37 Days of Kindness

To be honest, I wasn't sure what I was going to write about today. I had a couple of ideas, but as I was sipping my morning coffee, browsing through my blog reader, I came upon this post by Lysa TerKeurst.

I came to Lysa's blog through the Proverbs 31 Ministries. I get a daily devotion emailed to me every morning. I love reading them. I may not have a lot of time to devote to prayer and meditation, but I can take 15 minutes to read the devotion and reflect on it's message for the day.

Anyway - Lysa's post today talks about how sometimes every day life gets in the way of focusing on what really matters. We may be cranky, lose our tempers, have a pity party for ourselves. And believe me, I've been feeling that a lot these past few weeks.

These past 6 weeks without My Marine have been unusually hard. I've been sick multiple times, the girls have been sick, Nudgie is going through her clingy phase, I've had family visit -- and have clashed with said family many times, I'm dealing with financial stresses & worries. I didn't want to do anything. It was a major feat for me to get up and shower in the morning. I didn't want to go anywhere, I didn't want to play with the kids. I just wanted to sit and feel sorry for myself. I was seriously on the verge of going through one of my "blue moods".

When I read Lysa's post this morning, I realized that over the past few days I may have been short with a lot of people and may have unintentionally hurt some feelings. Lysa is challenging us to turn that around.

There are 37 days left until Christmas -- the best birthday of all -- the birth of our Savior. What better gift to give our Lord than the gift of touching someone with Jesus' love?

1 Corinthians 15: 58"Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."


For the next 37 days, in the midst of your own worries & stresses, take a moment to touch someone with a kind word, a thought, a prayer, some of your time, or a small gift. Next time you feel like being impatient with the checkout person, stop and remember to say Thank You or Have a Nice Day and mean it. When you see another mom struggling with her child, give a small smile and a "I understand!" It might mean the world to her. Not only might you brighten someone's day, but it might make you feel pretty good too!

I went to Lysa's blog and signed up for the challenge. How about you? Anyone else want to do this with me? Hop on over to Lysa's blog . and leave a comment to join the challenge too!

Together we can bring God's love into someone else's life!

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Not Me! Monday!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.
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I did not go on a whirlwind shopping binge at the book store and various craft stores. I did not, the next day, have immediate shopper's guilt and take everything back to the stores.

I did not spend the entire weekend in my pajamas. I did not allow my girls to stay in their pajamas either. I always make sure that I am showered and dressed and that my girls are always bathed and dressed as well.

I have not been texting My Marine every morning with a countdown of the days until he's home. (8 days and counting!!)

I did not work on our Christmas Card list this past weekend and print up color-coordinated labels. I did not realize that our Christmas Card list has now reached 200 and is still growing!

I am not already starting another Not Me! Monday post for next week!

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