365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 194

My daughter is home safe and sound from camp and this year there was no homesickness stuff going on. She had lots of fun and I think lived on the zip-line. She even tried a new food! She now likes pickles. That is a big thing considering how picky she is about food. I felt so darn excited to see her. I teared up the day before looking at her picture up in my cubicle at work. I was really missing her. I imagine that God is excited as we take those baby steps closer to accepting his son, Jesus into our heart and finally being able to relate spirit to spirit as it should be. I can imagine God with a huge smile with his arms wide open waiting for his child to room into his arms. That’s how I felt yesterday as my daughter rushed over to us and into our arms. Joyful.

Habakkuk 3:18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 168

There is nothing quite as wonderful to witness as someone you love reflecting the love of Christ. My hubbie was asked to serve as an usher in December because one of the ushers was having surgery on this foot and would be out for a while. I am sure they recruited him because he always wears a suit to church and because of where we normally sit. My hubbie told me this was not in his comfort zone and you could tell he felt a little out of place. But he went to a meeting at the church on Saturday for training on various things and seemed more confident in what he was suppose to be doing. But the thing that really made my heart soar for him was when he gave up his seat for a last minute mother and daughter. He has such a servant heart. Acts of service is his love language. I have seen these acts at home with myself and the kids but to see it in action out with a random mother and daughter was a real treat. At the end of the service, he was to hand out the roses to all the mothers as a gift from the church. I just stood there watching him with a big smile on my heart and face. What a wonderful gift for my Mother’s day!

Ephesians 6:7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 146

I have been absorbing the chapter on kindness in Gary Chapman’s book Love As a Way of Life. One of the things he said which I learned from my first Basic Christian Counseling is about needs; “Kindness means noticing someone else and recognizing his/her needs.” Our office admin assistant was out on Monday this week due to what we were told was a migraine. On Tuesday and Wednesday, she was very non-responsive to “good morning” and seemed very down in the dumps. On Thursday, I felt there was something going on with her and wanted to see if I could help. I sat down at her desk and she ended up opening up to me about her boyfriend who had decided he wasn’t her boyfriend anymore nor ever was. She had gone into a rejection depression and wasn’t eating or drinking and ended up fainting on Sunday and was taken to the ER. I hope the words I said to her were encouraging and helpful. I left her desk with a final remark, “you are loved”. She yelled back Thank You Janine and was transformed back to her more cheerful self.  Sometimes, it is difficult to recognize what the need is but communicating words of kindness can be the start to finding out and really lifting someone up. Taking the time to sit down with her was the act and sacrifice of my time that I technically should have been at my desk working but in the end it was such a great feeling that I had done it. The next day I headed to work early and stopped at Chick-fil-A for some breakfast. Waiting in the drive-thru, it came to me to pay the bill for the car behind me. We have all heard of this being done but I had never done it. I went back and forth in deciding to do it. I worried about how much longer it might take and I really needed to get to work. I feared what the cashier might think or say. I thought I don’t have the money to be doing this right now. And with the help of the Holy Spirit, I conquered all of these fears and worries that Satan thrives on and did it. The cashier responded like people do it everyday. It didn’t make any difference in my getting to work and although I am still broke until Monday I was not charged the co-pay for my annual exam at my doctor visit. But the greatest blessing was just the smile it put on my face and imagining the reaction of the two people in the car behind me. It energized me all day. Just do it is my new motto. Thank you Lord for helping me recognize the needs of others and being kind no matter what. With You all things are possible.

1John 4:9-10 This is how God showed his love among us; he sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 141

I can’t begin to think of the number of times I have thought to do something in my head but the action did not follow. When it comes to expressing love, my lack of action is pathetic. I now understand that it is the way God made me. I have a very high need for love to be expressed to me but have a low need to express love to others. It is due to my high fear of rejection that is also part of how God made me. You might be thinking why would God make you with these negative things but they aren’t negative if you have the help of the Holy Spirit within you. If you have chosen to believe in Jesus, the God-void within each of us is filled up with the Holy Spirit. With God all things are possible. So, yes, a person like me who does not feel the need to express love can do it and have the attitude of love. In Gary Chapman’s book Love As a Way of Life, he explains how kindness is the first key to making loving a way of life. Kindness is a fruit of the Spirit. It is an action part of loving. A thing he proposed to do, in order to become more aware of kindness in your life, is to write down every kindness that is done by others. In becoming more aware of the kindness of others, you will become appreciative and will be motivated to act in kindness as well. Kindness begets kindness. It is like a smile. It is contagious. We just have to smile and act. I am starting Project Kindness this week and will become more aware of all the kind acts around me and cultivate the desire to be kind and show it.

Romans 8:26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challege-Day 54

As I was reviewing my email last evening down in my studio, I heard upstairs my daughter laughing. It was a rip-roaring kind of laughing, the kind where you get physical. I could imagine her up there rolling around on the floor. She was watching one of her Disney shows on TV and was laughing with such abandon. I had to pause what I was doing just to sit and listen. I think there is an old saying that laughter is contagious. I don’t know about that but it definitely spreads an effect over those within the hearing range. I think the same can be said with a smile or kind words. They can make a sad or angry person feel, at least for the moment, happier. I am sure the joy the Holy Spirit fills us with can lead to outward effects. Though laughter and happiness are not what the Word is showing us about joy, it is an example of what joy can do. True joy comes from the Holy Spirit, not by him cracking jokes or giving us every heart’s desire but just the knowing that we are His. The joy comes in the relationship we have with our Father. He wants us to ask, vent, worship, be grateful and love him in prayer. We may not get what we ask for, we may vent and be lead to solutions, we may worship and love and already we know we are loved by Him beyond measure and we may be grateful in all things which brings about an attitude of contentment but the joy from the Holy Spirit is just because we are doing those things: asking, venting, worshipping, loving, thanking and praying this all to Him. Like a parent that tells a child, I just want you to come talk to me, such is how or heavenly Father feels about us. Talk to Him in whatever way is right for you and do it often and joy will find its way into your heart.

John 16:24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 11

Today I am looking at the love being “kind”. At first I thought I wasn’t really going to get much about this little word but my expectations were wrong again. Kindness is the act or state of being kind, being marked by good and charitable behavior, pleasant disposition and concern for others. It is considered one of the seven virtues in the bible that counteract the seven deadly sins. Kindness counteracts envy. I think the core part of being kind to others is being selfless, is taking yourself out of the equation and looking only at the person/people in front of you. Have you ever done an act of kindness for someone just because? This is a selfless demonstration of love. These acts of kindness don’t have to be about spending money on someone. It can be that a friend could use some of your time on the phone to talk or a co-worker could use a little sounding board to get off some steam. I am working on the more and more at my job. I am a focus-driven worker so I can go and go and not come up for air until my bladder says time to get up and move it to the bathroom quick. I have been lately taking the time to talk a little more with my co-workers when I encounter them in the break room rather than just barreling off back to my desk and my work. Taking the time to talk with one another not only gives kindness to the person but gives you a sense of peace as well. So look at your day and take the time to smile and start a conversation with the grocery clerk, smile and say some kind words to the telemarketer who is calling you right in the middle of dinner, smile and do something your husband normally does like take out the trash.

1 Peter 4:8
Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 333

I think we all get in them, yes, even men! It goes by many names: depression, feeling blue, out-of-it, a “funk”. I am in a “funk” right now. My desire to get up and go to a job full of negativity is not there. I am tired of hearing how much work we are getting and how we can’t do it all and the frustrations of new programs to learn that don’t work all that well and trying to communicate with people that don’t communicate well. But what made me rise up this morning, God calling me…. Saying you can be the one person in the midst of this negativity that can show God’s glory. Be the positive one, be the one that handles the frustrations well, that helps people before they even think to ask for it, the one with a smile and a heart of love. Okay Lord, I know I can do it with your help and a cup of coffee.  I am off to smile and love my way through my day…

Psalm 16:7-8 I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me.  Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 249

Most of my extended family on my father's side are going on a cruise in 2014 and I am so happy to say we are a part of that. I started looking into the different shore excursions for each place we visit and was just getting so excited about the possibilities. I really want to do a swim with the dolphins kind of thing. There is just something about dolphins that is undeniably appealing. They were created by God to always look like they are smiling. And just like a person smiling at you makes you want to smile back, looking at a dolphin makes me want to smile too. I have often had people ask me if I am okay because of the look on my face. Honestly, I don't know what that look is but I am thinking that without a smile on my face, people automatically assume something is wrong. I guess it's just the way God made me and the people always asking if I am okay are showing me they care which means so much. Usually, there is nothing wrong at all. I am just thinking, contemplating, day dreaming but other times the pain I may be having is showing on my face. I am not sure my smile muscles are up for the challenge of smiling all the time but it is my desire to show my smile for others and for God in my body language, my behaviors, my words. Hopefully I can shine with the love of God and that will make up for the smile that may or may not be missing at the moment. Thank you Lord for dolphins and the smiles they bring to all.

Matthew 5:16 "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 67

A smile. It's something so simple and yet so profundly effective in helping change someone's day for the better. I learned that lesson a long time ago when I was a server at Applebee's. "Mr Grumpy" came in with his downcast family and got to sit in my section. My first initial face to face with Mr Grumpy wasn't so great. I went back to the kitchen to put in the order and something just clicked in me. Maybe I just need to be as cheerful as possible, maybe smiling and disregarding his grumpy face would make some kind of difference? It did! He actually smiled back! I have always held that memory with me and recall it everytime I hear about what it says in the bible to, in my words, killem' with kindness. I was reminded about this last night as I got into my hot tub to let the days stresses float away. I looked up into the clear night sky and there was the moon. It was a crescent moon with the light shinning from the sun on it from the bottom giving it the look of a smile. There was God smiling down at me and my grumpy mood was gone and I smiled right back. Thank you Lord for this wonderful reminder of something so simple and yet so effective in helping make someone's day better. Challenge yourself this week to smile more and know that every smile is a little bit of God's love shinning outward to others.
Psalm 80:3 Restore us, O God; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.