There are some tasks that I don't like doing. This goes through areas of life and work & I really have a hard time with this characteristic.

If I'd have to share my progress from that point to now...I'd say that it has gotten BETTER, but I still have a lot to work on with it. I mean I'm not beaming with enthusiasm or anything, but have started to accept the IMPORTANCE of some tasks...more than what I once did.

Buck Up Baby & Ride With Jesus! He'll show you WHERE he needs you to serve & when He needs you to, also. God Bless!    

Day 29: "Accepting Your Assignment"

Hey all! I tell you what! It's gettin' harder & harder for me to stay up & get these posts out! I'm gonna try and double up for ya today! Today we move onto our 4th PURPOSE: "You were shaped for serving God."

Today talks about "Accepting Your Assignment." This is Day 29 in Rick Warren's book: The Purpose Driven Life: What On Earth Am I Here For?

There are 3 parts of this chapter that I want to discuss, because I have had specific conversations about them OR I just think they are important.

Here is the first: "Another term for serving God that's misunderstood by most people is the word MINISTRY. When most people hear "ministry," they think of pastors, priests, and professional clergy, but God says every member of his family is a minister."

I had a conversation with a VERY dear friend. We actually met for lunch/brainstorming session & that turned into almost a 3-hour long discussion. One of the things I talked to her about was starting a ministry...& calling it "Buck Up Baby & Ride With Jesus." After our discussion (& lots of thought) I think I will call it a MISSION, but it will accomplish the same thing. Some of the things brought up were: "Is it necessary to use "Jesus" in the name of the ministry & would I be up there PREACHING to people?" We can speak VERY plainly to each other & know that the other has each other's best interests in mind when asking the questions we ask. After the first question...my head initially went to...."If I take his name OUT of it....that will be like taking his name out of the Pledge of Allegiance & out of schools & out of whatever they can get it out of." She stopped me and reminded me that Jesus was humble & doesn't need his name everywhere....& he doesn't. I know she was coming to me from a place of concern & she doesn't want ANYTHING to curtail my business....but he is ALL UP IN my business & I WANT to .

Then she asked: "What would this ministry do?" I told her my ROUGH vision: Have the ability to provide scholarships & grants to students & new business owners because I know how you can feel limited as both, if you don't have the money it takes to do something that you really think needs to be done. I'd like to also be able to provide religious education grants for children and adults. Then I told her how I'd like to take my employees & volunteers on specific missions to help spread our mission. Not only that, but the group of people that work with me have experiences that (if shared) can REALLY help others & I'm not opposed to speaking engagements...alone or as a team. So...to answer the question about if we would be preaching to people....not really. We'd be sharing our experiences with people...and doing for people.

I kind of delved into WHY it concerned her as much as it did & she shared some of her experiences, which were quite eye-opening. She is a BELIEVER...by all means, but LIKE MANY OF US (myself included...once upon a time)...is RESERVED about sharing her experiences or her FAITH because we don't want to offend anyone or rub anyone the wrong way. I agree that...depending on what you want to accomplish...some conversations have to be approached with finesse. She also told me about her childhood growing up & how many parents & adults kind of shoved religion down your throat & TOLD you what you had to be & what was GOOD & BAD...ACCEPTABLE & UNACCEPTABLE...ultimately leaving the impression that you had to be, act, dress, look a certain way to be acceptable to GOD. One example she told me was when she was a little girl one of her neighbors (parents of her little neighbor friend) gave her a Bible & then told her to take it home & tell her Daddy that he OWED them $2 or something for it.

All I want to do is SHARE MY GOOD NEWS WITH OTHERS. SHARE what I have learned & what I BELIEVE & give examples & tell stories & GIVE GOD THE GLORY. I'm not sure WHAT that will look like exactly... I just feel like I'm supposed to do it. I also know that I don't want to SHOVE IT DOWN PEOPLE'S THROATS. It won't mean a thing to them. I want to SHARE with who wants me to share it with them or who THINKS they want to know what I am talking about or who WANTS to be a part of whatever I'm doing. I don't want to FORCE anything. I realize that some people may put a wall up...just by the words I choose to use...but some won't & if something GOOD is coming from it the GOODNESS will spread & continue to spread...even if there are only a handful that want anything to do with it at first.

Here is the second thing I want to share that kind of reiterates what I discussed above. "The Bible says, 'He saved us and called us to be his own people, not because of what we have done, but because of his own purpose.' Peter adds, 'You were chosen to tell about the excellent qualities of God, who called you.' Anytime you use your God-given abilities to help others, you are fulfilling your calling." After typing & re-reading this...something else struck me. In this business I have started I have found that A LOT of people don't UNDERSTAND where I am going with this, what the purpose is, WHY I'm doing it & just don't go out and get a job. HONESTLY...sometimes I'm not sure of the EXACT direction I am going or the EXACT purpose behind ALL these lessons I'm learning, but I KNEW before I went at it FULL-time I was supposed to be doing SOMETHING with it. I KNEW I needed to do more. It has been CONFIRMED to me I don't even know how many times now. I still can't say what it will look like 6 months, a year, or 10 years from now & I STILL have people trying to tell me how I'm supposed to live my life when they have NO CLUE...at all...about what has been done, what is in the works, what I have learned, & what God has GIVEN me. Heck...some of them don't even know what God has GIVEN them. YET...I still march on b/c I UNDERSTAND my PURPOSE for doing it. I share this because....We aren't even close to UNDERSTANDING GOD's purpose for our lives...God's purpose for saving us & blessing us with the gifts he gave no other living creature...what is SO special about us that God CHOSE to save us...WHY we have the experiences & feelings that we have... & (EVEN AFTER HE PAID THE ULTIMATE PRICE) we QUESTION Him & get MAD at him & HIDE from Him, Some of us LOSE our belief in Him, we take his name OUT of things...YET he marches on....blessing families with more babies, loving us through our sins...teaching us to know ourselves when we don't understand WHY he doesn't just tell us. You know.... I don't UNDERSTAND his PURPOSE, but I BELIEVE in his PURPOSE & mine is linked with His.

Here is the THIRD thing I want to share from this chapter: "We must act on what we know and practice what we claim to believe. Impression without expression caused depression. Study without service leads to spiritual stagnation." AMEN!!!!! This happened to me when I took another job, when I KNEW I should pursue something with my auction license. This happened to me when I read the chapter about HARD conversations & SAT on it b/c I didn't want to have them. This happened to me when I didn't feel RIGHT to write posts for a blog called "Buck Up Baby!" when I couldn't even get the nerve to BUCK UP & do what I knew I was supposed to be doing. This happens when I see a friend I haven't seen in years that wants to catch up on old pals...which eventually leads to gossiping. Honestly...this still happens to me from post to post. I share this information with ya'll & some days....even though I KNOW what I SHOULD do....I just don't. I've told you before that I die daily...sometimes several times a day & my faith wains, BUT I can say that the more AWARE of things you become...the more you EXPRESS yourself & the less you put yourself in depressing situations.

READ the chapter. There is LOTS more in there. Buck Up Baby & Ride With Jesus! Find your ministry, name it what you want to, & go to sharin' that sucker! Here is the flyer for the BABY stages of my ministry/mission. I am HOPING to give as many $1000 scholarships away as possible to students pursuing a higher level of education, whether that be: a college, university, trade school, licensing school, or religious education school. It will be open to any high-school graduate student, currently enrolled college student, or someone wishing to return to school. The candidates will have to answer 1 of 2 essay questions: 1) Give us an example of an experience where you have had to "BUCK UP" & do something that has pushed you out of your comfort zone & how that made an impact on your life & possibly others OR 2) Tell us about an area/idea/dream that you have, but you have not mustered up the courage yet to "Buck Up." What is holding you back?  

Just realized...I didn't share the daily stuff....

"Point to Ponder: Service is not optional."

Daily Bible Verse: "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)

Daily Question: "What is holding me back from accepting God's call to serve him?"\

From my journal the first time of reading: In December 2013 I quit my job to pursue my service/talent God has given me. The things that stopped me and still hang me up are: fear, family and friends not understanding, perception, pride, my perceived image, money. I can sit here - happy to say that I can feel the good Lord working in me, blessing others, and melting away some of my previous concerns.

A little more to say now...as some of those concerns melt away...some days others intensify. Daily...I tell you...DAILY you have to work through ALL the processes....of all the things & JUST HOLD FAITH that the PURPOSE you are working towards is worth it.

God Bless Pretties!!
Heather Schoenst Kaspar
TXL 17037