Camy here! When I was in college, we had a few couples from the church who would occasionally open their home to us, feed us dinner, talk with us about whatever we wanted. It wasn’t a regular ministry, but we knew they were always there for us if we needed them.I wanted to give back to the college students at my church in the same way those couples had helped me with my walk with Jesus. So my husband and I recently started having a college Bible study at our home on Sunday around noon. We cook lunch for the students and then have a Bible study lesson. Right now, we’re going through a video Bible study on sex and dating.
This past weekend, I was making some Japanese tea for the students (all of them are at least half Japanese) when it hit me how happy I was to have boisterous college students eating teriyaki meatballs in my living room. Talking about history classes and raunchy coworkers and random things. Coming into the kitchen asking for more food. Barreling through bags of chips and bottles of soda.
But it wasn’t just a happy-happiness, it was a really deep-seated kind of joy that I felt down in my gut. A joy that really had no logical explanation—it was just there. And it filled me entirely. David’s words about cups overflowing came to mind.
I knew, in that moment, that this was what God wanted me to do, to open my home and my heart to these students. I wanted to chat with them about silly things like YouTube videos and about serious things like sex. I wanted to help them grow in their relationships with Jesus. I was filled with joy and a desire to serve the Lord in this way, to be obedient to Him in this way.
Is there something Jesus wants you to do for him? Have you hesitated in going through with it even though you know it’s something God wants? Remember that with obedience comes love and joy. You won’t be disappointed if you keep Jesus’ commands.
Camy Tang writes romance with a kick of wasabi. Out now is her humorous contemporary romance novel, Single Sashimi, and her romantic suspense, Formula for Danger. In her spare time, she is a staff worker for her church youth group, and she leads one of the worship teams for Sunday service. On her blog, she ponders dogs, knitting and spinning wool, running, Asiana, and other frivolous things. Sign up for her newsletter for giveways!Click here to find out how you can join my Street Team—it’s free and there’s lots of chances to win prizes!
5 comments:
That's so important. When we were in the AF, we had a group of younger airmen who adopted us and brought their friends over for real food and to hang out. The group peaked at 9, and in our tiny house, with two little kids, that was a lot! But it was great fun. They became surrogate uncles and pinch-hit babysitters to our kids. Five of them still keep in touch and every year, the ones who can converge on our house for a week during the 4th of July.
Thanks for sharing Camy...I also have had those moments where I am just so full of joy for no particular reason. I have also had those moments during times in my life when I really had to reason to be joyful. God's blessings I guess :)
I don't think that I could ever feel like that again. That happy feeling left me after my family got test results back from Riley Children's Hospital, in Indianapolis, IN. I have bad luekemia, and a rare diesease where i always feel full. my friends have begun to hang out with someone who hates me, so I have no more friends at school, and my best friend in my neighborhood has been gone for the past 2 weeks. Sometimes I wish I could feel that happiness again, but I know I won't until I'm not so sick.
Sarah, I'll be praying for you. Remember that no matter how crappy you feel, Jesus loves you, even if other people reject you. They rejected Him, too, so He knows how you feel.
Camy
How can all of you be so sure of god, and i'm questioning him?
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