Just A Thought

Fall is so beautiful. It's almost as if we get permission to wonder at all of nature's glory that GOD created. The leaves are turning, delicious seasonal foods and beverages are being offered; it's the calm before the storm called the winter holidays. This year I have purposed to get closer to the meanings of the holidays by deleting some of our family traditions that don't add to the experience. By adding I mean creating lasting memories. For instance our kids, yours probably too, don't remember what they got last Christmas or the Christmas before that. They do, however, remember the tree and decorations, yummy food and new stuff. 

And there it is! It comes down to stuff. All the time I spent in the store, carefully going over their lists and trying to match them to my budget. Substituting this for that, waiting for that to go on sale, following the ads to see who had the cheaper 'stuff'. REALLY??? Is that what Christ died for us to have? No - He said He came so that we could have life in the abundance and overflowing. Not stuff. Now don't get me wrong I LOVE the winter and the festivities but I have gotten lost in the shuffle and forgotten the true meaning of the holidays. I can admit it. So this year instead of lay-awaying that item that will only be 20$ cheaper on black Friday, (you do know retailers only have limited amounts of the good stuff so grabbing it now will save you the grief and aggravation of not being able to find it later..just fyi), or charging my credit card with the intent to pay it off during the coming refund season (soon to be extinct? don't tell me you don't wonder to), or emptying my Christmas account, (if I had one); I thought we would limit our stuff to just a few items and give the majority of our spending to local charities. They do good work and I know that if I was on the receiving in I would be so grateful! Again it wouldn't be the stuff that I got for my family, although cool, it would be the fact that someone thought enough about me to care to share! 

And by the way I have been on the receiving in when I knew I could do nothing, GOD used a bunch of somebodies to bless me abundantly! By performing these little nuggets of service we say GOD care's for you and so do I! You are valuable and not a defined by your circumstances! How much better our worlds, (the sphere of your influence), would be. Just a thought. 

With all of the uncertainty of finances, politics, natural disasters and the attitude of entitlement we need more GOD in the world. And one of the most effective ways of spreading the message of the Gospel is by adding more GOOD. 

Purpose to do GOOD one person or family at a time, let your children see you do it, let them get involved in the work. Show them how rewarding servant hood is while making them more conscience of practicing good stewardship. These are valuable seeds that you will be planting and the harvest will give over and over and over!

Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’^[a] 38 This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ - Matthew 22:37-39

Reference: "Bible Gateway." BibleGateway.com: A Searchable Online Bible in over 100 Versions and 50 Languages. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Nov. 2013.