Charlie Brown's Character

I can't remember the name of that character on Charlie Brown who has the dirt following him everywhere, but I've really focused this week on praying that the Holy Spirit would follow me like that and rub off on the people around me. In dealing with families who have experienced major trauma and horrible loss, I've prayed and prayed for their comfort, that God would just love them and wrap his arms around them so that they would know the healing power of God's love. The little time that I'm with these families, I want my presence to be a comfort to them as well, not in my own power of course, but through the Holy Spirit.

In the midst of dealing with all of the heartache around me, I've been forced to think about how this life is short, and we're really not entitled to anything here on Earth. We're here to work for the Kingdom of God. Everything He gives us is a gift that He may or may not take away at some point. i.e. a child. The authors of "Bold Love" state, "We will not be free to love until the cliche 'this is not our home' becomes real. .... If I do not anticipate the regularity and tragedy of sin, I unavoidably come to believe this world is my home...... People who see a better home ahead are able to welcome what is not currently enjoyed."

Philippians 1:21-24 states "For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know. I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far, but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body." I have clung to this verse so many times and in so many different ways in my life. For a long time as a teenager and young adult, I focused on how Paul wanted to go home with Christ...I longed for Heaven and wanted to escape the hurt of this world. Now that I have children and a family that depends on me, I want to stay here because it's better for me to be here with them than in the comforts of Heaven. I fully understand Paul's dilemma now. I want to stay here to serve Christ through my family as long as I can.

I can be joyful in the midst of tragedy knowing that this is not my home, and I'm only here for a little while. I need to work as hard as I can to further the Kingdom of God while I'm here.

Lastly, the authors of "Bold Love" capture the essence of the Charlie Brown character illustration, "Our central calling is to provoke through smell. It is through us that the fragrance of the knowledge of God slips through the hard, encrusted walls of denial and hatred in others, and beckons the soul to relinquish its fortress to God."