A MONTH Has Gone By?!

If you want to see a funny look on someone's face --- pay for the coffee of the person behind you in drive through and leave a smile card with the cashier to hand to them! As a society, we are not used to people being nice for no reason. I saw her in my rearview mirror and the look on her face was priceless. -story stolen from HelpOthers.org

Other ideas to: Lend a Hand to Parents
Baby sit. Deliver a cooked meal for the entire family. Let their children spend the day with you or have an "overnight" with your children. Run an errand for them. Give them a night out on the town (meal, movie, etc.). Volunteer to pick the children up from school. Offer help with homework or tutor a child that is having trouble at school. Take a parent out to dinner at their favorite place. -also stolen from HelpOthers.org-I LOVE that site!

In the past month, I have:

1. Decided to make more vegetarian meals than I currently do. The reason is, although I really enjoy meat, it does require a LOT more resources to produce than many vegetarian options do. And there are many people without enough to eat.
2. Tried to roast pumpkin seeds. I didn't eat them.
3. Decided I'd like to try to grow a garden INSIDE. I have yet to begin that project. Considering that the lone plant I do own is dying, I think my inaction may be a wise choice so far.
4. Set up a Real Beauty Seminar with Amanda!
5. Learned to make Rachael Ray's absolutely delicious tomato-vegetable-pasta soup with Rebekah, Carley, and Danielle and distributed it.
6. Took a KNITTING CLASS (with Carley and Danielle)
7. Spent lots of time with my husband -they say this is a must if marriage is going to work, and I have to say, no matter how MUCH time I spend with him, I wouldn't mind having a little more.
8. Explored sections of Shillington with Rebekah on early Thursday and Friday mornings.
9. Celebrated my sister's birthday.
10. Done a lot of writing, exploring, and analyzing. (Too read some of the products of this, click here: http://letterpop.com/builder.php?newsletter_id=62107 and here: http://letterpop.com/builder.php?newsletter_id=68554.

One thing I've realized during all of that analyzing is that in my effort to try new things and live a satisfying life and love and serve people, I often end up with a genuinely good idea as to how to do those things. But I don't know how to start small. I want a running club, but I want it to be BIG, and I want to use it as a basis to organize races. I want to learn how to actively love and serve "like Jesus did," but I want to do BIG projects.

I think those things can be done. And I think there is merit in "dreaming big." But in leaping right to the big things, I am discounting the processes that get me there. I am assuming everyone wants to do what I want to do. I am not sure the running club was ever supposed to be something "big." Maybe it is something for kids to do in the summer, if they feel like it. Maybe a community-wide "date night" for parents (with entertainment, a fancy dinner, ambiance, and baby-sitting included, of course!) is a little too big for the ten people who might be interested in helping. Maybe we start where we're at. Start providing free baby-sitting for a couple at a time. Love people that way.

It is quite a step for me to tone things down. I am a woman with wide eyes. But I also want to be careful, in my zeal to do "big" things, that I don't rope my kids into just doing things because those things are a good thing to do. Our lives are a gift from God; what we choose to do with them is precious. Absolutely precious. While youth group, or otherwise church events, may sometimes be the best place for them to be at, sometimes the BEST place is somewhere else entirely. And while I still want to continue to invite my kids to do mini-projects with me, in the name of loving people, I think it is also important that I stress that my love for them is NOT performance-oriented.