The devotion goes on to say (which I also shared): I wonder what Delilah thought when she got what she wanted. Sadly Delilah shared the secret with Samson's enemies, who used the information to capture Samson, gouge out his eyes and throw him in prison. Might she have thought, "That's not what I wanted"? Sometimes when we get what we want, we discover we didn't want it either. Delilah got what she asked for, but not what she really wanted...and it cost everything. Her relationship with Samson. Samson's freedom. And eventually, it even cost Samson his life. Delilah knew the power of a woman's words - how if she just persisted she would eventually get what she wanted. She misused the power of influence God had given her. How about you? Ever found yourself pressing for what you think you want? We can learn a lot from Delilah. We should take a moment and ask ourselves: If I keep pushing, where will I end up? Because maybe we can get what we want, but is that really what's best? Is it what God wants? Thankfully, we can stop and change our course while we still have time.
After circle, we headed back to the Team House for breakfast. I also led a devotion there which I found in one of the devotional books I had brought to share with the girls down here in Honduras (if I were assigned to a girls' house once the team left). Today is the 1/2-way point for our team, so I wanted to talk about the word TIME as an acronym. Here's a synopsis of what I said:
There just doesn't seem to be enough TIME in our trip to do everything we need/want to do. So let's take a look at how we should "see" and spend our time...
TIME IS A TREASURE
Think of what the word treasure means to you. Perhaps you're a young teenage guy and you're picturing pirates looking for treasure. Perhaps as a female you're thinking about jewelry. Perhaps if you're a little older you see photo albums as a treasure. You would never throw away your treasures (whether it be gold, silver, diamonds, pearls, jewelry, photos), would you? You shouldn't throw away your days and minutes either. Why? Because they are riches & treasures too! You may not think a lot about the value of your time and what you spend it on. But God says it's wise to realize how precious time is. The time He has given us here is a gift that we are to use and spend wisely.
IT'S IMPORTANT TO 'DO IT NOW'!
Are you a procrastinator? Well think about this, we've been here for 4 entire days and there are only 4 entire days to go...are you satisfied with what you've done? Have you used your time wisely? Have you gotten all done that you'd like to do?
MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR TIME
Sometimes we think there's not enough hours in the day to do all of the things we have to do and want to do. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says there is a time for you to all those things you want to do that are truly important. Some days our days are jammed full of things to do, but realistically there are also days where you plop down into a chair and 'veg out' watching TV or texting, and you feel bored. Why not make a list of '5 Things I Want to Do'? Do you realize how truly exciting some free time could be? Once you make your list, you'll find there are far more exciting ways to spend your time. I challenged all of the team members to make their list of things to do down here with the kids or for the orphanage for this last 1/2 of the time that they're here.
EVALUATE YOUR PRIORITIES
There are many ways you can use your time. How can you begin to choose the best options over options that are not the best? How does God want you to approach prioritizing? I hope you are beginning to realize how important time is, especially when it comes to time with Jesus. We make Jesus a priority when we make a commitment to spend time with Him. Would you fail to show up for a detention a teacher had given you? Would you fail to show up to a friend's birthday party, to their bridal shower or wedding, to their baby shower? I don't think so...so why would you not want to make time for Jesus, the most important person in the world? When you spend time with Jesus, great things happen. He makes your days more exciting. He gives you a happy heart. He helps you do your best and do it in a way that honors Him. He shows you how to be more kind and helpful to others. And He does His amazing work of transforming you into what you really want to be: a person after His own heart. Then when you take off on the plane out of Tegucigalpa (or put your head on your pillow at the end of the day), instead of feeling bad, you can thank Jesus for a wonderful day!
Today it was Alina's my turn for KP (kitchen patrol), which meant we had to do the dishes and make sure the dining hall was clean. There was a team of about 5 of us who needed to get this done. After KP, we took some special needs children down to the art and craft house to decorate some crosses for Friday's HoeDown. After lunch, we headed to the big boys yard to do activities with them before serving supper. They had some cat and mouse games going as well as chess games. Then we fed them hot dogs with chips and soda. Heather had made 200 cupcakes to give to them and the big girls, which they really appreciated. When we were done serving the big boys, we headed over to the big girls house with the hot dogs to serve them and then stayed later to do activities (like hair, nails and soccer) with them.
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| Nate and Mateo 2 (from MD) playing cat and mouse with the big boys |
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| Mark playing cat and mouse with the big boys |
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| Lane advising the big boys on their game of chess |
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| Cindy (from MD) and Ellen (from Honduras) serving hot dogs |
While we were doing KP after supper, the power went out, so many dishes were done in complete darkness. It gets dark here just after 6pm. The men got the generator going and the power went back up after about 1/2 hour.
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