Not everything is for sale...

She was just a little girl maybe 7 or 8 years old. She had gone on an adventure with her Poppy to visit the local gun store. In that small country town, most times it was the only adventure around.

She walked in and everyone could see that she saw it.

There, hanging on the wall was a life-size rug with a picture of John Wayne.

Her eyes lit up and so did the owner of the store's face. In his amazement, he stood there watching her. It was so hard to believe in this day and age that a little girl still even had heroes

... much less John Wayne.

She wanted it so badly. Her heart was set and her Poppy did what only a Poppy would do.....anything to make a little girl smile.

Poppy's solution, "Just name your price."

The shop owner shook his head and simply said, "Sorry, it wasn't for sale."

Heartbroken, the little girl lowered her head. He looked at her sympathetically and then he told her, "I will not sell it to you, but I will give it to you. When I sell this place, it is yours."

In the years that past, several came in and made offers to buy it. It was even once stolen right off the wall. It was returned after the sheriff explained again..... that rug already had an owner.

Well, days turned to years, and health began to fail. Decisions were made that officially began the end of an era in that little town. Blow's Gun Shop would be sold. The store, the business, the contents, everything was to be included in the sale except one item....the rug on the wall.

It was not for sale.

Papers were signed and the day came for the shop to change hands. All the details were complete and seemingly final, but the man still had one thing left to do.

Just a few days before Thanksgiving you could see him walking up the driveway. His gait a little slower, but his mission was as evident as the smile on his face. He knew the little girl would be coming for the holidays and he had one last thing to do.

His task......to deliver a promise.


He pulled the rug out from under his arm and said,

"This.... belongs to Lindsey."


This year I am thankful for heroes, ones who keep promises made to little girls. I am thankful that she still believes that a man is as good as his word because that is the world that she knows.


That sweet gun shop owner is a living example that no matter the price....

some things are just not for sale.

What an incredible gift Mr. Harold Blow gave my daughter that day.....

Oh, and he gave her the rug too. ;)

Within Arm's Reach

Her name is Anna.

That is the only other thing I know about her. It is kinda sad really. We literally spent days together.

We laughed, she watched me cry, she saw me pray, she watched me walk out when I just couldn't take it anymore.

She was always …..there.

When alarms would sound or questions arise, she was the voice of calm during a very unnerving time.  Anna had never met my family. She knew nothing of the “Argos.” She had no knowledge of our history or our story. She was simply the nurse assigned to care for my mom.

She was more than a medical professional tending to the needs of the sick, Anna was amazing.

She knew just what to do, and just what to say in those long days sitting, simply waiting. There is no doubt in my mind that one of the most lonely places in the world is in a hospital room.

She would encourage me, teach me, and lead me back again to hope. When fear or doubt would begin to creep in, she knew at that moment how to chase it away.

She taught me how to feed my mom when she couldn't even eat. She would stay right beside me when I told her I was scared .…...because mom would choke on everything.

She would even sit there with mom so we could leave the room. She would say “ I won't leave her, I promise.”

She was entertained by our family stories when she knew we needed to laugh. She would listen as we recounted God's faithfulness because she knew WE needed to hear it again ….outloud.

Oh, and she melted my daddy's heart. She would tolerate his banter, and his sometimes seemingly stubbornness, just to pull me aside and tell me what a rare love we were in the presence of.

I said “other” thing, because I know this one thing about Anna. She is a minister. She exemplified being “ the hands and feet of Jesus.”

                My family was the mission field that week, and she was the missionary.

I guess this is the first time I can remember, in a long time, when the mission field was.... me.

        I have heard it all my life. I have even done it....with gusto! We commission missionaries, we go on mission trips, we plan for projects in the name of the Great Commission.... and I support it.

       But, I think there is more to it.  When I look at the life of Jesus, the daily accounts are when the ministry took place.  It was in the "ordinariness" of his Divinity that HE touched people.  We don't see him going farther than about 40 miles from home, but when HE went, he was on purpose, and changed everything with His presence.

      A life on mission. A different way to view each day with purpose. To wake up and look around at the world God has placed me in and ask myself this question...

" How can I bless another in such a way that they want hear about the Jesus I have found?”

I think they call it "Lifestyle Evangelism."  I just call it real life, with a real Savior, serving real needs in the real world.

    To not get so bogged down in the tasks of the day that I miss my mission field.

            That may mean in the middle of Wal-mart, in the drive thru at McDonalds,  at the church, or even in my own kitchen.....those are my mission fields.

Let's face it...It is easy to be Jesus and proclaim His name to strangers who have never seen you have a bad day.

           It is much more difficult to ask your child's forgiveness when you both know you have royally screwed up.

Honestly, for me, it is easier to go on a mission project half-way around the world than to be Jesus in my own classroom.

                                   The cost is simply greater in the daily.

“Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and then the utmost parts of the earth....” Acts 1:8

I think God purposefully put the instructions in that order because ….well, that is the hard way.

 He knew that we had to get the difficult parts down first.

         The calling of mission is for us all. The ministry lifestyle is corporate. We are all on mission with each choice we make. We wake up everyday with the unbelievable opportunity to “ Go into all the world.....”

Go to your Jerusalem first, wherever that may be.

Remembering that sometimes “the world”  begins within your own arm's reach.