Do much, expect nothing......

This is my son Zach. He just celebrated his 8 th birthday. I was cooking dinner the other day and I could hear noise in the living room. I called out to my son, "what are you doing?" He said "Nothing." I continued to cook and could still hear a little noise. I stopped what I was doing and went through the house searching for the noise. It was my son, cleaning my house. He was picking up shoes and dirty clothes. He cleaned his room and his sisters room. Then my 5 yr old daughter got the vacuum cleaner and started to clean the carpets. I think she was feeling bad because her brother was doing all of the work. I promise this is not the daily routine in my house. If you were to walk into my kids rooms at this very moment you would understand that. However, on this day, without asking or even expecting it from them, my kids decided they wanted to clean my house. I asked the obvious question, "Is there something you want?" My son replies, "Nope, just wanted to clean." I could see this overwhelming look of satisfaction on his face. He knew he was doing a good thing, but he didn't want anything in return. Well, I think he really enjoyed my reactions to his cleaning. It really made me feel good inside. Some people would probably come home everyday thereafter and expect them to do the same thing, but I was just thankful for what they felt in their heart to do at that moment. It had been a really exhausting week at work, and every night I came home completely exhausted. I was helping inside the pharmacy, and working my department trying to get ready for blitz. There was never a better time for my kids to decide to clean my house.

There are so many things to get out of this.

1. How often do you do what God wants you to do, without expecting anything in return.

...........I was so blessed that my kids did this for me. It made me smile, and it made them feel good as well. I was able to come home, cook dinner, and sit down and rest. Sometimes it is the little things we do for people, that goes a long way. You will never know how much you can touch someones life, just by taking time to help them with whatever they need help with.

2. God knows your needs.

..........God knew that this would help make my day better. A parent not having to make their kids do something, that does any parents heart a world of good. He knew I was tired and needed to rest and provided that help for me through my kids. Don't under estimate what God can do, and how he does it. I could have sit and yelled at my kids and made them clean house, but Gods purpose was they do it without being asked and yelled out. When it was all done we all felt good. My kids felt good for helping me, and I felt blessed to have 2 wonderful kids that was willing to help me out.

3. Show Gods love without expecting anything in return.

.........The best part of all. Knowing they did it from their heart. I know how I felt when my kids did this for me. So willingly, not expecting anything from me, and enjoying the work they did. Can you imagine how Christ must feel when we are doing his work and showing his love to other people without him dropping a ton of bricks over our heads. So many people wait to hear from God, you have already heard from God, the bible says that if you give someone a drink of water it is like you are giving it to him. He wants us to give and care for others, he has already explained that to us. So if you are searching for that overwhelming feeling that you are suppose to do it, quit, and just do it. If you do, that feeling will come when you are done.

4. Don't wait for someone else to do it before you do it.

.........I think the only reason my daughter jumped in was because she wasn't getting the recognition her brother was. But she jumped in and started helping. Maybe not with the same heart and intent as my son, but she did it anyway. Think of how much more she could have done if she would have started when Zach did, but instead all that she was left with was vacuuming. Think of how much more you can do if you start now. Quit putting things off until tomorrow. Does that mean what she did for me doesn't matter, of course not. I truly appreciated the fact that she decided to get up and help instead of lay around and watch cartoons. It's never too late to do something as long as you have breath in your longs. Just understand, we only have the here and now we may not have tomorrow. The sooner you start, the more you can do for Christ.

You may be asking, what can I do, where can I start??????

Ask God to show you. He will open up doors for you. But look around, do you see something on your neighbors house that needs to be fixed, do you know someone at work that needs your help, we have troops that have no one at home to write letter to. Think of the words of Christ that you could instill into someones heart who is far from home and needs to feel the love of Christ in their lives. There are shelters that need donations, not just of money but also of time. There is a free clinic in Ft Smith that takes donations and people working without pay. Our church is having a toy run, between now and Christmas you can drop off toys to help make some other kids life better. We have a clothes closet in which you can help Stacy with or donate clothes to. Maybe you know someone who needs clothes, get the sizes, get some clothes and take it to them. On Christmas day you can spend your time serving dinner to those who otherwise may not have a meal on Christmas day. There is always something a person can do, not just at Christmas but all year round.

I hope you have a blessed week. Let's start showing God's love today.

Angela Duke