Saturday, May 2, 2009

"Sunday Favorites" is a new Sunday meme designed to give bloggers a chance to share a favorite post from the past!!! It's hosted by Chari over at Happy to Design, and I've just discovered her blog.....go check it out!

So I thought I'd share this post again, which was originally posted on March 3, 2009.....have a blessed Sunday!


First of all let me just say that I am thrilled for my blog to be up and running again.....I missed being involved in the lives of those few of you who stop by to read whatever inspiration I might be attempting to convey to you. Thanks from the bottom of my heart to those of you who actually missed me....that warms my heart. I thought I'd share today a little bit about my most recent Ladies' Bible study. We've just finished a series entitled A Woman After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George. We worked through the workbook and watched the DVD each week. Mostly we enjoyed sharing in each others lives. The last DVD lesson in particular brought out some terrific lessons that I wanted to share with you all. It was about touching the lives of others. Whether or not you have a Christian faith that drives you, you must agree that we benefit from connecting with others in our lives; we benefit from touching lives in a way that television cannot, that "how to books" cannot, that shopping or redecorating cannot.....we need positive human interaction! And in this last DVD lesson, Mrs. George discussed what is helpful to the ministry of a Christian woman. I thought I'd recap what she said.

1) Learn to work it out.....master your priorities. We only have a limited amount of time, and last time I checked it was only 24 hours per day. And some of those MUST be sleeping. She recognized the Proverbs 31 model for us all to use as a standard. We teach by message or by model....EVERYTHING we do or don't do teaches someone something. Honestly, that made me a little squirmy......something to think about. Also falling under this category is developing yourself. Don't avoid ministry/caring for someone else because you failed to take care of yourself or your own insecurity. Work on your weaknesses. If you feel you can't speak, take a class, or practice speaking. Every little practice helps. The more confident you feel, the more likely you are to touch a life...

2) Learn to reach out....learn the names of people and use them. We like to hear someone else call us by name. Plain and simple. You feel touched somehow if someone feels you are valuable enough to remember your name and use it. And let's face it, the more we use their names, the more we cement them in our brains and are more likely to remember them. Proverbs 11:24 encourages us to be a liberal giver and hold back nothing.

3) Learn to look out....go looking for those that are hurting. When you find one, be direct and intentional about helping. Write notes.....we just have to write three lines. That easy, but will be oh.so.meaningful. Make a phone call and simply say, "I thought of you, I prayed for you, and I just wanted to let you know."

In conclusion, give totally wherever you are. Wherever you are, BE ALL THERE. Live it to the hilt when you are there. We can all serve, we can all show mercy, we can all be giving. Go forth and be inspired! Just do it.

19 comments:

Domestic Designer said...

Great Post! Thanks!

Susan (Between Naps On The Porch.net) said...

What a great post! And you do as you say do...by helping out those sweet babies every Monday. :-) Susan

Chari at Happy To Design said...

Hello Suzanne...

My friend, I'm so glad that you decided to join in with the "Sunday Favorites" fun! You chose a lovely post to share once again with us...although it's new to me!

I was just really looking at your collage of "HANDS"...each picture really spoke a truth! Ohhh, I bet we could do a Bible Study on what each of the photos of hands were saying!!! I read through the Bible Study and your notes...I totally agree and you listed some great points to think on!!! Thank you so much for sharing this great post, my friend!!!

Have a super Sunday!
Warmest wishes,
Chari

Paula@SweetPea said...

Those three points are good ones - so simple and so true!

susan said...

Suzanne-My first visit and I'm so glad I came! I am not familiar with Elizabeth George, but will have to check her out. Thanks for a perfect Sunday morning post!

Lisa said...

Love the collage of hands! And the words of wisdom. Have a wonderful Sunday!

Stacey said...

That sounds like a great Bible study. Thanks for sharing some of the pointers. I really love messages like this one.

Anonymous said...

This was my very first visit to your blog....I am so glad I came. Beautiful post!!

{Bellamere Cottage} said...

Hi Suzanne........

What a great post. Food for thought!

Blessings,
Spencer

Amanda @ Serenity Now said...

An oldie but a goodie! I STILL think that sounds like a great Bible study! :)

Chandy said...

I so agree with this repost! We all could use a friend or just someone to listen and an outreached hand to soothe our pains.

Great message.

elizabeth said...

Such a good post! I've been talking to my husband a lot lately about how with the internet (and my total love for blogs!) it sometimes doesn't leave much time to reach out to my IRL neighbors and friends. I've really been working on this lately and your post is spot on. I love the idea of how simple really it is to reach out with 3 easy sentences. Thank you.

Michelle said...

Glad you are back and running!

Darlene said...

Great post!! Glad you are back and up and running!

Amanda@Imperfectly Beautiful said...

LOVE this! And the picture collage of all the hands is AMAZING!

Rebecca said...

This is such a wonderful post. Thank you for the reminders!
And, thank you for the hug you left me on my blog post about Judy. Love you girl!

Controlling My Chaos said...

Thanks for the reminder. Again. You are so sweet, you really need to move to Idaho where you really don't need A/C except for maybe two weeks in the summer. Think of how much money you'll save on electricity. And that snow, it's nothing to worry about.

Bee said...

See, it was my problem!

Anonymous said...

I am so taken back by those pictures of hands....makes you think how precious time is. Wonderful post...smiles~