Love! What is it?

It was just another day starting out in our house, my daughter woke up then proceeded to let us know that she was ready to get out of her crib by her usual cries until one of us sneaks through the door playing peek a boo with her as we pick her up and then start our day. Afterwards my wife had gotten up and then came and joined us in the kitchen, but today started as last night ended, not on the speaking terms of positive people. Then the questions started of whats wrong, why the attitude, then the snapping at each other. Soon we became like two logs on the fire just heating each other up with our words. 

Really! Is this how husbands and wives are suppose to be treating each other, in a competion of who can say the meanest thing and hurt the other the most? I walked out of the house after another spew of word  exchanges and went for a walk. I then took out my cell phone and searched for a marriage hotline. Thank you google! I called and got in contact with a man named Joe. I shared with him our struggle and told him how things are starting and ending on a daily basis. He shared with me about what love is. He took me to 1 Corinthinans 13:4-8 you know the love chapter they call it? Well began to share with me of what love looks like when it is in action. Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it. You see, love is a verb and if I need to remind you that verb words are action words and if you still are not following me, well this means when you say something in a sentence like walk, running, talking, yelling, etc... you get the point. Love is the same thing. Let me break this verse down for you, "4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8Love never fails." 

Wow! All of these four verses are verses of action. It seems that love is constantly working and doing something positive. Sadly, when my wife and I would argue, I had a verb, but it was doing the negative action. Joe went on to share with me that this is what love does and this is what I am suppose to be doing. You see I am the head of the household who is leading us to glorify God, but when I am not loving my wife then I am not leading us to glorify God. Joe told me this, "Chris, since you are a bearer of Christ, you already have love in you, but there is one who wants to keep love from happening and he will do it however he can, but you have to remind yourself of this, Christ is in me and I am in Christ and since that is the truth then I 'Chris' is patient, I am kind, I do not envy, I do not boast, I am not proud, I do not dishonor others, I am not self-seeking, I am not easily angered, I keep no records of wrongs. I do not delight in evil but rejoice with the truth. I will always protect, I will always trust, I will always hope, I will always persevere." So this is what love is? The crazy thing about this is that I alone cannot do this and just as Joe said that I have Christ in me so with Christ I can do these things, but it is my choice to do so and not anyone else's. Man, what truth to swollow and get humble real quick. This is up to me to be the positive action verb called LOVE, but I have to do it and no one else can. 

When I returned home I sat outside on the steps for a moment praying for Christ to go in before me and bring the peace we needed and then I proceeded into the house. My wife was on the phone talking to one of her friends when I walked in and I went and got my bible and a note pad and begin to write about love. My wife asked me where I went after a few moments and I told her I went and sat under one of the trees around the corner and prayed and thought about some stuff. We began to open up and love came forth. I shared with her about my conversation with Joe and told her that I was sorry for my actions and she said the same. We went through out our day which was funny, before the day ended we had a counseling session later on that day as well. So when we had finished our day I really felt that God gave us a fresh start in life and in our marriage. We prayed that night and let God back in that day. I see that as a man of faith I have some work to do on my end so that the action of love can be the positive action in our home and my wife can feel the love that God designed for her to feel as a wife and my daughter can see what it is like for a husband to really love his wife and for a wife to really love her husband.

Love without pain

Just the other day I went to the store and bought my wife a pink rose for her birthday, something that simply said, "I love you!" Later I put the it in a vase with water and I noticed that the rose stem did not have any thorns on it, being in landscaping for the past eight years on and off I have never seen a rose bush grow without thorns on them. How nice it was to behold this beauty and not get pricked in the finger by a thorn, to be able to handle it with no threat of pain. This got me thinking about how our society has viewed relationships. It seems that people in our society wants to go into their relationships with no threat of pain from the thorns that comes with it. If they see any sign of something that is going to cause them pain, they want to back out and run the other way.

Would it not be nice to pick out love as though we were going to pick out a rose from a floral shop that had no threat of being hurt?!?! But love is going to hurt some times. Why? Cause we are human and we are fallen. Just as it says in Romans 3:23 "We all have sinned, and we all have fallen short of the glory of God!" God loves us with an unconditional love that never lashes out at us or makes us feel any less than what we are. He loves us and fills us with His prefect love. The good thing is that we will one day love like this too. When Christ returns to get His bride the church that He is making spotless with His blood. It is then we will take off this imperfection and put on perfection.

So as we pass by the roses in the floral shop knowing that they will not prick us when we pick them, just remember that the ones on the bushes are and there are band-aids to cover the wound up, just as forgiveness is the band-aid for the love that hurts sometimes. I was told to go and read the love chapter in the bible 1 Corinthians 13 about what does love look like and there it is, vs 5, "it keeps no records of wrongs!"

Something to think about...

The Calling to Missions

Greetings My Friends, Brothers, and Sisters in Christ,

Most of you know about my very first trip to Ethiopia and the following trips after that. This first trip would lead into a calling of full time ministry, ministering to single mothers, widows, and orphans. This is something that I have done nothing but prepare myself for while continuing school for my degree in Social Services. This has been the longing on my heart for the past four years. I cannot express to you the great joy I have to follow this calling as I long to fulfill it.

There was one day started out the same as any other day. It had been raining as it does each day in Ethiopia during the winter time there, but this day would turn out different then all of the others. We had left one of many orphanages that we had visited when our team was approached by a mother that was crying. She got on her knees with her hands clasping in front of her and we could tell she was pleading with us as her two toddlers hung onto her staring up at us. No shoes for either of them and one had only a shirt on. We did not know what it was she was wanting until one of our guides stepped off the bus and told us that she was pleading for us to take her children. She was telling us that she could no longer feed, care, or clothe them. My heart sank as we stood on the street lined with eight foot walls around each house isolating us from the homes. That day and my life and  the direction in what I thought I wanted to do in life would change as stood there feeling shocked and helpless.

I wondered that day what was done for mothers in this position as I started noticing other mothers living on the streets as we drove thru the city of Addis Ababa. As one child after another would come up to our bus offering gum, Kleenex, and whatever else they had to sell us to help their mother who was living on the streets. They would line the bus on both sides each time we had to stop looking up at us, faces covered in dirt and some had no shoes for their feet. As I looked on I asked our guides what causes these mothers to get in this position. They told me that some of them their husbands had gotten a visa or left them so that left the mother with no skills for a job and no one to watch her children while she went to find work, others were left as widows as they had to watch their husbands die from HIV/AIDS, all the while they suffered with the same disease, and others had become prostitutes desperate for money but was never able to change their situation. I had asked who helps them in their situations and I was told that no one does. My heart was sadden as I watched each mother either standing or sitting as we passed them by. All I wanted to do was get off the bus and run up to each one of them, wrap them up in my arms, hold them, and somehow change their lives. It was then I felt the call to Ethiopia. It was then that a dream to change just a small part of the world began to form in my heart. Here I could leave everything I know back home in America and never go back, knowing that this is my hearts dream, but the responsibility of work and school would be waiting on me.

So now school is over and there are no other responsibilities that would give me a reason to stay here. My fiance and everything that I long for is in Ethiopia. My heart breaks when I think of these mothers that have to beg each day just to survive. This has been my dream for the last four years since my very first visit to Ethiopia. Now I am going to volunteer with Mission Ethiopia http://missionethiopia.com who shares the same heart as I do for these mothers, widows, and orphans.
http://missionethiopia.com/empowerment/

My plans and goals for this mission that is already in place is a day care for the children so the mothers do not have to leave them home alone or keep them every where they go. To find housing that they can afford with the money that they earn from working at Mission Ethiopia. To help them develop a relationship with Christ as I develop a relation with them. To help the orphans in their relationship and also going to school as most of them dream of doing, but have no money to do so.

This dream that I am so happy to share and it was one that I shared with my fiance before I asked her to marry me. She was very excited about it and was happy to know that I wanted to leave my country to come and help those in her country. So it is exciting that not only will I have a wife, but also someone who will walk with me and share in this vision and dream.

My dream cannot become a reality without your help. Prayerfully, financially, or spiritually. I need your prayers as I step out in faith. I also need financial support. I am praying for 70 people that would be willing to support me at $20.00 a month for my first 12 months. Starting this September as i plan to be there by Meskel (Ethiopian holy day) September 27. I am asking you to set aside some time to pray about being one of those supporters. For those who are willing  you will be a part of my full time ministry to the single mothers, widows, and the orphans to bring hope, empowerment, and change in their lives.

If you chose to support you can do it two ways. You can send a check to Belmont Church ATTN: Rob Fraizer 68 Music Sq. East Nashville, TN. 37211 made out to Belmont Church and put Christopher Fisher/Ethiopia in the memo, or if you prefer online you can click here Send Chris to Ethiopia then please email me at fisher.cmichael@gmail.com so that I can keep a record of you and send you a monthly letter so you can see how the Lord is using your donations to advance His kingdom.

Thank you very much for your love, support, and prayers. By your support through prayer and financially it is as you yourself are sending me out.

Christopher Fisher

A Rare Jewel

I want to share with you a little part of my life. Of course this has something... well everything to do with Ethiopia or should I say it is a rare jewel. It is one that you don't know the real value of it until you invest your time in it. You see this jewel was one that seemed to let me know that it was always there, almost saying that it was waiting on me. As I began to spend time learning more about the jewel the more I became interested. I loved how the jewel would gleam and capture my attention.

On my next trip back to Ethiopia it was then that it all started to peace itself together. I seen that this was not just any rare jewel, this was a rare and priceless jewel.

You see this jewel was one that captured my heart before I ever knew it was captured. My heart would be filled with joy when I thought about the jewel. I never could get the jewel off of my mind. I knew once I seen the jewel one more time that this jewel was just for me. This was the jewel that I had been dreaming of all this time. This was the most beautiful jewel in the world. You see I love this jewel very much. Not because this jewel is rare and priceless, but because this jewel has captured my heart and made it her own. Yes, this jewel is someone very special in my life. Someone I hold dear to my heart. Someone that I want to provide for everyday, someone I want to serve everyday.

She is someone that I love with all of my heart. Someone that I never thought I could love so much in my whole life. As I look back on how our friendship has blossomed into this beautiful relationship... like it was suppose to.

This is to you my love. You are that rare and priceless jewel that has captured my heart and I love you so much baby.

Planes, Trains, Automobiles, & God

So to start off I just I have to give Him some glory. Jesus is the reason I am here in Dulles Airport. I had made a decision to spend my birthday with my very lovely lady who is happy to become my wife. So I had booked my tickets then got some buddy passes from Nashville to Dulles through Chicago. Well...Chicago was the problem. The day before I was to leave I was listing to the radio and heard the weather cast that Chicago was going to get twenty inches of snow.

So I called Southwest Airlines to ask about the flights going through there. The lady had informed me that the airport would be closed from 12 noon on Tuesday to 12 noon on Wednesday. My heart sank as my emotions went into a whirl wind cause my flight going to Ethiopia was to leave for Ethiopia at 11 on Wednesday. What was I going to do?

Well the lady who was so nice told me about a flight going into Baltimore leaving Nashville at 4:55 pm arriving at Baltimore by 7:45 pm. So I took it. I just had to figure out how I was going to get to Dulles from there. So I started looking around and found some options ranging from $200.00 to $15.00. Of course the more expensive one was just 45 minutes while the $15.00 one was about 2 hours. I prayed and asked God to please help me figure it all out.

So I packed until 4:00 that morning, went to bed around 4:30 that morning. I got up at 7:30 and packed everything in my car then off to work. I worked until 2:30 went to the bank came back to work and caught the airport shuttle at 3:45. Got the airport and the flight was delayed. No problem! As long as I was going to get there I didn't care.

We had left the airport and got to Baltimore by 8:30. I tried to find a way to Dulles and I had met a family who had adopted a child from China and they told me how to get there. So i caught a bus to the train station. I bought a ticket for an Amtrak train and was told to take that to Washington Central. Well with four bags that weighed over 100 lbs made it very difficult to get around, but that was alright. I had never been on the Amtrak before.

I boarded the train with my big over sized bag and my three heavy bags and this one guy helped me out. Praise God. I was nervous about this whole train thing, but I had to trust God. I was getting frustrated to with all of this shuffling around. So out of my confusion of talking with the family at the airport and the ticket booth lady I got off at the wrong stop, but God had a plan that I did not know about. I went to the ticket booth there and told them that I had never been there before, was lost and needed to get to Dulles Airport. He told me to buy and $3.00 ticket and take the orange line to West Church something or another. I just remember west church.

I boarded the subway and off I went. I started to wonder, Did God really have a plan? So I sat there wondering would there be anyone at that stop to help direct me to the right place? Well we went to stop at this one stop and we had to wait, because the subway train before us had broken down and all of those people had to get on the subway train I was on. I sat there while they all got on and these two guys stood right in front of where I was sitting. They talked about the game and about other things. Then they seen I was getting ready to get up and they made room for me. We started to make some conversation about how big my bags were. I told them what I was doing and what had happened to me. When I started to get off of the subway they asked me if I had any plans on getting to the airport and I told them that I did not.

One of the guys told me that he lives right by there and he would drop me off. Wow! What a God thing. It was all God. When we had gotten out to the parking lot there were no other transportation after that and they had told me that a taxi would have cost me $50.00 or more. Can you believe that? The driver kept telling me your a good guy so its a karma thing. I just to him that I like to think of it as the Grace of God. When he had dropped me off I just wanted to break down and cry. I was in awe of what God had done. He never ceases to amaze me. I just have to praise Him for His loving kindness and mercy. He had a plan all along and even though at times I started to second guess Him, get nervous wondering if I had made the wrong decision by taking the train, He still came through on His plan.

What a journey this has become as this winter storm has just missed D.C. I feel like it is as God was standing at the south side of D.C. blowing the storm and cold temperatures away from here so that our plane could left off on time. What a mighty God we serve.

This has truly been a story of Planes, Trains, Automobiles, and God. Can't wait to see what God does in Ethiopia. I hope it has something with a me staying doing ministry and being with the woman I love dearly. Would I do it again? You bet ya!