Tag: #31daychallenge

Have you ever received a gift and let it sit on the shelf, unopened and unused?

I’m sure I’m not the only one that has done that.

But have you received a gift from God that you have been too afraid to open and use? Yeah, me too.

That is what these #write31days have been about for me (yes, I realize we are only at day 18).

My original plan was to write 31 days of encouragement. Then circumstances changed and I wasn’t sure I could do it. How could I be encouraging while life was going crazy around me?

So as the calendar turned to October and I decided to follow through on my commitment to myself and the other 31 dayers, my focus changed. It started out about finding our way in this new situation.

But God has a way of bringing me back around. As the month progressed I started finding different bible verses that spoke to me or encouraged me on this new journey.

And as I wrote, I was feeling encouraged. I was feeling like I could make it through this. I was feeling like God was bringing me back to the plan of encouragement.

You see, I have been hearing about this from God, even started to believe myself that maybe I have the gift of encouragement. I have never thought of myself as having that gift. Living life as a cancer ‘thriver’ never really seemed that encouraging to me. It was just the hand I was dealt and I figured I might as well make the best of what I have.

So today I found this verse from 1 Peter 4:10

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others,  as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

Today, and for the foreseeable future, I am going to use the gift of encouragement to serve my husband. To show him God’s grace, that he may believe that there is power in prayer, power in trusting in God, and power in faith.

What gift from God do you need to take off the shelf, dust off and share as a faithful servant?

My youngest daughter is a senior in high school. She is part of the color guard in marching band.

I have difficulty going to football games and sitting in the stands due to surgery that I had on my hip several years ago. But this year, I wanted to attend as many home games as possible to watch the band perform. Of course, as you know, the issues with my husband has limited my ability even further to go to the games.

Last night was the big rivalry game with the school that is just 5 miles down the road. It was also the night before the UIL marching contest.

I asked my daughter to text me when they went down on the field to warm up just before halftime and I went up to the field and watched the performance. Luckily we live only a couple of blocks from the school so I was able to get up there in time to see them perform.

I was happy I was finally able to get up to a game and see the band’s show. ‘

My daughter knows that I love her, but sometimes, we must show them how important they are to us.

Because of the time in the hospital (over a week) and the inability of my husband to do too much on his own because of pain and discomfort, I have not been able to do as much as I would like to show my daughter with actions how much I love her.

She knew I was coming to the game last night at halftime and was pleased to see me afterwards. But today, I surprised her even further.

Today was marching UIL contest. Which means all of the schools in our district perform their shows and receive scores from judges. If your school gets a score of 1, they get to advance to Area.

In Texas, because there are so many schools, advancing only happens every other year. This is a year for the size school she attends to advance. The band has not been to state since my girls have been participating (I’m not really sure the last time the band qualified to advance to state). This year, the seniors are determined to change that. Their unofficial motto is #statebound.

As I sat watching college football with my husband, I was reminded of 1 James 3:18

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

Today I decided to let my actions speak for me. My husband has been resting comfortably and I thought I could leave him for a couple of hours and ‘surprise’ my daughter by showing up at the contest.

I got there just as they were marching in and, although I saw her, she did not see me (so focused on the task ahead). I climbed up the steps in the stadium, found a seat that allowed me an unobstructed view and watched with pride as the band performed.

It wasn’t until after the show was over and the band was headed off to take the official pictures, that she saw me. I’m not sure if it was just me, but her eyes seemed to light up when she saw me. My 17 year-old smiled and said “Hey mom. I didn’t know you were coming.” Surprise!

By taking just a few hours out of my day, trusting that my husband would be fine resting with college football on the television, I showed my daughter that, even though I need to spend my energy and time taking care of her dad/my husband more than usual right now, I still value and love her.

Do you have friends that are always in a good mood?

I do. I have come to appreciate them. They are able to find something good in most situations. Or if not in the situation, then at least find something good throughout the day.

I have found it better to surround myself with people who are happy than with people who are not. Those who can’t find any happiness take too much of my energy.

Today’s verse comes from Proverbs 8:17

I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.

“Those who seek me find me.” At least in my experience, the people who can find joy, even in the midst of chaos, are people who seek God. Joy is an internal choice that they make each and every day. It is because they seek God, that they have found Joy.

This does not mean that their world is perfect. (Have you ever really met someone whose life is perfect?) It just means that they have found that choosing joy and seeking God can make the chaos seem less intense.

For me, I am choosing to seek God in the midst of chaos. He is there. And I have found him.

I have found him in the friends who text me to let me know they are praying. I have found him in the nurses at the hospital who can come into the room and smile and joke with my husband and me. I have found him in the family who is far away that sends a hand written card several times a week to let us know they care even if they can’t be here in person. I have found him in my doctor who was concerned about how I am doing emotionally and offered to help in whatever way she could.

God is there. We must seek Him or it will be us that is lost.