The FACTS of April

As I look at people I have great admiration for in life, they all seem to have one thing in common – a serving heart - Mother Theresa, Billy Graham, our missionaries – to name a few.  Most of these folks live or lived in places we would never dream of visiting or they may travel far and wide to serve others.  So often we perceive these people to be heroes of the faith.  The truth is, being a hero of the faith, is the person who faithfully follows Christ on a daily basis, wherever they are.   It is the prayer-warrior who faithfully prays for us whether there is trouble or joy in their own life.  It is the person fighting for freedom from sin that is entangling them.  It is the one who stumbles and gets up to continue the race.      The heroes of our faith make up the Body of Christ. 

There is no ONE member in the Body of Christ who needs less attention than the other – for ALL are equal in the eyes of God.  The person who comes to church faithfully to honour God deserves as much attention at the person who is paid to come to church.  Those who serve faithfully in the church need to be blessed in all things as much as the neediest person in the church.  In other words, the level of devotion to Christ, does not make that member of the Body any more important or any less important than the other members of the Body of Christ.

Have you ever heard of Random Acts of Kindness?   Well, there is a new one out…  Focused Acts of Compassion, Time and Service.

F.A.C.T.S.   (I know it’s a new acronym, ‘cause I made it up!)

During this past month of April, I sent out a request asking if I could serve people for one hour.  Then each day, for 30 days I went to the individual person’s home and did whatever they requested of me for one hour.

My rules for this exercise were:

ONE:  The person had to want me to come to serve them.  I didn’t want to try to convince or persuade the person to want help.

TWO:  They had to have a reason for wanting me there.  In other words, I wanted them to think about the consequences of what was going to happen and have some sort of anticipation of how the hour would go.  I wanted them to put some thought into it.

The results were fascinating.  I watched some people around me, humble themselves to receive me, whilst others excitedly waited for the opportunity to have some help.

The requests were numerous. Gardening, cooking, house-work, writing recipes, visiting “shut-ins”, praying, garage-work, cake decorating classes, packing away winter goodies, playing games and teaching the iPad’s features were all a part of my service experience.

What were just some of the things I learned?  I learned that 30 days in a row is hard work.  I learned that I wasn’t the only one who needed to be humble in order for this to work.  I realised HOW MANY people were thankful for the help and time that I gave.  I realised that submitting myself to others was like oiling the cogs of a hard-working machine.  I learned that giving this much stretched me and I learned how refreshing it was to my spirit.  I learned to be faithful.  I learned to take my family less for granted.  I learned how generous my family is.  I stopped my whining…

Rules for following The F.A.C.T.S. of life.  (Focused Acts of Compassion, Time and Service).

Do not choose only those you love and find like-mindedness with – you will NOT grow and you will NOT learn.

Serve those that you DO love and find like-mindedness with, so that your heart and soul will be fed.

Serve your children – and discover who they are.

Serve your spouse – it’s humbling.

When serving, do not question what they want YOU to do for them – you do not know what portion of their soul needs to be fed – God does.

Pray that God changes your heart as you serve the person and that HE changes the hearts of those you serve as his will desires, so that you both may know the unending power of God’s love, mercy, forgiveness, grace, compassion and faithfulness.

I wanted to have each person KNOW that THEY were important and that THEY are incredibly valuable to me and to the cross of Christ.   The truth is we all have the ability to serve in some capacity.  Serving, although it is a GIFT to some, it is also a choice we make.

 

 

 

 

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