Speaking in the Light – 8-4

If all goes well and the good Lord wills it, by the time you read this article- I will be in the Dominican Republic. I am here for a week on a Missions Trip with seven wonderful young people who have made the decision to invest some of their valued summer vacation by giving of themselves, their time, and their comfort, rather than just chasing after the latest craze and popular venue with no goal bigger other than that to be entertained.
And for this I am very proud of our enormously special Ministry Team that includes my own daughter Leah Sheptock, and Jennifer Makowski, David Hall, David Wolfe, Mike Krieg, Maggie Johnson and Katie Risko. If you believe the lie that there is nothing good about kids these days- I have seven pieces of engaging and intriguing evidence to prove you wrong!
We are here working and living amidst the residents of the neighborhood of San Marcos in the north coast of Puerto Plata. The only real agenda of our week is that we be “servants” to those individuals that we come in contact with along the way and become the practical hands and relevant feet of the Jesus that we are privileged and honored to represent.
This means working with our hands physically on the church building that the Lighthouse helped construct back in 2006; but it also includes offering our hearts socially with the church body of men, women and the children who call this neck of planet earth their home. And while our dear Dominican friends may not possess all the material things that we here in the States are accustomed to, they many times surpass us in the areas of hospitality and the sacrificial willingness to share of what they do have- something that I don’t see as often as I would like to in my neighborhood back home here in New Jersey!
I wonder if all the “things” that we refer to here in America as “blessings” are truly just that. Would God call something a “blessing” if it prevents us from having the proper amount of time to be with Him and the ones that we claim to love? Or are our “blessings” better referred to as “obstacles” or “obstructions” if they do nothing more than rob our ability to develop quality relationships?
Have we become so consumed with the accumulation of stuff and the amount of gadgets that we can say that we own that possessions actually end up possessing us, imprisoning us from living life as it should be experienced?
If a thing is keeping you from a he or a she, then I think it is the right time to get more personal with your pronouns. If it all ended tomorrow- are you content with the way that you spent your days? Or are you thinking that maybe you need to be a little bit wiser with your minutes and get intentional quick about making more time for “who” rather than wasting so much on the “what?”
If you can’t take it with you, why are you sacrificing to it, the best you have to offer? Isn’t there a “someone” out there in your sphere of influence who would do a whole lot better with a whole lot more of you? It’s time to kiss the “something” goodbye.
The kids and I will all witness this week an incredible amount of poverty.
It will affect us personally and God will use it to attempt to awaken our hearts eternally. But we will also witness a richness that I fear that most Americans have lost.
The times when neighbors knew each other and hung out on the street together and gathered to build community with one another- well I haven’t seen that in the States for years- but we will taste of it every day that we are here. People still need the company of each other in the Dominican.
And sadly, I think that if all the “blessings” that we have piled up over the years have resulted in us not finding it necessary to touch and know and need each other-making quality time to know and love the family and friends and neighbors that God has planted all around us- well, I think that we are definitely poorer because of it! And maybe we need a paradigm shift in what we call riches.
Each and every one of us has a decision to make about where we desire to store up our treasure. We can attempt to let it all ride on the few years that we have here and aggressively seek to eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. Or we can win the jackpot both for here and now and forever too.
When it all comes down, only love remains. And if love is really the greatest of these, then shouldn’t we get busy in pouring our hearts and souls into what will make them indestructible?
Love isn’t love until you are willing to give it away. And every time you spend the best of who you are by planting seeds of kindness and compassion into those who live and move and have their being around you-another tree grows in Brooklyn, and another child smiles in San Marcos and another tear of joy flows from the Father in Heaven because He sees His kids doing what they were created to be! For that’s what it is all about little children, that’s what it’s all about.
1. “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:1-3