The Lord has been encouraging me to GIVE GIVE GIVE. Once again, He’s shown me through Biblical passages.

¹And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. ²Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. ³For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, ⁴they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. ⁵And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will. ⁶So we urged Titus, since he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. ⁷But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us^[a]—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

⁸I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. ⁹For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

¹⁰And here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. ¹¹Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. ¹²For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.

¹³Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. ¹⁴At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality,

I’ve been dwelling on this vere the last couple of days, and admiring the power and conviction of the command.

Well lately, with this whole hunger series I am working on, everytime I open the Word or do anything, I get a slap in the face that I must join the cause. Here are a couple recent situations:

1. My morning and evening Bible stories for the last couple of weeks have caused me to dwell on the acts of service or giving.

2. I went to study for my psychology class and an insert supporting a world hunger offering fell out. It must have gotten stuck there somehow.

3. At church the first song we sang was “This is a call to action, to feed the hungry.”

4. While driving, we passed a billboard that said you could help feed a hungry child a whole meal for just $1.

5. My work is all about hunger alleviation. Every one I meet with has a passion for it! It’s contagious!

6. A family situation makes an at-home impact.

7. My living situation in Dallas has made me realize the frustration that comes when you don’t know if food will always be accessible.

The Lord has been speaking to me in so many ways–through people, places, my thoughts and most importantly through the Word.

There have been other specific examples, but it would be much too complicated to explain. But I do know when the Lord wants me to learn a lesson, He seems to filtrate everything! Thank you Jesus for your unending conviction and mercy!

I had no idea it was going to affect me so greatly either.

When I first started looking for information about hunger in Texas, I was working to complete an assignment. I was trying to find ways one person could help end hunger and what programs were already established and working. I browsed different pantries host sites to find their mission statements, why they were doing it and where they got their resources and volunteers. At one point, I found it monotonous; thinking everyone quotes Matthew 25, there has to be more to this act of service than just Matt 25.

I was excited to write the article originally, because I love writing on topics that highlight charitable organizations seeking to further the Kindom, but it wasn’t until last week that I fully became engulfed by the subject.

I now research because I just want to know. I want to know how a single person is using their God-given passion and talents to feed thousands of children. I want to know how they can afford to do it. I want to know their powerful testimony about how the Lord IS being fed through the feeding of the children just like in Matthew 25. I want to know that there is hope for children.

It’s like for once I finally have an undestanding of why these people started thsese ministires. I’ve gotten a taste of what the Lord is doing in so many people’s lives on so many different levels, and I am so excited to jump on board to do something.

It’s funny how the smallest things you learn as a child really do stick with you. My parents always told me to guard my heart, and to be careful as to who I spent  time with. So, I’ve tried to be careful about who Ive formed close relationships with. I’ve gotten a small glimpse of the reality of this statement this summer. I’ve found that if I am around people passionate about what the Lord has called them to do, I won’t be able to live life not being passionate myself.

My boss never knew that by assigning me this story, to go visit with people who are feeding children and sharing Christ by meeting their physical needs that he was assigning me to get the fuel and energy I would need to make a big difference back at home and on my college campus.

What I’ve learned: Be around people who are passionate about serving the Lord. It seems mundane, but there’s so much value to it. Passion is contagious, especially when the Spirit is also at work.

I’m one of those people who struggles in giving the Lord everything, especially in regards to my future. I want to know right now where I’ll be working when I graduate. I want to know right now whether I’ll go to graduate school. I want to know right now if and when I’ll get married and have a family. I want to know right now what ministry the Lord is going to call me into.

My nightly routine is to lay down in bed, read some passages in the Bible, pray, meditate on His word until my eyes cannot fall stay open, and then finally turn off the light and fall asleep. My goal is that the Lord will be the last thought I have when I go to sleep and the first one when I wake up. I’m still working on it!

But the last couple of weeks haven’t been so easy. I’d like to say that I’m one of those people who doesn’t bring work home with them; but I guess I am.

I’ve been working on a series of articles on child hunger in Texas. I’ve gotten to talk to various people with existing hunger ministries, and gone to some sites where people are serving and children are being ministered to. When I first started researching for the series, I knew it was going to be great. But I never imagined how much of an impact it was going to have on me.

Pamela from Angel Food Ministries was talking today and said, “If someone catches  a vision in a community … others will get excited too.” She said this when describing a small church that started a hunger outreach ministry that is touching thousands of lives, but started with one person’s idea. After hearing that, I got a better understanding of why I can’t stop thinking about hunger and how I want to be a part in alleviating it starting within my own community.

I don’t know what that looks like yet. But, I do know it’s what has been keeping me up at night. As I lay in my bed happily full from dinner and looking at the pretzels, nutri-grains and water right next to my night stand, I can’t help but think how lucky I am that I even have these things. It’s sad to know that millions of people are trying to sleep tonight but are restless because they’re so hungry.

I got excited today because I can help fight world hunger beginning in my small Texas town. I’m so thankful that as I lay in bed anxious tonight, it’s not because I’m worried about when I’ll eat again; rather I’m anxious because I can’t wait for the Lord to show me where He wants me to work in the fight against world hunger!

The issue of hunger keeps stealing my sleep. I hope it takes your notice, too.

The conference was geared for small-church ministers and their families. It included a special teen conference with lectures and gatherings focused on youth needs.

I easily found myself comfortable in the small auditorium worshipping with the other teens. For a moment, I forgot I wasn’t a 15-year-old anymore. The experience got me thinking about the affects being a PK has had on my life.

Headed into college, like most of my peers, I thought I would find freedom. Freedom to stay up late, go wherever I needed and buy whatever I wanted. But to my surprise, I found the contrary: a parental-driven conscience. It’s like a broken-record of my parents glued inside the part of my mind that tells me what I should and shouldn’t do.

The first time I discovered this interesting piece of equipment jammed in my head was around the time of my first set of finals. Sunday morning came pretty early that weekend, and church was out of the question. Well, that’s what I had thought.

“And I was glad when they said let us go into the house of the Lord.”

I tried to roll over and forget about it. But the voice teamed up with my internal alarm clock, and I couldn’t get back to sleep.

“And I was glad when they said let us go into the house of the Lord.”

Long story short, I went to church that morning.

This voice — usually delivering Scripture — visits my thoughts frequently; sometimes inconveniently when I’d rather not follow the straight and narrow path.

But, I’ve really come to appreciate it. My parents, through repetition and constant Scripture reading, have engraved Bible passages upon my heart since I was a child.

Proverbs 1:8-9 says, “Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.”

This conference was an encouraging reminder of the garland my parents have adorned my neck with, and a challenge to obey the wisdom they’ve shared with me.

So, as I looked around to snap a picture of the children for the story I was writing, I couldn’t help but think it would be impossible to truly capture the Spirit’s strong presence in the room that was filled with ministers’ children. It would be impossible to get a real picture of the adornment they were being graced with.

Christian parents are truly giving their children the best provision they could ask for when they speak in truth and help their children develop church-going and ministering habits. Many of us are fortunate our parents raised us on Biblical foundations that we can carry through life, and it’s exciting to see youth who are being spiritually trained with the encouragement of their families.

But, as I sat down at my computer and pulled out my lunchbox to eat and multitask, I realized there was no way I could effectively communicate to readers the intensity of the hunger problem while eating my sandwich. I was aware of the importance of feeding programs across the state, but I didn’t truly understand the impact one meal could have on a person.

Hunger clearly is a source of a myriad of social issues. It affects the physical and mental development of children. It causes people to think irrationally, impairing their ability to function at their full capacity in their job and at home.

“Try not eating for a day, and then see how you feel the next morning,” said Cheryl Jackson, founder of Minnie’s Food Pantry in Plano, as she explained the impact hunger can have on peoples’ actions and feelings.

So, to get a small taste of what hunger really feels like, I’m going to accept Jackson’s challenge of going without food for a while. I hope by getting a glimpse of their struggles, I can better tell the stories of our hungry neighbors and the people seeking to help them.

Joining the battle against world hunger is joining the cause to make the Lord’s name renown.

By meeting a person’s most basic, physical needs, we decrease crime, stress and malnutrition in our community, across Texas, and around the world. Most importantly, we become a Christ-imitator by serving out of love.

As a college student, I’ve excused myself from giving much because I’ve felt I didn’t have much, especially with student-loans. But now, it’s embarrassing to admit. I’ve indirectly been saying through my actions that I don’t believe the Lord will provide. While God does call us to be responsible with our resources, I know donating $5.40 to a cause that fights world hunger is not irresponsibility.

My one meal at Subway can feed a four-person family three meals. To give up that just once a month isn’t a lot to ask. Yet, it’s a lot to give to one family.

One of my favorite verses is Titus 3:1. “Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility towards all men.”

If we, the church, lived every second of every day convicted by this verse, and convinced by the social values it encourages, we wouldn’t be so hesitant about fighting hunger; even if it takes us outside of our comfort zone.

Paul tells us in the Bible to be ready to do whatever is good, and to show humility towards all men. He never guarantees us it will be financially convenient, or an easy sacrifice to make.

If you don’t see hunger as a prevailing issue in our world, I encourage you to go hungry for a day or two so you can begin to understand the needs of those you are being called to serve — even if that means support through prayers.

The Lord is our only hope.

 Telling our testimony is one of the most community-building and uplifting resources we readily have for spreading the gospel. There’s something about seeing a face with a story that brings meaning to universal pain.

 Psychologists say the essence of relationships is having common interests. Luckily, we have a common denominator with the world: a life before Christ.

What better way to point people to the cross than by sitting them in the front seat of your own narrative that was, and continues, to be transformed by the Savior’s grace.

 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5 says “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.”

 I think sometimes as Christians we forget the power of the gospel. I know I am guilty of it. I’ve thought, ‘my story isn’t compelling enough to lead someone to Christ.’ But the Lord tells us in the Bible that the gospel doesn’t come through words alone; it comes in power. I believe that if we allow the Lord to use us as instruments to spread the gospel through love and through our testimony, the Holy Spirit will bring the deep conviction for change. There is power in any story displaying God’s grace to a fallen people. Now, let’s show the world we believe this is true.

 In the Bible, Paul gives the church in Thessalonica some encouragement. He tells them the Lord’s message “rang out from them,” and that their faith in God “had become known everywhere.”

 Wouldn’t it be amazing if when a person talked with you, the Lord’s message rang out from you? That when people met you, they felt as if they had truly encountered a child of God.

 This is a challenge for me daily, and I hope that it is for you too. I hope we can examine our lives , turn from whatever idols are in the way, and serve the true God so that our stories tell the world about Jesus. Through the faith of our testimonies, we can give hope to the whole state of Texas by Easter 2010.