What I saw in the box.

Lent is over. Easter is over for that matter, but I have finally come to end my Lenten blog. I am a couple of days late, but I do not believe in coincidences, so I am thinking that I am late for a reason. I was surprised the week before Easter by my co-workers. They had generously gathered up cans and packaged food to add onto my donation as a surprise to me. I was very surprised!! It is hard to keep secrets in our office, but they did a great job this time. I was touched by their kindness, and excited that I would have a full box of food to donate to Lemoore Christian Aid.

Isn't that what is all about? Each of us doing something that seperately is good, but collectively is amazing. That is the message I saw in that box.

Like I said earlier, I don't believe in coincidences. Within the last five days there have been tragic events that have affected two small communities in our area. Each story is filled with pain and the loss of life way before their time. In the aftermath we are seeing people from the small towns that are right next to each other, rise up to support families they don't even know from neighborhoods where they don't even live. Many people doing a little bit to help, that put together with everyone else is becoming amazing.

This will not wipe away the pain of loss that these families must face. What we pray is that the help they receive will give them the ability to put their focus where it really belongs. To the business of mourning and eventually healing.

Encouragement.

So it is Wednesday morning and I have done my duty. I was in Monterey on Monday all day, as a chaperon with my son's school. So when I went back to work on Tuesday, I was planning on delivering my can. At about 10:30 my husband sent me an email and asked if I had made sure going to lunch at 12:30 would be good. I then checked with my co-worker to make sure that we had no conflict, and emailed my husband that I was good to go later that morning.

I was so thankful for his reminder! I know that I would not have had a problem on Tuesday, but his gentle reminder made sure of that fact. It reminded me of what this whole thing is about, and that is encouragement. I am not much different than most people. I work, try to care for my family and try to honor God. Not necessarily in that order, and with varying degrees of success. Sometimes though I need help. I believe that it is why this whole blog thing started in the first place.

We all need a little encouragement from time to time, and sometimes that just may be a reminder to do, what you know you need to do. Maybe it is time spent with a friend sharing laughter, wisdom and maybe some tears. It could be simple, or maybe even a little difficult, but I would "encourage" you to seek out those opportunities. I am sitting here laughing because even as I write this, I know of someone I need to see. God has put her on my heart for the past couple of days. So I am going to end this, and send her a message now so I do not forget. Hopefully some of the encouragement that I have received in the past few days, I can give to her. If all else fails, I know I can always bring chocolate.

Distractions.....

I have been distracted lately. Or maybe it is a matter of not being focused?

I have chosen to specifically to take my can on Monday to the organization I support. The reason behind choosing a specific day, was the thought that I need to be intentional about this project. There are so many things that distract you during the week, that I felt the need to make this a priority. Well this week showed me just how true that is.

I did not get to Lemoore Christian Aid until Thursday of last week. It was a combination of car trouble, not being prepared, being forgetful and not being intentional. Everything I was afraid of squeezed into one week. So on Wednesday I talked with my husband and vented how frustrated I was with myself. I wanted to do the right thing, but had so much trouble doing it. What was the difference this week? I know some of the things were out of my control, but a little laziness and lack of communication got me into trouble. My car could have been taken care of on Saturday, but instead I put it off till Tuesday, and that cost me a day. Not checking with the ladies in my office about their schedules, cost me another.

It makes me sad that I can be so easily sidetracked from something that is important to me. It also makes me glad that God does not leave me there. So He picks me up, gives me a pop in the noggin and steers me back in the right direction. How long will I last this time? I am not sure, but I hope the distractions will become fewer and the stretches of clarity will finally become how I truly live my life.

The can lady.....

So after I started this little journey, and began blogging about my "can a week", one of the ladies at my work sent me an instant message and asked the question I knew I could not yet answer. "So, can I give you a can to take?" I knew this would be one of the first questions I would encounter.

When this whole thing started months ago as just a thought in my head, I very easily dreamed of what it could become. What if every household in Lemoore gave a can a week? Or every household in Kings County? I saw visions of shelves packed with cans, so many that even the new food bank could not hold them all. People who needed help would have a source for food, and the agencies that distribute food to the needy would not have to ration it out.

Then I started to think, we could give it a name, and market the whole idea. Why not? We do it with everything else. A can a week....that's all we ask? Then I started picturing the logistics of how this kind of operation would work, and then....I stopped.

Was that what God was asking me to do? Start some kind of organization? Create a movement? Or was it just for me personally to give a can a week? Don't get me wrong, I believe God can do anything He wants with His own ideas. At this point in the journey though, I have no other thought than to give a can a week.

So with that in mind, I answered her to the best of my ability. I told her that I am just doing what I feel God is telling me to do, and if she felt moved to give some cans, I would gladly take them. Who would say no to that! I did tell her though that taking in her cans personally would be encouraging to those who are serving the poor. Who couldn't use some encouragement?

Every week now I get some cans. Sometimes given directly to me, and sometimes anonymously left hanging on my car. Does it bother me that they are giving them to me, instead of taking them to an agency themselves? NO. At this point I am just glad my friends don't think I am crazy. I am blessed that they show love and kindness to a woman who is striving to love God, even if it looks a little different than what they are used to.

On track again.....

A new week.....another can. It is Tuesday and I already missed the mark I had set for myself. I had decided over the weekend that I would use Monday as my day to drop off my can. Who likes Mondays? What better way to make what is usually a bummer of a day better, than doing a good deed. Well to tell you the truth, I didn't get it done. Yesterday was busy at work, and I just lost track of the time. By the time I decided to head to lunch and go drop off the can, the agency I was going to would be closed. When I realized this, I was frustrated with myself.

Now I realize that one day late, with one can of food, will not put a halt to the good work this agency does. For that I am very thankful! I am not sure what this whole journey is about yet, but part of it for me is learning to be intentional with my actions. It is about having my personal plan to do what I can, and seeing it through. Not doing a half hearted job, or something like that.

I was so frustrated with myself and how easily distracted I was from my simple goal of delivering a can of food. Also, I did not enter any more into my blog in the past few days. Now I don't expect to write something every day, but when I do feel the nudge to share my experience, I should get on it. Shouldn't I?

Well I haven't. I had thought I wanted to share a little more about how this whole thing came about. Then some of the reactions from people who have read the blog, because they have been good. Somehow that got swallowed up in a weekend full of stuff. Some very good stuff, don't get me wrong, but also some really lazy stuff.

So back on track I try to get my little train going. I have my can in the car, along with some extra ones that someone anonymously left for me. Tonight I will sit down to write again, and hopefully stay on track.

Visions of corn danced in their heads....

I think it started with some people that I know who have ministries to the homeless, or as my friend Jeff calls them "friends without homes". He works directly with his friends without homes in the Santa Barbara area. Another is a lady at my church, who makes food and feeds the homeless where they are camping. She is a widow, and just knows how to stretch the food dollar. She is one of those "old fashion" ladies who was taught to garden and cook from scratch for her family. Now that it is just her, she has expanded the word family to those who do not have a home.

Maybe it was he book I read by the president of World Vision? It is his view of how we as Christians may have missed the mark in dealing with those who are without homes, poor and the third world. It is an eye opener. Maybe it was a combination of all of the above, and then some. I really don't know how it started, but I know where it took final shape. I was in the grocery store in the canned food aisle. As I pondered what my part would be, I walked the canned food aisle and the thought struck me, "what would a can a week cost?" It was then I felt God's leading to just do the most simple thing I could, just give a can a week.

So yesterday I dropped off my first can. I want to thank the nice ladies at Lemoore Christian Aid for not thinking me crazy.....or for at least keeping that to themselves. It does not sound like much, but at this moment it is what I am compelled to do. What will happen in the next 39 days of Lent? How will this turn out in the end? All I do know is that at least for one meal, one family will have a can of corn to eat.

Happy Lent!!

"Little steps equal big gains".... It was a phrase that our pastor used in a sermon not too long ago, and then the boys basketball team at my sons school used it as their slogan this season. It came back to me this morning as I sit down to write on this first day of Lent 2011. For the past few years I have taken the time to celebrate Lent. It is not part of my religious background, but I like the idea of sacrificing something in order to bring your focus to God and the death and resurrection of Christ.

While I tend to use the season, I never said that I play by the same rules. I am lucky in this respect because I get to make up my own rules. Or so I thought. Two years ago I was moved to write daily in a blog about what God was doing in my life, or how He was speaking to me. Last year I tried it again, but failed miserably. I may be making up my own rules, but it is God who needs to give me the direction.

So I truthfully was not thinking about Lent, but about something God had been needling me about for a while now. So as I was thinking about how and why to do this thing, it dawned on me that Lent was about to start. I was excited, God had again given me a new opportunity to work it out with Him in a different way.

So today I am starting my journey and inviting anyone else to join along. What is it you ask? You will just have to check back tomorrow and find out, and see if I got it done. I do have a hint for you......"a can a week is all we ask".