-Screwtape
The Screwtape Letters
C.S. Lewis
I have to admit I was supremely upset at my fundraising failures over the past few weeks. But, I know the Lord is good. And I have tangible evidence!
First, the cigar and Scotch fundraiser. Yeah, I had to cancel and will have to reschedule. There's some good stuff that came from that very weekend, however. Months before, my friend Adam K. invited me to his church's men's retreat. I was planning on going, but inadvertently scheduled the Scotch night for the same weekend, meaning both a) he and two other guys couldn't attend the fundraiser and b) I couldn't attend the retreat. I pressed on with my plans, only to have them fail. But [the other] Adam was faithful. He even prepaid for the retreat for me, knowing I wasn't planning on attending. So, when I canceled the event, I was able to attend Friday night.
And boy did I need it. My anguish over inability to succeed on two fundraising fronts melted away when I got to the retreat. I played some beach volleyball with some awesome guys, ate some great food, and had encouraging fellowship. Then, when it came time for their evening worship service, they asked me to play bass guitar. I was secretly hoping I'd get to jam later that night, but I didn't think I'd be put on the stage. I went up there with no practice, on a 5-string bass (I only play a 4-), and only knew one of the four songs. And to top it all off, I was following off the leader's notes, and he used a capo on two songs (meaning I had to transpose in my head on the fly...not my strength). Despite all of that, it was good. I struggled, but I really got to worship from behind that instrument that night. The speaking afterwards even added to a string of common thought I've been feeling from the Father lately. Bottom line: I needed to be there and despite my stubbornness, He saw me through.
I also lamented my company's HR department and their refusal to let me brew the JustLoveCoffee at work. This seemed like a ridiculous injustice to me. Instead of storming off mad, however, I felt compelled to work out a solution. I kept going back and finding ways to help them justify this. And, after a couple weeks, I received an email approving our new coffee pot. The only drawback was that I couldn't collect money and brew only coffee that benefited my adoption. We agreed to have all the coffee drinkers take turns bringing in their choice of coffee. I had already purchased a box of Ethiopian Sidamo beforehand, and it arrived the SAME DAY I received the approval email from HR. I brewed it up the other day and everyone seems to like it. And most of the people are going to be buying and bringing in coffee from our storefront when it's their turn. So, the coffee fundraising is off the ground! Including me, there are three other customers who've purchased from our site, and we've raised $30 towards the adoption in the last week.
So, I'm back into one of those aforementioned periods of emotional richness.
For those of you experiencing similar drawbacks, do not give up. Accept His guiding. Don't stop laboring to bring your adopted child home. Forces will push back against you, but you must remain faithful as He is faithful.
To quote Screwtape again, "[The demonic] cause is never more in danger, than when a human, no longer desiring, but intending, to do [God's] will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys."
First, the cigar and Scotch fundraiser. Yeah, I had to cancel and will have to reschedule. There's some good stuff that came from that very weekend, however. Months before, my friend Adam K. invited me to his church's men's retreat. I was planning on going, but inadvertently scheduled the Scotch night for the same weekend, meaning both a) he and two other guys couldn't attend the fundraiser and b) I couldn't attend the retreat. I pressed on with my plans, only to have them fail. But [the other] Adam was faithful. He even prepaid for the retreat for me, knowing I wasn't planning on attending. So, when I canceled the event, I was able to attend Friday night.
And boy did I need it. My anguish over inability to succeed on two fundraising fronts melted away when I got to the retreat. I played some beach volleyball with some awesome guys, ate some great food, and had encouraging fellowship. Then, when it came time for their evening worship service, they asked me to play bass guitar. I was secretly hoping I'd get to jam later that night, but I didn't think I'd be put on the stage. I went up there with no practice, on a 5-string bass (I only play a 4-), and only knew one of the four songs. And to top it all off, I was following off the leader's notes, and he used a capo on two songs (meaning I had to transpose in my head on the fly...not my strength). Despite all of that, it was good. I struggled, but I really got to worship from behind that instrument that night. The speaking afterwards even added to a string of common thought I've been feeling from the Father lately. Bottom line: I needed to be there and despite my stubbornness, He saw me through.
I also lamented my company's HR department and their refusal to let me brew the JustLoveCoffee at work. This seemed like a ridiculous injustice to me. Instead of storming off mad, however, I felt compelled to work out a solution. I kept going back and finding ways to help them justify this. And, after a couple weeks, I received an email approving our new coffee pot. The only drawback was that I couldn't collect money and brew only coffee that benefited my adoption. We agreed to have all the coffee drinkers take turns bringing in their choice of coffee. I had already purchased a box of Ethiopian Sidamo beforehand, and it arrived the SAME DAY I received the approval email from HR. I brewed it up the other day and everyone seems to like it. And most of the people are going to be buying and bringing in coffee from our storefront when it's their turn. So, the coffee fundraising is off the ground! Including me, there are three other customers who've purchased from our site, and we've raised $30 towards the adoption in the last week.
So, I'm back into one of those aforementioned periods of emotional richness.
For those of you experiencing similar drawbacks, do not give up. Accept His guiding. Don't stop laboring to bring your adopted child home. Forces will push back against you, but you must remain faithful as He is faithful.
To quote Screwtape again, "[The demonic] cause is never more in danger, than when a human, no longer desiring, but intending, to do [God's] will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys."
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