Worth it ALL?

There is something incredibly peaceful about writing by candle light as the rain buckets down outside. It’s Saturday night and the lights are out again, and I’m thankful.

Thankful to have a warm home to sit in.

Thankful for a handsome hubby who is out preaching.

Thankful for my two puppies who are here to protect me.

Thankful for some great rest this afternoon.

Thankful that I’m feeling better (this cold has been gross!).

Thankful for encouragement with the other SCORE ladies this morning.

Thankful for an awesome God!

And although I am feeling thankful tonight as it sounds like Niagara Falls on my roof I want to admit, there are days that I am not so thankful.

For those who serve in ministry (whether within your home church or overseas, part-time or full-time) we know that there are days that we stop and think… is it worth it?

Is it worth living miles away from family?

Is it worth struggling with a language that I’ll never speak perfectly?

Is it worth the late nights and early mornings?

Is it worth the inconveniences?

Is it worth repeating the same truth every single week to men, women and teens just to know that several will still chose their own way?

IS IT WORTH IT?

Truthfully, my flesh says no. Pack it up and travel the world… they’re not listening any way. Go back home and hug on your family that you miss so much. Find a job that will make you some money, you have a college education that’s just being wasted.

But my chest feels tight as I envision my Savior on the cross.

The beat of His heart slowing…

His gasps for air quickening…

His precious blood trickling…

His perfect tears flowing.

I want you to know from the bottom of my heart… IT IS WORTH IT!

Worth the tears over a repentant heart.

Worth the sweat on each baseball field.

Worth the exhaustion on Friday nights… and Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday too :)

Worth the rainy, candle lit nights.

Why?

 

Because of Y, who got baptized last Sunday…

Because of R sharing his testimony with the rest of the team…

Because of A standing up and being an example to the rest of the boys…

Because of Y graduating from Lily House to start her own business…

Because of N leaving a life of prostitution, coming to Christ and marrying the man of her dreams…

Because of M sharing her past and testimony openly for the first time ever…

Because of M and M who want to leave the streets…

Because of M and L and R and Y (and many more) accepting Jesus as their Savior at youth group…

And that’s just the report from this week :)

Friends, stick with it!

In your home, in your church, in your ministry...

It is worth it, because HE thought YOU were worth it!

Flowers and chocolates taken to girls prostituting on the streets of Boca Chica.

Are YOU afraid of the dark?

1 Peter 1:21
"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."

Each week I actually pray about what God wants me to share on this blog. We have never wanted it to be a Robersy and Sarah thing, but we want it to show a true picture of what our awesome God has been doing and teaching us here in the DR. Most weeks there are actually verses or subjects that come up over and over again. This has been one of those weeks :)

I have been going through the life of David with the ladies at Lily House. It began with an in depth study of others involved in his story (Hannah & Samuel, Saul, Eli) and then we began to look at David's life. This past week we got to the story of when David fought Goliath, so this brought up the subject of fears. Each lady around the circle shared their fears... needles, sharks, losing a loved one... cows. Yes. COWS. Haha. Poor thing had some dramatic story about a cow chasing her and how it waited at the bottom of the tree she had climbed for hours. Everyone was asking if she meant a bull, but nope, it was a cow!
Anyways, the most interesting fear was a fear of returning to the world.

Fast-forward to Friday night. Robersy shared a message in youth group about how we are now children of light and not of darkness. He signaled to another youth leader who quickly shut off all the lights. It was pitch black with girly squeaks and squeals coming from the darkness. I had been standing near the back of the hall so there was just enough light coming in from the street to see our newest girl at the LH running towards me. She grabbed my arm. "Sarah, I'm scared!" The fear in her eyes was real and she held on tight until Robersy lit a lantern.

Both situations and other little things throughout the week have really got me thinking about how careful we ought to be to not step foot back in to the world. It should freak us out! It should terrify us! Not because of what our mother will say, or of what our Christian friends will say, or of what our Pastor will say. It should freak us out because the whole reason we came from darkness to light is to proclaim HIM.

Look at 1 Peter 1:21 again, "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."

We are in the light because of HIM.
We are changed because of HIM.
We are different because of HIM.

We are chosen...
A royal priesthood...
A holy nation...
His possession...

WHY?

To proclaim HIM!

One of my sweet girls that I disciple at LH made a decision to get baptized this week. YAY! The joy of this spiritual momma's heart!!! But we had many conversations leading up to this precious moment to see why she wanted to take this step.
Her answer, "I want the world to see the change HE did in me."

This is why we're here in the Dominican. I don't love being away from my family or speaking a language that isn't my own. But HE changed me. HE changed Robersy. And we can't stay quiet! But we desire your prayers for us and for the precious Dominican souls that we work with every day. May we each have a true fear of the "dark" so that we may continue to proclaim HIM!

Some fun at youth group

Thankful for the help of GAP students too!

Last weeks game with Robersy's team.

Just a Glimpse of HIS Glory

I thought I'd begin my blog with some awesome pictures that I assumed Robersy took last week when he borrowed my camera. I imagined shots of his boys at practice when the scouts came to take a look at them... I imagined shots of the boys as they warmed up for the game on Saturday... I imagined maybe even a couple shots of youth group! 

This is what I found...

Is this what happens when I'm not home? LOL.

On a serious note though, I love that we can live and laugh through the good days and bad. God has blessed us beyond measure and even though we don't have photos of every day of ministry, we can't stop thanking the LORD for this beautiful life He's given us!

Last week I had written a short blog, but chose to post the newspaper article instead. However, God has been pricking my heart over this same topic that I began writing about last week for a week now... so I think it's time to share :)

A couple weekends ago we had a few girls from the GAP program ( Find out more about GAP ) over for 2 nights. They heard that I run so the both of them brought their sneakers and were excited to get up and get running on Saturday morning. It started great! A nice steady pace, wind in our hair, sun on our skin... lovely! The further we went the slower the pace became until one of the girls suggested walking. So I thought, maybe speed training would be a little easier. Walk, jog, sprint using the telephone poles as our guide... I thought I would have to resuscitate the girls by the end (just kidding Ciera and Rebecca! You did great!). The problem was, the girls hadn't been training as much as I had.

It reminded me of when I first began to run. Golly! I couldn't do a lap around National Stadium with out stopping to walk several times! It was hard!!! But each time I was able to go just a little bit farther... and a little bit farther... and even farther... until I've since run 2 half-marathons and many, many miles in training (thanks to Swan's Running club! Shout out!!!). 

Here is the incredible part. God created a body and a brain that could train and be stretched! Yes, Epsom salts became my best friend, but my body became accustomed to running farther each time. My brained learned how to put mind over matter and run my butt off until I reached the finish line every time!!! Have you realized what an awesome God we serve?

Last week I did a lesson about this with 2 of our youngest girls at the Lily House. Both have recently given birth and so we talked about how incredible it is to have a life inside of you. Have you stopped to think about it?! I won't talk about the details, but the chance that one thingy from you and one thingy from your spouse meet up and a life begins!!! Then that little life receives nutrients from the momma and then the momma produces food to continue providing for the baby once he/she is born! More than that, that same sweet baby knows how to breath within a sack full of liquid and then when he/she is born she just picks up breathing outside of the womb like he/she has been doing it all along. How does their body know? How does our bodies know?

Our bodies, our brains, our every breath declares that there is a Savior! 

The boys that Robersy has been training understand that they need to train to get better. Their muscles will grow, their bodies will strengthen. The pitcher knows that in order to pitch better he needs to train his arm or he could injure himself. So he begins to train and those muscles tear and repair... tear and repair... until muscles form. Who thought of that idea?! Our God did!

This awesome brain and body that our AWESOME God created is also used in our spiritual life. Robersy and I are almost finished reading through the Bible even though "Read the Bible in a year" on our schedules took a tad longer. The Bible is a BIG book!!! But God created brains that could read and digest some beautiful, BEAUTIFUL parts of scripture.

In discipleship one of my ladies shared how God has pricked her heart about memorizing scripture, so we're working on it together. How are our brains doing this? They are memorizing and reciting scripture!

Time and time again my heart is reminded of the incredible Savior we serve. In small group with the GAP students we are going through a Max Lucado book called, "It's NOT about me" and this weeks chapter was about Moses and his desire to get a glimpse of God's glory. Do we have that same desire?

Just look in the mirror and we will get a glimpse. Eyes that see... a nose that smells... a mouth that tastes and speaks... hair that grows... ears that hear...  a body that feels (and by the way I am feeling my run from this morning...)

It says nothing about you and me. They all point to an INCREDIBLE SAVIOR!
I pray that you might get a glimpse of Him today :)

Newspaper Interview

We are so thankful to have had an article written by the Royal Gazette about what God is doing here in the Dominican Republic. Instead of writing a new blog this Monday, we'd love for you to check it out :)

Click the link below!

Dedicated to Serving Others

God bless! And remember to stay in touch rslara14@gmail.com

Serving HIM well

It is 11:20PM and I am WIDE AWAKE! 

I guess the Frappuccino did not help, but this gives me a chance to clear my head before climbing into my comfy bed on this cool Sunday evening.

Last week I shared about all the awesome things that God is doing in our ministry. Robersy had an amazing baseball team working beside him for a week (see the pics on last week's post), we've seen people saved (yay!!!), street ministry is up and going (Praise God!), etc.

However, in both of my 2015 posts I've mentioned “re-vamping” our schedules…  I've just never mentioned why (NO, I AM NOT PREGNANT! I know that’s what you were thinking!).

I was pooped at the close of 2014. I had served my butt off in several different areas and felt like I had loved my husband, but as I took time to analyze how I had used my time I was convicted about how much time I had spent with the Lord.

“But I spend 24/7 with God… I’m a missionary!”

LOL.

Although His promise in Deuteronomy 31:6 is true that He is always with me and I've been pretty faithful in my personal devotions, on my side I have been MARTHA a lot more than I have been MARY.

Now, although people have a whole lot to say about Martha, I actually like her and her zeal to serve… and her feisty-ness to get her sister involved too :)

HOWEVER, my 2014 schedule looked a bit like this:

SERVE!!!... Use any energy left over to be an awesome wife!!... Spend time with Jesus.

It left me EXHAUSTED and if you read through some of my old 2014 posts there is a lot said about desiring rest. Which never seemed to come, by the way.

So during our Christmas break I spent some time sitting and thinking about if I had served God well.

I served HARD!

I served with PASSION!

But “WELL”??? I don’t know.

So the more I thought, the more I prayed and the more I prayed, the more I knew. If I want to serve in full-time ministry for the rest of my life something has got to change.

Enter 2015.

This year I’m flip-flopping my life. Well, God is flip-flopping my life cuz I’m going to need His help.

Spending time with the Lord is and always needs to be PRIORITY #1 (please keep me accountable friends!).

Then comes serving my hubby well – this is my first ministry.

And then finally, I will still serve my butt off… but only after the first 2 things are taken care of.

To be honest, I've still kept most of my responsibilities from the past year but have scheduled them in a way so that GOD might be glorified, not Sarah.

So I hope that helps you understand when I talk about re-vamping my schedule. 

And so far, so good!

The more time I've been spending in the Word, the more I've desired to serve my hubby and this has overflowed into a true joy of serving in ministry. But since it’s only Jan 19^th (yup… it just turned midnight so I am fading fast) I do ask for your prayers as I try to do as God has called each one of us to do… 

Serve Him WELL.

How can we pray for you this year? We’d love to hear from you! Rslara14@gmail.com

Get your cleats on!

1... 2... 3... GO!

We have been excited to jump back in to ministry in 2015. We have revamped our schedules and really prayed about how GOD would want to use our time. We're praying for a good year!

Robersy started right off the bat (haha... pun intended!) with a baseball team from Tennessee. 

*SIDE NOTE* 
An awesome direction that SCORE is really trying to move in is less giving, more helping. This means, we don't just go to a village to hand out food, instead we are sending people to help the village grow their own gardens so that they can grow their own food for years to come. This also means, we don't just go and play all the time... but we play some AND teach the kids the importance of attending school, hygiene, etc. We want our ministry to mean something and help the future of the Dominican Republic.

This has always been heavy on Robersy's heart. We just don't hand things out. The boys on his team have to earn what they receive through good behavior, attending school, attending church, etc. He has had a positive response within the baseball ministry by doing this. The boys don't beg... they just work harder. 

Saying this, an FCA coach from Tennessee was excited about how God was moving here and wanted to bring his team to serve with Robersy's team.

Over the course of the week, the boys did ministry together (picking up trash and handing out tracts), trained together (field and beach training) and played together. Yesterday after the church service 3 boys on Robersy's team even received Christ as their personal Savior!!! God is doing awesome things!

Here are a few pics from their time together.

I've (Sarah) had a great week too. Apart from sharing with the team and visiting a few games, things are back on the go at the Lily House. After a lot of praying, planning and preparing, we've welcomed 3 minors in to the program and we are excited to see how God moves there. Pray for the girls as they get accustomed to a new situation and plenty of new people!

Thursday night was our first night out for the year on street ministry and it was great to link up with some regulars and meet some new ladies. As a result of going out we had 1 lady visit the church with her 2 children. THEN, following the church service a lady who works at a restaurant where we minister on Thursday nights came marching in (she didn't even make it to the service, she arrived late, but on a mission!) and said, "I can't do it any more... I can't keep running. I want to accept Christ as my Savior!"

WOOHOO!!! I am so excited to see God's hand moving in Boca Chica. One step at a time... one woman at a time... GOD be glorified!!!

Toes in the sand...

It is absolutely perfect. The sun is shining, the breeze is blowing and the sand is squeezing between my toes at Boca Chica beach. I can't help but smile as I read Psalm 84.

"How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God."

Reflecting on the previous year I can remember times when I saw God's hand so clearly that I thought He'd appear at any moment, while at other times I questioned if God remembered that I was there. I can remember times when I had more than my two hands could hold, while other times I literally had to grasp for help. I can remember when God answered my prayers so fast and so clear, while other times I simply had to wait.

But as we begin this new year... this new opportunity... this new adventure... I rejoice for the peace I find in His presence. I strove (is that a word?!) to walk faithfully in 2014 and give thanks for the times that I failed because it reminded me that it is impossible to do life on my own. I want HIM. I NEED HIM. My soul longs to do right in His eyes.

HIS eyes.

HIS eyes.

If you look at verses 11 and 12 of Psalm 84 it reminds us in whom we must place our trust.





"For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in You."

Hope this makes Carolyn, Cathy and the ladies at
Columbia Baptist feel a little warmer this winter :)

If there is one thing I am taking and learning from 2014, it's that I serve an audience of ONE. 

The LORD GOD ALMIGHTY!

I have tried to please others, be who others have wanted or not wanted me to be, do or not do what others wanted me to do, but... that is not what God desires of me or of any of His children. He wants me. But He wants ALL of me. 

Those efforts spent changing my whole schedule, saying yes to commitments I physically couldn't even keep up with and even trying to change my character to make people happy, are better spent praisin' Jesus. 

Because that's why He created me in the first place. For Him. (Col 1:16)

So as I head back to Lily House tomorrow and things get busy with an awesome to-do list in other ministries while living life here in the Dominican Republic... may HE be all I strive to honor. In my actions. In my words. In my being. 

Happy New Year friends. Let's do 2015... for HIM!