Just call me "Oprah"....better yet...don't

Being sick in bed for 5 days gave me some time to think (between those dreaded "Gold" commercials and Sudafed fixes) about some areas in my life that need some work, or fine tuning, if you will. I feel like I have been in a season of being focused on everything else but the well-being of others. Candidly speaking, sometimes I see a need around me and I don't meet it. I think to myself, "Oh, I don't have time for that....it's someone else's turn to meet a need. Let someone else be blessed by serving once in a while." My heart for others has been tainted by my love of self. And I could feel it creeping over me like that dreaded flu bug. At times, I would ask myself, (You know those conversations you have with yourself in your head??....I know you do)"What's wrong with you? Why have you lost desire to meet needs around you? What are you doing with the time God has given you?" The answer to those questions just kept pointing me back to a place of selfishness...and it is an ugly place to be.

Focusing on yourself can lead to a depressed introspective state of mind. Have you ever noticed that? On the flip-side, when you give of yourself, there is little time to concentrate on petty things that can occupy your thought life. God created us to give ourselves away. You and I have only one life. How are we using the days in which God has given us?

Maybe it's because it is the first of the year. Maybe it's because I am turning 40. Maybe it's because I am sick and tired of being motivated to serve myself. But I got to thinking that I really need to challenge myself in 2009 to give away what God has given me...my energy and my resources to meet the needs of those He puts in my life. It is exciting to be part of the action in what God is doing!!! Why on earth have I been sitting on the sidelines???

So...I want to propose this challenge to you. This is what I have been thinking. I wonder if you would join me in meeting the needs of one person every week in 2009. Here's what that means: Simply looking around you and serving someone that God has placed in your path that week. It could be absolutely anything. There are no limits. There are no criteria. It may be making a meal for someone. It may be taking an elderly neighbor out for dinner. It may be calling someone you know who has been struggling with something big in their lives. It could be watching a couple's kids, just so they can reconnect with one another. Absolutely anything!! God will make it known. And when you are done, you will have served in 52 different ways!!!!! How cool is that???!!

I so want to do this!! And I would love to have the accountability of others doing this around me. It would be so wonderful to share in the excitement of serving!!! I have also thought about keeping a journal for the year....not to record "look what I did" but "look what God did!" With my poor memory, it would be a helpful tool.

Maybe you don't feel like you are struggling with "me-itis." If so...disregard. But if you can relate to anything here that I have shared, and you would like the challenge of sharing the gift of serving with a few others, you can simply comment right here. And together, we can be the hands and feet of Christ in a new and unique way!!! Will you join me?