A Good Meeting and a Good Steward

My meeting yesterday (at my church with a wonderful woman named Monica) went far better than I anticipated it would! Granted, I completely understand the fact that God truly does have me in His arms and He is guiding me on my path of life - but in the midst of this very lonely period I've been going through (during the daytime when it's just me and Colin here), it's been really hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. SO - Monica and I met and spent awhile talking about me and my upbringing, my Christian walk and what exactly brought me to the place I am. Then we talked about where I would best fit in what ministries. I expressed my desire to be able to be a part of serving as well as being served (as I just love to help in small groups - I always have!). She shared a vision with me that she believed I would be a very important part of. She said that our church is looking to start a small group for people in my situation - for blended families who are trying to work their way through the transition into one family. She told me that she believes I may be the one who can start that group and truly get it going - I can't even begin to tell you how happy that made me! First, however, I am being introduced to different women in the church and am going to work at establishing relationships and truly establishing my place. Over the summer I will be getting together with one of the heads of the MOPs group in our church, who (I'm told) will in turn help me establish more friendships with at-home moms in my area. What a blessing!.

With such a wonderful meeting behind me, I was driving home yesterday with a huge burden on my heart to truly devote myself to being a good steward. Naturally, when I got home, I decided to dive into my Bible and find out exactly what it means to be a good steward. What I found were things that I already knew, but very likely needed a little refresher course in this subject. The Bible states that we are to be faithful (good stewards) with our time, money and talent. It also says that 'he who is faithful in the little things will be faithful in much'.

I broke it down and looked into those three topics: time, money and talent. Starting with money, as that seems the most logical in my mind - I know that we are faithful with our money. We tithe, we give to charities, we even sponsor a sweet little girl named Seida through Compassion International. We are good about not spending money on foolish things (well, most of the time!) and are working steadily on planning for our future. If God were to ask me today if we are being faithful with our money, I believe I could confidently answer that Yes we are!

So - on to talents. I think I can honestly say that I am not a good steward of all of my talents, simply because I am unsure as to where they can best be used. I'm crazy organized, love heading new groups/projects and truly have a heart for people. I think that these are my strongest talents - I also believe that my meeting with Monica yesterday is opening the door for me to use those talents in the place that God has set for me.

The one I don't want to discuss, however, is time. I can say that I waste my time spend too much of my valuable time doing things that could be saved for later and too little of my time being a good steward of the home I own. My house is rarely clean - my laundry is usually in piles - I myself am usually in pajamas until late morning. There are so many other things I could be doing. Granted, part of my morning ritual that is NOT wasted is my daily occasional phone conversation with my sister. Being 11 years older than me (she is the oldest sibling, I am the youngest - there are two brothers in there somewhere as well!), she has been through many experiences much like ones I may be experiencing as well. She is my mentor and one of my closest friends and I truly do believe her to be a gift straight from my Father, as he knew that I would need someone who truly knew my heart to support me on this new journey of my life.

Okay - that was a little bit of a sidetrack there, but what can I say? I just absolutely love and adore my sister!

I truly do believe that God is showing me that He has a plan for my life - and the action steps that I can take in making that plan move forward is to prove that I can be truly AM a good steward of the things He has given me.

So that is my challenge to myself and to YOU - instead of spending those few extra minutes in bed tomorrow morning, I'm going to be up bright and early and be ready for the day He has given me.

"This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24