The Christian Journal - September 2007
24 pages
Published by
The Christian Journal
Copyright :
Casting Crowns In
Concert
October 4
See Page 11
Sacrifice And Find True RestBy Chad McComas
Sacrifice For A Double AmputeeBy Judith Ann Squier
Continued On Page 20
Pinch me.
Did I, the Queen of Creature
Comforts, just complete my third...
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Casting Crowns In
Concert
October 4
See Page 11
Sacrifice And Find True RestBy Chad McComas
Sacrifice For A Double AmputeeBy Judith Ann Squier
Continued On Page 20
Pinch me.
Did I, the Queen of Creature
Comforts, just complete my third mission
trip to Romania? I vowed I’d never go back.
But God’s Specialty is to turn our “Not I’s”
into “I, I Sirs!” He loves breaking down our
strong wills so that we can enjoy His Good
Plan.
For me, a full time wheelchair user,
traveling to Romania spells SACRIFICE.
But I’m learning that crawling into trains
and planes and inaccessible bathrooms is
well worth the sacrifice.
That must be why
I go back for more.
My husband, David, and I were privileged
to be team members for Joni Eareckson
Tada’s Wheels for the World wheelchair
distribution in Romania.
Our work was done
in Bucharest’s 100 degree temperatures.
Our
lodging was alongside young adult orphans
at the Broken Heart Foundation.
My Creature
Comfort List included a lopsided fan, a bird
chorus at dawn, a single hollyhock surviving
in bone dry dirt, a nearby gas station with
a wheelchair accessible toilet and a small
plastic washtub just big enough for me, a
double amputee.
Stripped of my air conditioned home, my
three accessible toilets and my rose bushes,
I was able to see in new ways God’s hand in
my life.
As I welcomed Romanian families
touched by disability to the wheelchair
distribution site, I saw myself: I, the disabled
child, carried by a loving father.
The teen,
the young adult, the white haired lady – they
were me too.
My life flashed before me.
I
saw - in the bleak faces - my own family
who doubted their daughter born without
legs would ever get a life.
But wait a minute.
Was it not God’s
bountiful blessings gushing over my six
decades of life that propelled me to Romania
to bless others? A chill cooled my perspiring
spine as I led yet another family into the
Romanian church to receive a wheelchair.
The mechanic, adapting each of the seventy
some wheelchairs, was a stranger to them
but a husband
to me.
And our
team’s three
young female
p h y s i c a l
t h e r a p i s t s
fitting the
wheelchairs to
the recipients
were the
equivalent of
our three adult
d a u g h t e r s
praying for
us back in
America.
The good
side of
sacrifice is that it clears life’s stage of stuff
so we can see the hand of God.
In Romania
I saw the mighty hand of God again and
again and again.
Ministering to the broken in
Romania, in some strange way, helped heal
the wounds of my brokenness.
Confidently
and comfortably I would hold up my
deformed left hand with its three fingers and
deliver a three point sermon.
1) Can’t do life without God
2) Life is difficult
3) Jesus shows up.
It’s true, Jesus shows up so we can face
the impossible.
As our mission trip ended and our plane
descended into Washington DC, my heart
soared expecting all was over except the
Alleluias.
Little did I know, the trip’s biggest
challenge was ahead for me.
After delivering
200 plus wheelchairs, my chair was lost at
the airport.
I sang no alleluias
that night as David carried me
into our home and I crawled to
the bathroom.
Now that my chair and I have
been reunited, I can lean back
andseeGod’sHandeveninthis.
Early on, I had prayed for goose
bump stories from Romania.
I get not only goose bumps,
but a chill when I ponder the
paradox of my lost wheelchair:
I delivered wheelchairs so no
one need crawl and in the end
I was forced to crawl.
Does no good deed go
unpunished? Or is there a lesson
here? I realize now my going
to Romania was a sacrifice.
But the supreme
sacrifice is not one that you or I engineer.
It’s a moment by moment acceptance of the
Heavenly Father’s will, putting our strong
wills on the altar as a sacrifice, abandoning
ourselves to His good plan even when it feels
bad.
I, as a human being, fall far short of that.
That’s why I join the angels in applauding
Jesus as the King of Sacrifice.
Judith Ann Squier writes from Grants Pass,
Oregon.
judyann777@aol.
com
Who wants to sacrifice in today’s culture?
Obviously not too many.
We do hear the
occasional story of an Olympian putting in
the horrendous hours to become an excellent
enough athlete to compete in his/her chosen
field in the Olympics.
Or, we will read about
the long hours a young man or woman put in
during their high school and college years
to become a professional player in sports.
We may even enjoy a story like the one that
inspired the recent movie “The Pursuit of
Happyness” that led a homeless man to excel
in changing his life and the life of his son.
But…we see far too many people around
us not willing to put in the “sacrifice” it takes
to become what they want to become.
Most
of us want something for nothing.
We want
to lose our excess pounds by eating crispy
crème donuts.
We want to get out of debt
and get rich by using credit cards.
We want
to have the perfect marriage by short dating,
short engagement, and a quick trip to Reno.
We want perfect kids while expecting them
to be “seen and not heard.
” The result…a
messed up world with messed up people.
When it comes to our experience with
God…we consider
sacrifice the effort
we make to get to
a worship service
a couple of times
a year.
And don’t
forget the money I
spent on that new
“leather bound”
Bible a few years
ago.
Now…where
did I put that?
M e n t i o n
“Sacrifice” to a
group of believers
and they think
that it’s just the
introduction for
the local church to
begin a new fund-raising program to get a
new building or pay off the mortgage on the
old one.
But “Sacrifice” in the Word is so much
more.
More work…right? NO! Less
work!
Sacrifice is about trust.
It’s
about enjoying life, not giving
it up.
Paul encouraged all
believers to understand
that how they live is what
pleases God.
It isn’t about
doing or not doing certain
things.
(All religions have
their lists) Rather, living for
God on the daily adventure
is the “Sacrifice” He wants.
Notice:
“Therefore, I urge you,
brothers, in view of God’s
mercy, to offer your bodies
as living sacrifices, holy and
pleasing to God – which is
your spiritual worship.
” Romans 12:1
A living sacrifice is in contrast with a dead
Women Of Faith
October 12,13
See Back Page
Crosseyed Concerts
September/October
See Page 18
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