This blog post was written by Theresa Adams, a Redeemer member, wife and mom, who would love to have her own roller skating rink & thinks getting her kids to eat kale is a major victory!

Loving others. Serving others. Meeting needs. All of those things can seem so daunting. So overwhelming. It can be paralyzing to know even where to begin. Sometimes people do get immobilized and don't even start. They think the circumstances have to be just so. They think when their kids get older when they have more spare time when they don't have such a heavy class load when they find a cause that breaks their heart then they will begin. I get it. I was that person. I wanted to "do something." I wanted to be a drop in the bucket that would turn into an ocean of loving, compassionate acts. But I didn't even know where to begin. I didn't know what broke my heart. What would make me weep? Sometimes I didn't even want to know that a need was out there. 

When you are living in oblivion/innocence/ignorance, it is so effortless to look the other way. Once you are made aware, it makes it near impossible to go on living without doing something. There is no going back to blissful naivety once you've become acquainted with a need. It's like Nehemiah. He was a Jew, born in Persia during the exile, so he didn't know Jerusalem other than he had relatives there. When he inquired as to the conditions among the Jews there who had survived exile in Jerusalem he went from being unaware of having his heart wrecked. "They told me, "The exile survivors who are left there in the province are in bad shape. Conditions are appalling. The wall of Jerusalem is still in rubble; the city gates are still cinders." When I heard this, I sat down and wept. I mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God-of-Heaven." (NE 1:3,4) The need was not directly affecting Nehemiah, yet he wept. For days. He sought God and then he set out to meet the need.

Perhaps you think: God wouldn't use me.  Why in the world when He has his pick of all the great, kind, loving people on the planet would He ever want to use the likes of me to accomplish something for His Glory? Why would He entrust me to love others?  To serve others? With my past? With my weaknesses? With my judgmental tendencies?  With my greed? With my selfishness?  With my potty mouth? With my grades? Whatever the reason you think you aren't "good" enough to accomplish something for His purpose have you ever thought that when we say we are incapable of being used by Him that we are saying He's made some mistake?  

God made each one of us perfectly and intentionally. He doesn't make mistakes.  It's not as though He had some terrible no-good-very-bad-day when He was creating you.  He knows you from the hairs on your head to the tips of your toes.  He knows your thoughts, your words, your heartbeat and the rhythm of your soul. It's because of the exquisite detail that makes you -you- that no one else can accomplish what you can. No one else can meet a need in the specifically same way as you. No one else can love as you love. Your gifts, skills & compassion differ from mine. What breaks my heart may not break yours. 

If you find yourself longing to "do something"  to serve your neighborhood, your city, your county, your campus, but you don't know what said something is can I encourage you to pray about it? To ask God what breaks your heart? He will be faithful and reveal something to you. He did to me. Years ago it was human trafficking that first gave an awareness to the myriad of needs of our world, country, state, county. And I began small. Sending letters & cards to a shelter in Greece that housed women freed from trafficking. Then it was building an awareness of what went on in our county and connecting with local resources.

 Since that time there have been many different opportunities I've been able to take part in: from giving my credit at a consignment store to a homeless woman so she could buy clothes with dignity, to having garage sales for at-risk-teens, to providing Christmas presents to kids whose parents were unable to provide one of their own.. I don't share this with you as a "look-at-me-I've-got-it-all-figured-out" kind of pat on the back, because truly, I am pretty sure I mess up & miss opportunities on a regular basis. 

What I hope to do by sharing with you is to encourage you. I too once wanted to love others. I wanted to "do something," I wanted to help to serve to make a difference. Sometimes I wonder if that is what Jesus meant when he told his followers: "Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples." (John 13:34,35)  He didn't say people would know we were set apart because of the fish logo on the back of our cars. Nor by the verses & well-meaning quotes we share on Facebook. Not even by the in-depth knowledge of doctrine we may have. None of which are insignificant.  But by our love. Maybe it's just me, but I don't think it's by the feeling of love, but rather the action. An outpouring of activity regardless of the outcome. Regardless of what we gain in return. Love as He loved us.

 If your heart is to love others (Or you want to have that heart) and you'd like to serve alongside those in our county who are already meeting a need here are some possibilities. The list is by no means exhaustive, but it's a start. And isn't that what we need sometimes? Just a start?

http://www.engedirefuge.com/engedi_house.html

http://www.skookumkids.org/

http://www.bellinghamhopehouse.com/

http://www.amysplaceforyouth.org/

http://thewhatcomdream.org/

http://www.reboundwc.com/who-we-are

http://www.pass-the-hat.org/

(Written by Theresa Adams)

Serving our city has been an ongoing conversation at Redeemer. We wanted it to be something tangible and something that would foster relationships with those in our community. We looked around and as you can imagine Bellingham has many needs. It can actually be overwhelming to consider all of the needs and even immobilizing to know where to begin. We hope you agree that by choosing to serve Roosevelt Elementary this summer in our first ever Backpack Drive that it will be a great stepping stone to serving our beautiful Bellingham. 

To some Roosevelt Elementary is known for it's tough (some might call it neglected) exterior. To others it's known for it's Title 1 Reputation. To me (and a few other Redeemer parents) it's known for far more than it's brick & mortar exterior. It's more than it's untended or out-of-date flowerbeds. It's even more than the staggering percentage of kiddos who qualify for free lunch.  You see the school itself has very little to do with the building at all. The heart of the school is the vast array of kiddos & the staff, administrators, teachers & parents who love these kids. They work together tirelessly to ensure the students not only have a high-standard of learning but that they also get to do things like garden or paint a mural. Such simple things many of us would take for granted, but when experienced by so many kiddos who come from homes that just don't have quite enough you're able to see what a special place it is. 

Roosevelt would love to be able to provide back packs to new registering students who don't have the option to go out & buy one. The school would also love to be able to replace back packs for kiddos who are unable to do so but who's bags have seen better days. We hope that by joining together, as the church and provide backpacks for these students that we will be able to lift a bit of a burden from some of these families. The school also has a need for underwear, leggings (for girls) & sweats (for boys)  Often times kids need replacement items throughout the day and unlike many schools Roosevelt chooses not to ask for the items back. Quite simply they believe that the kiddos need the clothes more than the school does & it's evidenced as the kids can usually be found wearing the items the remainder of the year.

Here Is How You Can Help

Over this next year we will have three giving stations located at Redeemer Church (Sanctuary, Redeemer Kids and Commons Building). Every Sunday someone will take those items that you purchase to Roosevelt Elementary School. So if you are out shopping for yourself or your family, please pick up one of the following items listed below and bring it to Redeemer Church for Roosevelt Elementary.

If you are super busy with life and have no time to shop, don't worry, you can still help out. Below are links to Amazon.com and if you purchase these items through these links, Amazon will donate a small amount of the proceeds to Redeemer Church so we can put money back into Roosevelt Elementary. And if you are still to busy, and don't want to forget to bring the items you purchased online feel free to have the items shipped to: (Dane Burgess 820 32nd St Apt 57 Bellingham, WA 98225) 

And he will make sure to take the item to Roosevelt for you. 

Boys Backpack

Girls Backpack

Boys Underwear

Girls Underwear

Boys Sweat Pants

Girls Leggings

Mining And Refining: So, friends, when these trials and grievances come your way, preach the gospel to yourself and to others. God could not love you and be satisfied with leaving you as a piece of ore. You have so much potential in Christ, and the Lord will refine you so you can reach your highest level of strength and beauty!

The Danger of Coasting: I’ve been thinking about this lately because I see in my own life a tendency to coast—to coast in my relationships, to coast in my pursuit of godliness, to coast in my pursuit of God himself. And here are some things I’ve observed:

Praying for Our Child's Salvation: There is nothing automatic about salvation. There is no room for mere presumption; Christian parenting is an enterprise of faith. God’s promise gives us a solid foundation for all our prayers and for all our hopes for our children. But He also commands us to use the appointed means to obtain His good gifts. Do you pray daily for your children? Do you pray daily with your children? If not, what can you expect from the Lord? Whether they are saved or not, are you able to say, by God’s grace, that you storm the mercy seat for them with a heart aflame for their well-being and God’s glory?

7 Ways To Love Your Pastor: When my husband (my favorite pastor!) was ordained to be a minister of the gospel, one of the elders who ordained him, Pastor Paul Martin, spoke to our congregation and charged us with this: Beloved, let me give you this one charge: Love your pastor! In this charge, Pastor Paul shared seven ways that a congregation can love their shepherd, and his words of encouragement are applicable to every local church context.

Push Through The Awkward: There is one piece of advice I give myself and other women more than any other and it is this: push through the awkward. We are women who long for community and to live lives of purpose, but as anything that is good and beautiful and worth having, these things don't come just because we want them. They are invited by those who push through the awkward.

Gospel-Driven Productivity: I’m not saying that there should be no exceptions to this. But it is the foundational guideline for effectiveness. By working in this way, you actually get more done, not less, because you are able to get in the zone and reduce the amount of time that your tasks actually take. 

Television's Rape Epidemic: Here is what I wonder, and here is what we ought to be asking ourselves: If Christians won’t allow explicit scenes of sexual violence to keep them from watching television shows, what will? If scenes of rape are not over the edge, what is? If we won’t draw the line there, will we draw it anywhere?

Christ The Educator: There is a great richness of meaning in these texts that goes beyond our discussion here. But with renewed eyes as disciples of Jesus we can hear him invitation to learn and be trained in soul by our gracious Christ, the Educator.

photo credit: pierofix via photopin cc

There and Back Again: Except, that is, for one night when I panicked. I was lying in bed, waiting to fall asleep. This was the first time I had faced the death of someone close. All at once, it occurred to me that we had no idea what would happen to my grandmother. None of us had closed our eyes in death, and that meant none of us knew what she would see when she opened them. The horror of the unknown washed over me. I realized it wasn't really her death that I was afraid of. It was my own.

7 Symptoms of Eternity Amnesia: Everyone in ministry gets discouraged by difficulties and struggles, but sometimes we bring more suffering on ourselves because we forget eternity. Could it be that there are times when you live and minister as if there is no such thing as forever?

To Experience God's Love: Many Christians live at a great distance from a felt experience of the love of God. So much Christianity in the West is shallow and satisfied. It affirms a creed, but it so often lacks spiritual life. Across the country there are millions of people who have a faith, who've been brought up in the church to believe Jesus died and rose, but they have no living experience of God's love.

9 Ways To Battle Depression, Condemnation and Anxiety: I know from personal experience the difficulty of battling depression, condemnation and anxiety. The fight can take many forms, ranging from legalism to thoughts of suicide. Whatever the case, it is all overwhelming. Though each of us faces unique circumstances, here are a few lessons I have learned that I pray will help as you, too, battle depression, condemnation and anxiety.

The Porn-Free Family Plan: I want to protect my children in a world like this, but I want to do more than that. I want to disciple my children to live virtuously, to use these new technologies for good purposes instead of bad ones. I believe this is a crucial part of my calling as a parent. To address this great need, I have put together what I call The Porn-Free Family Plan. It is a plan designed to protect my children from online dangers so that I can train them to use their devices and technologies well.

Why Doesn't God Always Heal The Sick: It’s hard to imagine a more difficult, confusing, and controversial topic than why God chooses not to heal in response to the intercessory pleas of his people. I don’t profess to have all the answers, but I think I’ve got a few.

‘ONCE SAVED ALWAYS SAVED’, OR ‘PRESERVATION AND PERSEVERANCE IN CHRIST’?: At that point, the challenge is to explain a doctrine of perseverance that gives both the full assurance that those “whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified” (Rom. 8:30), as well as the need to “continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard” (Col. 1:23).

photo credit: K. Peter Schmidt via photopin cc

Weekly Once-Over:

Discipleship: When Is Enough Enough?: How can leaders tell if they are making mature disciples? Paul gives us three places to look: the heart, the head, and the hands of disciples.

Should Broke Tim Get Married And Have Kids?: If you are both making poor money, should you still trust God, get married, and start having kids?

What I Learned About Sabbaticals by Finally Taking One: And it struck me that God had called me on sabbatical for that moment—to heal me of wounds that had gone so deep that I hardly knew what life was like without them. Feeling the great surge of letting everything wash away, feeling stripped bare, I was reminded that his grace is sufficient, and he does in fact make all things new. That was our 42nd day. Now that I've finally taken a sabbatical, here are a few things I've learned.

How Not To Create A Missional Movement: Rather than present our polished vision, values and practices, I want to take a little different tack – I want to candidly talk about putting these ideas into practice in a real church.  More specifically, I want to be completely honest with you about our failures at The Austin Stone.  Over the last 7 years, we have been in the process of transitioning to missional communities, and we’ve made plenty of mistakes...

Parents: Don't Just Give Your Kids Technology: I’m surprised by how many parents just give their kids technology – without taking the opportunity to train them in responsibility, accountability, and wisdom. This is a sure way to raise a spoiled brat or a selfish, entitled college student.

What I Appreciate (And Don't) About Prosperity Preachers: Prosperity teaching leans on Malachi 3 to cast God as a big piñata in the sky, chock-full of material wealth. This interpretation of the text is more about how to feed greed than glorify God.

Gospel Amnesia In The Local Church: Have you ever felt ashamed or guilty because you can’t seem to keep up with someone else’s sanctification? On the other side: have you ever let words slip from your lips (e.g. how many times a week you do family worship, what books you are reading, which parenting and education method you are using, etc.) to show how far along your family is on the sanctification spectrum? In other words, have you ever “preached Christ” out of envy, rivalry, or selfish ambition (Philippians 1:15–17)? I certainly have...

Holy-Love Wins: Holiness without love yields sternness. Love without holiness yields sentimentality. The Maker of heaven and earth is neither stern nor sentimental, for he is simultaneously holy and love...

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