Live Generously and Do Good…I Dare You!!!

You know we've all done it

The person is holding the sign
"homeless and hungry
will work for food"

Either you drive by and barely notice
     You drive by and are irritated that they don't have a job
             or wonder if it's a scam
     You drive by and feel guilty that you didn't stop
Or
     You drive by and just don't know what to do.

Then there's the cool Facebook post about the amazing person who is doing awesome work in some far away country. You think
     "Wow - glad they went.  I couldn't do that???"

Or you're at work
           someone told you about the person who recently adopted
                or were thinking about being foster parents.
Something inside of you reacted.
Maybe you thought
  "not everyone's called to that kind of thing"
  "they must be super-parents or crazy or …"
you might have even told yourself
   "some day, when I have my act together..."  (insert laugh here)
   "when my other kids are older"
             when, when, when

The thing about doing good is usually this …
    Do Good, right now!
Doing good isn't thinking good thoughts
It isn't making good plans
It isn't even a number on that grand ole Bucket List… some day I will

Doing good is just that
Someone rushes in front of you at the grocery store and "steals" your spot in line.
  Let them take it, smile and tell them to have a great day

The person who is working behind the counter is rude, ignorant really.
  Thank them for their time, say a prayer for yourself and then for them (just maybe they are having one of those days, months or even years)

Live Generously! You keep meaning to drop off that food, or make that call, or text that person, or make that meal.

And, back to that guy and his sign
   or that family standing there with their children
       really they shouldn't put their children through that, ahhh
   Stop your car, walk over to where they are, shake their hand and ask their name
(do you dare give them a hug?)
   Maybe you can't hand them money, but you can hand them dignity and a kind word

…I dare you



   

When life doesn't do what it's supposed to … what's up with that?

It doesn't always end up like you planned it.
That's the thing with life.

Months ago (or is it years already) I wrote about our Planned Parenthood fail
No, the failure wasn't that we aren't parents because we definitely are
       or the children that God gave us
They are #awesome!!!!

The Fail was in the planning part,
    the ability to even think I could have any control
        when, how many, boys or girls
Didn't end up being a failure I guess, but a perfectly orchestrated, brought-together family.

But here's to that control thing…
I have none!
I HAVE NO CONTROL!
There - I said it!

I can imagine what raising kids should be like, how smooth it should be or where the bumps should show up.
But dang it! It's just not that simple
It's hard growing up in the most "perfect" of circumstances, let alone when you've been struggling your whole life.

Believe me, I'm a realist, don't get shocked too much anymore (not sure that's great)
And I can't say this is shock or surprise here. Just an "are you kidding me?" kind of day … week … month!

I think I'm actually, slowly, step by step, surrendering control of that
But once in a while
Arghhhh!!!
Life knocks hard at you, pushes you around, gives you a "what the …?"

So I needed to rant a bit.
I think this post would have been much more juicy if I gave you the details.
Let's just say this. There have been a couple of ER visits, one car accident, a very large gathering in my home that went … should I say, sideways … fast! One drug withdrawal (mine - no I'm not addicted to anything, at least I didn't think so and if I told you what and why I was taking it you would say "what the…?" as well)

And on a serious note (that was the lightweight stuff)
    ongoing physical symptoms that are looking pretty dang scary for one of mine.

We have joined a few more "clubs" this last month, can relate to a few more people out there, have prayed consistently, struggled nonstop and surrendered over and over.

Life just isn't that simple.
And I just wish someone had told me that earlier.
That's all
Rant over
Hug a kid today, yours or someone else's
Just, make sure you hug a kid!