Last night I attended a meeting for Girl Scout leaders. Although this is my fifth year as a leader, I have not been able to attend many of those meetings through the years. Last night I was blown away by the amount of service projects our community of Girl Scout troops participates in every single month. Every single month there is an opportunity organized by our community of leaders to help those in need. Participating in each and every one of the initiatives is so very easy and yet so meaningful. I left inspired to get my troop rallied around each of those monthly projects.
Also, yesterday, I spent some time with a couple whose daughter died in an unexpected accident 4 weeks ago. Among other things we discussed was their desire to set up a site that encourages others to carry on their daughter’s spirit of doing things for others.
Serving others brings joy… to those we serve, to ourselves and to God.
And now, this morning, this is what I heard in Psalm 11 using SOAP:
Scripture: Psalm 11:7
For the Lord is righteous;
he loves righteous deeds;
the upright shall behold his face.
Observation:
The Lord likes it when good things are done. It pleases Him.
Application:
Doing good things warms God’s heart… and it warms the hearts of those we serve in the process.
And, quite frankly, I find that when I do good things for others, it makes me feel great, too. (Not that every step is easy– some steps of serving are hard. But the overall experience is always a positive one.)
Prayer:
Lord, you love it when we help others and do good things. I love the feeling I get when I do good things.
So often I feel rushed and overwhelmed and don’t stop to do all the the good I could. Or I want to make so much out of it that I am paralyzed at all I think needs to be done to help, when it’s really much smaller an effort than I think. I want my efforts to be big and bold and then, because I overwhelm myself, I sometimes sit and do nothing.
Last night I was so inspired to inspire my Girl Scout troop to help more– and to fold in more service to our programming, more awareness of helping others. Doing so will be so easy if we join in on the projects already being done. We don’t have to create something new… we just have to help.
Thank you for pulling me to that meeting and showing me how easy it can be to make in impact in others’ lives. Please guide me as I implement this with my troop.
Also, thanks for this reminder that you are noticing the good I do and that it does make you smile.
Thank you for the opportunities you give me to serve you and others. Please guide me in serving with grace and love. Please guide me when I get frustrated in some of the elements of serving. Please guide me in just jumping in, joining others in serving, rather than feeling like I have to do it bigger, better, bolder… and then doing much less than I could (or nothing) because I have paralyzed myself with too grandiose a project.
Thank you, Lord for this reminder.
I love you.
Amen.
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