One of the things that drew me to Hope House as a place to live and serve was the premise that God is working and we get to be on the lookout for where He’s working and join Him.
The other day I ran into Kroger just to pick up some stamps. I had a few errands I was running that day and just needed to pop in briefly. While I was standing at the counter I saw Rae and her daughter Charlie grabbing a cart. I smiled and said hello, as it had only been a few hours since I last saw them at church. We talked about the Oscar’s Party we were both attending that evening and started to go our separate ways when I heard Charlie ask from her spot pushing the cart, “Do you want to walk with us?”
My inner dialogue began, did I want to walk with them? No not really. But what was the hurry? And Charlie asked so politely! I only have one more stop on my list. I probably have time to walk with them. And if I have to go I can always just leave. Ok why not?
So I joined them walking through the store picking up this and that. Average grocery shopping trip. But I must have heard Charlie say at least five times, “I love shopping.” “I’ll go shopping with Daddy later.” “I just looove to shop!”
You see, Charlie loves shopping. She loves doing work with her mom. She loves pushing the cart and being a part of the trip. She loves having a role to play scanning the objects and passing them to me. And I think that’s not too far from me wanting to do work with my Daddy. I want to go shopping with Him. I want to be around Him while He’s working. I want to see what He’s doing and how He’s doing it. I want to be a part of the experience. I want to know where God is working and join Him there. I want a role to play in the work. I want to follow in His ways as He leads and guides where He’s going. I want to see where He’s looking and what He’s looking for. I want to be close by His side at work, not looking through the aisles for where He is just to see Him turn the corner. I don’t want to get distracted in the candy aisle when He’s in the frozen foods section. I don’t want sin to trip me up and temptation to distract me. I want to follow Daddy and stay close to Him. Because I know that Daddy has a mission to do, a purpose to accomplish, and I can either be a part of it or grab my own cart and shop for myself.
Spirit would you help keep me following closely in the ways of my Father? Accomplishing Him plans and not my own?
Amyparuk 