Let your Light Shine!

I am an avid reader of Our Daily Bread. One of the meditations for the past week was about letting our light shine, no matter who we are. It was referring to the book of Matthew where Jesus encouraged the disciples to let their light shine before men so they may see their good works.

After the past few days, I have an additional view on this phrase. While my husband is a little loud and can let it all hang out, I am much more reserved. As Ted says, I hold my cards close to my chest. However as a couple we are very private. We try to handle everything we do, ourselves. We try not to inconvenience anyone. Over the past couple of weeks we began sending brochures to family and friends announcing our adoption plans and asking for help. This was huge for us as a couple and humbling. This past week, I sent an email to my co-workers, trying to sell items, but I also let people know why I was selling items. Because of my pride, I battled for weeks, whether or not, to let people at work know what we were doing and that we needed help. But I’m so glad I did. People shared some beautiful and inspirational stories (see Share with Us). Also we got our first donation as a result of my sharing!

During the month of August, our pastor has been doing a series on Vision Victory. The essence of it is that if you don’t have vision, you can’t have victory in your life. He also talked about one’s vision being connected to people. In other words, we need people to fulfill our vision. The right people.

Receiving our first donation (Thanks Rodney!) and the promise of others (Thanks Cousin Esther and Candace!) is showing us how people are really connected to our vision. Our vision of having our baby. Our pastor and others at church have prayed for us. People have shared their excitement. But none of this would have happened if we didn’t let our light shine. If we had not shared our story with all of these people, we would be struggling trying to do things on our own and perhaps not seeing the victory that God intends. By us keeping things to ourselves we may have been robbing ourselves of the life we truly desire.

So let your light shine! Share your story. You never know whose heart will be touched by your words, by your mission, or by the way you live your life.