Random Acts of Kindness

 

Who Will You Touch This Week?

As the weekend comes to a close and we prepare to go into a new week I have a challenge for you.
If you have a person come to mind this week instead of letting that random thought pop in and go back out stop and think about why they might have come to mind. Take the time to acknowledge with either a text message, phone call, email or a random hand written note or card to let them know you were thinking of them and then say a prayer for God to meet their need whether you know what it is or you don’t.

I am a believer that those random thoughts don’t just come to us for any random reason.  Whether we know the person is having a difficult time or a good time if they come to mind then God put them there. Acknowledge God’s timing by recognizing that person by one means or another.


If you prayed for them, don’t be afraid to tell them. How many times have you been struggling with something and you kept it to yourself, but had you known someone was sending up a random prayer for you how much more comfort and
encouragement would that have provided for you at that moment in time?

Be open and allow God to use you to touch someone this week. Whether you know this person or not,  God doesn’t discriminate from the strangers you can touch. You never know when that stranger could become your next friend or even a best friend. You may never know if God is using your life to touch theirs because they might need you as well.

When you think about how fragile life can be, taking just a moment of time out of our busy schedules could seriously change the meaning of an individual for the rest of their lives. Take the time to listen to God speak to you and allow Him to use you to be a blessing of encouragement to someone else this week.

What Does Rest Look Like To You

Happy Weekend....

What does that look like to you? 

Is it planning your next school week or year?  

Is it running errands for you and the family?

Is it menu planning and/or shopping?

Or does it mean a period of rest and recuperation from the past week while preparing yourself mentally, physically, and emotionally for the next one? 

For myself, I have discovered this is a huge weakness. 

Why, as this makes no sense. Why would anyone have difficulties in this area?

As we have traveled through our difficult journey, I found myself on a mission seeking to find what God wants for me and to identify who I am and how I got here in my life.

Rest should be one of the easiest things we do for ourselves, but I have found this isn't the case for me, but why?

I grew up with my dad who was a disabled Vietnam Veteran and my mom who worked hard at home, she worked outside the home contributing to our family financially as well as taking care of the physical needs of my dad with his disabilities when he needed her.

With coming to the realization of my childhood I have been able to identify why I am not able to truly rest.

I have an unrealistic expectation of myself that produces guilt when I am not actively engaged in activities while my husband is at work.

I am completely aware of how difficult a work day can be for him and if he can do all he does for our family then I need to take being a stay at home wife and homeschooling mom seriously.To me that means staying busy.

When I am not busy I struggle with a feeling of being lazy.

I understand this feeling isn't realistic as everyone needs to have down time to revive themselves, but I am just being honest about this being a weakness I experience and am trying to make a better effort to allow myself to rest when I need it.

It is my hope and desire that by opening up my heart and writing about this difficult subject that it might encourage others who might struggle with the same problem. 

It is critically important to let your mind, body and emotions to rest so they are able to heal properly if you are in a season of trials.

By doing this God is able to work in you and provide you with the opportunity to keep moving forward while focused on Him and not on your own weakness.

If I can offer a piece of advice from my experience it would be that God speaks to us during our times of quietness. If we never allow that quietness to enter our life then how will we hear His voice?

Lastly, remember God's guidance in Genesis when He created the Earth during the first 6 days and rested on the 7th.  He knew as He created us that our minds and bodies were going to need it.

And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. 

Genesis 2:2-3

In closing, it is my hope and desire that if you are a person like myself who finds resting difficult that you will make a conscious effort to seek that down time. 

God will richly bless you with that time of renewal you may be in need of. 

He never lets us down.  Trust God with your busyness and He will reward you with the time you need to get what you feel is important done.

Day 4 ~ Rest

Sunday, it is "rest" day!

Today being Sunday, it is a wonderful day to just sit back and let God rejuvenate you before the busyness of the week comes upon you.  Today's word of encouragement and inspiration is that of "rest". 

Wow, just say that word a minute.  How much peace does that simple word carry?  To me, it carries a lot.  Maybe because I am so tired, weary, and worn from the burdens and the stress we had been under for so long, but the word "rest" just brings calm to the storm, peace to the frazzled, and slowness to the crazy insanity, we call life now.

Borrowed from my Pinterest/Encouragement Board. Jesus Is A Lifestyle

Sweet friend and fellow readers, let God provide you with the "rest" you need today.  Let Him fill your empty cup back up so you are able to give your family the love, the joy, the happiness, and the strength to make it through another busy week that lies ahead.

The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”  Exodus 33:14 (NIV)

 

I challenge you to go find your peace and rest today.  Go and fill your cup that God so wisely promises to do for us if we allow Him.  Think about what the meaning of rest is to you and seek to find it today.  Your body, mind, and your family will thank you for it this week. 

 

Rest Sweet Friend, Rest 

Heat wave allows for an afternoon of "rest"...



 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (NIV)  ~ Matt 11:28

A much needed quiet and relaxing afternoon was had by our family today. It is always amazing to me how life can get so busy that you don't realize how in need of general quiet time you are.  Life has been in our way of "rest" for a long time and so we were able to just grab some much needed quiet time this afternoon. Due to the intense heat wave we were able to spend a quiet afternoon in our backyard pool.  It was so refreshing. "Thank You God for this much needed "rest" time. You are just so awesome to give this to us! Thank You, In Your Name, Amen!!

Starting the day out on the right foot

 

There is nothing better than starting out your day with a nice walk. The past 2 days I struggled with being exhausted and just really had a tough time getting through the day of school, chores, and my FRG job, but this morning is different. I am ready to go. A good night sleep (which hasn’t been available to me) and a walk with my homeschool buddy who lives in the neighborhood next door just really gave me what I needed to get my day started on the “right” foot.
Thank You God for the simple pleasures of life. I just really feel that I can just tackle what lies ahead of me for today. 

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1 Timothy 4:8 ESV

“For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”

 

God's Hands

 God can always see the end of our problems; we have to learn to trust Him, impatience makes waiting for our problems to end even harder.

 ‘’Do you wait patiently for God to work things out? Being upset won’t make problems go away, but they will make you miserable. Remember that every problem has an end, and God sees and knows just when that end will come…” ~ Keys for Kids~ A Long Wait

Psalm 37:7

‘’Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.’’

  Do you ever sit somewhere impatiently like at a traffic light, or in a long line of traffic and think that it will never end. The bible tells us that God has his hand in everything.

Deuteronomy 31:8

‘’It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you: He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.’’

  This verse is to remind us that no matter how big or small our problem is, that God has His hand in it and He won’t let anything happen that he does not think is right for us.

                                           ~ Duck wrote 2/1/2012  for bible/writing