good things and a challenge

it was another day of blessings and thankfulness.  

but there have been many seasons in the past few years, of self-pity and inward glance- of feeling the sting of my own trials and forgetting the rest of the world.  when i felt too tired to look anywhere but straight ahead. but in that, you can  miss the blessings that are tucked in between the moments of overwhelm and you can miss the quiet beauties that lighten the sting of the rest of the world. 

my cousin posted this on facebook today.  it made me happy cry.
because of this man's beauty and choice.  because of his 30,000 foot view.  because his head is screwed on right- and his heart is big.  because sometimes i forget that there is goodness hiding out there in the dark, and i just get overwhelmed by all the bad stuff.  and because it challenges me to live right, to think, to do- something.  i know it's dramatic- but it doesn't have to be.


then someone posted this on the home school group email that i belong to:
"Cleaning for a Reason:  http://www.cleaningforareason.org If you know any woman currently undergoing chemotherapy, please pass the word to her that there is a cleaning service that provides FREE housecleaning-once per month for 4 months- while she is in treatment."

it reminded me that we can all do something.  we can clean, or make food, or we can organize groups to do these things.  we can tutor refugees. we can rake someone else's leaves.  we can use whatever resources we have- because it's really about willingness not how much you have.  we can all affect change in the lives of others.

we can care.  we can love.  we can give.
like martin luther king jr. said, we can all serve.

sometimes because i have a special child who zaps a lot of energy and time, i think i should be on the receiving end.   but then i think about my fridays and why they are so good.   because i'm off center stage- my focus is elsewhere- i'm thinking about other people.  and when i grab onto something else- it forces my grubby little hands to let go of my own self-occupying troubles- which is exactly what is most needed and what brings the peace.  there is joy in the giving.  there is freedom in expanding beyond the borders of our lives.

what if we all had just one hour a week to give to someone else- someone not related to us- and we built it into our schedules?  what if we all found one cause to support or invest in? what if instead of being consumed by our own needs, or overwhelmed by the needs of the world, we just did one thing to make it better? how much would the world change? how much would we change?

"everybody has got 5.5 liters of blood. i am just a human being- for me, everyone is the same.  there are 1000s of people suffering- what is the ultimate purpose of life? it's to give.  start giving.  see the joy of giving."

what's it going to be?