ASLEEP IN THE FOOD DISH

Through the years, my family has rescued many homeless cats. My wife, the animal lover, says God sends them to us, but I don’t believe her. Most of them showed up at our door, but one particular kitten came from a job site in the country. He appeared under a tree one day and drove the crew crazy as we tried to build a house while hearing his constant mournful cry.

The kitten was determined to survive, and spent three days meowing and raiding our lunchboxes. I decided he was too skinny for coyote bait, so I threw him in my truck and took him home to my daughter. He immediately began to explore his new surroundings, being particularly enthralled with the large dish of dry food, as if he couldn’t believe he could have his fill and still have leftovers! We watched him race between the food dish -- gobbling as much as his little mouth could hold -- to the human beings who were waiting to pet him, then back to the food dish. Over and over he ran this path, until he was so exhausted he finally plopped into the food dish, stretched out his tiny feet and fell asleep.

Have you ever had this experience? We have. When we were in business, a client failed to pay us for a major remodel, causing us to lose a huge amount of money. We fought for two years to collect the debt, but the situation ruined our financial health for most of the next 15 years. We were finally able to work our way out of debt, getting to the point where we could pay our bills and have leftovers. When that time finally came, I would go to our online bank account every day to make sure the money hadn’t disappeared. When my wife teased me about it, I would answer, “I’m just going to sleep in the food dish for awhile!”

For a long period of time, Elim also struggled financially. I remember when we had to wait until the offering was collected on Sunday to know whether we could pay the pastor on Monday. We had to split his paycheck, giving him half one week and half the next. Staff members were cut and we couldn’t pay the utility bills. Most of our elder meetings were consumed with discussions on how to juggle funds to survive.

As we near the end of 2009, we marvel at how richly God has blessed our church. We have enough for expenses, have given away more than we budgeted, and still have leftovers. But when I look at the financial reports, I’m afraid I may want to hold on to this abundance too tightly. I don’t want to be caught asleep in the food dish when the opportunity arises to do God’s work. What plans does God have for His resources? How will He use us to accomplish those plans?

For this reason, the elders have been praying that God will make it clear how He wants our church to use all of the resources He has provided. Please pray with us, praising God for what He has done and asking His wisdom and guidance in our decisions.