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

Another Day.......

Today I was driving to work. It's a normal day, alarm goes off, I hit the snooze, 9 minutes later alarm goes off, I hit snooze again. Finally I wake up and rush to get ready and get out the door and hurry off to work. It's 6:40 am, not exactly like everyday because our car is in the shop, I get into my dad's truck instead of mine. That is beside the point. It's foggy outside, a little light is starting to peak over the horizon. I am traveling down the same road I travel every morning. I get on the interstate and take the Greenwood exit. It's about 6:50 am and I can see some blue lights flashing in the distance. I couldn't quite make it out, because of the fog, but there seemed to be 3 of them. I began to slow down as I approached the flashing lights, traffic was moving slow and on the other side of the road it seemed to be at a near stop. I can see a white car that was torn to peices. Parts of the car were all over the road, and in the parking lot of a nearby business. The driver side of the car was completely torn off, I could see completely through the front and backseat of the car, the airbags were deployed and the policemen were marking places on the road with red paint. I did not know at the time how much time had lapsed from the actual time of the wreck and the time I drove through. I knew it had been a while becuase there were no ambulances, only clean up crews. I began to cry, my heart began to break. It's funny what gets to us sometimes. 2 days ago one of my 60 cousins passed away, and although I was sad for the family's loss, it did not seem to affect me the same emotional way as this wreck that I came upon on my way to work. My cousin was quite a bit older than I, nearly 16 years older, I had not seen her in years. Probably since my grandparents passed away 8 years ago. As I was driving to work, I was crying and praying for these people in the wreck, somehow I knew someone didn't survive. I began to pray for their family's. I was thinking that as I was driving through this accident, she should probably would have been at work going through her normal routine, being thankful for the holiday week. Maybe it was even going to be a short work week. She probably had plans of christmas shopping this weekend. I'm sure she didn't know that today would be her final day, that on her way to work she would run into a flat bed truck and her life would instantly be complete here on earth. She probably didn't have time to make a decision in her life, that time we all think we have. I began to ask God, What can I do? What have I missed? How many chances will I let go by without touching someone's life, without sharing the love of Christ? That could have been me, or you. But at that time it wasn't my time to die. At that time it was time to ask Christ what can I do? How can I fulfill your purpose in my life? Who do I need to talk to today? What relationships do I need to mend today?

Life is too short, how will you live the next hour. My daughter wants me to make tea and have a tea party with her. I am going to make a meal for my family and sit down and enjoy and evening with them. I am going to sit down and practice their parts for the christmas program. Don't wish your life away. Don't wake up wishing your work day was already over. Wake up asking God, "Make my day go slow, help me to make the best of every chance I have to share your love with those around me, let my family have a great day and let them share your love with their friends, and bring us together at the end of the day and let us have a nice long relaxing evening together," Be thankful for another day, ask God to help you make the most of everyday he has given you.

God has a purpose for you today. Will you spend your day spouting off and trying to anger someone. Will you spend it being mad because of something someone said or did? Or will you get up asking God to show you his purpose in your life for today. Because if you got up everyday searching for God's purpose, I'm sure it would not include anger, hate, or revenge. Even if your purpose is just praising him and worshiping him in whatever way you can, it is the purpose God has given you today. Maybe someone needs help getting their car fixed, a visit at the hospital, a babysitter, maybe someone needs you to bring food to their house. Dont' overlook the ways you can love Christ. I pray that everyday your prayer will be " God what is my purpose today, show me my purpose, open my heart, mind, and soul to do your will today."

I know that if my husband drove by that accident today, it would not affect him the way it did to me. I don't even begin to expect it to. You probably think that is heartless, but he is a nurse. He cannot become emotional over things like that, or else he would not be able to do his job the way he needs to. He needs to think like a nurse, because he his a nurse. He is still human, death affects him when it needs to. Sometimes we expect our pastor's to feel every emotion that we feel. We expect them to cry when we cry, to feel the joy we feel. Truth is, like a nurse, they need to think with a level head. Everything can't affect them the way it does you. They need to be able to hear the words God is speaking to them, so they can comfort you. They need to be able to pray, when you are so hurt that you don't feel as though you can. Like a nurse, God has a time for them to feel what you feel, and a time to just be able to do their job and lead you and be your pastor. There is a time for my husband to be the comforter, but most of the time it his job to fix you.

It's been 3 hours since I started this blog. I thought I would be fixing dinner for my family and having a tea party. But instead I had a knock on the door, my cousins viewing was tonight. So I went with my parents, seeking God's purpose. I knew that family, all of that family did not have christ. They would not know the comfort that God has for them. I watched 3 young girls and their kids cry over the loss of their mom/grandma. As I watched my cousins brothers and sisters, and even mother that seemed to have no emotion, no love for each other. It was quite sad. I had never before felt so much hate, at such the wrong time. It really hurt my soul more than her passing. Be praying for this family. But I sat with my Dad, as we seemed to be the only comforters those 3 young girls had. Girls that had already buried their father, and now their mother. I watched as my dad became daddy to them. He showed God's love the only way he could. He didn't leave their side until they were ready, and we hugged each one as we walked away.

I kept my promise to my baby, we had a tea party when I got home. There is nothing like tea with lot's of sugar and tiny whale crackers to end your day. I am thankful for the long day God gave me today. I pray that your days be long, and that God's purpose will be found in your life as you go through your day tomorrow.

Thank God for Another Day..........................

Quit trying to be God.....

and surrender to God. Sounds easy enough, but in today's world we have so many things to surrender to that surrendering to God seems to be last on our list.
" Just the other day our car broke down. Finances already tight as they are, little things like that can really bring stress into your life. Instantly worry and stress began to set in. It wasn't one of those times where you take your car in right when it happens and they give you the estimate and then you can get it out of your head. It was one of those days when we called my mom and borrowed her truck, went to work and had to wait all day for my dad to get off work and take a look at the car. When you have a day or two to think about everything that could be wrong, the costs of everything that could be wrong, every bad thought imaginable begins to creep in. We called each other a couple of times that day, both of us stressed but we never let each other truly know the levels of stress we both felt. We tried our best to lift each other up and think positive. I am pretty sure the positive part only took place while we were on the phone with each other. It's funny how thoughts can grow and I was reading the purpose driven life, Christs suffering did not start when the beating occured, Christs suffering began when he knew what was going to happen to him. If something like that was going to happen to me, I don't know if I would want to know beforehand. I can't imagine the stress. He didn't run from his problems, he faced them with prayer. Lots of prayer. He went to his friends and had them surround him and keep guard while he prayed. I would have been planning a course of action, getting a team together to fight back. Why, becuase I would have been trying to be God. Just like when my car broke down, I let the stress take over, I didn't start praying about my problems. I might have prayed about it once, but I didn't do it right. I didn't completely turn it over to God. I was not having a good day, so I went to my friend and expressed my stress to her. She seems to always know what to say. I know she prayed for me, she always prays when I ask her to. I came home that day, and my non-mechanical husband had done some research on the internet and found many people had the same problems with their car as we did and found what could have been wrong with our car. It turns out, all we had to do is unhook the battery and rehook it back up, and it reset the computer that disabled the fuel pump, and it started. What did it cost to fix my car my, my friend asked the next day, and I told her it costs nothing. You should have seen her face light up. You should have seen my mechanical dad's face when he found out my non-mechanical husband fixed our car. There is a reason we are not God, so quit trying to be God and let God be the God of your life. If you give everything to him, he will give everything back and then some.
Next time you have some time to think about your problem and what could be wrong, maybe it's your car, maybe it's other things in your life, maybe you are waiting on some test results, think of what Christ did while he waited for his death. Not just any death, but a very crucial death. Stress does not get any greater than what he faced, the only thing greater is the fact that God had to watch his son die. If you mimic his ways, God will see you through. But remember, God did not remove the problem, God gave him strength to get through it all. Look for that strength.

Strength that comes from:

• Friendships
• Christ
• Prayer

I hope you have a blessed week. If you want to find your purpose, visit fbcpocola.org and let us help you.