Acts of Kindness for the New Year

New Years: a time of resolutions, plans, new beginnings and a time of reflection.  

Recently I came across a news article about the elementary school shooting in Newtown, CT on December 14, 2012, that explained the idea of "26 acts of kindness" which went viral after being tweeted.   Ann Curry’s tweet encouraged others to do an act of kindness for 26 days in honor of those who were killed.  (I have the link for that article at the end of my blog.)

https://www.google.com/search?q=act+of+kindness+picture

            Acts of kindness are not nearly so recognized as acts of violence or hate.  That’s sad I think, since like laughter, kindness often begets kindness.  We just celebrated the birth of our Savior, Jesus.  What would happen if each of us took the initiative like those who responded to Ann Curry’s idea and purposely planned and carried out specific acts of kindness to random strangers for thirty-three days in honor of the thirty-three years our Savior lived on earth, before becoming the ultimate sacrifice on the cross?  Wouldn’t this be a grand way to celebrate His life?

            Those who know me know I am a “hugger.”  Giving or receiving a hug brings me joy!  That said, I am often surprised when someone “thanks” me for a hug!  I hadn’t considered this an act of kindness.  But perhaps my hug is the only hug a person gets on a given day.  I remember once when my husband and I stopped at the scene of an accident.  No one was hurt, but emotions were running high.  I was compelled to hug the mother of the teen involved.  She didn’t have a clue who I was and it didn’t matter.  Physical contact is so important and in my mind, at that moment, I believed she needed a hug of reassurance.  Did it do any good?  I don’t know.  I felt better and maybe that was enough.  I know I would have appreciated a hug of understanding if I was the one standing there, grateful that no one was hurt, yet trying to figure out what in the world happened, what to do next, and how to handle the whole situation!  

As we begin this New Year, I suggest kindness creates joy.  Joy mushrooms as we express gratitude.  This simple act can help keep our emotions from falling off a cliff into a pit of self pity, anger (even if we aren’t sure why we are angry), depression and sadness.   Even when you really aren’t happy, going through the motions, can help to take the edge off feeling down.  This is all about attitude.  Showing gratitude, even for the small things, can help keep the whole picture in perspective and make the life we live brighter.  When our lives are brighter, we are better able to make other lives brighter.  It becomes a rich circle which feeds on itself and grows.  

            People in our world today are often afraid to reach out to someone they don’t know.  It goes against our culture.  We are more inclined to draw back than reach out.  I suggest reaching out with the acts of kindness.  Be willing to expose your heart.  Our world needs to know love.   So I challenge you:  for the next 33 days do a random act of kindness; in honor of each year Jesus lived on the earth!    

            Happy New Year everyone!

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/18/15999109-if-you-do-good-youll-feel-good-ann-curry-explains-origins-of-26acts-of-kindness?lite

 

The Ultimate Gift

            Here we are, with just two days before Christmas!  Tomorrow is Christmas Eve.  I am nearly ready.  Part of the food is prepared for tomorrow’s dinner and pies are being baked next door by my daughter.  The tree is up and gifts are wrapped; tucked beneath the beautifully decorated branches, heavy laden with ornaments and tinsel.  

This might be my favorite time of year.  (Easter is right up there with Christmas!)  I love the Carols, the smells, the fellowship, the joy, the sharing, the kindness, and especially the Christmas story.  Jesus is why we have Christmas.  He is the ultimate gift.  All other gifts pale in value next to Him; our Savior!  My heart is full and I am grateful for the blessings and bounty of this past year.  

            As a child of God I am adopted into the Christian family!  I have a Heavenly Father who cares about every facet of my life. He is the definition of Love.  I sincerely hope you can claim Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and know the love He provides.  It goes so far beyond what humans can give…..after all….  It was God, the Father, who sent Jesus, the Son, as a tiny babe that first Christmas over 2,000 years ago…..who grew to be a child and then a man who died on the cross so one day we could be with him in Glory!   What greater love is there than this?

 

Merry, Merry Christmas my friends.  May you be blessed and enjoy the time spent around the Christmas tree with your families, yet never forgetting that Jesus really is the reason for the season!

Week 4 Day 2    

Read John 1:1-13                                                                     Another Name for Love

Key verse:  Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural decent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.  John 1:12-13

             

Many years ago friends of ours adopted a beautiful Korean baby.  Year later, they adopted another child with a huge array of physical disabilities.  In addition to these children they have four biological children and have been host parents to countless other foster children.  They have big hearts with enough love to share, so that no child within their reach would feel left out, neglected or unloved.  Every child became truly their own.  Each was treated and cared for equally according to their needs no matter what their social background, medical needs or psychological issues.  This required endless hours without sleep, an enormous amount of patience and fortitude.

            God has a heart big enough to encompass all his children, just like my friends.  God’s love surpasses all we can imagine.  He wants us to accept his love and return this gift by simply serving him.  God has the capacity to love each of us equally.  God doesn’t care about our nationality, race, gender, or financial situation.   We have the opportunity to be adopted into the family of God by receiving and believing him.  

            We will one day join him and live with him forever if we make him the Lord of our lives.  We will feel loved and accepted in his family.  As we continue this Advent season, we might ask ourselves, “How can I become part of the family of God, and show my love for him, more completely?”

Consider:

1)  It can be difficult to know how to love a God we cannot see or touch.  How do you express your love for God?

2)  How would you describe the difference between loving God and loving a member of your family?

 Adult Challenge:   Consider “adopting” a person or a family who is in some way different from your own, perhaps a family from your church that is going through difficult times this Christmas season.  Create a plan for the next several weeks (or whatever time frame suits you) during which you supply them on a regular basis with a card, a phone call, a home-cooked dinner, fruit, small necessities, a gift card or any other “gift” that displays caring as Jesus would.  Be as creative as you like!  You may choose to do this anonymously, or you may want to inquire ahead of time if he/she/they would like to be adopted by you.  Realize that reaching out in this way will help you as much or more as it helps the other person!

Am I Where God Wants Me?

            As I prepared for the writing of this blog and re-read my message for the book I wrote some years ago, I considered where I was at that time in my life.  I had many questions, but pressed on because I believed it was what God wanted me to do.

            My life still holds questions.  I still look at my circumstances from a very human perspective and ask, “Is this where I am meant to be? What purpose could God possibly have for me being “here” doing “this” or dealing with “that!”  I think everyone, if honest, asks these questions from time to time.  I also believe we have to draw daily from the well spring of God’s love to accept the peace He offers.

            I pray this week, as we draw ever nearer to Christmas Day, you will reflect on your life. Ask yourself if you are following God’s leading, and determine if you are where you are because you are doing what God wants you to do.  If you aren’t sure about the answer and unable to find peace in your circumstance, my prayer is that you would go to the Father with a humble heart and search for whatever changes need to be made.  I pray you find the peace that only a loving Savior can give.

Week 3, Day 2   The Christmas Countdown

Read:  John 14:23-31                                                              A Different Kind of Peace

Key Verse:  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.  John 14:27

            I have entered the college scene after 31 years of marriage and five grown children.  It has been a wonderful experience, at times frustrating and challenging.  There are days when I’m overwhelmed with homework and exhaustion.  My retired husband has been wonderful with the change in our lifestyle but I still feel the strain.  It has completely altered what we planned to do once he retired!  

             The other night I had a dream where the stress of college was almost unbearable!  I woke agonizing over college and my responsibilities and wondered if it was all worth it.  Should I be there at all? I questioned, unable to go back to sleep.  Why am I doing it?  Why am I putting myself through the extra stress and exertion of school when life is already full?  After tossing and turning for a bit, I went to the Lord in prayer.  I’ve long believed this was God’s plan.  I haven’t a clue what He’ll do with my prayer, but still I prayed. 

 In the morning I was amazed how at peace I felt.  I knew without a doubt I was where I was supposed to be at that moment.  I was comfortable picking up my books and studying, confident that He would be with me.  I knew this peace could only come from God.

Sometimes it’s hard to understand what’s going on around us. Situations arise in life where we must make hard decisions. Issues cause our minds to turn in other directions in fear of the unknown.  How can we be certain we are doing the right thing?  There is only one place to get the answers.

Jesus promised to be with us.  He comforts us when we get rattled.  He calms our fears.  When we call on His name our fears can be squelched, our minds can become at ease, and our souls can rest.

Whatever you are facing this Advent season, call on the Prince of Peace.  Only He can give us his special gift of peace that passes understanding and cause our hearts to not be troubled.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:  

1)  Do you consider yourself a strong person?  Are you decisive and passionate regarding your values and direction in life?  What causes you to waver? 

2)  Have you ever been in a situation where you wondered if you were doing the right thing?  Did worry nearly overwhelm you?  How did you work though it? 

A Promise of Prayer

            A good friend of mine recently learned he has cancer.  Needless to say, it has shaken his world and that of his family.  So we pray.  Since he has never accepted Christ as his Savior, we pray harder, not only for healing, but salvation.  

Do you ever wonder if people who say they will pray for you, remember to do so?  Or, is it a lot like asking a person “How are you today?” but not really wanting an answer?  Has it become a phrase we say without meaning it at all?  After all, we all have issues.  We all have lives filled with day to day drama that anyone could easily see distracts us and takes away from what we’d really like to do: pray! 

So where does this really leave “prayer?”  I suggest it often leaves prayer on the same shelf many Bibles remain from Monday morning until the following Sunday morning when we dust it off to carry it to church again.

God keeps his promises and never, ever fails us even when we have to “wait” on an answer.  I ask again, do we really mean it when we say, “I’ll pray for you?”  Do we carry through with the implied promise of going to the Father on another person's behalf or are we just being polite? 

Long before Jesus was born, people prayed for a Messiah.  Their prayer was answered yet many missed it when He arrived.  Is it possible some people stopped praying because their prayer wasn’t answered when they expected or how they planned?  Do you think they began praying out of rote rather than from the heart?  

The following is from Week 2 Day 2 in my book, “The Christmas Countdown” which I hope you find encouraging.   Consider your prayer life and your promises; especially your promise of prayer during this next week.  

                                                                        God Keeps His Promises

Read Galatians 3:13-25

Key verse:  He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.  Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life.  Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case.  Galatians 3:14-15

            People make promises every day.  Some are simple statements between adults without any formality, but the promise is accepted and counted on.  Some are made in frustration to a child in an effort to placate a given situation.  Some promises are made with a single signature which would prove ownership if needed.  In human existence the most binding promises are those before a court.  To change anything within them is tedious, time consuming and often expensive.  

            God’s promises aren’t like any of the above.  God made a promise to Abraham that he, an old man and a woman well beyond child bearing years, would have a son.  It wasn’t written on paper, there wasn’t a handshake and it wasn’t heard before a court. Yet, as unlikely as such a situation seemed, God followed through in the birth of Isaac.  

            A Messiah was also promised many years ago.  God didn’t give many details of how he would come or when he would come; but he said a deliverer would come. Through the prophets God described the Messiah’s earthly lineage and even where he would be born.  For many years the people waited.  The prophets continued to give notice that the Messiah was coming.  Many believed and many did not.  

            God kept that promise, as he has all others.  He sent our Deliverer in the form of a baby.  Those that believed recognized Him.  Others had expectations beyond what God promised.  They thought surely the Messiah would come as a great king who would govern politically.  But Jesus came as our King to rule our hearts, our minds and our souls.  To “behold” him is to focus on Him and occupy our minds with him so that all decisions and efforts in our daily life reflect Him.  This is a demonstration of faith.  When we live for Jesus we are like Abraham who believed that God’s promises were real.  

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:

1)  Can you remember your last promise?  Was it spoken or implied?   Did you keep it?

2)  Have you ever promised God something; perhaps in fear, frustration or desperation?  Did you keep your promise?