This is Your Invitation

It’s another hot, sun-filled June day. I remember many just like today while growing up on a farm in Iowa. After getting my chores done I spent alot of time outdoors in our yard and ajoining timber. My imagination ran wild. I could be a wife of a current movie star with kids in tow,  a musician rocking the stage with music or a detective on a hunt for a criminal in order to save the world. Anything was possible. I believed that. I also believed that God was real, really real and He was bigger than I could imagine.  I had many reasons to believe but the most prominent at the time was my best buddy.  My trusty friend and nearly constant companion when I was young had survived what should have been a life ending accident. Her burns should have killed her but they didn’t. Not only did she live but she lived with spirit, imagination, talent and much determination. Did I mention her love of fun? Some of those natural qualities must have rubbed off on me because I love seeing the possibilities in life, every day life.  

That’s Treasure Chest Ministries in a nutshell. God with his unlimitedness (is that even a word?) presents us each and every day with the possibility of being a part of His humongous, gigantic, for all the world plan. While that sounds bigger than life, it’s not. It is life. This life starts right where we are at, doing what we are doing. Taking care of the kids, going to school or work, caring for your aging parent or making supper for yourself, you are who and where you are because the God of the universe created you uniquely to be a part of his party called life. Without you the party is a bit off, a bit lacking. With you it is just right. Treasure Chest Ministries is just an invitation for you to join life’s party, challenging all of us to do what we do with purpose and gusto!

There was a season, a fairly long season, in my life I thought that if you were a Christ follower it was “better” in some way to have a full-time vocation of a religious nature. You know the kind, a missionary, pastor or church staff member or something noble like that. I had the idea that those people could really focus, giving their very best to God all day, every day without being distracted by other things like making a living via oh say, farming, managing a motel or being a nurse. Truthfully, I wasted a lot of time trying to figure out what God wanted me to be or how He was going to get me into one of those more worthy (I thought) ways of life. I was oh so wrong. All of life is worthy and valuable. We are all so very needed in our circle of influence, right now, right where we live today. 

I know how to throw a party. One of the things I’ve been tasked with doing throughout my life is planning events. I can lay out the time line, line up the list of things we need. You know the list: a place, a time, a way to invite people, a theme or decor, places for people to sit and/or eat. Then there is the food,  the way to serve it and the utensils to eat it with. Entertainment? A way for the speaker/music/entertainment to be heard and seen, you get the idea. I like doing it. However, if you task me with that and tell me to make all the food, I can fall apart. Preparing food for a party all by myself is not my thing. Then there is the meeting and greeting while being sure the food trays stay filled and properly warmed or cooled while the guests are actually at the party. The entertainment needs to do a sound check and be introduced when it’s time for them to do their thing. Guests need to be shown where the rest rooms are and where they can put their coats. Finally there is always the clean up and returning of borrowed things. All of that requires more than one person if the event is to be enjoyed by all. I have friends who can take a garage and make it look bright and inviting. Decorating is just their thing. Others who love to cook and can crank out enough food to feed the masses without breaking a sweat. My husband can figure out the best way to use the space we have whether it is little or large to assure that people can move about without tripping over each other. The old saying is true, we need each other. We really do. 

Treasure Chest Ministries is inviting you to life’s party. We’re inviting you to do what you do, where you are at with focus, purpose and joy. What you do is important. Our actions have a ripple effect and what starts as a small pebble in the water may turn into a mighty roaring wave. I’ve recently discovered this song. I think it’s my new theme song. (I’ve had many theme songs over my lifetime) Give it a listen.