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Date Night with Sara

The other night some friends of ours here in the city offered to watch all 3 of our kids so that Sara and I could have an overnight date night. We had told them how little sleep we had been getting lately and they took it upon themselves to add our 3 kiddos to their already well formed brood of 4 kids under 5. We have no idea how they pulled it off, but they did. We went out to dinner together at the place we had our very first date ever, saw some parts of the city we were in together 6 years ago and saw a part of the city that gets decked out in Christmas lights every year. We had an amazing time. But perhaps the most amazing part was when we read and shared thoughts on 2 Corinthians chapter 4. It was one of those times where we had read these specific verses before but that day the Lord seemed to pull back the curtain and open our eyes to understand it in a new way. The Lord used that passage to encourage us and affirm us. -A major question brought to mind was "Do I view this ministry God has called me to as a glorious act of His mercy to me, or as something like taking the garbage out - expected and not necessarily beneficial but a necessary part of life which, if not done, would cause discomfort?" -I understood in a new way that this ministry is for God's glory and we are servants to those we are sent to for Jesus' sake. I want to serve these people well and glorify God as I do so, as I tell them the wonderful News of the Gospel of the glory of Christ. -We are jars of clay. Honestly, the band with this moniker somewhat ruined this verse for me. I don't mind Jars of Clay, but their songs would run through my mind each time I read this verse. This was the most profound verse that the Lord used to encourage me. Here are my journal notes: "There is nothing special about these cracked, fragile pots. Oh how fragile they are! They don't take dings and dents, they shatter when met with a force. They are vessels whose good purpose is to contain something of value, something precious, like wine. Why does my heart alight at these words, that I am this fragile and obscure jar whose worth is not in and of myself, but comes from what lives inside me, my contents? This is so antithetical to my being and natural way of thinking. 'He must become greater, I must become less.'" I pray we would all know how precious is Jesus, our treasure, and that He chooses US, ordinary and average as we are, to be His means of bringing salvation and light to those who don't know Him.

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