I’m not writing this to make myself look good, but because I’m feeling a new confidence in doing the positive, whether it’s for friends, family, or acquaintences who would be encouraged by knowing they are being thought of and are important to me.

I found the quote below in Reader’s Digest and it has many implications for how we treat the people in our lives.? Too many times we think there is a “window of opportunity” for certain actions, when, in fact, doing the right, or positive, thing has no statute of limitations.

Did your new neighbors move in two months ago and you haven’t met them yet?? Bake some brownies and take them over as soon as you can.

Has it been more than three weeks since an acquaintance’s funeral and you think it’s too late to send a sympathy card to the family?? Send it anyway.? There is no time limit on comforting someone who is grieving.

Did you just find out that guy you see regularly and chat with casually on the golf course had surgery a month ago?? It’s not too late to send a get well card.

Did a niece’s award at school go unnoted?? Send an “I’m proud of you” card to her today.

Take a few minutes to think about what events in the lives of those around you you want to commemorate but thought it was too late – then act on them today.? Everyone likes to know they are are important to someone else.

When in doubt, do the positive. Can?t decide whether you should get all dressed up and go to that party? Don?t know if you should ?intrude? on a new neighbor with a homemade welcome cake? Worried that an old lady would find you rude for offering to help her with her grocery bags? Do the positive! Go to the party, bake the cake, help the old lady. A life of doing is better than one of regretting what you didn?t dare to do.

Please forgive me for the play on words here but the Lord keeps bringing it mind. The Lord has been dealing with me a lot lately concerning my dependence upon Him. This dependence must be in every area of my life.

When I started blogging eleven months ago I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I have been hurt, discouraged and forced to look more deeply at who I am. Though most painful, this has stretched me and caused me to grow. But I have also made many friends along the way. They have encouraged me, spurred me on and challenged me which has also caused me to grow.

The Lord is actively at work in my life and I have a peace that passes all understanding. I have been allowed to be a blessing to others and the Lord continues to open new doors of ministry for me in the blogging world. This adds a great responsibility I did not anticipate and is one I constantly feel ill-equipped to fulfill. I am humbled each time I am praised because I know that it is only by the power of the Spirit that anyone is touched.

Humility is what we are called to and we are told in scripture that when we are weak we are strong. When we are weak is when we know that the strength of the Lord is at work. Often times when I feel the most inadequate and unqualified is when people see the Lord at work. This is as it should be. Then I am unable to boast but must give credit where credit is due, to the Lord.

This humbling is needed in any relationship. It matters not if I am dealing with my husband, my children, those I meet day in and day out in real life, or those I seek to minister to here in blogland. I know that by my nature, I am not kind, compassionate, or loving. This is a weakness. But through my weakness can flow the kindness, compassion, and love of Christ, not because of me or anything I can do but because of who God is!

2 Corinthians 12:9-10
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

I shall strive to have a weakened kindness, a weakened compassion, a weakened love. A kindness, compassion, and love that is not given just out of ourselves and our own might but is given out of a dependence on the Lord Jesus which flows through me. Then my weak efforts at kindness, compassion, and love will be made strong.

It will matter not if I am dealing with my husband, my children, those I meet day in and day out in real life, or those I seek to minister to here in blogland. They will all be blessed by my obedient submission to rely upon the Lord.

Each and every day presents us with a chance to make a difference in the lives of those around us.  We impact each person that we interact with on different levels, and the strange thing is that most of the time we don’t even think about how we will interact– even though if we did we could dramatically improve our relationships.

With that in mind, I want to ask you this question: What will you do this weekend to say “I love you?” It could be to your spouse, your family, or some friend, but if we start to ask the question now we should have something in mind so that when the time comes we actually have a better chance of making a difference in someone’s life.

For me, I will be going to see The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything– a VeggieTales movie tonight with my wife and kids. They’ve been looking forward to this movie for quite some time, although it may be because of two things:

1. They’re really into pirates right now (being boys)
2. They really want to see the bad pirate that has hands.

But this gives us a good chance to get out of the house, get a babysitter for our little one, and maybe get some food while we’re out.

Saturday we’re going to get groceries, but I hope to sneak something special in with the groceries for my wife.

Sunday we have a Patch the Pirate performance Sunday morning, and my oldest has his first speaking part, that should be interesting. I plan on bringing the camera or something to record this event. That way we can remember this special time.

What do you have planned this weekend, and in what ways are you going to be kind?