only one spoon

A few months ago, the Lord sent an old friend and his family to our church, very clearly to hold up Matt's hands and bring him help! It has been so sweet to see God see us, with Jeremy, his wife and son coming alongside in lots of ways, always ready to help and pray. 

Jeremy is the chaplain at the prison I wrote about not long ago, and since we took that group from our church, Matt has been going every other week, bringing different Bible studies, friends, and church members to help serve the prisoners and Jeremy.  The friendships are becoming relationships, the discipleship growing deeper, and while Jeremy is always coming alongside Matt at church, the Lord's given Matt a true joyful burden to come alongside Jeremy in jail.

This past week Matt took his Thursday morning Bible study of men in their 60's-80's for "roundtable"...an in-depth Bible study, reflection, application and prayer time that Jeremy holds in his office with new and growing believers in the prison.

At one point Jeremy and the men were talking about sanctification, and Jeremy asked Matt if he had anything to add. Matt joyfully shared with me that night how the Holy Spirit had helped him, how they talked about holiness, about anger, and about Jesus not only for salvation and freedom from our sins, but also for freedom in our daily lives. 

He said the conversation was vibrant and transparent and transformative, and shared what a gift it was to have these two group of men together with he and Jeremy, study God's truth for ALL of us, in ALL circumstances.

As they were getting ready to leave, unsure if he had unintentionally taken over the roundtable session too much from Jeremy, Matt caught a minute with him, making sure all was well and that Jeremy had not been slighted or felt over-run in any way.

Brother, Jeremy joyfully assured him, I have hundreds of hungry prisoners, and I only have one spoon.  PLEASE help me feed them. 

I don't know why that's caught my attention so this week.

One, because it reminds me it's ALL HIS WORK. There is no room in His work for jealously, for competition, for territory-claiming, for "my" ministry, for pushing and pulling.  Jeremy KNOWS it's God's work, not his and is happy and humble and grateful to share it. 

Two, because it's what I really mean when I say it takes a village. 

Do I love you seeing my messy home? Do I worry about what my teenage daughter might complain to you about? Do I want to be honest about needing help? Do I risk sharing my true heart? 

maybe. 

But I have a LOTTA mouths to feed in my life, and I only have one spoon.

I only have one spoon. I'm only accountable for the one spoon I have. And I need help!

It's caught my attention because I think Jeremy's way is His. 

My life is but one spoon. And the world is so incredibly hungry. 

I have an eternal source of Daily Bread and Living Water and our world is hungry and thirsty and we're not called to be feasters. Not called to be sponges. 

We're spoons. 

And we've gotta serve together. 

How sweet and rich it is to serve together. It is the only way.