Legacy of Integrity

Listening to a Christian radio station the other day, I heard the lead singer say, “Personally I pray to leave a legacy of integrity.”  A lead singer of one of the most successful Christian bands in history; he doesn’t want to make lots of money, or live a life of comfort, no, he wants his walk to be the walk of Jesus…above all else.

A legacy of integrity.

In*teg*ri*ty – The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness. The state of being whole and undivided. The condition of being unified, unimpaired, or sound in construction.

We should not be surprised or angry when a lost soul lies to us, cheats us or doesn’t do what they say they will do.  They don’t know Jesus. But, how should we respond when a person proclaiming to be a child of God does these things?

I can tell you I had a hard time comprehending this when it first started happening. Over the years many Christians have promised to give, support, donate and volunteer for Isaiah 58, In His Service…their promises came easily out of their mouths only to vanish into thin air.

This trend has continued throughout our ministry. Promises of shoes, repairs on a house, a vehicle, mow a lawn, monthly support, etc. have been offered, but none of it was received. In the beginning I spent time on my face, in tears. Not because we didn’t receive what was promised but because these Christians verbally committed to do something and their actions were far from their words.  I looked up to them, I respected them, and I counted them as people of integrity…but they never followed through. I don’t believe they intended to give me false hope.  I believe they forgot, they didn’t mean it when they said it, they spoke impulsively, or they figured I’d forget what they said.

But, the bottom line is, the character trait of integrity is not forged into their construction if their words are insignificant, unimportant or easily dismissed. More so what if they tossed words frivolously to their children, coworkers or the unsaved? When we claim to be Christ followers anyone should be able to trust what we say and our actions should follow accordingly, right?

After a long time of learning, my response now is to be thankful. Each time a gift is offered but never delivered, I praise God! Admittedly, I pray for God to convict the heck out of the person too. I’m still working on that…

When I make a promise, I do everything possible to keep it. I know how much the disappointment hurts. Even if someone promises to give and they don’t, I will make sure I give anyway, often out of my own (God’s) pocket.

Truthfully, God has often nudged me to help someone when we have no money in our account and no immediate resources available. So I tell them, “God has promised to take care of you, but right now I’m not sure how He’s gonna do it. So, pray with me and I know His answer will be amazing!” Sometimes it’s taken a day, a week or a month, but along the way, I touch base with them, I remind them I haven’t forgotten about them, and we both are being taught a lesson in patience. God always comes through.

I am also continuously practicing integrity in every step of my walk with Jesus.  Many times I have promised to drive someone somewhere, go to an event to support someone, or just make a phone call and when the time comes, sometimes I don’t wanna, but I do it anyway. I want my example to glorify Jesus. I want to be dependable. I want to be a woman of my word. I want people to know they can count on me. Not to mention by being obedient God often offers me a “God moment” that I would have missed, if my selfishness had reigned.

But, boy do I mess up sometimes. When I do, I apologize. I admit that I screwed up, I ask for forgiveness and I try to make it up to the person I let down. I don’t try to ignore the fact that I goofed big time, I don’t try to exaggerate my way out of it and I don’t try to defend my actions. In fact, I have been wrongly accused more than once, and my Social Work advocacy line of defense raises its head and I have to shut it down….when it comes to me.

I was sitting in my office and my door was cracked. I heard someone begin to cry and quickly it became sobbing. I opened the door and she was standing there with her hand over her mouth. Neither one of us said a word, I reached out, took her hand and she walked into my office.  Someone very close to her had died. She was caught between being the responsible family member needing to get to work and organize a funeral and the grieving loved one who was slowly realizing life would never be the same.

For the next uninterrupted hour and a half she shared story after story, she testified to a real live relationship with Jesus and she confessed that her loved one was with Jesus, standing whole and complete! We praised God together! Then we held hands and I prayed for her. She apologized for using almost a whole box of tissues and we laughed and we hugged each other as if we were longtime friends. She squeezed both of my hands and said, “Now to tell the rest of the family, “and she was gone.

I may never see her again but to know that I was exactly where I was supposed to be at that moment is without a doubt the hand of God and it is so humbling. For me to have an uninterrupted hour and half is truly the hand of God!

My day is filled with a roller coaster of events, reporting child abuse, calling the police, calming angry people, transporting a suicidal grandma to the hospital, reassuring someone who is having a panic attack, providing resources to a single Mom living in her car, listening as someone vents, visiting seniors living alone, delivering groceries, loving on someone who is homeless again, playing with kidlets while their Dad is seeing a doctor, and helping someone get into rehab.

This roller coaster is not restricted to my job, it goes into my evenings and weekends as the needs of our community don’t stop at 5pm. When you pray for Isaiah 58, In His Service, when you provide tangible gifts, when you send us a check these blessings offer the love of Jesus to anyone around the next corner.

We received $82,867 in 2015. In 2016 we received $46,281. So far this year we are behind 2016. We have done some amazing things, we took a Mission Trip to Tulsa, we presented LOVE GOES, a faith based social services conference and we have gone to many Christian concerts with all ages of folks and we have seen Jesus change lives.

Isaiah 58, In His Service is praying for God to nudge folks so we can step into gaps that are growing into canyons. We want to provide opportunities for people to step outside of their comfort zone and be willing to let Jesus show love to the least of these in ways you could never imagine! Mission Trip to Tulsa 2, Love Goes 2, The Banquet of New Beginnings, a fishing adventure in memory of my Dad and Emergency and Restorative Housing.  Vincent van Gogh said, “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” This is a perfect description of Isaiah 58, In His Service!

I am so thankful for all that God has done, is doing and will do through Isaiah 58, In His Service! I am also very thankful for those of you who have remained faithful in providing prayer support, tangible and financial gifts. Thank you for loving on us so we can love on others!

God has placed me on the front lines with hurting people. I see the needs daily, and the kicker is, I see solutions too. But, it is up to the Father to give me permission to take action. Part of that permission involves nudging donors to sustain those solutions.

“I know You’re able, and I know You can, save through the fire with Your mighty hand, but even if You don’t, my hope is You alone. I know the sorrow, I know the hurt, would all go away if You’d just say the word, but even if You don’t, my hope is You alone,” Even If by Mercy Me

But even if You don’t, my hope is You alone.

Know that you are prayed for.

In His service,

deni A. fholer,

We can do more. We can do better.

 “When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it.  Do not let your mouth lead you into sin.” Ecclesiastes 5:4-6