Kindness Challenge

I began a 25 days of kindness for the month of December. I have a few friends on Instagram who are joining in with their own list. You can find many lists online for daily acts of kindness. The point is, do something. 

Give.

Be kind.

Make a difference.

Smile.

Serve.

Do something every day that is not about you. 

You never know whose life will be changed because of your kindness. 

A Week Of Pondering and Memories

A week ago, we were in Sandpoint, pre and post storm.  The area was hit hard by a storm early evening, and the destruction was crazy.  Sandpoint, being Sandpoint, pitched in and got it cleaned up rather quickly.  I was up there a couple days later for my dad's birthday, and if I wouldn't have known what the area looked like on Sunday morning, I wouldn't even have known a storm went through except for a few homes that still had trees on them.

Before the storm, we took our nieces to a couple parks.  Both were in the neighborhood my hubby and I lived in for 17 years.  One park was a few feet away from our old place.  At both places, memories flooded my mind. I have been to both places several times since moving, but on Saturday my mind was playing a slide show of past memories. On our first stop, I walked by our old place, so many memories.  I also walked by my aunt's old place, now with a new house on what used to be here beautiful garden/flower area.  What once was her big covered patio, where we rode a big, old time tricycle until we were 10, played, and enjoyed swinging in a big wooden swing my uncle made and had amazing conversations, was now a scraggly lawn, no remnants of what was once my aunt's place left.  At Lakeview Park, I looked over at the pavilion and memories of a surprise party we had for my parents 19 years ago came back like it was yesterday. I remembered taking the kids we worked with in 5th and 6th grade youth group to that park, and playing games and laughing.  Those kids are now 28-30.  Now, I had my nieces there that were the same age those 'kids' were so many years ago.  Nostalgia.  Memories.  

After being at the park, we took a drive down Selle Road, over to the Grouse Creek area where again memories of my childhood swirled through my head.  I remembered riding snowmobiles and sledding with my friends, 4-H meetings, time at our adopted grandparents home, spending time with friends laughing and being kids, as we drove down the roads.  I remembered friends and loved ones who lived in homes we drove by that are not with us any longer, and I was thankful for the heart prints they left on my life.  

Our drive home was a whole different story, as it was like driving in a war zone, with trees coming down all around us, barn roofs lifting off the building, flying through the air, and exploding into a million pieces as they hit the ground.  There were trees falling on wires, sparking fires, and chaos everywhere as strong winds ripped through the valley.  When we arrived back at my parents house, there were trees down as well, and their horse/llama shed was smashed in.  Fortunately, the animals are smart and were at the back of the pen, away from the trees.  The storm lasted for what seemed days.  Total, it was about an hour and a half of some of the worst wind I have ever experienced. I was in a tornado as a kid in Iowa, but this storm at least compared to that one.  This sounded and acted like a tornado, but lasted a long time.  

On Sunday morning, we drove through town.  Tears ran down my face as we went through our old neighborhood.  Many homes had trees on them.  Old, giant pine trees uprooted entire lawns and were strewn across lawns like toothpicks.  The park we were at the afternoon before with my nieces had trees broken off and parts of those trees laying everywhere.  Some areas looked like someone threw a bomb in the middle of the trees, causing a mass explosion.  It was a mess.  When you grow up in a small town, and live there for the majority of your life, you know people, and we knew plenty of people who were facing some serious destruction.  I knew that Sandpoint people are resilient and would come through fine, as that is the way Sandpoint people are, but it was tough to see.  We helped do some clean up around the area, with many other people, but the shock continued, as did the memories.

Memories....they continue.  Tomorrow is the Celebrate Life walk/run which benefits the cancer center in Sandpoint.  My dear friend is the reason that walk/run started.  Tonight, I am thinking of her.  I went to her blog and read entries from  parts of late December 2007 and into 2008.  One entry was about how God needed to keep her around for 2008 because she had so many plans.  She made it part way through the year before she went home to be with Jesus.  I miss her.  I miss our emails.  I miss chats.  I miss her quiet strength.  I miss her outlook on life.  I miss her challenging me.  I miss her faith. I miss her smile.  I miss her writing, but I am glad her blog still exists so I can go read her words.   I miss her kind heart.

I am not sure why God is taking me down a road of vivid memories this week.  It almost makes me worry that my life is flashing before my eyes, but maybe I just need to remember.  Remember that life is short, that the people God puts in our lives our precious and we need to love with everything in us, and make a difference.  We need to forgive, laugh, have soft hearts, help others, and be kind. We need to live like today is our last day, because it could be.  What if it is? What difference did you make, did I make and what memories will others have as they think of each one of us?  Were we kind, filled with love, giving, or were we harsh, angry, self-centered?  Think about it and make course adjustments as you need to, TODAY.  

Speak Life

Do your words speak life or death? 

Do you encourage or discourage, lift up or put down?  

Words cut, hurt, destroy OR words inspire, help, build up.  

Choose 

words

with care, 

use wisdom, 

and speak in love.  

To others.  

To yourself. 

Christmas Challenge

Christmas weekend is upon us.  I would like to issue a challenge for all of us from now through Christmas night: disengage from social media, engage in real relationships.  Disengage from staring at a screen, engage in staring at loved ones faces, because you don't know when this will be the last Christmas you are together.  A friend of mine buried both of her parents in the past six months.  I know she doesn't wish she had a few more moments this past year that she could have spent on Facebook or Pinterest.  No, she wishes for a few more precious moments with her parents, to hug them, and tell them she loves them.  She did plenty of it while they were alive, but as she said "can we ever really tell those we treasure in our lives that we love them enough?  Can we ever really spend too much time with those who are precious to us?" REAL relationships matter.  

Disengage from playing online, virtual games and engage in real relationships by playing a card or board game. Laugh together, have meaningful conversations, give hugs, go for a walk, enjoy life.  Be thankful. See the beauty that surrounds you in creation, in people.  

REAL people, REAL relationships are what matter.  Take the next few days to deeply invest in real relationships, face to face.  

Merry Christmas!

Giving Thanks or Being Greedy

Greed seems to be at a whole new, out of control level this year among the retail industry.  Instead of seeing who can open first on Black Friday, retailers are now having a race to see who can open first on Thanksgiving.  Think of the poor people working who are missing time with their loved ones because of greed.  It makes my heart sad.  

What happened to a day to spend with family and friends and give thanks?  Thanksgiving isn't about grabbing the biggest deals, standing in lines to buy things.  Thanksgiving is about, hmmm, giving thanks.  Being grateful.  Spending time with loved ones.  Instead of going out to the stores, spend time playing games, talking, laughing, watching a movie, even start decorating for Christmas.  Make a statement, and stay out of the stores.  Spend some wonderful time with your loved ones and enjoy giving thanks!

30 Days of Thanks, Day 23 & 24

Today I am thankful for a home to share with my hubby-a place to unwind, rest, have shelter, and share love.  




 From Saturday...I am thankful to be up late, packing shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. My nieces picked items for girls their ages, and did a great job picking out some wonderful items.  What a blessing to share small items with children to touch their lives in such a big way.  

What Did You Do Today To Show Thankfulness?

While I focus a lot on what I am grateful for each day, I had the question pop in front of my face tonight of 'what did you do today to show you were thankful for your blessings?'  The question made me stop and think.  How did I live it out, make it apparent, show the world I came in contact with today that I was thankful?  What did I do that showed the world that living a life of thankfulness and gratitude makes a difference in my day to day attitude and choices, in how I see the world, in how I live?  

Want to focus on changing the world with a grateful heart?  Ask yourself these questions each day.  

I Dare You

Last week my husband and I were talking about how much of life gets totally wasted on technology, whether staring at a computer screen, an i-something or another or a droid something or another, phone or tablet.  This week, we kind of forgot that talk because we were hit with the stomach plague over the weekend, so it was easy to just pick up the phone and play games, scroll social media, and do mindless things.  Now, when recovering from the plague, it's hard to think too much, so reading a book was out of the question because our minds could not hold a thought for too long.   We tried to do some house cleaning, but were worn out after taking a few steps across the floor, so we didn't move too far from the couch on our day of recovery.  However, we could have played a real card or board game instead of playing games on the phone.  We talked about it again tonight and are going to make some changes.

Our society seems to be glued to their smart phones.  People take them everywhere.  We were at a large sporting event a couple weeks ago, and 90% of the people sitting around us were on their phones, scrolling Facebook/Twitter, for a very large majority of the game.  I wanted to tell them that the statuses would still be there in two hours, they weren't missing anything earth shattering.  With what we paid for tickets, I was going to enjoy the game, not stare at my phone.  Plus, real life action is so much more exciting than reading that someone ate potato chips for dinner.  Today, I saw someone driving down the highway at 60 mph, both hands off the wheel, texting, head completely down.  Seriously?  She had no idea what was on the road in front of her.  I don't know how she was staying on the road, since she wasn't even looking at it. I prayed for those in her route to be safe.  I was thankful I was on a side road.  If your text can't wait until you get home, then pull off the road , stop your car, THEN text.  Other things I wonder about: Why do people go out to dinner and then spend the entire time on their phone?  Why do kids have to sit and stare at their parents, trying everything to get them to talk to them, while the parents spend their whole time staring at their phone?  I even observed an older teen and dad the other day in that situation.  The kid had her phone away, the dad did not.  The daughter tried to talk to her dad and dad just did the occasional uh huh until the daughter just got really frustrated and stopped trying.  Another time, a mom was with her four kids, all trying to talk with her about their day at school, but all she did was scroll Facebook and Instagram, and text, while her kids kept trying to tell her about their day.  Sad.  When you are with people, be with them.  Listen.  Engage.  Talk.  Care.  Put the phone away.  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and all other social media will still be there!!  What is more important, real face to face relationships or reading posts that don't even affect your life? Yes, I have accounts on Facebook and Pinterest, and on a business level I have Twitter, as well.  The past few months I have taken a step back from Facebook, and even took two weeks of not being on it at all on a personal level.  Honestly, for the most part, I didn't miss it.  When I did go back, I cut quite a few from my list, and I am now only on occasionally.  I didn't miss the drama, all the off hand remarks people make to one another and think it is ok, & the horrible profanity that has become a part of every day social media posts.  It seems the more we have to know about others lives on social media, (or snoop or spy, whatever you want to call it,) the less we want to have real, meaningful relationships.  We rush to read so and so's status update, but don't call them to check on them, don't meet with them in person to have a real conversation, we don't show in a real, tangible way that we care, and it is showing in our society in a a very real way by how people treat one another.  People seem to forget that we are all human beings, created by God, and we are supposed to care for and about one another.

Anyway, back to my original paragraph......  My hubby and I have decided to make our time together at night a no phone/tablet/computer zone.  The phone can be used to make or receive calls, yes they still do that, but that is all, except for when we are studying different Bible versions on the Youversion  Bible app we have because it has versions we do not have in our home that we sometimes use when diving into our study.  But, other than those two things, everything else is off limits.  It's time to focus on having real conversations with others, to really live life, and grab the time we have here, not waste it.  Life is short.  We weren't given this life to spend hours on social media or staring at a screen.  Think of what you could have done with your spouse, your kids, your friends, your church, your community in the time you spent in front of a screen just since the new year.  Could you have talked more..played more..  cared more..loved more..taught more?  Could you have done something to improve your health, instead of making it worse by sitting in front of a screen?  Could you have gone outside and enjoyed the beauty that surrounds you?  Could you have touched a life and made a difference in a hurting heart?  We need to make a positive difference in the corner of the world we were put in, to be hands and feet that make a difference. Will you step up with me, and put the computer/phone away for ______ hours a day, except to use your phone as a phone, and live life?   I dare you to give it a try this month, and get out and experience life, as it was meant to be lived.