The Hands and Feet of Christ

Chris and I had a song in our wedding, "How Beautiful," that spoke of the beauty in the hands and feet of those who carry out the works of Christ. Our year has been filled with numerous examples of that tangible, beautiful picture of the "the body of Christ." Even in the past couple of weeks there have been situations that I wanted to journal about so that I would not forget God's amazing ways of loving on us!

As we headed to Oxford to clear the furniture out of our house, our attitudes became sour and unpleasant. It definitely wasn't the victory march we had hoped for, and the thought of the physical labor that was waiting on us after a 10 hour car ride did not help either. By the time we pulled into town, we were not in good shape, mentally or spiritually. Earlier in that week, I had posted on facebook that we would need help moving if anyone was available. By divine design, Sherry Scott volunteered her family to help with the move. Sherry and I had met a couple of years earlier through church and VBS, and we had become fast friends. Shortly after we met, Sherry was diagnosed with Inflammatory Breast Cancer, and she began a long, uphill fight against her disease. To God be ALL the glory, Sherry is alive and healthy today, but her battle was a long, scary one. As she and I packed and talked, I realized what an impact she had had on me and so many others during her darkest days with cancer. Sherry's faith was loud and it was strong; she clung to scriptures; she claimed healing and life; she was amazing! Her faith was an inspiration to the rest of us. It wasn't her faith in the good times that inspired us...it was her faith in those dark days that encouraged us to be more faithful. Through Sherry, I realized that we were now in our own "dark days" with this house that hasn't sold, and it was our opportunity to be full of faith to bring glory to God. Although our situation pales in comparison to Sherry's cancer, it was our chance to claim God's blessing, His goodness, and His unconditional love for us even in the midst of trials.

Not only did the Scott family encourage us spiritually, they also helped us out physically and emotionally. We laughed and talked and enjoyed each other immensely, and by the end of the day, the guys were laid out on the drive way begging for rest :)! God, in His infinite wisdom, knew that nobody else could meet those needs for us in that exact way, and so He sent Sherry, Dan, Micheal, and Joey to be the hands and feet for Him, the body of Christ.

God calls all of His children to be "the body of Christ." The cool thing is that when we serve others, not only are they blessed by our actions but we are blessed as well. I pray that the Lord shows each of us ways and opportunities for us to be useful, helpful, loving, God-honoring parts of the body of Christ for others.

Lord, open the eyes of my heart. Make me sensitive to the needs of others. Help me say "no" to selfishness, laziness, or "busy-ness." I want to be used by you today.