The Challenge!

Remember my last post:  I asked you to check back with me on Monday to learn more about my challenge?

Well, don’t you just hate it when God gives you a holy smack-down, humbling you to the point of tears?  Okay, maybe hate is not quite the word.  But, it smarts nonetheless.

That is precisely what happened to me on Saturday.

     I’ve been feeling a prodding in my spirit for over a year now (probably it’s more like two years) that I need to be doing more here on this Earth than just taking up space.  And I’ve been on the look-out for ways to do exactly that; which is great.  I’ve been sharing Facebook status messages and blog postings on ways people can be involved and make a difference in their communities.  Sadly, however, in my own life, I feel I’ve come closer to being all talk, than I have being all action.

What makes me say this?

Saturday morning, I was browsing the Internet, poking around in websites dedicated to different social justice issues, looking at different outlets online that sell various products that donate their profits to charity and this thought occurred to me:

“Yeah, I could shop at these places, but what if that’s all I ever do?”  

That thought was immediately followed by:  “So what!  Right now, you aren’t even doing that!”

     And I haven’t been.  I could buy more products that “give back.”  I could volunteer more.  I COULD do a lot of things….but I haven’t been doing anything but talking about what I could be doing.

     Those remarks left me questioning what it is I’m really looking for.  What it boils down to is this:

Do I want to DO important things?  OR  Do I just want to be told I’m important?

“What if all I ever am is part of someone else’s support structure?  “

“So what if you are?”  I heard.

So what if I am called to be a leg and not a hand, or the mouth or the head?  Is the leg less important because it doesn’t soothe, or speak, or think?

ABSOLUTELY NOT!

And without the legs, can the feet carry the head where it needs to go, the mouth where it needs to speak, the hands where they are needed to serve?

This leads me to my motivational verse for today:

     Matthew 20:28 – “…even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many (ESV).”

On that note:

A while back, on Facebook, I posted that, where my kids are concerned, I need to talk less and say more.  Apparently, where my faith is concerned, I need to say less and do more.  With that, I have taken my initial steps.  First, as a special treat for me (purely motivational, to get me in the spirit – wink, wink, nod nod), I purchased my first pairs of TOMS shoes.  If you are not familiar with TOMS, you should check them out.  (Here’s a link to their website where you can read about their mission and vision: http://www.toms.com/our-movement)

On a more serious note:

Lent is coming up.  Though we are not Catholic, my husband and I always find something to fast for the 6 weeks between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday.  It has to be something substantial, something that will make you “feel” it.  My honey gives up Coca-Colas.  I have given up everything from chocolate, to TV, to meat.

This year, we are doing something a little different. 

World Vision ACT:S – http://www.worldvisionacts.org – has a revolutionary idea for LENT 2012, called

Relentless ACT:S of Sacrifice.  They describe is as “a series of creative challenges to explore what it looks like to put others before ourselves in our day-to-day lives.”

I got this from their website:  www.worldivisionacts.org/lent2012 

Week 1 – Sacrifice what surrounds us by re-creating our physical environment to bring important issues to the forefront of our everyday lives.

Week 2 – Sacrifice what feeds us by expanding our worldview through the food and information we take in.

Week 3 – Sacrifice what describes us by re-examining how we represent ourselves and our priorities to others.

Week 4 – Sacrifice what calls us by using our unique talents to fight injustice.

Week 5 – Sacrifice what consumes us by re-orienting our everyday activities to activities that help make change in the world.

Week 6 – Share our sacrifice with others by applying what we’ve experienced to being a creative activist and make issues come to life for others around us.

Have I piqued your curiosity yet?  Want to do something that could change your life?  Want to start doing something that could have an impact in the world?  Go check them out! 

Still not convinced?  Here’s their video.  Take a look and see if something doesn’t stir inside you!

I dare you to watch their videos and not be moved….

Or you can go check them out on Vimeo:  http://vimeo.com/36169568