Dear God

Dear God,
I'm sure you probably already know that I sponsor Leandro from Guatemala and Sadrakh from Indonesia.  They are like my own two children, though they are not my own flesh and blood. I imagine them day in and day out-going to school, playing outside, helping their mama in the kitchen, helping their papa in the fields, and learning about You.  You are the sun that shines down upon them, the faces of the Compassion Volunteers that greet them each day at their learning centers.  You ensure that these people reflect my love to them each and every day.  How can I express gratitude for that? I can't!

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good" ~Psalm 107:1.(This sums it up!)

You provide for Leandro and Sadrakh because You are GOOD. This goodness is even more exemplified in the sense that you allow me to be a part of this relationship.  You allow me to receive their letters and their pictures. You allow me to be a Compassion advocate and to speak about Your goodness to others. I am part of your body-a work in this world. So, thank you Lord, for all you have done and all you are doing in my life and in the lives of Sadrakh and Leandro.  Forever shall Your Name be praised.

I love you.

Michelle Rhea

http://www.compassion.com/

I needed this!

It's been a good day.  I spent the AM with Shana ( a friend of mine from a previous work location) at Starbucks and then at the Gateway church. I had a blast. It was a nice reprieve from my ever watchful mind.  It was also a big confirmation of something I NEEDED TO HEAR.

Suffering links us with Christ.  Suffering is now part of God's design for our lives, and it reminds us we need Him.  We shouldn't try to pluck people out of their suffering, but should join them on their level and simply "be" with them.  What a wonderful message, thanks to a man from Venture Expeditions. It was one of those services where I really felt like God was speaking through him directly to me!  It was refreshing. 

That's all for tonight. Short and simple.

Troubled

So, I have renewed my faith in Christ very recently, and I can't blame my husband for being skeptical. I mean, I've done this now several times, and each time I have fallen away.  What kind of commitment does that look like to him? And then to demand that he make that same commitment. He's probably like "lady, are you serious?".  So this has been weighing heavily on my heart lately.  What do I do? Do I just give up my faith and renounce my belief because it can never include Clint? Do I...leave him? I mean, I could never do that, but I can't lie and say that horrible thought hasn't grazed my mind. So this where I'm at...

Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.  ~ 1 John 2:6

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. ~John 14:15

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. ~Romans 6:4

I take this to mean I must live by action...I must be a living example of Christ for my husband and for others.  I could sit and stew, I could give it all up and just go back to the darkness I was in, or I can love him unconditionally, stand by him, and be an example of Christ-like love.  So here is my prayer...

Jesus, please help me in the feat.  I haven't the strength or the will to do it on my own, but with Your help, I know I can.  Help me serve my husband and submit to him, yet still lead him along this path that leads to You.  When he makes even the slightest attempt to reach You, grab him.  And please, help me deal with my emotions along this road.  In our Heavenly father's name I pray, AMEN.

What a Day

I'm not a perfect Christian, or a person for that matter. I make loads of mistakes all the time.  I do know it is dang hard to keep the happy "faith smile" as I call it, plastered to my lips when my day goes down the hole.  I mean, aren't we humans ridiculous sometimes? So pliable, so easily enraged or depressed.  And it can be so overwhelming.  It's like we react to our trash can getting tipped over as if the offender actually murdered our cat and made lacivious acts upon our spouse.  But really, today was a bad day. What started off as a great day turned sour the minute I couldn't get my new CD to work in the car.  Sooo, I listed to Life 107.1 the whole way to work and didn't really find any songs I could sing along with (see, it's all about me, if you didn't know...).  Perhaps I could have listened to the words and reflected, but I didn't.  Work was pretty uneventful throughout the day.  Then, at  4:50, an argument ensued between me and two co-workers. I don't even know if you'd call it an argument.  Perhaps it was simply the meeting of a tornado against an ancient standing house.  I don't know...regardless, it reduced me to a ten minute stretch of sobbing in one of my exam rooms while two people came to try to talk to me. So when I start crying, I'm inconsolable until everyone leaves me alone so I can re-coup.  I'd get it almost under control and then BAM..."Rhea, are you okay".  AHHHH, No, I'm *sniff* not...I got in *snort* a fight with *horribly unattractive sound* (you get the picture).
Then, to top it all off, I get home and someone on facebook says, in essence, "you aren't a Christian if you say good god". Apparently that's blaspheming...I tell ya, I'm walking a tight rope over another tight rope over a shark tank over a burning fire...there's no escape. 

Testimony

So I guess I need to get one more post in...who am I kidding? It's not like someone is desperately waiting for my post--I have no followers!! I don't know if I want followers, per-se.  I mean, I want people to read what I post, like it when they do, and hate it when they don't. Followers just sounds so diligent and miliatry-like...so anyways, what is this post going to be about...IT'S ABOUT ME!!

My name is Rhea (Ray) Hutchcroft, and I'm a 25 year old CRAZY girl! I was the kid that changed her clothes 15 times a day because at times I feel like 15 different people everyday.  My self-esteem odometer has been on E for sometime, so I'm surprsied the fumes are getting me this far! I'm a nicoholic (that would be a recovering nicotine abuser). I also have a history of alcohol abuse and ocasional drug abuse.  HEY, I know-this is baring it all. But, I guess a testimony isn't any fun if I get up here and say, "Hi, my name is Dan, I had the perfect family life, nothing went wrong in my life, no, not even once, and I am so excited for tomorrow!!!" So back to my testimony.  I had a sleugh of stupid, dramatic, emotional (AKA MESSY) relationships with a lot of boys/men since I was 15. I think it's because my dad and I weren't connecting very well at that time, and my parents were very busy fighting with each other to help boost my self-esteem or my brothers.  I feel like that Samaritan woman chatting it up with Jesus. He looks right at her and says "Go get your husband"....and he knows she doesn't have one. She could have tried to cover it up, saying, "Yeah I'll go get him", but instead she said "I don't have a husband". Jesus shot back "You have had 5 husbands and the one with you now is not your husband". Now, if someone called me on something like that my already crumbling esteem would blow away like dust in the wind. The Samaritan woman says "you must be a prophet to know this." She then runs through town spreading the message that the Messiah is here. That woman probably thought that because of her past, the Messiah would never be able to redeem her. But I guess that's the message of my testimony.

I am broken on so many levels, and I'm no longer ashamed to admit it.  I am ashamed to stay away from the only source that can put me back together - Jesus Christ-my brother, my teacher and my savior. What a wonderful feeling. The world can beat me down day in and day out, but in the end, His hands will raise me up...

Those reading this may be like, "So...what's the point Rhea". The point is this: I am going to changing some things in my life with His help. I have some cleaning up to do, so to speak. Prayer is much appreciated :)

COMPASSION PLEASE!

Okay first of all, let me say I do not get enough different fonts to have fun on here!!! But anywho...

The reason I asked you to come this way is very specific in nature. Before you turn and run away, I want you to take a moment to go to Sponsor a Child link. I'm not asking you to go to this site and sponsor a child (though that would be AMAZING!). I am asking you to go here and start much simpler. Find any child that calls out to you, pulls on your heart strings, etc, and pray for them. Pray over them. Look at their face, their skin, their hair, their EVERYTHING and pray for them. Don't worry about how it sounds. If God was a grammar nazi none of us would be in His good grace :). Even if it's not YOU that is supposed to sponsor that child, perhaps with your prayers, the right people will be brought together-sponsor and child.

If you really want to run away at this point, do me a favor. Do it for me. I've had a not so good last couple of days and I could sleep a lot easier knowing there are people out there praying for these children.  And hey, if you want to talk more about Compassion, please don't hesistate to contact me DIRECTLY. I'd love to talk. Thanks from the bottom of my heart,Rhea