Day 263

Scripture: Ps 18; Amos 4:6-13; 2 Peter 3:11-18; Matthew 21:33-46


Scripture standout: Ps 18: "³⁶ You give me a wide path to walk on 
      so that I don't twist my ankles."

Amos: "¹³ The Lord forms the mountains.
      He creates the wind.
      He makes his thoughts known to human beings.
   He turns sunrise into darkness.
      He rules over the highest places on earth.       His name is The Lord God Who Rules Over All."

2 Peter 3: "So be on your guard. Then you won't be led down the wrong path by the mistakes of people who don't obey the law."




His Deed/The Day: My heart is heavy for some things, and joyful for others. Let's talk about the joyful part. Today is the first Day of December. Finally, I can pawn off daily deeding on my family! Backup has arrived! Every years we do an advent game called "Helping Hands." Every day, the kids are supposed to do a good deed, share it during dinner and point to a glove on this wreath I made — and receive a treat that is inside. It's all good. Kids love it. It teaches them to be on the look out for opportunities to help others (to be God's "Helping Hands") and shows them that there is reward in helping others.

This year, we're ramping it up. In addition to Helping Hands, we're trying "Blessings Bowl." I don't know if you've ever been to WeGive.org, but it's a wonderful little resources — especially if you're looking high and low for deeding opps. Basically, WeGive is a local clearing house for organizations to list their needs in a tangible, price-tagged way. You can peruse the list by organization, the value of their needs, how much time is left on the ask and a few other options. For Blessings Bowl, I sorted the organization's asks through dollar amount. I started with the least, $10. You can't imagine how many pages of needs spewed forth! There must have been 8 pages full! So I printed them out, cut out the explanation of each organization's need and what $10 would buy them, and cut each one out. I folded each need and put it in a bowl. The bowl is overflowing...there must be 150 needs in there! The plan is: each night, one of the children will choose four pieces of paper. He/she will read what $10 will buy each of the four organizations. Then, the choosing child will decide how we are going to spend $10 to help someone.

Last night, it was just Marley and me. The boys are in Texas hunting. She chose four pieces of paper and decided on helping the kids at The Sanctuary. A $10 donation helps them provide a gift card for a child. With a few clicks, we donated $10. Marley was even able to make the donation in honor of her favorite teacher, Mrs. Body.

As I look ahead into December, it is a relief to have some help on this daily seeking for a good deed to fill. Looking forward to it!

Day 262

Scripture: Ps 19; Deuteronomy 30:11-14; Romans 10:8b-18; Matthew 4: 18-22
Scripture standout:

His Deed/The Day: Yuck. Last night our family faced a yucky crisis. We're at the beginning stages of working it out. It involves Ben and we're now experiencing parenting 401. I went back to yesterday's post to write down what deed had transpired and got the sweetest message from yesterday's standout:

Ps 11: "⁷ The Lord always does what is right. 

      So he loves it when people do what is fair. 
      Those who are honest will enjoy his blessing."

Ben did nothing wrong, but we have been addressing honesty and forthrightness. I felt spoken to this morning. Thank you!

Day 261

Scripture: Ps 5, 6, 10, 11; Amos 3:1-11; 2 Peter 1:12-21; Matthew 21:12-22


Scripture standout: Ps 11: "⁷ The Lord always does what is right. 
      So he loves it when people do what is fair. 
      Those who are honest will enjoy his blessing."

His Deed/The Day: Asked others to join in on a volunteer assignment — sitting with Samashullah in the hospital through the end of Christmas. The result? Lots of happy "I want to helps." So encouraging...

Day 260

Scripture: Ps 1, 2, 3, 4, 7; Amos 2:6-16; 2 Peter 1:1-11; Matthew 21:1-11


Scripture standout: 2 Peter 1: "⁵ So you should try very hard to add goodness to your faith. To goodness, add knowledge. ⁶ To knowledge, add the ability to control yourselves. To the ability to control yourselves, add the strength to keep going. To the strength to keep going, add godliness. ⁷ To godliness, add kindness to believers. And to kindness to believers, add love.

 ⁸ You should possess more and more of those good points. They will make you useful and fruitful as you get to know our Lord Jesus Christ better."

His Deed/The Day: Bought two "Angels for Allison" angels...they are these colorful, beautiful painted metal angels that also raise money for a local nonprofit.

Day 259

Scripture: Ps 80; Isaiah 64:1-9; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:24-37
Scripture standout: Mark 13: "³³ "Keep watch! Stay awake! You do not know when that time will come. ³⁴ It's like a man going away. He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge. Each one is given a task to do. He tells the one at the door to keep watch.

 ³⁵ "So keep watch! You do not know when the owner of the house will come back. It may be in the evening or at midnight. It may be when the rooster crows or at dawn. ³⁶He may come suddenly. So do not let him find you sleeping.

 ³⁷ "What I say to you, I say to everyone. 'Watch!'

His Deed/The Day: Oh thank God for Christmas and Advent...grabbed three angels off the caring tree at church and dropped a bag at Goodwill on the way home. Merry, merry!

Day 258

Scripture: Ps 137, 144, 104; Micah 7:11-20; 1 Peter 4:7-19; Matthew 20:29-34
Scripture standout: 1 Peter 4: "⁸ Most of all, love one another deeply. Love erases many sins by forgiving them. ⁹Welcome others into your homes without complaining."


His Deed/The Day: Spent some time by the water's edge being thankful for the ocean and the breeze and the sand.

Day 257

Scripture: Ps 140, 142, 141, 143; Isaiah 24:14-23; 1 Peter 3:13—4:6; Matthew 20:17-28
Scripture standout: Ps 142: "⁵ Lord, I cry out to you. 
      I say, "You are my place of safety. 
      You are everything I need in this life." 
 ⁶ Listen to my cry. 
      I am in great need."

His Deed/The Day: Helped an elderly couple get out of the house and into their car