Friday Friends & Faves #5

Friends:
My sister Taryn had a little 'oopsie' a couple of weeks ago. As she was helping her 2 yr old with the potty, she collapsed on the floor and by the next morning the ambos had to carry her off to hospital!
Here's a little bit of follow-up since that event:

Taryn and her beautiful family...although little R joined them all this year too

I don't know about you, but sometimes I get caught up in "me" so much that it takes something radical to make you realise it's not necessarily the way it is!! I often lament, "Oh I have no friends, or really how many really know me, blah, blah, blah."
Well last week I ended up in emergency in the local hospital as I was unable to get out of bed with a ruptured disc in my back. I spent all day in emergency and all that time I almost felt as though I was being protected in a bubble (maybe it was just the drugs!!) Since then I have found out that I had many people praying for me and my family. Our pastor came up to the hospital within an hour of me being there and prayed for us too! By the end of the day - I was still sore, but was able to walk and came home. Since then, I have been overwhelmed with meals, people dropping in to hang out my washing, people folding my washing, people offering to take my kids to the park, others just holding the baby (something I couldn't do for a while there!), someone cleaning my house, just dropping in to see if there was anything they could do. I have been blown away. So your blog the other day about encouragement..... having been on the receiving end of such outpourings of love and care have restored my faith in humanity.
As I jokingly said to my hubby earlier in the week - "Maybe I should injure my back more regularly" Just jokes!! So to all those who have given of themselves in some way, you have blown me away. Thank you seems so inadequate. I love youse all! 


Thanks T...for reminding us of a few things this Fab Friday...
1. We need to have an 'others' focus. The old Sunday School song taught us "JOY" will be ours when we put Jesus first, Yourself last and Others inbetween. Hmmmmmm....how you going with that??
2. Prayer...it's got power! Don't just pray for yourself today...pray for someone else.
3. Generous friends are heavenly. It doesn't take much. If you're not sure what to do to help, just ask. Or check out yesterday's blog post. That stuff applies no matter if there's a new baby in the house or not:)
4. Saying 'thanks' and 'I love you' is so important. Make it your mission in life to always have 'an attitude of gratitude' and vocalise it...often!
5. Be careful around pottys! Say no more:)
PS. A phone call to T yesterday reveals she is on the mend in a 'miraculous' way. Can even cross her legs again. Thanks God...see? Praying and saying 'thanks' in a matter of 2 words and 2 seconds! Easy as.


Faves:
3:50 of 'must see' Compassion message. Absolutely LOVE IT! Just think, ONE ACT can change a life....doesn't matter if you're a teenager or not!
Please watch it.....Compassion One Act

Enjoy the weekend my friends xo

Surviving Singleness #5

Exercise the Love Muscle 

I remember tearing up in a discussion with a good friend about love, back in my late 20s. It wasn’t because I thought love had passed me by. And it wasn’t because I was not currently the object of anyone’s love, or a boyfriend or husband wasn’t the object of my love.

I was actually upset because I was thinking about my inability to love. I had become quite selfish by that stage in my life. Long hours alone, living by yourself, fixating on your own life will do that to a girl. And I was genuinely concerned that if God did bring a special man into my life, perhaps I wouldn’t know how to love him.

Well my friend soon put me straight, reminding me that since I know God – who IS love – if I stay close to Him, I would be able to love and love well. And besides, why was I waiting for loving to be a future action? Why not spend time developing my love muscle now…while I had ample time and resources as a single girl. Ouch! Sometimes friends can be so blunt……….and so right!

So one way I set about developing my ability to love was to become an encourager. Think about those in your life who have encouraged you. Aren’t they someone you admire, appreciate and want to emulate? I have been extremely blessed over my lifetime to have had many and varied people – from teachers to students to aunts to friends to bosses to sisters  - speak words of gratitude and encouragement into my life. They are words that have changed me, challenged me and comforted me. In fact, one of my sentimental keepsakes is my ‘Joy Box’….a box full of wonderful words of encouragement written by these people on beautiful cards and pieces of scrap paper. These are still treasures that I read once in a while, and even though many were written years ago, they still have the ability to refresh me, lighten my spirit and make me smile and get excited about life.

Imagine if my words – spoken and written - did the same for others? So that’s one thing over the years I have tried to do…bless and encourage others through words. I am one of those people who don’t like talking on the phone, but I have lists of people I pencil into my diary to call at different intervals throughout the month or year. I pray that a call from me and words I am trusting God to give me, will tell those people that they are loved.

I like to write cards and notes to people….workmates, friends, my family, students. And again, I hope that I might be offering a word in season to encourage them and give them that little nudge to keep going. Recently, I wrote 3 little notes to 3 teenaged boys I teach. To the Yr 10 boy who said ‘thank-you’ after a lesson, I said ‘thanks’ in return and urged him to never lose that gift of encouragement because it makes a difference. To the Yr 9 boy who used encouraging words on the sports’ field, I urged him to keep speaking kind, ‘build-em-up’ words with his classmates because he’ll never know how much they might mean to someone who is struggling. And to the Yr 8 boy who came last in every event, but still had a go, I encouraged him to always keep that ‘have-a-go’ attitude because with it, he will go far in this life. Simple things. 50 word notes, that took no time at all, but that I pray God will use to encourage those young men.

So who is in your life that you can encourage today? Family members, friends, workmates, your pastor, church family, teenagers, children, random people you see once a week…your postie??? Even if you are not the most proficient writer, it honestly doesn’t take much time or talent to pen a few lines of appreciation. A Bible verse can add extra encouragement. Or even Google ideas for quotes or verses that you might be able to use. And don’t forget, every May holds National Thanksgiving Day, perhaps you can use that month as motivation but even before then, how about you to write 5 cards of encouragement by Christmas. That's only 1 every fortnight!

Encouraging others does make a difference, and not just to the person who is the recipient of your kind words. As you exercise your love muscle, God shines through you and changes your heart. Perhaps He’ll even use your willingness to love now, in the single years, to develop your ability to love when you get married and start a family. That’s what He did for me.