A friend recently told me, “Daisy, I think you should include a picture of your family in your next newsletter.” When I explained that many of our newsletter recipients didn’t really know our family, she said, “But maybe they’d like to know that you and Donn aren’t just two people going off to Japan. They should know what you’re sacrificing—the family you’re leaving behind in order to be obedient to God’s call.” We decided our friend was right.

Occasionally someone will tell us, “I don’t know if I could do what you’re doing—leave my family behind to go to a foreign country.” We sometimes wonder if our supporters have the impression that it’s easy for us or that our willingness to go to Japan is an indication that we don’t love our family as much as they do. Nothing could be further from the truth.

We remember well the intensely emotional time of soul-searching we went through during our year in Japan when we suspected that God was calling us to a longer time of service there. The Holy Spirit moved us deeply as we did a Bible study together on “Loving Jesus,” based on Luke 7:36-50, the account of the woman who broke her alabaster jar to anoint Jesus’ feet. The author emphasized how this woman demonstrated lavish devotion to Jesus and how we can do the same. He also asked me, “What was the cost to this woman to demonstrate extravagant devotion to Jesus, and what will be the cost to you?”

As we began to name the things that this kind of extravagant devotion to Jesus would cost us, in my heart and through my tears, I kept hearing the words of a Ray Boltz song that God had used to challenge us in the past, “What if I give all I have, what would that gift do?” Later, in my journal, I recorded what I surrendered to the Lord that night, “I surrender my “close-up” relationship with my children and my grandchildren—that one is the hardest, thinking about missing those growing-up-years is almost more than I can bear.” Oh, make no mistake about it, there is a huge price tag attached to this act of surrender.

As we consider other necessary sacrifices, the words of the Ray Boltz song still resonate deep within our hearts:

“What if I give all I have, what would that gift do?”
“My child, a gift like that can change the world, it can feed the multitude.”

We cannot close our eyes and turn away when we hear His Spirit call.
We see the need, now let Him hear us say, “What if I give all? What if I give all?”