Lord of the Harvest

  
I recently harvested some mint in my backyard.  It was full and beautiful and overflowing.  I had visions of making mint extract and mint chocolate chip ice cream and mint lip balm.  I gathered my gloves and not-so-handy teflon shears and went to work, thinking I'd lop em to death and let them sit out in the scorching sun for an hour or so while I weeded the rest of the massively overgrown forest underneath our deck.   To my dismay, most all of the mint didn't make it.

This is an example of an improper harvesting.   The time was right.  The mint was ripe.  But I lacked the proper tools... in my case being some forethought, perhaps a brain, and some better shears... :)

There is a different harvest I will be referring to in this posting.  A much better one.  And Jesus Himself is the Lord of it.  It's a harvest of His people for His glory forever!  And the tools that He has chosen to properly bring about a harvest are prayer, laborers, and His Word.  God has called Christians to pray earnestly that God would send laborers out into this harvest to gather up people for Himself.  To take the message of the gospel as proclaimed in His Word and share it with others.  And He for those who believe, He promises to be with them always... He is worthy of a bounty for sure.

This past weekend was our church's annual missions conference, in which we learned much about this harvest.  We got to hear from Pastor Bob Selph from Grace Baptist Church in Taylors South Carolina and also from another worker headed to the middle east.

We were excited to be able to host the workers headed to the middle east and get to know them and their children even more personally.  It is truly humbling and inspiring to be able to meet people such as this who are living each day set on the promises of God in His Word and the belief that Jesus Christ is worthy of not only our praise.. but the praise of the nations.

Here are some of the verses and topics that were unwrapped for us over the course of the weekend:

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Praise the Lord, all nations!  Extol him, all peoples!  For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord! ~Psalm 117:1-2

And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.  ~Acts 13:48

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. ~Matthew 28:19-20

 -Biography of missionary Samuel Zwemer

 -"Go, send, or disobey..." ~John Piper

And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.  When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” ~Matthew 9:35-38

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Lord of the Harvest,   Matthew 9:35-38  by a worker in the middle east

Hearing from Matthew 9:35-38 was powerful for us as the text was unpacked piece by piece.  I've summarized it loosely below.  Though I'm definitely short-handing it, this is an example of Expositional Preaching that some of you have heard Matthew and I talk about.  The weekend was so encouraging for us that I just needed to sit down today and go through it all again... so here ya go!

Q: What is the content of this passage and how it relates to what we pray?

1. "Therefore...pray" -  Not go first... pray first.   Apart from the work of the Holy Spirit through our actions, our actions are meaningless.

2. "...pray earnestly to the Lord of the Harvest.." -  Picture a farmer preparing his fields.  The Lord is the farmer and one day there will be a harvest, and those who are trusting in His blood to cover their sins will be saved and spend eternity with Jesus.

Luke 3:17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.

3. "...to send out laborers..." - God does the calling and the sending.  It would be unwise for you to just up and go without being sent by God.  Pray for the harvest, and pray that God would raise up laborers.  And if He is calling you specifically to go, go :).  Also, God is calling for both quality and quantity of laborers.  Quality in that a farmer would go and get the people who he has prepared to harvest his crops.  Quantity in the words from the portion of the verse that says, "harvest is plentiful and workers are few."

Q: How should that affect the manner in which we pray?

~Pray with knowledge, compassion, persevering urgency, and faith~

Pray with Knowledge

1. "When He saw the crowds..." - Jesus already had compassion for people as seen in all of scripture.  But there is a sense here in which we have the example of needing to see the pain and need for God that people have all around us.  He gave the example of taking the bus around town rather than your car.  You might then see people you wouldn't have seen otherwise.  How can we have compassion if we don't even know what's around us?

Pray with Compassion
2. "...because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." - Jesus was grieved by their physical needs but more-so by their spiritual condition.  We were encouraged to get past, for example, the superficial facade of a neighbor and see people who are distressed and dispirited and without a shepherd.

Pray with Persevering Urgency

3. Go back to farmer analogy.  Without persevering, it won't last.  Plants must be harvested when ready..there is an urgency there.

Pray with Faith

4. God exists!  And He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.   

 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. ~Hebrews 11:6

Application

. If you don't yet know Christ, His offer is for you.  In order to be one of his sheep, you must believe the true gospel of Jesus Christ:

Jesus is God.  He came from heaven to earth to live a perfect live because it pleased the Father and because we could not live that perfect life.  His death was the punishment our sin deserved, so he 'paid our debt'... we can now have access to Jesus now and in eternity by believing in His shed blood on that cross and His resurrection from the dead...something only Jesus could do for us as sinners.    Because Jesus is Holy, or, 'set apart' from us, we cannot have access to him if we come in our sin.  We must be cleansed with the cleansing blood of Christ.  We must come to him with, "Nothing in my hand I bring... simply to thy Cross I cling..."  By believing in this gospel that Christ died to save sinners, we can have his Holy Spirit inside of us.  He promises to give us His Holy Spirit along with a new heart that has new affections.  It is by God's grace that you are saved through faith.  And good works will then be the outward result of an inward change... they will not merit it.  

For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. ~Ephesians 2:8

As a believer, God will 'sanctify' or transform you more into His likeness through prayer and the reading of His Word, which is living and active and infused with his Holy Spirit.

. Pray for the nations to trust in Christ alone for eternal redemption.  Pray that the Lord would raise up laborers, and that we would be faithful to either GO or SEND... but not choose neither. Pray for the missionaries and sending churches.

. Listen to local and international news

. Take the bus!

. Have a world map or globe in your home

. Own the book Operation World, read it with family
. Consider adoptions or foster care or supporting the adoption of children into homes that will share with them this gospel
. etc.

Come, My Soul, Thy Suit Prepare  

Portion of hymn by John Newton..."suit" meaning lawsuit or argument

Come, my soul, thy suit prepare:
Jesus loves to answer prayer;
He Himself has bid thee pray,
Therefore will not say thee nay;

Thou art coming to a King,
Large petitions with thee bring;
For His grace and power are such,
None can ever ask too much.

Mixed bag

William is .. wait for it .. WEANED!

Yes!  We did it!  He has gone multiple days now without any breastmilk and as a result he has increased his intake of organic whole milk.

My body is free.

I feel kinda like this...

and this...

...It's a mixed bag.

First Birthday and Community

What really made William's party special was the community we felt from people that came from all different places to love on and celebrate with us.  My mother and stepfather came in on Thursday, Matthew's mom and dad came in the next day, and my dad and stepmother the next day and stayed through until Tuesday.  And our close friends here in Clarksville arrived at 3pm on party day.  There is so much joy to be found in the community the God gives if we open ourselves up to receive it.  We felt that sense community that weekend.

...In family members stringing up balloons over breakfast casserole, sharing morning coffee and scripture reading with a mom and daughter, big family dinners with wine and jazz music in the background (that just makes it fancy), scooting around town to explore Clarksville and Ft. Campbell, watching movies together with fresh baked chocolate chip cookies over ice cream, trips to Lowes for fix-it projects around the house...
 ...In having friends mixed with family over cake and ice cream, kids chasing bubbles on the deck, parents lounging in the living room chit-chatting with the windows open feeling the cool breeze after the rain, and feeding hungry kids again from our pantry when it was 7:00pm.

Moments like these make me stop and think...this is how we should live.  In community.  With open doors.  Working hard but being rewarded with a day filled with restful celebration and fellowship.  Sharing life-on-life.  Sharing pantries.  Sharing a cup of coffee or dessert along with your heart.  Giving and not expecting in return.  People coming together of all ages, different backgrounds and walks of life.  Having people piled in on top of each other, going into your pantry or covering up in a blanket.  We were never meant to walk this life alone, but sharpening and encouraging one another, even as messy and flawed as we are.  And being intentional when in these settings to move beyond the exterior and get at the heart.  It's hard sometimes because we'll feel like "Oh my house isn't clean" or "I don't have enough food" or wanting to be the 'perfect' host.  That's when, in the words of hubs, perfect becomes enemy of the good.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. ~Hebrews 10:23-25

So pray for us that we will open ourselves up to intentionally seeking out more opportunities for community and not let silly things hold us back.  And not for community's sake alone, but for Christ's sake that together we would see Him more clearly.  And please share your own experiences with this.  Can you tell a lot has been on my mind spiritually lately with this post and previous post on Eternity?

Now for some birthday weekend pics :)

Gettin lots of snuggles with Pop Pop before his big day

And had lots of fun being tossed into pillows with Ya Ya

Loved watching his new Baby Einstein videos with Grandaddy and Grandmama

And floor time and trips to see daddy at Ft. Campbell with Mimi and Pop Pop who stayed post-party for more time with us

My friend Trish and her son Lucas. Trish's husband works with Matthew as an army dentist.

My mom and stepfather enjoying relaxing at the party after all that prep work

Church friends Stephen, Megan and lil' adorable one Alice

Nicki and Cassie and cute lil' Isaiah.  Nicki and I go to church together and our hubs work together.  And Cassie was my first friend to make in Clarksville

Liz is my friend from church and her little cute guy is Nolan

Reyes family

Nicki's husband Brian aka best videographer and comedian

Cassie with Nadia and Isaiah

Ellie and Emma opening their goodies

Grandmama Carla and William before his clothes were destroyed by cake!

Singing Happy Birthday (tear)

His expression when he saw the candle

He liked the cake and really loved the ice cream. 

Opening presents.  Getting sleepy so cuddling with daddy.

 

William making sure Grandaddy saw the ceiling fan.  You don't wanna miss it.

Matthew's parents

Bubbles on the deck

Playtime

Guy time. My guess is they're either talking about dentistry or hogs.

My fam with dad and Mary Alice

My fam with mom and Paul

Rhonda and Emma.  Rhonda took amazing pictures for us.

Hanging out afterwards

Ellie likes Pop Pop Paul's handmade wagon

William's ABC Block Party Gear

Sometimes when I'm really excited about an upcoming event, the primary way I can express it is to make things...and sometimes those things turn into lots of things.

I'm sure this is an only-one-kid-right-now-luxury kinda deal.  I enjoyed seeing the house transformed for a day that's was much more than a birthday but celebrating that God would give us an entire year with this little life.  We are humbled and grateful.

Sidenote: I feel the need to mention that if you're looking at this and thinking oh man I didn't do that much for my son/daughter's bday, it probably means you have more sanity, less struggle with perfectionist tendencies, and still an enormous heart for your kids.  Different moms express joy over their children in different ways, and sometimes mine is through color and brown paper lunch sacks.  A long walk and some balloons would make any kid happy.  As would a trip to Burger King and a trip home wearing a paper crown hat.  So don't fall prey to the pinterest-envy..at least with this blogger like ever, ok? :)  Just love to share these things with you and just be me.

invites

 

Burlap bday wreath that can be personalized for any future kids' bdays, and maybe our own too :)

 

Found some 99 cent flashcards and used those for the banners

Lots and lot of balloons with some help from mom and Carla

Found a fun game idea from The Dollar Store Mom blog.  It was nice to have an indoor game when it was wet outside.  The older kids really enjoyed it.

The food spread.  Had a good tip to keep it easy peasy. Got a couple of yards of cute fabric from Hawthorne Threads and used that on top of the cheaper dollar store cloths :)

Black foamcore and metallic markers = faux chalkboard!  Thank you Etsy artists for the concept.

Goodie bags for the kiddos

Each kid got some alphabet magnets that either spelled out their name or something like 'boats' or 'puppy' along with matchbox cars for the boys and bubbles for the girls.  Oh and fruit snacks... of course.

Was planning on kids flying these but ended up as prizes for bean bag toss.

Thank you Target and Dollar Store!  The chair was Matthew's when he was little.

Juiceboxes, water and lemonade (country time, not the delicious homemade stuff... #aintnobodygottimefordat)

A bakery in town called George the Cake Guy made some delicious cupcakes and a smash cake for W

Month by month pics

fun bib.  I can't believe he's one.

Photo Shoots

The last photo shoot is in the bag.

Yeah right... I'm just gettin' started!

We have completed, however, our last photo shoot with William in his first year of life.  We will not be continuing the trend of the monthly growth photos throughout his second year, although I bet we will still take plenty of pictures of this cute lil' guy.

In the past year, some photo shoots have been better than others.  Babies are a great subject for photography, but they are... unpredictable?  They also reach their limits of what they can put up with.  Don't we all?

Here are some to make you laugh.

Notorious for his stink-eye and 'I will punch you in the face' look in his first month

This entire photo shoot did not go as planned!

 It took me an entire year of motherhood to discover that if you give your child a cookie the size of their head, however... you can squeeze a lot more patience from them!

Again, doesn't this apply to us all?

I love his silly side.  He is impersonating my laugh.

Happy first birthday to our dear William.  You are a gift from God above, and we praise Him for every moment spent with you.  You bring us joy beyond words and that pictures could never fully convey.  We are so grateful that you have started us on our journey in parenthood, and we pray your patience as we all figure it out together and lean on heaps of God's grace.

We love you to the moon and back and always.

Love, Mommy and Daddy