31 Days~ Day 2

Created to Give Life... That's today's title.

Before I get into the meat of this chapter, let me just say I breezed through the Martha challenge, to clean the inside of the fridge and freezer. It felt good. It is on my routine to do, but I've let it slide lately. So it was much needed and I have to wear sunglasses when I open the door now. :) Now on to the tougher one...

Sarah points out that one of our special gifts from God is to give life... A few of her examples are with our words, in our homes, in education, church, socially, culture and arts, and heritage and traditions.

Our Mary Challenge today is to consider what I can do to bring life to my home, my children, my husband, and my sphere of influence. This is a question I haven't really considered before. At least not consciously. How about you? Have you really sat and pondered this before?

I think that something as simple as a smile to give freely to our families is a very small but profound way to give life. And yet, in the rush of our day we can often forget such a simple token of love. I also think words can have life or death. And when we're tired and feeling like we're running behind or not getting enough done, we can lose those life giving words and that smile to be sure. I think I resemble a porcupine more often than I'd like to admit.

So how can I find that smile and those life giving words? By being rested and not feeling behind all day. And how does that happen? For me, it is by being up before the family, having time to exercise and get in God's Word. If I have that time alone in a quiet home I find myself much more at peace to start my day.

But wait, the alarm clock is going off and the bed is so warm and the snooze button is calling my name! So this can't be where it starts, can it? I'm still missing something...

Like dominoes we have to go back to the first one to start off the chain of events. So we really need to go back to the previous night. If I can get myself to bed earlier, I can get up earlier. If I get up earlier, I can exercise and spend time with the Lord. If I can exercise and spend time with God, I can start my day with peace and order. If I can start my day with peace and order then I can have a smile for my family when they get up in the morning. See how it's like dominoes?

So, that said, it's 9:08 PM and I really need to be heading to bed soon! This is a hard habit to start because our lives are so busy. But I'm going to start making an effort. It's obvious that it won't happen naturally. So, goodnight all!!!!!! See you on day 3! :)