No Tree for Christmas

So if you were wondering why we did not do a Christmas tree this year..... here is the story....
I was asking God this year how He would have us give? In the month of December, I received an e-mail from Living Water, an organization that provides clean water to communities around the world. They were asking people to buy gift cards from them to go towards building water wells. One water well costs $5,000. The Holy Spirit moved in me and I decided not to delete the e-mail (which is very common). I felt the Lord was saying that we needed to give up our tree and give the money we would use for a tree to go to Living Water. I remember doing this one year as a kid and it really impacted my heart. At that time in my life, it was not hard for me to give up a tree. But this year, having a home of my own to decorate, I was really missing not having a tree. It's kind of funny how we can get so caught up in the hussle and bussle of the holidays and do things just because everyone else is doing them or because it's what we have always done. Greg was thinking we could do both, get a tree and give to Living Water, but I felt like the Lord wanted it to be a sacrifice. After all, people around the world do not have clean water and they search all day and travel long distances just to have water for the day. The least we could do is give up a tree and that just sounds so small considering. Well we went through all December without a Christmas tree and we still had not given our money to Living Water. This past weekend, I was at a conference and they had an offering taken up for Living Water. I was thrilled!!! My heart was happy and excited to give (the way God asks us to give). What a blessing it was for me to give out of a sacrifice of praise!! I love how the Lord works and I thank Him for a heart that was sensitive to His Spirit. I pray this year will be filled with more experiences like this one. I want to bless His heart and draw closer to Him.

Today, I am beginning a 21 day fast. This is a city/church wide fast. About 17 churches in the Houston area are involved. God is asking His people to humble themselves, turn from their ways and draw themselves to Him. God is looking for a people who are whole-hearted and willing to sacrifice their own personal wants/needs, for more of Him. I pray the Lord gives me grace as I walk in His love and choose Him each day.
The blog post will probably stop during the duration of this fast. I pray you would seek Him first and draw near to Him. It takes God to love God, so ask Him to reveal His love to you so you can move towards Him. He is so in love with YOU!!! He really does like YOU!!