For the past several weeks, I’ve been praying and pondering about what it means to surrender yourself and give your entire self to Jesus in service. 

We want to live frugally…be generous…think more of other’s needs…

This week, I was so busy pondering how I could serve better…that I almost missed the fact that God was saying…”Uh, Laura…I’ve got some opportunities right here for you. You wanna stop thinking so hard about it…and just get up and start doing something?” 

Funny how God works sometimes, isn’t it?

I was literally sitting at my computer working on a blog post about surrendering myself…and the phone rang. The caller was a gal who is… well…high maintenence. She calls often, has many negative things to say…doesn’t want to hear anything positive that I have to say…and she’s hard to get off the phone with.

So I’m listening to her go on and on…while looking longingly at my computer (you know, so I can blog about surrendering myself)…and my husband walks in. I give him the look…the one that tells him who I’m on the phone with. (With my look, I was trying to communicate something like, “Start the house on fire…so that I’ll have an excuse to get off the phone!”)

My sweet husband smiled sympathetically, shrugged, and whispered to me, “Compassion.”

Boom. Just what I needed to hear.

Thank you, Matt.

Maybe…since this gal I’m listening to has so few people in her life who care about her…I could just relax and think about what this phone call is doing for her…and just surrender myself and be an encouragement…

The next day, I hesitantly signed up to deliver Meals on Wheels…thinking about how difficult it might be to lug all the boys around in the van…but knowing that there were slots to be filled…

(Why is it that I was only thinking about how it might inconvenience me…)

Well, it ended up being such a great experience. The boys took turns going up the the doors with the meals…and the folks were so happy to see my handsome little servants…

We enjoyed it so much that we signed up to do it again yesterday…and we plan to do it again next week.

(Now, I will pause here and say that there are certain seasons in our lives that make doing certain things more of a stress than anything else…and family comes first. And…while I was happy to listen this time to the gal who called and talked for way too long…it’s still okay for me to screen my calls so that I’m not on the phone with her too often…because again…family comes first.)

But here’s what I’m learning:

Sometimes you just need to stop wondering about what God might want you to be doing…and just get with it and do something! 

[tags]frugal friday, being generous, encouragement, giving[/tags]

Many of us are careful with our money…

Here’s what I want to know.

I want to know what it means to give.

I mean really give.

My husband and I have been reading a book called Irresistible Revolution, by Shane Claiborne.

This author is completely challenging the way I think… 

About my life and my priorities. 

About what I have and what I do with what I have.

About who Christians are and what it really means to be the church.

So many thoughts are really swirling around in my head  (I know, scary…).

But I’m really questioning…

What does it look like to truly give of yourself? To be Christlike in a world that is full of materialism and greed?

What kind of world might we live in if we all start looking outward more? If we rely on God for our basic needs, and let Him use us to meet the needs of those around us?

I think that many (most) people already think that they are doing enough. And some people are really just doing nothing.

But really…REALLY…what might happen in this world if we all just let go of all of our stuff and just became givers?

I would love to hear your ideas on this topic. 

Please walk this journey with me and let’s examine this together. I highly encourage you to read this book.

 I want to be a part of this irresistible revolution…in which we begin to understand what it is to give like Christ gave of himself.

As I continue to read this book, I’ll be posting more of my thoughts, questions and suggestions…

But I would really love it if you have read this book or are interested in reading it…for you to join in the search to help “figure it all out”. 

God is calling us to something more…what is it?

[tags]giving, being Christlike, encouragement[/tags]