What is Your “Thing”?

This morning I caught about 15 seconds of the news before I changed the channel. There was a person in her early 30s who wrote an article for a newspaper in New York about women and men and their differences in wanting to have children versus wanting a career. She said “No one my age wants to have children, stay home and be their mother, as far as women go.”  Thank you Mrs. Smarty pants for encompassing every woman in the world in your skewed view. I am thinking she doesn’t know there are other people living in other places than the block she lives on. 

That being said, the question I wanted to ask was “Where is your mother?” 

Call me crazy, but I feel like this story was used to fill some space in a desperate need for news this morning. As the world changes and things get worse, as is biblical, I am seeing a shift in news reporting all around. Worthless facts and irrelevent news storeis flow across the screen for hours at a time, while people in the entire world are crying out for justice, food, water and love. 

I undersand every person on this earth has ( or thinks they have) a purpose. I get it. We all ” have our thing”. My things  change with my family dynamic- there was a time when the Fellowship Team at church was our thing…then  Girl Scouting was my thing…then Boy Scouting. As that comes to a close, missions work in Arizona is our thing, and writing of course. Womens ministry is coming to the front, and writing. ( did I say that?)

What if we could influence the world around us to make their “thing” living like Jesus? 
What if when we saw someone hungry, we fed them? What if we saw a mom struggling to pay her insurance, and we just paid it? You have probably heard about the fast food “pay it forwards”- someone pays for the coffee of the person behind them, then that person gets the one behind them, etc., until it hits the news and everyone is so happy for their free coffee. Except** They still paid for something, they just got more than coffee out of the deal- they got the blessing of doing something unselfishly for someone else. 

Hmmm…

I think we are onto something here.

I love the stories of the “big tippers”…guy gets a $3 cheeseburger, leaves $100 tip for single mom waitress…..How about those who pick up their layaway only to find it has been paid off? Wahooo! Now there can be groceries and gifts at Christmas!

So how do we, as a small group of people, who like to consider ourselves invisible in the big scheme of things, make such an impact on the lives of those around us?

Here are some suggestions for today…

*When you say you are going to pray for someone- stop what you are doing and PRAY for them. Only takes a minute. Impact lasts a lifetime.

* When you see a homeless man sitting in Wendys, buy him lunch…have the worker deliver it to the table without him knowing…(try to escape without crying- I haven’t mastered this part yet)

* Hold the door for that elderly lady, help the sinlge mom corral her kiddos at the grocery, load those groceries for that man with the broken arm.

*If you have the means, pay someones water bill, pay for propane, catch up the electric bill, etc.

*Order a book on Amazon and gift it- anonymously.

Its called a ripple…do unto others…the golden rule…whatever the name- each of these things impacts other things you are never aware of. When families see someone is looking out for them- they look out for someone too. 

I want to know other “things” we are doing to make things better for others… please feel free to comment below….