“What commandment is the foremost of all?”  One of the scribes asked.

She tried hard to listen to the answer.   The question was directed toward a young teacher who had been, for the last hour, arguing with the Scribes and Pharisees.   However, his manner was different than any she had heard before.  He spoke calmly and with a certain confidence that she had not seen before amongst teachers of the law.

“Hear, O Israel!  The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.”

A small gasp caught in the back of her throat as she listened to the words.   She had heard the law read before and knew this was what God had spoken to Israel many, many years ago.  But how could she truly love such a great God?  What could she offer to such a King?  Her husband had been dead for several years now, and she was only barely surviving, day by day trying to stretch the few cents she had in order to buy food to eat.

Half-listening to the young teacher, these thoughts grew in her mind.  Her hand, cracked and bleeding from hard work, slipped instinctively into the small pouch she carried at her waist and fingered the two smooth, small coins.  It was all she had left.   She had planned to go shortly to the market and buy something to eat.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart…”  Perhaps she should offer these coins to the temple treasury.   They wouldn’t buy much anyway.  But, she was already hungry from having so little food the days before.

“No” she spoke in an audible whisper.  Somehow it seemed much better to give something to God, and this was the only thing she had left in the world to offer.

The crowd was large.  Religious leaders who had been questioning the young teacher, curious onlookers who loved listening to the discussions and rich men coming to make great contributions to the temple treasury all thronged about.  If only the young teacher would not look her way, she hoped secretly.  He would probably laugh if he were to see her giving such a small offering.  Certainly, he would think it worthless and scorn her for even trying to give something when she could only offer so little.

But alas, there he was taking a seat directly opposite the treasury.  Now she would have pass by him to make her offering.  It took every ounce of strength to continue walking up toward to the treasury.  Common sense urged to forget this silly scheme, yet an irrepressible desire to give something to the Lord refused to allow her to turn around.

Head bent downward, she walked past him hoping he would not notice her.  The two coins so small, so worthless dropped into the treasury.

With a small chinking sound they were gone.  She turned to leave.

“Truly I say to you…” the young teacher was speaking to a small group of disciples gathered around him.  She stopped momentarily to listen before leaving the temple. “…This poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury”

She glanced around quickly, wondering who this poor widow might have been who could offer more to God than every other contributor.  Surprise filled her face as she saw the teacher and his disciples looking her way.  It was impossible; she could not be the ‘poor widow’ the young teacher was referring to.  She had given the very least of anyone.

“…For they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.”

Slowly, she raised her eyes to see if the teacher really meant what he said.  His face was sincere and earnest.  He nodded gently to her as he saw her eyes searching his face.

Turning away, joy filled her heart as she pondered this strange statement.  She had given so little to God and somehow it was counted as more.

The thought of food momentarily crossed her mind and suddenly she didn’t feel hungry.  The amazing words of Scripture she had heard this young teacher speak seemed to fill her with everything she needed.  She walked along the road away from the temple unsure of where she was headed.

Unsure of direction, future, or life and yet filled with more life than she had ever experienced through the words of God that had been spoken today.  Contributing less and yet giving more.  Hungry and yet fully satisfied.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *   *

This story of the poor widow is based off the account of the widow and her two copper coins found in the gospel of Mark.

One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’ “The second is this, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

…And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.”

—Mark 12:28-31, 41-44

One message, however, caught my eye, and rather than press delete, I started reading.  It began,

On this day two years ago, the world awoke to the mind-numbing reality of the greatest earthquake of our generation.

I didn’t get a chance to read much past that sentence, but what I had read was enough to greatly startle me.   Had it really been two years since the earthquake in Haiti?  Of course, I knew about the earthquake, but largely, it had been off my mind for a very long time.  Families torn apart.  Homes and possessions destroyed.  Two years ago today, Haitians were experiencing unimaginable suffering.   For two years they have lived with the haunting nightmare of it all.  But, I had forgotten.

It wasn’t an intentional forgetting.  Simply, I am so far removed from the reality of it all, that it slips my mind.

Thousands of people will never be able to forget.  Neither should we.

Will we remember?

Will we remember Haiti?

Will we remember the suffering around the world?

Will we remember the persecuted?

The answer is simple–WE MUST.

“Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our god and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress….” (James 1:27)

“Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body.” (Hebrews 13:3)

We must remember.

“You have to take this to Mr. Fry. It’s very important. Please don’t lose it!”

“I can’t do that!” I began, dismayed at the idea of having to go to, by myself, to the house of Mr. Fry.

“You are very well able to, and you must,” was the firm reply.  “Also don’t let anyone know what you have.”

“What is it anyway? I wanted to know.

“I can’t tell you; it’s safer that way. Now go.” I was sent with an impatient shove toward the door. I walked a few steps outside, then turned around and went back.

“Give me some directions.” I insisted to my employer. “You know I’ll get lost otherwise.”

“Alright, alright; listen carefully. Go straight on the main road, until you come to where the road forks. Go left. Turn at the first right, three time. Then go straight. You’ll come to Mr. Fry’s property. You can figure it out from there.” I repeated the directions to him as a small precaution, and I was on my way.

I walked straight for a while without noticing where I was going. I had whistled a bit and held some conversations with myself, when I suddenly realized I needed to think about where I was going. The road I was taking could not be defined as straight. It twisted and turned, first to the right, then the left, and so on. However, I decided that, as I had not come to a fork in the road, this must be the correct way.  I continued on when I was knocked to the ground from…I can’t say what.

“Why” I sputtered. “What’s happened?” I rose to my feet and spun around several times looking for the cause of my fall, but I couldn’t see anything – just that same winding road I had been walking on for what was beginning to seem like hours. My fall forgotten, I began to contemplate whether or not I was going the correct way to Mr. Fry’s house. I had been to his place hundreds of times; but now that I really had to get there, I couldn’t seem to remember a thing.

“Let me just think about the directions I was given.” I said aloud, beginning to become somewhat concerned. “Go straight until the road forks. Go left. Then turn right, then left, then right.  Wait a minute; that’s not correct. This is it – straight until the road forks. Left at the fork, and then left three more times. That’s it!” I congratulated myself for remembering the directions so perfectly and so quickly.

I began on my way, once again. As I walked, the sun began to set, and pretty soon it was close to dark. Still I hadn’t come to the fork in the road. “I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere, for he couldn’t have meant for me to walk this far. I shall turn around.” I commenced running, and in the dark of night many miles back, I came upon the fork in the road. I glanced at my pocket watch as I turned left. It was quite late.

I tried to run faster, and pretty soon I came to my first left. I confidently took it and continued on my way.  Half an hour later, I came to my second left. However, this time I wasn’t quite so confident as to whether I was remembering my directions correctly. But I was so late as it was! I just had to do what I remembered.  I took the left hoping that soon I would come upon some late night traveler who could affirm to me that I was headed toward Mr. Fry.

After another hour I had completed all of my directions, but what met my eyes did not appear to be what I had remembered. Had there been some mistake? I began to worry. Surely I hadn’t taken another wrong turn a ways back. That was impossible. Or was it? No I had followed the direction explicitly. I must just be remembering wrong about how his place looked.

With this determined, only one problem remained. There were no homes anywhere in sight. Whether or not I had remembered the surroundings of my destination correctly, I did know that a house should be sitting directly in front of my now. Oh where had that house gone?  Houses don’t just disappear.  A sickening feeling came into my stomach as I contemplated what could be wrong.  Was I supposed to have taken three lefts, as I had done, or should I have taken three rights?

The new year is always a wonderful time to recall the passing year and remember the ways that God has been working in my life.   It’s a time to take inventory of what the Lord has been teaching me and consider ways that I have grown through the last year.  It’s also a time to look ahead toward another year of life and reestablish or create resolutions and refocus on life. 

God taught me a lot of different lessons throughout the past year.  There were many lessons about trusting the Lord, contentment, faithfulness and responsiblity, and loving others.   There were trials and tears that we faced with our church family and joy in the Lord as He worked in all of our lives.  There were new friendships formed.  There were exciting changes in my life as I finished highschool and started in on some new adventures.   Through it all, God showed us all once again, how very, very faithful He is!

The new year started out very differently than I had imagined that it would, with the death of my grandmother.  Certainly, however, this has caused us to refocus this year on how we are living our lives.  While God controls everything, we have no certainty of life and what a reminder this was of how quickly life can change.  I want to keep this in view throughout 2012–I want to remember that every breath I take, every day I life is a gift from the Lord.  I want to use these gifts wisely and in a way that brings honor to His name.

As far as Scripture resolutions, this is what I have:

**Begin every day with morning prayer (Psalm 5:3–In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; in the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.)

**Pray daily for the spread of the gospel throughout the world and the persecuted church (Matthew 6:10–Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven; Hebrews 13:3–Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourself also are in the body.)

**Encourage another believer daily (Hebrews 3:13–But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.)

**Journal regularly (1Chronicles 16:12–Remember His wonderful deeds which He has done, His marvels and the judgments from His mouth.)

I want my main focus of the year to be on the Word of God and prayer.  The vastness of the Bible is amazing and I want to spend a lot of time reading and studying it.  Also, the example of Christ’s prayer life is very challenging to me–much diligence needs to be applied to the area of prayer.

“Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.”  But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
–Luke 10:38-42

One thing is necessary.  One thing.  Let’s focus one that one thing. 

In the morning when I rise,
Give me Jesus
When I am alone,
Give me Jesus
And when I come to die,
Give me Jesus

You can have all this world,
But give me Jesus.

My mom explained how she still needed to sit down and get some thoughts prepared for the new year. 

I announced that I would no longer be making my typical new years resolutions.  

Don’t ask why I prepare new year resolutions like clockwork the last week of December.  Reasons unknown, I do it anyway.  And every year, last week of December, I recall how badly those aforementioned resolutions went.  For example, I cannot even recall this year’s resolution, with the exception of one. 

In light of that, I am completely revamping my resolution making process for the year 2012. 

Each ‘resolution’ I choose for 2012 will be a Scripture verse/passage.  Like this:

1. Psalm 5:3–In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; in the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.   (Begin every day with morning prayer.)
2. Hebrews 3:13–But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.  (Encourage another believer each day.)

Every December, I get excited about the upcoming year.  But this year I’m even more excited than normal! 

What do you think?  Do you make New Year’s resolutions? 

Thank you, friends, for your comments on the previous photo I posted of this drawing!  You all are so kind! 

(I apologize for the poor quality of this photo.  I was having difficulty getting a better photo, however; so this will have to do :)