Helping Others

Just random thoughts...I read an article today that made me think about when is helping really helping. And the author of that article made a great statement:

We all need to take the time to reach out to others and help them walk with God.

Life is full of uncertainty but without God two things really are certain: We will make a mess of our lives, and we will help others do the same.

So many of us focus on helping others, with little regard as to what we help them with. Sometimes helping others means saying no or telling them that by helping them in the way they are requesting is not really helping them at all.

For instance, if a friend came to you and asked you to help them out by driving them to the bank and then home, that would be fine, indeed. But what if you find that they have just asked you to be the getaway driver for their bank heist? That would definitely qualify as not helping them, if you fulfill their request.

This comes down to tempering any help to a friend or stranger with the Grace of God. In the above situation, the grace of God would require you to help your friend by saying no...and possibly turning them in to the authorities. Or maybe the root problem needs to be addressed, like financial turmoil that has led them to feel that the only way out is to rob a bank.

Just thoughts today...I don't know who it will bless, but I felt led to post it. Help someone today...with grace.

Go ahead, make my day...

You know how you can just be minding your business and someone comes along and makes your day? That was how it was yesterday. It was really quite special. I sang on the praise team at church and it was a great service. The songs were rockin’ and everyone was worshipping together. I was oblivious to everything around me as I just lifted up my voice and enjoyed the time.

After I was finished leading in the second service, I made my way to my seat and set down next to my husband. The next thing in the service was special music. As that was going on, a woman about 6 rows in front of us, whom I had never met before, got up from her seat, came back to where I was sitting, whispered in my ear, “I just wanted to tell you that you looked beautiful up there today,” and went back to her seat. I thought, “How wonderful! She felt it was important enough to tell me right then and not wait until after the service…that just made my day.” I thanked her, but I didn’t know what else to say. I didn't deserve that...I had done nothing to earn her compliment...I had done nothing that would make me worthy of such a comment. But she said it and it was lovely.

Then, I went to rehearsal for a show I am helping with and three different people came up to me and complimented me on three different things and it just really made my day great.

Isn’t it wonderful that a kind word, something that costs nothing and takes only moments to give, can make such a difference in someone’s life? I have made it my mission today to tell at least four people something kind, one for each comment I got yesterday. There’s nothing like spreading the kindness around!

Say something nice to someone today…make their day and show them God’s grace through you.

Could it get any better than free?

Life is like a cup of good coffee: it will burn you sometimes, but it's delicious when consumed responsibly!

Go get some!!! (Thanks Wyllow!)

Grace isn't fair

Something that was said this weekend that just really struck me… “Grace isn’t fair.” What a remarkably ironic statement. In today’s world, we often hear, “Life isn’t fair.” It is most often used when commenting on someone’s unfortunate circumstances to intimate that bad things happen to good people for no reason. Life just continues on a path, regardless of people or their circumstances…

But, no one seems to equate life with grace, and isn’t life, the life God has granted each of us, the fact that we even wake up in the morning, regardless of our place in life, the ultimate expression of God’s grace?

So life isn’t fair…and neither is grace. And isn’t that a wonderful thing? God’s grace knows no boundary. It isn’t bound by any rules of who is most deserving or needing. It isn’t bound by want or prosperity; by good or bad; by faith or suspect. God offers his grace to everyone, regardless of circumstance. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been a “good” person all your life, or if you have been a “bad” person. God makes his grace available to all…and you don’t even have to accept it. The fact that you are alive means you have it. But there is so much more if you actually acknowledge and accept the grace He offers…

Just yesterday, I found out that if I had taken a job opportunity when it was offered and not waited that I would have lost my job. That job was eliminated yesterday. But God told me to wait and I did and I have been blessed because of it. It’s a great thing to see God’s hand at work.

Grace isn’t fair…and boy, am I glad it isn’t!

Rally Across America

I added a link to my friend and co-worker's blog (Rally Across America). He and some friends from college have dedicated part of their lives every September to ride bicycles hundreds of miles to raise money for Childhood Cancer Research. They are an amazing bunch of people and I encourage all of you to visit and read their site. They began their journey this weekend and already have some fun stories from on the road (something involving explosions, fire ants and tacos...not necessarily in that order...) :)

Later this month, I will be participating in Think Pink Putt Putt: a benefit for Breast Cancer Research...its the only golf tournament you will ever find me a part of. I will have more details on that later. But for now...please visit Austin's site and enjoy his daily blog, and if you feel so led, please give to their wonderful cause!

God Forbid...

I had a very moving experience at church last night, while taking the Lord's supper and this is the song that came to mind. Too often, we take our God for granted...and we fail to realize how awesome it is that He picked us...we didn't pick Him...HE CHOSE US. That is just simply too big for me to get my mind around. So, I share these lyrics with you from Point of Grace (words & music by Kyle Matthews & Tony Wood).

The more I know your power, Lord,
The more I'm mindful
How casually we speak and sing Your name.
How often we have come to You,
With no fear or wonder,
And called upon You only for what we stand to gain.

God forbid
That I find You so familiar,
That I think of You as less than who You are.
God forbid
That I should speak of You at all
Without a humble reverence in my heart
God forbid

Lord, I often talk about Your love and mercy;
How it seems to me Your goodness has no end.
It frightens me to think
That I could take You for granted;
Though You're closer than a brother,
You are more than just a friend.

God forbid
That I find You so familiar,
That I think of You as less than who You are.
God forbid
That I should speak of You at all
Without a humble reverence in my heart
God forbid

You are Father, God Almighty
Lord of Lords, You’re King of Kings
Beyond my understanding
No less than everything

God forbid
That I find You so familiar,
That I think of You as less than who You are.
God forbid
That I should speak of You at all
Without a humble reverence in my heart
God forbid
God forbid
God forbid

Long weekends and lessons...

So, the weekend. We had some of our best friends in from Michigan this weekend. It was so fun to spend the time with them. It just renewed my aching for them to live closer. It’s so funny to hear myself say best friends, because we hardly talk to them as often as we should if we were best friends, but nonetheless, they are like siblings to us (the good part of siblings…).

They brought their two children and we spent the weekend eating and talking…and we even took them to church and small group with us. Now they know they have people praying for them here in Tennessee too…not just to bless them, but to move them to come here! I am so grateful for my friends and everything they mean to me.

Also, this weekend, I had to give up the second pair of shoes in as many weeks for “personal sacrifice.” As a human being, I hate sacrificing…I hate giving up something that is mine, because I feel personal ownership. This would be why I am being called to sacrifice more often, I believe. There is a message in this for me…the things I own are not my own…they were provided to me by what God has granted me with and given me the ability and opportunity to earn. Therefore, it is His. And so, I have “lost” two pairs of shoes. I say lost, but what I mean is, I had to pass on two pairs of shoes. Two pairs of my favorite shoes, I might add.

But, one pair of shoes was given to those in need of shoes. The other was given to a friend to help her think about me and the sacrifice I made in giving them. So at least now I know Amy will be thinking about me!

And I can always replace shoes…that was not the point. Sometimes, we have to be reminded that our attachment to material things is a little too large in the scheme of things…that we need to be reminded of our purpose in life…and that is not to acquire “stuff”. When we give, we serve and we love. That is how I look at it…and that is how God looks at it. He loved us enough to give His Son. My shoes look amazingly insignificant now…