Monday, September 1, 2014

Day 244- A Sneaky First

Today, my family and I wrote encouraging notes and put them on cars in parking lots for my "first."

This idea came to me this afternoon.  I asked the family about it and they agreed to do it with me. So, we sat at the table and made some notes and wrote something inspirational on them.  Some of us were more creative than others with this idea.  My version was to cut a piece of paper in half and write Jesus loves you on it.  Joel cut out a heart and wrote Jesus loves you.  Hannah Grace drew pictures and wrote Scripture verses.  Laura broke out the scrapbooking paper and made some cards.  Then, we drove to town and cruised several parking lots.  On the way to town, we prayed and asked the Lord to help us put these notes on the cars he wanted us to put them on.  As we were cruising parking lots, if someone saw a car (or truck) they wanted to put their note on, they would tell me and I would drive up close so they could get out and place their note on the vehicle.  The idea we had was to do this while nobody was looking so it would be a surprise.  It was fun to think about someone coming out of a  store and finding a note that said something about Jesus on their car and having no way of knowing who left it.  That way, the only person they can really thank is Jesus.  That's what we wanted to happen.

We had a blast doing this.  It was fun to see Hannah Grace and Joel get excited about making their cards and putting some thought into it. Hannah Grace had her Bible app open on her I-Pod to find verses that she has highlighted to write on her cards. Joel even made up a poem.  As we were driving, it was fun to see which vehicles they chose and why.  Since we were in town, it only made sense to go by Dairy Queen and get a blizzard to top off the experience.




















This is something we probably never would have done if it were not for the year of "firsts." This is one reason I chose to do this.  It forces me to think of things I've not done and get creative.  One of the things I want to do and want for my family is to be constantly looking for ways to make Jesus' love real to others.  It is so easy to get caught up with things that we need to do that we forget to look for opportunities to show Jesus love to someone else.  Yet, those opportunities are around us.  I need to pray more and more for God to help me see those opportunities and make the most of them.  I would love for my family to always be watching for opportunities to share Jesus' love with someone else in creative ways.  Many people invite others to church and that's a really good thing. Let's not stop there. Let's help them to see that this is about Jesus and not simply church.  Many people have negative opinions of Christians. Some of those opinions are deserved and some are not. If we can do something to help people see that true Jesus followers love others with His love, we will have done a good thing.

Wanting others to get in on the abundant life
Barry

3 things I thank God for today
1. Leftovers
2. Telephones
3. God's love when we are not even aware of it







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