Loving the Lost

The blog themes for this month are: February and Love. We hope you enjoy these posts!

                                                         

Written by: Erika Rizkallah

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 1 Corinthians 13:4-5

As a former wedding planner, the words in this verse aren't new to me. In fact, in almost every wedding I've done, these words were embraced as an ideal for marriage. You may or may not know that this scripture has nothing to do with marriage. But it doesn't seem to make a difference to most people. Regardless of how we use the scripture, it remains a timeless truth. 

                                   Love IS patient.

                                          Love IS kind.

Our focus is usually placed on those two words, because after all, we need patience and kindness when we're trying to love one another. 

I'm the mother of two teenage girls and one tween boy - who thinks he's 20. Amidst the trials and suffering of raising teenagers in this world, I hang (sometimes by my fingertips) on the strength of these encouraging words. 

                                      Especially the part about not being easily angered.   

If you've spent any time around this hormonally challenged people group, you know that envy, boasting, rudeness, self-seeking and score keeping is part of the game. Even the spiritually strong can get swept up in it and carried away. So far, one of my children has been carried away. 

She gave up on God years ago and lives in a world of her own truth. I've never been so challenged in my faith and trust in God as I am now. I use the baptism pictures in this frame to remind me daily of his love and truth. But then...

        I have to trust Him to bring my daughter back in His way and His timing. 

             I have to model the grace of the Lord Jesus in the way I handle His lost sheep. 

                    I have to remember that once, I too, was lost and walking in darkness. 

Loving in this way also reminds me that as I love my children equally, ultimately I'm loving myself. I'm loving my "younger self" - that girl who once so desperately sought love and truth and was found by a perfect Savior at the perfect time.

Sovereign Lord: As your children, help us remember what it feels like to be found by you. Let your joy and grace permeate every bit of our being as we seek to live with others in love. Amen.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails...             1 Cor 13:7-8

Do The Work: Answering the call of writing

                                    Writing is Hard Work: DO IT!

Some days I question, “Why am I doing this?”

Why do I sit in front of my computer for most of the day during most of the week writing blog posts? Is anything actually accomplished? Does anybody read them? Is anybody blessed? Will I ever be published in print? 
                                                             This is HARD WORK.

What started me on this journey? It was not grammar school.

Many writers have been encouraged by teachers who saw their potential. The closest thing I received as writing encouragement, was an A+ on my last college English Lit paper with the words written in red ink: “At times I thought you plagiarized.”

I took that as a compliment.

                                                                    Photo courtesy of Wikimedia

I’ve always loved words. I’ve always loved writing, but the urgency to make thoughts permanent didn’t come to me until five years ago when I knew beyond knowing that I had to write a book.

I quickly learned that writing the book is the easy part. If I knew then, what I know now, I might not have begun that project. Ignorance can be a good thing. I find I’m gutsier when I’m clueless. So, I wrote the book, and then I wanted to publish it.

It’s hard work.

          It takes t-i-m-e.

We all want to be that one unknown writer whose first book sells a million copies. But though that happens once in awhile, most of us must work hard for that contract.

It’s easy to become discouraged. The market is ever-changing and publishers want a big name that will assure revenue.

Rejections by editors and the insistence on large platform numbers make me doubt what I’m doing, but those doubts cause pause. Those doubts spark deeper searching…eternal longing…and eventually joy knowing that God’s plan isn’t always easy nor is it quick, but it’s always good.

Why am I doing this?

I’m writing because I know it is what I’ve been called to do today. I’m called to share my faith in Jesus through the written word. I’m called to encourage, instruct, and love with my words.  It is the work God has for me. God has not called me to be a secretary, artist, or nurse—He has called me to write. 

Why do you write? Does the hard work make you question what you’re doing?

“….acknowledge the God of your father, and serve Him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek Him He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.”…David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and DO THE WORK. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you.” (1 Chronicles 28:9,20).

Andy Lee is an Oklahoma native and has lived in Wilmington for five years. She's a wife, mother, and the author of A Mary Like Me. She currently serves as a Word Weavers Mentor and blogs about life and faith in several online publications. You can read more of her work at www.wordsbyandylee.com.