Scripture: Yes
Silence: Yes
The Deed/The Day: I took the Blonde Brother to the hospital for a test this morning and picked him up. I would have done that any old day, but since I am focusing on deeding this month I will count it. I also picked up the drink tab for our church interfaith planning meeting tonight. Again, not exactly an outreaching move, but it felt nice.
Words of encouragement/advice: I am definitely encouraged by these Mennonites! Aren't you? (And once again, thank you, Brian Williams, you big news hottie...)
The Halftime Report:
OK, so 20 days have gone by. It's hard to believe! I thought I'd share a few observations about how this experiment has gone down so far:
1. I look forward to morning scripture time now. I anticipate an opportunity to hear God.
2. Forward Day by Day and Biblegateway.com rock. First I go to Forward Day by Day's morning devotional, highlight the daily scripture versus and plunk them in to the search engine on Biblegateway for the morning readings. Easy peasy.
3. Quiet time is hard to come by, but being deliberate about it is a must.
4. I have enjoyed reconnecting to God through quiet time. I may look like a freak talking to myself, but it is sincerely amazing time!
5. Running is healthy on many levels of this experiment.
6. Do-gooding is easiest to do when you are out and about and around people. It is more difficult, but not impossible, to do at home from a computer during work hours.
7. Do-gooding requires a constant reminder that I am seeking to do God's will and not my own. It's like zoning out or daydreaming during a rollercoaster. Stay focused or you'll miss the ride! But that is easier said than done.
8. You can do-good friends and family. But it feels different than helping a stranger or someone to whom you're not close. But friends and family are the likely places to start — because it's easier to determine their needs.
9. The more you wake up each day thinking, "what can I do for someone else?" the less you think about having a pity party for yourself.
10. It's breathtaking, page-turning to think of yourself as God's tool for blessing — it's very, purposeful.
11. Do-gooding forces you to get focused and present with every person you meet. It forces you to scrutinize, listen, hear, watch, interpret with every fiber of your brain and heart.
12. Do-gooding gives you new perspective of reading, hearing or watching the news. It shows you either needs that need meeting or how God is working through others to meet needs.
13. Doing unto others does not have to be a big event. It can be small, but meaningful. And sometimes you never know how a deed has affected somebody else.
14. Interaction is key to do-gooding. It cannot be done in a void.
15. Making Good Samaratin-ing a habit is good training.
16. Most of the time, people DON'T think you're a freak. They appreciate it.
17. A sincere showing of feelings, thoughts or emotions is a very well received deed.
18. Do-gooding rubs off on people around you.
19. Somehow or another, scripture reading is always relevant to how your day of deeding pans out
20. 40 days sounds like a long time, but it goes by fast.
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