A day I thought would never come

The average christian parent has certain expectations or at least assumptions that they live with. One of them being that their children will be christians and get baptized or follow whatever example they set. Even so those parents are thrilled and excited when the expectations are met. A child coming to christ is a huge celebration and the same can be said of baptism. However sometimes there is a kink. Some reason why you might set your expectations aside. For example you might have a child who has sensory issues and can't stand the idea of water on his head because it might get into his eyes. For a child like that the idea of putting your head under water for any reason sounds like a really horrible idea. (and that's putting it mildly.)

I just described Timothy. Logan is the one who led Timothy to the Lord and ever since then has been trying to talk him into getting baptized (Did I ever mention that 3 different people who don't know each other or me prophesied that Logan was going to be like John the baptist while I was pregnant with him?) Sometime last week while Jose was talking about this baptism service Timothy volunteered to be baptized. I wasn't there so when Jose mentioned it I looked something like this

I should mention that Jose and I have different kinds of faith. When we have no money or are getting close. I have gotten to a place where I just expect God to take care of it. While Jose does a lot of math. I know he's worried about money when I find sheets of paper with numbers scribbled all over them. I on the other hand really struggle to have faith that everything will work out with Timothy. In my heart I know that God is taking care of it (just like Jose knows that God will take care of our finances) But when I'm looking at it day in and out it gets easy to think that he will always be set in whatever particular way he's currently set in and will never change. But Jose doesn't have that problem. He pushes him and believes he can and will get and be better than what he settles for currently. So, I admit, I got annoyed with Logan for continuing to ask. I even told him that Timothy would do it when he was ready (which was true) but I realize now that he needed that peer pressure from his brother to recognize the importance of making that decision. 

We asked him several times if he was sure he wanted to do it. Jose mentioned it every day this week and every day Timothy affirmed that yes, he wanted to be baptized. I let him wear his swim trunks to church and he was dressed before we woke up actually. He wanted to do it first thing when we got there but alas, he had to wait. 

He literally buzzed with excitement all through church. He sat with me and kept humming and clapping and asking me when he would get to be baptized. Then the moment came. He was by the pool the second they announced it. 

I love the progression of these photos. You can see how happy and excited he is and when he comes out of the water you can see how much he hates the water in his eyes.

I have been a mess all day. A happy mess. Every time I think about it I start to tear up and think about how good God is and how proud I am of Timothy. He may not act or think like most kids his age. But he has a very real relationship with God that he is working out in his own way. 

Today my son inspired me and showed me that he (and everybody really) has the ability to push through his discomfort and obey what God is telling him to do.  

And he did it with a joyful attitude.  

He was excited about being uncomfortable.

I wonder, when was the last time you got excited about being uncomfortable?  

The special one Part 1

As I mentioned yesterday this trip to the states was really special. One of the things that I really wanted to happen (and have wanted for years) happened this trip. It was nothing like I expected, it was way better. For years I have been working with Tim on a lot of stuff all the while not knowing what was going on exactly. When I talked to dr.'s they said "he's just a little slower with some things. Not all kids walk/talk/etc at the same time." Then later in life they said "oh, he's just spoiled. You need to be more firm with him." But in my heart I knew there was something more. I figured out on my own that he has sensory processing disorder. Once I read about it I knew to an extent that Timothy has difficulty with many forms of sensory input. So I kept doing everything I could to help him on my own, praying for him and asking God to help us do the best we could. Last year he started doing some things that made me think he might be on the autism spectrum. But, honestly? I didn't really want to admit that. It's so common now I didn't want it to seem like I was jumping on a bandwagon. Plus I didn't want to label my kid for life.  Sensory issues can be worked through. Autism? That's a lifelong thing. 

Timothy and I just chillin' on the floor as one does

Reading pastors book

He wanted his face painted "like a lego mini figure" this is his mini figure pose

As we wrapped up the school year last year I had become so overwhelmed that we were talking about sending the boys to school instead of homeschooling.  All I could think about was "what will they do with Timothy. He just barely manages Sunday School and that is less than an hour. School is hours and they don't have special education here, plus nobody really has listened to my calls for help. What if they don't believe me and treat him badly because they think he is spoiled?" I decided we needed to get a diagnosis. Whatever that meant. I had read an article about sensory processing disorder, adhd and autism and at the end it had a link that said "if you need help getting your child diagnosed find a specialist here" I followed the link and found a list of people in Houston and 2 people in Peru. I made a few phone calls and found someone that was extremely flexible and said to give her 2 weeks notice before we went to the states and she would work us in. I started to relax, the only thing bugging me was the cost. An initial examination would be $500 and any follow ups would be $350. That may not sound like much to you but that's a pretty big chunk of our monthly budget and we didn't have any extra money to set aside. Jose's aunt had previously offered to help us pay for speech therapy because if anything that is what people recognize as an issue and she wanted to help. We talked to her about the specialist and she said she would help us. Everything was coming together. We scheduled our trip and worked out all the details but there was something keeping me from contacting the specialist. I didn't know why but I just didn't feel peace about it. Jose had the same feeling so we held off. Our first week in Houston we had the mens conference then spent a few days with family and our pastors. I really poured my heart out to our pastors. I told them all the things I had been holding back about Timothy. Immediately our Pastor had 2 names of people he wanted us to talk to. He talked to both people and scheduled a meeting with one of them. The first person was a mother of a 7 year old boy with autism. She met Timothy and said she saw a lot of similarity between our boys. We talked for about 30 minutes but she just shared her journey with us and gave us a lot of good information. I cried all the way through it. I kept apologizing and she just laughed and said she knew exactly what I was feeling. At the end we hugged and I felt a little more confident about our next step.

(Come back tomorrow for part 2)

So Blessed!

Sunday morning Pastor GF gave Jose and I the opportunity to speak at Powerhouse. We showed this video of our time in Peru so far and Jose ministered on the attributes of our house. 

I've spoken here before about my dislike for public speaking. I have to say it is getting easier. I still get really, really nervous but I'm doing much better with the whole standing in front of people and talking. The trick is to look for some smiling people and talk to them. :) 

After we finished Pastor got up and encouraged everyone to give into the mission. The things he said were really encouraging and inspiring to me. While he was speaking I could feel the presence of God in the room and I couldn't help it, I started to cry. He asked everyone that would give into the mission to stand up and bring their offerings forward. As people came forward to give they hugged us and told us they are praying for us. I just want to tell you. Many of you read this blog and it means a lot. When things get hard here we have that day to think back on and remember the way God moved and blessed us. It reminds me of the old testament when people experienced a touch from God they would build an altar and remember that place and worship God because of what he did for them. I'm not going to build a physical altar. But I have that place that I can look back and say to myself. "look, remember that day? That is when God showed you tangibly that he will always take care of you. Your church is your spiritual family holding up your arms from America while you are in Peru" I know that I can count on my God and my church!

One of our challenges here has been the fact that we only get 90 day visas. It's not a huge deal if we stay over a visa by a few days, but we get charged $1 a day per person. That adds up fast when there are 5 people. This time we were praying on the way to the immigration agent. Jose told her we are missionaries and are trying to get long term visas. The immigration officer was soft hearted and she gave us each 185 days on our visas! We don't have to leave Peru until we go to Piura which is so much closer to Ecuador and a much cheaper trip! It has been awesome to see God moving in our lives in large and small ways!

Please pray for us that we can work out some things with At&t to save some money while we are here. Thank you for holding up our arms!

By the way, I know a lot of you picked up our new prayer card. If you did or are praying for us and are not on the prayer partner list please leave a comment here or email me. Our email addresses are in the tabs on the top of the page. 

Awake

Our church here in Lima is participating in Awake 21 a worldwide multi church fasting campaign. If you would like more information or to join in go to http://www.awake21.org/

Most churches begin the year with a fast of some sort. At least the churches I've been a part of for most of my life. There was a time when I saw church wide fasts as a sort of ritual with no real power. But the past several years I have changed my mind. I've learned that there is a beautiful unity that comes from fasting as a church. Psalm 133:1 says "Behold! How good and how pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity." Unity is a beautiful thing and it's an important thing. If as men and women of God we can bring ourselves together with the same purpose. We can accomplish great things.
 As I write that I'm reminded of a passage of scripture in Genesis where the people are united and they begin to talk about becoming great, so they decide to build a tower that reaches into the heavens. We often quote that verse (Genesis 11:6) that nothing they purpose to do will be impossible because they are united. I've heard people say that God confused the people's language because he did not want them to be working together. But that is not the point at all. The whole problem with their unity in this story is found in verse 4 they say "Come lets build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. In that way we will make ourselves famous..." The reasoning behind their unity is wrong. They wanted to make themselves famous. (I guess you could say they got their wish. The tower of babel was never completed but the fact that we know about it now makes it seem pretty famous to me.)
So why is it important for Christians to have unity? the answer can be found in John 17:20-24
 “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. “I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began!

So I set out to blog about fasting and ended up talking about unity. Maybe someone needed to see this. Whatever it is, if you are like I used to be and don't see the point of fasting as a church, I hope this will help you reconsider. I have seen God move in my life in powerful ways through fasting as a church.

Faithful

Around here we have been reading George Mueller. I was talking to my Mentor a few weeks ago and asked her what she is reading and she said "you know what? I'll send it to you" which sent little happy tingles up my spine because I love to read and books in english are not very common here. I waited (somewhat impatiently I admit) for the package and when it finally arrived it had a the biography of George Mueller in it. To be exact it had the exact one I read when I was a kid. Nostalgically I looked at the cover as Jose was reading because he jacked it from me. ;) But it's ok, I'm reading it now.
It's hard to imagine what it was like for him. His operating costs were about $400 a day and he never asked anyone for money. Only God. He never took matters into his own hands and got a second job he just relied completely on God. Now, I knew that. I had read it and it inspired me when I was 18 and single preparing to go to Russia. I worked hard to save money and told people what I was doing but I never asked anyone to give me money for the trip (as far as I can remember that was a long time ago) I enjoyed the adventure of it and the feeling of what I thought was total reliance on God. But in reality, if I had run out of money or had an emergency I wouldn't have called on God. I would have called on mom and dad. That was the real extent of my faith at that time. I knew that nothing would happen out of my control because my parents were there to help if I needed it.
Now it's 10 years later and I'm a missionary again. This time I'm not single. Now I'm a mom. And this whole living on faith thing is hard. When you are relying on a physical person you pick up the phone, hear their voice, tell them your problem and listen to their audible answer. When you are relying on an invisible God it doesn't work like that. Getting in touch with him is much easier. He never misses your call actually. But hearing the audible answer or seeing the results of your call for help are a little harder most of the time. It exposes you. You realize that maybe you aren't as full of faith as you thought you were. So that's where I am. Struggling to show myself faithful. Faithful to trust in God even when I think there will never be an answer to my call. Faithful to continue running to him when I have a problem instead of running to someone I can see/feel/hear. Just faithful.  
I want to be that person. The faithful, doubtless Christian.

Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless. But I will rejoice even if I lose my life, pouring it out like a liquid offering to God, just like your faithful service is an offering to God. And I want all of you to share that joy. Yes, you should rejoice, and I will share your joy. Philippians 2:14-18

Confession of a "Missionary"

Ok, so something has been bugging me ever since I found out I was supposed to be a missionary. I grew up reading biography's of amazing men and women of God. People like George Mueller, Amy Carmichael, Mother Theresa and Hudson Taylor. Those people were MISSIONARIES! I am not those people!
If I were catholic those people would be like saints to me. I mean in my mind you become a missionary you automatically know stuff. You obviously never sin (or think about sinning) and never, ever doubt. Obedience to God should come naturally and if you are not out helping out the poor and downtrodden you are probably just chillin' in your prayer closet or memorizing Leviticus (because you already memorized all the "easy" books)
Maybe I'm the only person who thinks like that. Actually, I know I'm not but someone has to say something. We have to stop the insanity!
So anyway, here I am minding my own business serving God. And we are so cool like that. I'm all, "where you go I'll go what you say I'll say God. What you pray I'll pray" and then I hear "really?" and I say "I can't hear you right now, I'm worshipping you. Can you see me here worshipping? you really shouldn't..., you know..., interrupt" Then I wait a second thinking I've got him there. Because when God says "really?" you can't say no, but it can be so scary to say yes.  So I try to pretend like I never heard the question. You know? I think for a little while that maybe God forgot that I had even said I would go where he goes and say what he says. But it's always there. This sensation in my chest like my heart will explode whenever I hear about "missions". This bizarre sense of jealousy when I hear other missionaries talking about their experiences. The way my eyes want to cry when I see pictures of unloved and abandoned children. But deep down inside I know. I know that I'm not good enough to be a missionary. I mean, there are a million ways I can think of off the top of my head that make me a horrible choice as a missionary. I get jealous. I have been known to lose my temper. I'm terribly selfish, I really like long hot showers with good water pressure and while I'm being honest. It is REALLY hard to trust God. I mean it's the easiest thing to say, but I cannot tell you how many times I have gotten irritated with people because they tell me to trust God. When all I can see is the ocean in front of me and the army behind me, coming to bring me back to Egypt. What kind of missionary would I make?

Then I decide to try something new. I say yes. YES! I will be a missionary...some day. I mean, I just had a baby and Jose is loving what he's doing and we bought a house. I mean now is just NOT the time. But you know in a few years. When we are ready. Then we will be missionaries.
Of course as you may already know God had already been working on Jose's heart. He had his own conversations with God. So we talked about it. I was settled on it, and I was starting to want to be a missionary. But there was still that feeling in my chest that would tense up and the voice in my head saying "YOU ARE CRAZY!!!!!! WHAT are you thinking? What about the showers? What about your friends and family? what if you DIE?"

Years passed. Jose and I grew in our relationship with God. We went through some trials that helped us to learn about trusting God. We went through some times of intense discipleship. We got a lot of time working "in the kitchen" at our church. And then almost as if Jose and I had been listening to the same song and it was just coming to the crescendo we both knew. We needed to go and we needed to go now. So we talked to our pastor about it and he said to go visit. We flew out to Peru for 2 weeks and fell in love. When we came we thought ok, we will go get our checkmark that we went and then go back to our regularly scheduled lives. But no. We got here and we knew we needed to be here.

The next year was spent preparing. Raising support. Getting rid of stuff. Trying to get ready to come back. We said to good bye, to family, friends, our church, and our water pressure. Then we boarded a plane and we went, this time it was to stay.

So now we are here. We live in Peru. I obeyed. I'm a "missionary". But, I still don't feel like a missionary. I'm still selfish, I still get angry and jealous. I still miss my shower. I don't have the bible memorized and I struggle to spend enough time in prayer. Obedience and trusting God still don't come naturally. I often freak out because I don't know what God is planning and it seems like he will never tell me. When I hear the term "missionary" in my head the definition is "perfect christian, self sacrificing, never does anything wrong because they are too busy serving the Lord to mess up." When in reality a missionary is really nothing more than a christian. Someone who loves God. Trying to work out their salvation just like any other christian. I'm still not "good enough" to be a missionary. I'm not good enough to be a christian either. Nothing I do will make me good enough. But that's not the point. Nothing any of those other missionaries did made them good enough either. They just had to make a choice. Every christian has a choice to make every day. Whether they are a Pastor, a missionary, a plumber, a stay at home mom or whatever. We have to choose to answer the call that God gives us. And let him be good enough. If I was good enough on my own I would not need God. But I NEED Him.  Everyday I'm reminded how much I need Him.

So my call is missionary. I'm almost used to being called that. Almost. What is your call? What is it that God is asking you to do that you can't do on your own? It might feel weird at first. It might not fit just right when you first try it on. But if you trust Him. If you are "confident that God, who began the good work in you will be faithful to continue the work until it is finally finished on the day that Jesus Christ comes" (Philippians 1:6) He will.

Jose's story

Before I became a Christian I never had a heart or desire for children. When I was very young I had an accident that the doctors told me I could not have any children. When I received Jesus to come into my heart I realized that from Genesis on, God’s desire was to fill the earth with people made in his likeness and image, not much has changed. This mandate began to grow inside of me to fulfill what God had set out to do. My heart began to change towards children in such a drastic way that I began to serve in the nursery at Powerhouse Christian Center. I remember Pastor Watkins coming back from a trip to Peru and visiting an orphanage in Lima; that night my heart began to beat so fast that I thought it was going to explode and I began to understand the Holy Spirit working in my heart. That night I remember going up to Pastor after service and telling him that if he ever goes back I would like to go with him. I was only born again for about 6 months at that point. A couple years later I had an opportunity to go with Pastor Watkins to South America and what I thought would calm my inner desires to go to Peru increased even more. For 5 years following I engulfed myself in learning ministry. I have been a witness to countless spiritual sons being returned to a right relationship to their heavenly father. I have seen transformed lives through this ministry find purpose and passion for pursuing God. In 2009 the Lord began to work in me more fervently with what he showed me in 2002. In my effort to try and quench this inner struggle I took my family to see what God birthed in me many years before. The word says that God is faithful to complete the work he began inside of us, and that is exactly what happened. I saw myself knowing that I was called to be a missionary to do what God had done inside of me and help others to be raised up. My mandate is clear: Restore order in a world of chaos by bringing back spiritual and natural orphans to a right relationship to our heavenly father through Jesus Christ. My heart is to reach, teach, and send out. Reach orphans, teach the way of the cross, and send them out to other parts of the world.
Jose

Stream of Consciousness...

Most little girls play cinderella or sleeping beauty. Not me, I played Wendy from Peter Pan. I loved pretending to be a mother taking care of my "lost boys." I should have known God would give me little boys. It's hard to recapture the fun of being a make-believe mother living in a forest when you are wiping noses and bottoms, making lunch and taking care of bloody noses. When you live in the forest it doesn't matter if you have dirt on the floor. The floor is dirt. (consequently my floor might as well be dirt right now. I sweep and before I can even "swiffer wet jet" my floor it's dirty again.)

Sometimes I look at my day to day life and think "wow, how much longer is this going to last?" I have a hard time just living in right now. When I start to see a dream coming true I want to run up to it and wrap my arms around it. I don't like the waiting part. Which you would think I would be used to. A couple years ago when we would talk about moving to Peru I would get kind of nervous. The nervousness that comes from not knowing what your getting yourself into or what it will be like. I still don't know what it will be like. And I'm sure I don't know what I'm getting myself into. But I'm deliriously happy to be going now. When we arrived in Peru last September I was less than dazzled by the airport and exhausted from the trip so I can't remember exactly what my first thoughts there were. I do remember the first day there. I fell in love. The way I hear people describing their feelings for Italy or Paris. That is how I felt there. All I could think was "I get to live HERE!?" So now I'm counting down the weeks and days until I get to go back. Only this time we actually get to do something! We get to minister the love of Jesus to a nation of hurting and dying people.

When Jose initially spoke to the pastor we will be working with the first year he told him our heart is for Piura. He said we were the third couple that mentioned Piura to him and nothing has happened. No one has followed through. Can you imagine what God must have in store for that part of the country? I am giddy just thinking about it.

(aren't we cute...especially him!)

Jose and I were both in wedding's last week. Mine was Sunday (and I have NO pictures) :( His was Saturday. Both had brides named Melissa. (odd) They were both beautiful and I am so happy for both of them. I've been able to see both of them grow up in their relationships with God and I've been able to watch both of their relationships (with their husbands) blossom. I love you girls! I pray for both of you and we take our roles as your sister and brother in Christ very seriously! Congratulations Mrs. Greenwade and Mrs. Echevarria!  

With Everything

This morning in worship we sang this song and it really stirred my spirit. Whenever I hear it it does so I wanted to share it. The song playing first right now is the same song

Open our eyes


To see the things that make Your heart cry

To be the church that You would desire

Your light to be seen



VERSE 2:



Break down our pride

And all the walls we’ve built up inside

Our earthly crowns and all our desires

We lay at Your feet



PRE CHORUS:



Let hope rise

And darkness tremble

In Your holy light

That every eye will see

Jesus our God

Great and mighty to be praised



VERSE 3:



God of all days

Glorious in all of Your ways

Oh the majesty the wonder and grace

In the light of Your Name



CHORUS:



With everything

With everything

We will shout for Your glory

With everything

With everything

We will shout forth Your praise



CHORUS 2:



Our hearts they cry

Be glorified

Be lifted high above all names

For You our King

With everything

We will shout forth Your praise

Hearing God

"Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.  Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls. But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you." James 1:19-27

The other day someone mentioned something to me in passing about having the ability to hear from God. Something about that statement gave me pause. I kept hearing that phrase in my head. "I can hear from God" I thought about it a lot and then I just asked God. What is it about that phrase? and then because *I can hear from God* He told me, the strange thing about that phrase is everyone *CAN* hear from God. Think about it. The bible is a letter from God. So it stands to reason that any person that reads the bible at any time is  hearing from God. Seriously though, saying you can hear from God is like saying you can breath. Of course you can, you were made to do it. But, just because you hear from God doesn't mean you automatically do the right thing aka "what God said to do." Why else would God say this in his word "But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says." 

Now I'm going to break down this little section of scripture and show you what God showed me (scripture is in blue my comments are in black)

"Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.

This seems somewhat obvious to me but in case you don't see the connection I'll mention it. It's hard to hear someone else talking when you are always talking. I have come to the place that in my prayer time I hardly speak at all. It's not because I don't have a lot to say (obviously, I have a lot to say) It's because If I do all the talking I won't hear God's still small voice speaking to me. Lord help me, I don't ever want to miss his voice.

So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.

Humility is a key to hearing from God. Most of the time we really don't want to hear what he has to say. Most of the time he says to give up your life, sacrifice, obey, submit, give, love your enemy, pray for those that spitefully use you. Things that pride doesn't allow.

But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.

Strong words. I have wanted to say this to people in the past. It makes me sad to see people justify themselves because of past accomplishments or ability to hear from God. It goes back to humility. If you start to see the things you've done for/through/because of God as something you did yourself. You already got your reward and you are deceiving yourself.

For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.

I love how vivid this is. Since I have to check a mirror before I leave my house, on the way to my destination, and as soon as I arrive. This hits home for me. I mean it's not like I forgot what I look like (well sometimes...maybe). But I still check again and again. Looking carefully is descriptive of searching out the scripture. Having scriptural backing for the things you do. (and please, look at the context of your verse don't just find a verse that fits your needs if you leave out the first 3 and last 2 words...pet peeve) 

If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.

I love it that he says this. He literally says if you don't control your tongue your religion is worthless. Someone tried to gossip to me and I told them "I don't want to be a part of gossip" they said "it's not gossip it's the truth" Their tongue was so out of control that they justified gossiping by saying it was the truth. My rule of thumb is If I'm not part of the problem and I'm not part of the solution then it's not my business. I do not want to hear that everything I did was worthless because I was involved in any way with idle chatter

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

This is one of my all time favorite scriptures. I look forward to the day when I will be caring for orphans. I also think it's interesting how many people leave the last part out when they quote this verse. Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father is caring for widows and orphans in their distress, but it's also refusing to let the world corrupt you. We let the world corrupt us by making small compromises it usually starts with our mouth James 3:3-6 says "We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself"


A few additional thoughts.
I'm reading a book right now called Steps To The Anointing (Dag Heward-Mills) it talks about the ability to be led into the wilderness. Jesus was led into the wilderness (Matt 4:1) and yet as Christians we don't believe God will ever lead us into a wildnerness. Most of us will only follow him to somewhere nice. But we must be people who will follow him even when he is leading us against our natural inclinations. As Ray Comfort has said when we say "my god wouldn't ask me to do something like that" we are breaking the second commandment and making a god in our own image. Of course your god wouldn't do that he doesn't exist.  

 I love how beautiful the word is. It's just poetic. I wish that I could transfer the feeling I get when I read the word of God to others. It sheds light on things I don't understand and restores my soul.