Reckless Abandonment

Have you ever thought of what reckless abandonment towards the Lord looks like? I recently heard a great teaching on it. The subject really hit home to me and I think abandonment is a lesson we all need to learn.

To really understand what abandonment looks like, we need to know first what it means.


Dictionary.com defined abandon this way:

1. to leave completely and finally; forsake utterly; desert

2.to give up the control of

3. to yield (oneself) without restraint or moderation; give (oneself) over to natural impulses, usually without self-control

So when you say you want to abandon your life to the Lord you are giving up the control you have, forsaking it completely, yielding it wholly to the Lord....

This is a huge undertaking!!! To give up everything in your life and give it to the Lord isn't easy at all.... It's not just giving up the things sinful things that are in our lives, its bigger than that!! It's yielding all your wishes, plans, dreams, your life style, preferences, your very being to the Lord. Giving it all to Him to do with as He sees fit. Not holding anything back, but letting Him have utter control!


WOW! It's mind boggling just writing it out! We live in a society that puts great value on make your own choices, doing your own thing, it's your life to live as you please......
I found this scripture that pretty much sums up how we ought to live "our" life in Christ:

"But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.....I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." ~Philippians 3:7-8, 14

We must let go of everything, offer it up to the Lord, in order to gain all that is Christ!

We have no right to hold anything back from the one who made us! Like I said it is not an easy process nor is it a quick one, but think of how awesome it is to have our whole lives living for Jesus!!

"I have but one desire now–to live a life of reckless abandon, putting all my energy and strength into it."
–Ed McCully, Missionary Martyr

Finding Joy In Your Work......

Everyone has at least one chore or job that they really dislike doing. For me its cleaning Baby Girl’s cloth diapers. If you have ever had to wash out poopy cloth diapers you know exactly what I’m talking about. If you have not lets just say it quite unpleasant!

Recently I have been given an opportunity in growing in the area of enjoying my work.
Not just doing a job because it has to be done. But really taking enjoyment in what I’m doing and seeing it as an opportunity to be a servant.

With Baby Girl’s diapers I can be thankful that we can save money by using cloth, that she was born into this family, that Dad installed a wonderful huge sink in the laundry room to make cleaning easier, etc.

I have found that when I am content in what work I need to accomplish it is so much easier to find things to be thankful for, rather than only thinking about what a drudgery it is.

I’m learning to find joy even in Mondays! I haven’t liked Monday very much in the past because it is the beginning of another long, full week and the end of a restful Sunday. However, the Lord has encouraged me to be thankful for Mondays! They are the start to a wonderful week in which I can be a blessing to my family, enjoy the beautiful things the Lord made, and to learn new things!

It is really easy to enjoy something you like doing. But it a wonderful thing to be able to find joy in a task that isn’t your favorite!
My Dad once taught us that instead of having the attitude that we “have to do something” (i.e. work); say “we get to do……….”!
Like, this next week I get to wash Baby Girl’s diapers! Saying it this way changes that whole way you look at the work.

So, tomorrow is Monday…….I get to wake up and milk the goats, make breakfast, wash the dishes, file Dad’s paperwork etc! I’m going to be thankful for all that the Lord has provided me with.

Sisters, I encourage you to look at your work in a new way! Whether you are cleaning the house, mucking out the barn, washing the mountain of dishes or whatever jobs lay ahead of you, find joy and contentment in what is before you! Be thankful for all that the Lord has provided, instead of seeing it as a drudgery!


Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,
since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Col. 3:23-24

Do everything without complaining or arguing. Phil. 2:14

Prayer.......

I recently had an opportunity to grow in the area of prayer.
A sweet friend passed away not long ago. He had been quite sick. Many people were praying that he would be healed. Well, a few days later he went to be with the Lord. I had a really hard time understanding why even though we had prayed for his healing the Lord took him anyway.
“What ever you ask for in prayer”…..Right?

However, I had forgot the most important thing about praying, that it is all is the Lord’s hands. I can’t make Him do what I want.
I had been demanding toward the Lord, I wanted Him to do things my way. If I had prayed with an open heart then I wouldn’t have gone to the place of questioning the Lord’s will later. I still would have been sad that our friend was gone, but I would have been in a good place in my heart about what the Lord had chosen.

I would encourage you sweet friends to remember that the Lord is like a father, our own fathers wouldn’t like a demanding child, so do you think our heavenly Father would?

This doesn’t mean, not to put our prayers before Him, but to do it such a way that it is with an open heart to what ever the Lord has.
Lord not my will, but yours be done!

Our Maker

Have thine own way, Lord!

Have thine own way!

Thou art the potter, I am the clay.

Mold me and make me after thy will,

while I am waiting, yielded and still.

Have thine own way, Lord!

Have thine own way!

Search me and try me, Savior today!

Wash me just now, Lord, wash me just now,

as in thy presence humbly I bow.

Have thine own way, Lord!

Have thine own way!

Wounded and weary, help me I pray!

Power, all power, surely is thine!

Touch me and heal me, Savior divine!

Have thine own way, Lord!

Have thine own way!

Hold o'er my being absolute sway.

Fill with thy Spirit till all shall see

Christ only, always, living in me!

-Adelaide Pollard, 1907

This one of my favorite hymns.

I love the picture of Jesus being the Potter.

Sisters, let us let Him be the maker and shaper of our lives!
When we the clay try to make ourselves into something we don't get very far. Do we?

But when give our entire life shaping to Him,

not saving any part back,

only then can He make something beautiful out of us!!!

A sweet sister sent this quote by Amy Carmichael to my family. It’s really encouraged me as I go through hard struggles or even just the everyday things. I hope this speaks to your heart as much as it does mine!

“All that grieves is but for a moment.

All that pleases is but for a moment.

Only the Eternal is important. A trial comes. It will pass. In a few days, or months, or years, we shall have forgotten it.

But the way we face that trial—our inner attitude towards it—belongs to things that are Eternal. All that we are, all that will ever be, in us and in others, in the entire universe—past, present, and future—is effected for all eternity by how we respond to temptations, or trials, or victories, or defeats.
The issues themselves are irrelevant. The eternal—how we respond in our inner hearts—those are the only things that matter. All else will pass and be forgotten and trivialized by time and space. It does not seem so now.

We feel, ‘If I could only have________.

If only this problem would go away, then_________.”

Yet, we must be reminded of what we know…

The pleasures pass. The trials, though they seem long and difficult, are a vapor. If we could have what we desire, or shed what we disdain, we would, with that attitude, only suffer dreadful loss in the Eternal realm.

The scriptures say, “He gave them their [demanding, insistent] request, but sent leanness into their soul.” Let us look to HIM and invest in the Eternal, not that which only passes away.” ~Amy Carmichael

Having Rebekah's Heart

Being a single woman hasn’t been the easiest thing for me, anyone who knows me well can tell you I have struggled with this for sometime.
A sister once encouraged me to be like Rebekah, to be busy while I wait for my “Isaac”.

So, I started reading her story and one thing really stood out to me, she was a willing and diligent worker!

“And it came about before he had finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor, came out with her jar on her shoulder.
And the girl was very beautiful, a virgin, and she went down to the spring and filled her jar, and came up.
Then the servant ran to meet her, and said, "Please let me drink a little water from your jar."
And she said, "Drink, my lord"; and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand, and gave him a drink.
Now when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, "I will draw also for your camels until they have finished drinking."
So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, and ran back to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels.
Genesis 22:15-20

Rebekah wasn’t mopping around the house, waiting for the “ right one” to show up or just working enough to get by.
No! She was helping in her father’s house and I’m sure doing many other things to bless the people around her.
When Abraham’s servant showed up, she offered to give water to not only him, but also all his camels!
(That is not an easy thing to do I’m sure!)
She had already learned to see where there is a need and then do it whole-heartedly.

I think this a wonderful thing to learn now!
It pains me some much to watch young ladies being only concerned about things for their hope chests or planning their weddings ect.
These things are fun to do or plan, but it is very easy to become consumed with them.

At one time I was consumed with those things.
Let me tell you, that being wrapped up in this only leads to discontentment and impatience in waiting on the Lord.

It came to the point with me that obviously the Lord has other things during this season then marriage or even planning those things. It hurt really hard at first to let them go and hold them with an open hand, but I'm so glad that are better now! (I still have to lay this issue down very often :) )


I do believe that season will come around at some point, but now isn’t the right time. I do still want to be married, be a wife and mother and run my own home, but the Lord is the only one who knows when I’m truly ready.

Meanwhile, I’m working on pouring all my energy into helping my family and blessing those around me. Being aware of things that need doing, and doing them. Even it’s not my favorite thing to do, putting my whole heart into them.
This is not an easy feat; I have to lean on the Lord daily to even partly accomplish this with a smile on my face.

Remember sweet sisters to adopt Rebekah’s heart.
Be aware of those around you who need a willing heart to help where needed and a sweet smile to go with it!
Blessings,
Laura