Friday, February 17, 2012

The Joy Dare - Feb 17





Three gifts found giving/serving...


I am not unused to giving and serving. I understand that God means for us to do this as a gift of love to another and there is a great satisfaction in providing some service or some thing for another, especially if it is unexpected by them. But often I find that to serve well, to give well, involves sacrifice and that is never the easy thing to do, so can you find the gift in the sacrifice?

Did I sacrifice much today to giving and serving? I don't think so...I went into work which was blissfully empty of teachers and students due to convention and so I did get a lot of work done...thankless stuff like filing and organizing and cleaning...and maybe that could be considered serving, but I don't think it counts for much if you're getting paid to do it. I did some organizing and scheduling for a mission trip I am leading...sending an email with forms, and setting up a calendar...I was a little tired and thinking I would rathering just be sitting and reading my book or taking a nap...so if I served at all it was with obedience to a commitment and not from a genuine heart...hmmm, does that count. And I took a young friend out for dinner and a movie and had a great conversation, but I got to eat and see a movie I wanted to see, so that I suppose is not much of a sacrifice. I am not sure I can find the gifts in serving and giving if I did so selfishly today....and I am not sure I should even get gifted from it.

Can you tell I am in a bit of a mood tonight?

I tweeted (yes, I do that) earlier this evening...'So my plate is large and has many things on it. So? So? ' because I got a bit of flack from someone who was giving me the verbal eye roll over what I do in a day. Would you like to see my plate right now...junior high drama skits, leading one, possibly two mission teams, mentoring some sixteen young women in youth leadership, directing dinner theatre, teaching in junior high, work full time, love on my husband, spend time with my kids, etc....Well, sometimes I do it all grudgingly...but I still know, I just KNOW that I'm supposed to...and sometimes the gift in it is just that, OBEDIENCE. But mostly I just love, just LOVE all the things I do, not because they're easy, but because they take sacrifice...I'm not a matyr, but what I do, does matter, and gives me PURPOSE...and those are the gifts in it; obedience, love, purpose, just the knowing...okay that's more than three and there's likely more, and I receive them EVERY DAY from serving and giving...whether I get paid for it, or doing it begrudgingly, or receiving benefit from it, it's just right to do even if I am wrong in the way I do it.

Okay, I'm done now....bah, try not to judge me.

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