I love my friends…dearly.

I love my family…unconditionally.

I love my God…passionately.

Yet, I have been convicted recently about my lack of love for people who are lost.  I have, in the past, lacked a sense of urgency to reach people with the message of Christ.  I have been unwilling to be uncomfortable.

Introverted to the max.

I am an introvert of the worst kind.  I hate using the telephone.  I feel awkward in a group.  There is nothing that terrifies me more than public speaking.

So, imagine my horror when I show up to a birthday party for a classmate of my daughter’s only to find that we are the only guests.  No one else showed up.  I was left to make small talk with total strangers for 2 1/2 hours.

It is actually very misleading to say no one showed up.  The truth is…the Holy Spirit showed up…in a big way.

I found myself completely heartbroken for a family who had multiple issues: poverty, family drama, legal issues.  Most of all, however, they needed Jesus.

I sent a text to my husband saying…I’m the only one here. I was hoping he would sense my desperation and feel sorry for me.  His response?  Invite them to Sunday School.  I rolled my eyes, thought yeah right, and stuck my phone back in my pocket.  They are not going to be interested in coming to church with us.

The Holy Spirit would not leave me alone.

I knew I was supposed to invite them.  I knew I was…and not just because my husband suggested it.  I knew that if I walked out of that house without at least mentioning the possibility of church…If I could stare in the face of those children and then walk away making no effort to introduce them to Jesus…If I could look at their financial needs and make no effort to help them…I would be greatly dishonoring the name of Christ.

So, I invited them to Sunday School.

And, not only did they come…they came in the middle of a flood…with excitement and smiles.  And they want to come back…again and again.

I now find myself planning a baby shower for a woman I only met a week and a half ago.   Little ol’ introverted me.

I find myself bursting at the seams to tell these people about the love of God…but, first, I’m trying to show it to them.

They will know us by our love.

My husband said the most profound thing to me.  We can take absolutely no credit for the work of the Holy Spirit.  However, God is so amazingly gracious in that even though He does the work…He allows us to experience the joy.

That’s what it is.  Pure joy at the opportunity to serve someone…to love on them.

Imagine…an introvert like me loving on complete strangers in a physical, tangible way and then speaking to them about the love of God.

That is the power of Christ in me…