You could hear their voices outside; Esther, Charlie and Sam playing in their yard. We lived next door and my girls loved to play with them. We spent many hours with jump ropes, sidewalk chalk and wagons and tricycles. Sometimes all it took was a glance out the door and I would hear my girls saying, “Our friends are outside, can we go too?” It’s always more fun to join in with others than to be by yourself. These last eight days I’ve been learning that lesson too. We’ve been studying “Experiencing God” by Henry Blackaby, Richard Blackaby and Claude King. On page 15 they quoted this scripture: “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too, am working.” Revolutionary. Not that fact that God is working, I’ve always known that…..but just as Jesus came to the earth to be a part of what God had ALREADY planned, God is asking me to JOIN Him in what He’s already doing, not pick up his work and carry on myself. Can you imagine a child joining a game of catch with someone else and then taking the ball when it’s thrown to him and taking it home? Or joining a game of jump rope and saying “hey thanks for letting me play, I’m gonna take the rope now cause got I’ve some great ideas for it”. Oh my. I fear I’ve done that. On several occasions. So I’ve been looking back at my life. Where has God been working and asking me to join? When did I join in and when have I taken the toys for myself and made new plans? There have been some “aha” moments as I’ve thought about it. God created music from the beginning. He ordained the rocks, hills and mountains to sing his praise. He allowed us to join the earth in singing His praises. Music has soothed the soul of many in the scriptures. It was used as victory cry and as a lullaby. The gift of music stirred up in me from my earliest days. In fact, some of my earliest memories are of singing as a four year old in church. It has always made my heart happy to worship God through music. Yep, a four year old can worship….don’t doubt that! I remember learning to play piano, not because I had any aspirations to be a great pianist, but because God had placed music in me and was calling me to more and the piano bench seemed to be where He was asking me to join him. When I was a teenager on the North Florida District, I received a call that a youth group was about to go on their summer tour and they were suddenly short a pianist….could I help? I learned the music over the weekend and went on tour with the North Florida District Impact Team. I loved ministering through music…..and that experience would lead me to eventually auditioning and being a part of TNU’s New Direction PR group while I was in college. God works through music. It’s one of his best “playgrounds”. All of His kids love to join Him there and worship Him, adore Him, draw close to Him, learn about Him and be moved to action because of their time there. I have always loved music, but not just the music…..W O R D S. If I can’t understand the words of a song, it drives me crazy! The STORY the song tells through the words speak to my deepest need. God put that love for lyrics in me. And one day, when I was hurting the most, God called me into His playground of songwriting. Words and music poured out of me. And over these last 17 years I have experienced some of the most amazing moments of my life singing the music He gave me. Did I ever IMAGINE He would give me words to sing to 12 women locked in a jail cell? No. That wasn’t my PLAN, but God was working there already. God loves the women in jail and prison. We may have written them off, their families have given up on them, but I am a living witness that every Sunday God is there to tell them He loves them and has not forgotten them. I love joining Him there. And before I could even catch up to all He was doing in the jail, I heard His call for the need for restoration for these women. A place where God wants to walk women through freedom from addiction to freedom in His Spirit. He smiled through the eyes of a special young woman who was already joining God in that project. “Will you join me” she asked and I could hear the sounds of God on the playground again. But this time, I let fear begin to creep in. This work is more than I am familiar with. So I researched on my own and investigated and did a lot of foot work. And I felt a bit overwhelmed. “God,” I ask, “Are you sure you have the right person? Maybe you meant to call another?” And now it hits me between the eyes. God didn’t call me to open a transition house, God called me to JOIN Him in opening the house He has ordained. In other words, “Donna, give me the ball back”. And you know what? It’s a lot more fun on the playground when God is already there.
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AuthorHi! I am Donna and I'm traveling. It's a journey to discover who I am in Christ every day....no looking back, face to the Son! Come join me! Archives
October 2017
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