Aiming for progress, not perfection.

"...being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you
will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
Philippians 1:6

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

an afternoon of purpose.

i will admit it, i've been moping (to use a borrowed term) for the past couple of days. ellie beat her diarrhea, but she's had a fever for the last three days. she's much better now, and she didn't have any other symptoms. i think she's getting a tooth.

but about my bad attitude. yeah. i have one. well, my mood tends to get worse as the day goes on; i hit a deep slump in the afternoons most of the time.

except today.

this afternoon i got an email from our mom's ministry director about a mother moving to the dallas-area with her three-month-old daughter. she has a crib and a car seat, but that's it. she needs clothes, diapers, wipes, bottles, spoons, toys, hangers...you get the idea.

well, it just so happens that i had a huge pile of things sitting by my door to go to goodwill. i have had to go through ellie's closet several times and pack away things that are too small. some of those things get marked for donation.

i got so excited about the prospect of giving things to this mom in need that i was pulling stuff from the closet that i wasn't planning to give away. amazingly, i have probably 100 diapers in size 2, the right size. and lots of bottles. and lots of 3 month and 3-6 month clothes. and an inordinate amount of baby hangers. and waay too much baby shampoo, lotion, powder, etc. there are towels, washcloths, pacifiers, blankets, toys...so much.

i gathered it all up and packed it in extra baskets i had from baby gifts and showers as well as in baby gift bags.

i figure if she's having a hard time it'd be nice to get things that look like gifts more than handouts.

i had a great time getting things together for this woman and her baby who need them badly. the massive pile by my door doesn't even make a hint of a dent in all of ellie's things. it seemed i had an endless supply from which to give.

hmm.. do you see where this is going?

i've been moping about things not going my way. life not being perfect. not having what i think i need.

but when i was afforded the opportunity to give to someone, i saw just how overflowing the blessings and resources are in my life.

good one, God.

why do you always have to one up me?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't ya hate it that He's always right and let's you know that He's right! Ha! My flesh hates it, but I love that our Father loves us enough to show us what He wants us to see in such gentle but blunt ways.

kj said...

wow. that's just amazing, isn't it? He is such an amazing God. it's nice to think that because of who you are and all of the people you have that love you and eclaire, that have given her things-plus the things you've bought for her, there was a surplus for someone in need. thank you Jesus, for using us all, in a round-a-bout way, and reminding us that you bless us daily.

thank you for sharing sister, that was an amazing story.

beautiful chaos said...

I actually was thinking about you today...
I prayed for you, but I didn't know why.
I am glad you got your jollies helping someone!
It does help when you gain perspective...
I think you're AWESOME!!!

ree said...

How cool is it that you got to bless that mom today? I think it was a blessing for you both! That's awesome!