Reaching Out to Others

My husband hurt his arm at field day last Sunday. He fell during one of the races and tore the ligaments in his shoulder. When we met back with our PE group yesterday, one of the sweet families offered to bring us a meal. Actually, their daughter brought it up and their mom wanted to encourage that gift her daughter has of wanting to bless others.

So, tonight we were well fed and well blessed! We ate barbeque chicken, yummy rice, broccoli, rolls, and homemade chocolate chip cookies. We are all stuffed! I would have taken a picture of all of that food, but I thought of it too late.

I am thankful for friends that are not too busy to stop and reach out to us. I know too many times I am so busy that I don't even realize when there is a need. I am too consumed in my own life and needs that I am not sensitive to those around me. But - that's not how I want to live my life. It's also not how God calls us to live our lives. He wants me to have a servants heart and put others before myself. We can certainly get so caught up in serving others that our families suffer as well. I just don't want to have so much on my schedule that I don't have time to serve others. I don't want to use my family as an excuse not to reach out.

I heard a very good sermon series from Andy Stanley. It was called Margin. Just like a book would be hard to read if there was no margin around the pages, our lives need some margin. He spoke about how we generally do not have enough margin in our lives. Everytime we have an open spot on our calendar, we feel we can fill it. Everytime we have some extra money, we feel we can spend it. Then, when we are needing a break, we have no extra to pull from. I need to stay aware of leaving some margin in my time. That way, when someone has a need, I can see that need and dip into that margin I left on my calendar and reach out.

So, on that note: When you take someone a meal, what do you like to take? I generally switch it up each time. I would like to put together a basic meal that I take. That would take away some of the stress of trying to figure out what I am going to bring. Then, I could also try to always keep those ingredients on hand so I can take a meal anytime without having to run to the store. Maybe I could also keep some homemade cookie dough in the freezer, ready to pull out and make fresh cookies at a moments notice. I might eat it all though. {grin}