pink frosted cupcakes

have you noticed how many panhandlers there are lately in the area? i'm pretty sure they're unionizing on certain intersections here in town..

what do you do when you pull up next to them?  do you ignore them? do you give them an "I'm feel sorry for you" face? do you give them your loose change? or do you purposely get the in the other turning lane just to avoid them?  

i usually keep granola bars or crackers in my car for them...especially if their sign says that they're hungry. and i do that because i'll never forget the day i saw this big boca-mom suv stop by a homeless man and the kids in the car passed a package of pink frosted cupcakes to him...for some reason, it's still burned in my mind as one of the most beautiful things i'd ever seen.  i'm sure those cupcakes were intended for something else, but that family still gave them to him and the look on his face was absolutely priceless..

but sometimes when i pass my clif bars to them, they're not always grateful...in fact, one time i had a guy get really upset with me about it...which i was reminded of this week while reading MUFHH ("my utmost for His highest").  

             " if we are devoted to the cause of humanity, we shall soon be crushed and broken-hearted, for we shall often meet with more ingratitude from men that we would from a dog; but if our motive is love to God, no ingratitude can hinder us from serving our fellow men." 

i could give us all the challenge to find ways to serve our fellow man this week, but instead i think the real question is "how can we love God this week?" 

perspective

i don't scrapbook... frankly, it completely overwhelms me. i don't do well with many options...just ask my poor husband..it takes us longer to figure out where to go to dinner on a friday night than the entire dining experience once we actually get there..

but i do journal. and my journals are filled with cards and notes from my daily happenings..after looking at my journals for the past few years, i'm beginning to think that God has themes for each of them..

2 years ago when my husband lost his job, the theme was "perspective"...some days i had it, some days i didn't..

last year i had all kinds of transitions going on in my life..and i noticed that the theme from that year was "perspective"...hmm...some days i had it, some days i didn't..

so far this year God has really been challenging me to grow..not just maintain my faith, but stretch it and grow it.. he's teaching me about sanctification..russell's been talking about that each week..being "set apart"...but my definition of that has gone a little deeper.

a couple weeks ago while reading "my utmost for his highest" (mufhh), chambers defined being sanctified as "completely identifying yourself with God's interest in others." COMPLETELY IDENTIFYING YOURSELF WITH GOD'S INTEREST IN OTHERS....ouch...

and that concept has stayed with me..in fact, i'm pretty sure it's gonna be the theme for this year: perspective...

losing myself in loving my neighbor...remembering that it's not about me and whether or not i'm happy...but rather making it about how i can be God's hands and feet to those around me..
perspective: some days i get it, some days i don't..

but throughout it all, the reason i can have perspective is that i'm constantly in the palm of the Creator of the universe...and He never lets go of me...whether i get it or not...