{"id":851,"date":"2010-09-20T23:24:00","date_gmt":"2010-09-20T23:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whisper.rps.net\/?p=851"},"modified":"2020-07-02T12:13:37","modified_gmt":"2020-07-02T12:13:37","slug":"confession-of-a-selfish-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whisper.rps.net\/?p=851","title":{"rendered":"Confession Of a Selfish Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"

I wrote this last summer. I confess it’s a hard one to share:<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
I read Todd W.’s blog today. He is our youth pastor, someone I really admire. It spurred me on to write about something I learned recently about “Who Am I?”
A few weeks ago a deacon from our church extended an invitation to a grieving family to have Peace host a funeral for their son who had died suddenly in a tragic accident. They didn’t have a church family & must have wanted a church service. A kind offer, one I whole-heartedly agreed with, & was even pleased we could help in any way possible.<\/p>\n

But—that meant Comfort & Care would be involved. My friend L. & I coordinate C&C. L. was going out of town for her first weekend away all summer, which left me to make sure things were put into motion.
It was a holiday weekend. I had finagled a day off & thought of all the things I wanted to do with “my” time–especially a bike ride with family:).
A fellow C&C friend offered to organize the Reception meal; a wonderful gesture, a God send! Lord, I vote she gets stars in her crown for this one:)<\/p>\n

But, my heart was definitely divided, &, all the while, I hated feeling that way. But that dark heart made me count the hours I’d be involved.
Here was a family suffering through the WORST thing a parent can face–the death of a child\/a young man & I’m hoping to get home by noon:(<\/p>\n

Enfolding this family in such a way (by our pastor leading the funeral service & C&C preparing a light reception) was such a comfort to them.<\/p>\n

Friends brought in enough food to feed an army (& that was added to the food D. had gathered & bought), even enough Caribou Coffee for an army! So amazing, such love for this young man who lost his life so suddenly.<\/div>\n

As I served tea & soft drinks, the family & friends of K. blessed me time after time with testimonies of their son, brother, cousin, friend, co-worker. I wish I had known K. I cried for him & all those who will forever miss him.<\/p>\n

We didn’t get home till mid afternoon. Our bike ride didn’t happen. Hubby & I were bushed. Emotionally exhausted:(<\/p>\n

So, you ask, “who am I”?
I am a miserable sinner the Lord uses in spite of myself, in spite of my selfishness. He wouldn’t let me get away with being self-absorbed this time.
That is a redeeming thought–to realize God can minister through us no matter what we’re focused on, no matter if we’re selfish to the core, no matter how reluctant we serve.<\/p>\n

I wish I had gone into K.’s Reception with a tender heart, full of love for this aching family.
I mean, that’s what counts in life, what we do with each day for those around us, not what each day holds for me, me, me!
Thank God for His redeeming power.<\/p>\n

And J. & H., I am so glad you wanted a church funeral for your son, & that you allowed Peace to be part of God’s comfort to you.
We are all the better for it.
God is our Comforter, Hallelujah!<\/div>\n

And our Redeemer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I wrote this last summer. I confess it’s a hard one to share: I read Todd W.’s blog today. He is our youth pastor, someone I really admire. It spurred me on to write about something I learned recently about “Who Am I?”A few weeks ago a deacon from our church extended an invitation to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whisper.rps.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whisper.rps.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whisper.rps.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whisper.rps.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whisper.rps.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=851"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/whisper.rps.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1237,"href":"https:\/\/whisper.rps.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851\/revisions\/1237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whisper.rps.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whisper.rps.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whisper.rps.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}