SECOND MILERS!
“Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two” (Matthew 5:41).
As we prepared to update the address labels to send out the new issue of Above Rubies, we encountered a problem. We had to manually verify nearly a thousand addresses, right when we needed to print labels! It is a lengthy task to locate the address, go to the USPS webpage and verify it, and then change it on our data base.
Knowing the urgency of the task, my Above Rubies helper smilingly started to work. She didn’t only work from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm as we do each day in the office. She worked through her lunch hour. She shifted into a new gear—the “second mile” anointing! She kept on with the job in the evenings. She worked all through the weekend and continued the same pattern the following week. She didn’t stop until the last address was verified! I called her, “Second Mile Haley.”
What a joy to see a “second miler” in action! Going beyond what was asked of her. My heart was encouraged and I know God looked down upon her with a smile. God is a second miler; He gives far beyond what we deserve. And He looks for second milers. There are so few of them around today. Most times people only do what is required and you can’t squeeze another inch out of them.
When we send out each issue of Above Rubies, I call for reinforcements. Folks lovingly and willingly come and help to get this massive job accomplished. I love it when Penny Raine arrives with her children. She doesn’t come for a few hours. She and her family come for the whole day and they work from morning until dark!
It was delightful to see Penny’s nine-year old daughter, Mercy, helping too. Children love to help with counting and little jobs. They work for a while, get tired of it, and go off to play and I am happy for them to do that. But not Mercy! Happy and smiling, never stopping, she worked all day. When other children stopped, she kept going. I thought to myself, “She’s being trained well. She’s going to be a second miler!”
Another young couple, with their little baby, came to help this time. They traveled from another city and worked diligently all day, until late at night, baby and all! Second milers again! They are raising finance to serve the Lord in Africa. They’ll make good missionaries!
Today was a lovely warm winter day, a perfect day to get outside and winterize my garden. I asked Cedar, my nine-year-old grandson to help me. We got stuck in, shoveling manure and compost on to each bed and then covering them with straw. Later in the day grandsons converged on our lawn to play football. I counted twelve of them! As they all enjoyed playing together, I said to Cedar, “You’re welcome to go and play too.” “No,” he replied, “I want to keep working.” And he kept working until it was dark! He didn’t have to keep working. He did it of his own volition. Another second-miler!
Awhile back our daughter, Serene, was shopping at Aldies and began to load a big cart of groceries on to the counter. Unexpectedly, a lady came up to her and said, “Let me help you” and proceeded to place all her groceries on the counter for her. She felt very blessed, especially when she did not have the eight children tagging on, but only Breeze who was nursing in the Ergo baby carrier, (although no one else would have known what she was doing). She went through the checkout, and as she began putting her big pile of groceries into bags with one hand, a man came up and said, “I’ll bag that for you.” He put all her frozen foods in her freezer bags and everything else into other bags and boxes.
As she walked her cart through the door another lady came out of nowhere and said, “I’ll push your cart for you” and pushed it all the way to her car. The lady left and before she knew it, another lady came up and said, “I’ll pack these groceries in the car for you” and proceeded to pack all her groceries away—better than she had ever packed them!
Serene could hardly believe what was happening and felt God pouring out His love upon her! But if that wasn’t enough, a young girl came up to her and said, “Can I take the cart back for you?” Five second-milers, each unknown to one another, reached out to help a young mother.
What kind of lifestyle are you teaching your children? Do you teach them to do only what’s necessary? Do you allow them to give only a token of their time or their ability? Or do you show them by your lifestyle how to go the second mile?
It is the second milers who will go far in this life. It is the second milers who will accomplish mighty exploits for God. Young people who do not stop when it is “time” to stop, but keep going until the job is finished! Young people who keep serving, even at inconvenience to themselves.
1 Corinthians 15:58 tells us to “abound” in the work of the Lord. The word “abound” means to go the second mile, to go above and beyond, to do more than is necessary. This is how we are to work in our home each day. Not grudgingly, but aboundingly!Doing more than is necessary. This is how we teach our children to work.
Love from NANCY CAMPBELL
www.aboverubies.org
PRAYER:
“Dear Father God, I thank you for salvation, a gift beyond what I deserved. Thank you for giving me more than is necessary. Help me to also have this attitude and to always give more than is necessary. Help me to teach my children to live this lifestyle. Amen.”
AFFIRMATION:
I am raising “second-milers” for God!