Lent 2019 #40acts 1-9 What I've seen & learned so far

I'm a little behind on my blogging lately.  But, I wanted to give you an update on what's been going on in my life for the first leg of 40acts.

As usual, I notice that I am not able to do most of the acts, but the nice thing is that it opens my eyes to those around me and makes me think of ways to be generous in a way I normally might not be when I am self absorbed.  Selfishness is one of the main areas in which most of us have an issue. We live in a sin nature world, where it's all about us, but in fact we are supposed to live like it's all about others, like Jesus did.  This is hard and I think that it's kind of meant to be so that we can understand what it truly means to give of yourself, to be selfless and how it can change your whole outlook and spirit.

Act 1: The first day of Lent after I read the devotional, it made me aware of my surroundings.  When I went to the store I returned a couple of stray carts into the store.  Maybe that's not a huge thing, but for me, it's a pet peeve.  Why can't people return their carts to the store or the cart holder?  Instead of thinking that, I thought "Why don't I just return these carts to their proper place?" and it also made me think "Maybe these people had an issue returning their cart due to disability or lateness."

Act 2: People watch. Remove everyday distractions so you can see other people. I keep an eye out for things I can do or people to smile at.

Act 3: Period Poverty.  I knew this was a thing in 3rd world countries and I figured among the homeless but I never thought that this would be an issue around here.  Once I learned more about it online I realized that there are definitely lower income people who would have an issue with this.  I haven't decided what to do about this one yet personally, it's still hanging in the back of my mind.

Act 4: Cash Stash.  Start keeping a small amount of money to give help out.  My hubby and I already do this, we have things we give to monthly and we have a budget for Misc giving.  It works out so we usually have some money in there for when we see a small need.

Act 5: Bless the Boss.  I don't really have a boss. Except God that is.  I am a stay at home mom.  So I was thinking about what else I could do to bless the boss.  They did give options of other bosses in your life.  Instead I made a commitment to try to give my first minutes I had to myself to God.  This is a tough one for me.  I have very little time to do what I want, but I know this is important for my relationship with Him.

Act 6: Chocolate Tuesday.  I didn't take part in this one. I won't buy chocolate because the ingredients make me cringe they are so bad.  I skipped this one.

Act 7:  Joyful Joyful.  Bring joy to someone else.  This made me think of putting my kid's clean clothes away for that day.  I was doing laundry and usually I make them be responsible and put them away.  Today I took that responsibility and gave them a little more joy by doing it for them.  Funny story, during the month of my 13 year old son's birthday I deliberately put all his clean clothes away for the entire month.  He actually came to me and asked why I was doing it and exclaimed that I was taking away his responsibility to do it and that he needed that reminder to be more responsible.  He was like "if you do it all the time I'm never gonna learn that it's something I need to do all the time".  It was funny and sweet.  I told him it was a personal birthday gift from me and he said ok but then told me to get back to making him do it soon.

Act 8: Bring Life.  All about giving blood.  I have always wanted to give blood because not only can it be life saving but I am actually o-.  Unfortunately, they can't get enough blood out of me for regular blood draws, never mind the amount they need for giving blood.  My veins are very deep, little and roll a lot.  So, instead my thought was a few times a year perhaps I can just give money to our American Red Cross.

Act 9: Be Present.  THIS WAS THE BIG ONE for me.  I am usually present with my family members when they need me to be.  But, I often am not present with strangers.  The morning I read this act was the day I had to go to my doctors for a check up.  As I sat down among the few people waiting an older man was chatting for another woman across the way from him.  It was obvious that they didn't know each other.  They were making small talk.  I sat down and was checking my phone and emails and there was a lull in their conversation.  It was then that it dawned on me that I wasn't being present, so I made eye contact with the older man and put my phone away.  We had the most incredible conversation.  You see, I'm an introvert.  I prefer my solitude, I thrive on it most of the time.  But, this man was obviously opposite me.  He was waiting for his wife and he was saying how they just celebrated their 65th anniversary.  I shared how my husband and I just celebrated our 14th and congratulated him.  We chatted about the weather and he mentioned about a huge snow storm recently.  I asked if it was out west. He said he wasn't sure but he was familiar with the Midwest since he was from Iowa originally.  I said, corn country!  And he went on to tell me that he quit school at 13 to help with the farm and how hard work it was to plow the fields with horse and plow and picking corn by hand all day long.  He mentioned he joined the military at 18, I asked him which branch-it was the Air Force.  I added that my dad was in the Air Force.  He said he had traveled to over 44 countries in his lifetime.  I asked where he was stationed.  Apparently he worked on the crew that worked for the president so he got to fly all over the world with various presidents.  One time he was to Africa as part of the safari adventure that the president took.  That led into a conversation about how different parts of the world are so very different from our own.  He shared about going to Vietnam and seeing all the mud huts they would make to live in and how the conditions were.  I told him that I knew of people that still lived like that in various parts of the world.  At that point I was called in for my appointment.  I wished him and his wife a good day and lunch and walked away with a little more pep in my step.  That interaction would have never happened if I had continued on my phone and not engaged that older man.  It brought me a sense of joy to get to know him a little and hear his stories. I hope and pray that it helped him in that way as well.


Lately the song below has brought me so much joy that I wanted to share it with you.  I will write again about Acts 10-18 soon

God bless!