what's in your hand?

Blog Post by: Wendy Kauffman

I was driving in to work yesterday morning to another event at Carnival Cruise Lines corporate office. After I parked the van and got out, I came upon a very young mom with a 3 year old little boy. She was sitting in the parking lot in between a row of cars. I thought it was very interesting since this parking lot is very secure and unless you were in a car you could not get in. Just for me to get in, I have to give them my drivers license and when I leave they give it back to me. Carnival is a company that employs over 2,000 people so I guess they take security pretty serious.

This young mom intrigued me so I asked her if she was waiting for someone to get off. She said it was a safe parking spot so they were staying there until a friend got off. She then asked me if I would be staying long. I told her that I was working until 3. She said if we are here when you come out can you take us out of the lot. All of this was very curious to me, so I finally came right out and asked her if they were sleeping there.

She told me a friend who worked there said they could stay at her apartment but she never came out and gave them they key so they stayed there overnight. I don't know what the real story was but I figured that it was not good. What I did remember was a blog post by Matthew Barnett a few weeks ago where he reminded us "Just get busy using what's in your hand to serve others and God will give you dreams for people you never knew you had." He made me think about the story in Exodus 3 and 4 where God is calling Moses back to Egypt and Moses was feeling very inadequate and simply did not want to go.

God asked Moses "What's in your hand?" (Exodus 2:4).  At that time all Moses had was a simple sheep herding tool. You can read on in Exodus to see that God used that simple man with a simple tool to do great things and bring freedom to a great number of people.

All I had to offer the mom today was $2. I told her the Cafe inside was open and she could go in as a visitor and get something. That was all I had! In that moment, I wanted to have so much more, but God reminded me to use what was in my hands.

Since moving to Miami, there has been story after story of people we meet who need help, who need freedom and need restoration. Every story makes me feel inadequate, I find myself living in this unbelievable tension! BUT, I have realized this past week that it is a good kind of tension. Don't get me wrong, some days are really hard. I found myself on my face a few days ago weeping (you know, the ugly snot kind of weeping) praying for people who are enduring such extreme hardship. The weight sometimes almost feels too much, but I also find myself praying that God would keep us in this tension because it keeps me compassionate, engaged and on my knees! It also gives me hope! I know crazy right! But it gives me hope because I know that God has called us here to use what is in our hands so that he can give us dreams for people we never knew we had.

The young mom with her little boy was not there when I came out, but one thing I do know is I am going to pray for her everyday and I am going to dream for her too! It may be dreams she does not even realize she can have for herself, but God has them for her and I pray that today she felt God's love in some tangible way!

2 Corinthians 8:12 tells us: "For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have."
So what is in your hands? A pen, a phone, a shovel, a hammer, a wrench, a mixing bowl, a musical instrument, When offered to God in service to others, it can accomplish something great! It all starts with a tender heart and willing hands and together we can see dreams for people we never knew we could have!