How Do You Measure That?

As we’ve begun this mission funding process, the Lord has helped us to see that our progress is not solely scaled by the dollar amount.  While the financial support is necessary for this mission to be accomplished, it’s not the only need.  Yet the first time we got our weekly progress report (this is all of the monies that came in the week prior) with a grand total of 0, I’ll admit my heart was unsettled. 

Yet there is no dollar amount that can be put on the words of encouragement that came when I needed it most, or for the woman that found a good deal on T-shirts and play dough for the kids or for the child who went through his own toy box to give Christmas presents for the children who will do without.  There’s no dollar amount to put on a timid woman who came to me at a time that I felt I could not go any further, and told me that she knew she needed to tell me that the Lord had laid me and my family on her heart lately and that she is praying for us.  Where does this fit on the percentage scale when she goes on to tell me just exactly how I had been feeling because the Lord had also put that on her heart so that she would know how to better pray?  Or for the stranger that came to Joe and I to tell us how the Lord says to fear not, and that we have no need to be afraid, He is with us and He will help us?  There is no scale to measure the confirmation we felt as we held those precious children in our arms and had not ever felt so close to Jesus except for when we first held our own children.  “and the king will say, what you do for the least of these, you do also for me.”  How much is this confirmation worth?... finally finding the place in which the Lord is whispering in our ears, “I’m here!”  I think of our little magellum travel guide that tells us when we get to the place we’re looking for “you have arrived!”, and then gives the address of our place of destination.  What percentage is this worth…feeling as though the Lord was saying, “you have arrived…this is where I want you, this is where you’ll find me.” 

For us, and those who are a part of this team with us or a cause of some other sort, this is where he reminds us…”what you do for the least of these you do also for me.”  There’s no percentages or graphs for this and all the prayers, encouragement, and big hearts who have answered to the Lord’s asking them to be a part of this team because it would be more then what can be measured.  The Lord is showing me why he gave me the title for this blog…”Raising Funds of Faith, Hope and Love…and the rest will come.”  Faith, Hope, and Love... Faith gets to work, Love has its labors of good deeds and hope is a confident expectation that requires patience.  Our Lord is so true, so faithful, so trustworthy, and full of hope and love.  He is Faith, Hope and Love, we receive it from Him and are then able to pass it on.  Our faith gets to work because His faith got to work.  We give labors of love to others because he gave labors of love to us and we can have and give hope with confident expectations in Jesus because He had confident expectations in His Father.  How do you measure that?