It's Wednesday morning, and last night was the first night in 2 weeks that I have not had a dream about pine needles.
The Pine Straw Fundraiser was an immense success; we delivered over 2,000 bales to 70 homes around the Fort Mill, Rock Hill, and Tega Cay region, and we sold over 3,000 bales when all was said and done. We had new families and visitors placing orders and people walking up to us from the street wondering about our Pine Straw.
It was a day of abundance. At the end of the day, many of us hoped never to see another pine needle again. The bales being piled up in trailers and trucks was a beautiful sight. We had an abundance volunteers, an abundance of delicious Starbucks coffee (Thanks, Jim Wasson and Baxter Starbucks!), an abundance of energy, an abundance of enthusiasm, an abundance of warm sunshine, and an abundance of generosity. We raised a lot of money which will go toward our summer mission and conference trips. We are grateful and humbled by the abundance of the day.
When I think of scripture and abundance, I think of Jesus turning the the 5 loaves and 2 fish into a feast for 5,000. I think of the Israelites marching through the dessert to the land "flowing with milk and honey." I think of God's faithfulness to God's promises; I think of the abundant love of the cross. This type of extravagance should cause us nothing but comfort and joy; it should alleviate the fears we harbor and give us inspiration for our future.
But...anxiety
Behind the scenes of Pine Straw day is a ton of work. Orders need to be organized on a spreadsheet; forms filled out; payments documented; delivery drivers organized and directed...it's a full time job for the 2 weeks leading up to the event. This is anxiety.
As the Pine Straw company misunderstood our order and nearly gave us half the straw we needed, I feared what would happen. As I organized the deliveries according to their locations in Fort Mill, a town with which I am not incredibly familiar, I worried about getting things wrong. As I took down the names of volunteers who would be coming, I panicked that we would have enough. As I recorded payments, I feared that I had miscalculated.
I was like the disciples who wondered how they would feed the crowd. I was like the Israelites who wondered when they would make it out of the desert. I was like Thomas who wondered how a resurrection miracle could really be possible.
God calls us out of anxiety and into faith. God calls us to work together so that our worries and anxieties are cared for. God gives us abundance when we are afraid of famine.
Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap, or store away in barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
...But seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Matthew 6.25-27, 33
What are the worries of your heart this week? What anxieties are holding you back from experiencing God's abundance? I pray that you would seek the Kingdom of God and bask in its glory, now and forever.
No comments:
Post a Comment