Happy Thanksgiving!  To everyone that came out to volunteer at Brookside last Sunday, it was awesome!

Our friend Erin Szalkie sent out the following note:

Thank you, thank you thank you!  Thanks to your efforts and giving hearts, the Brookside Thanksgiving Dinner was a huge success- we were able to serve close to 300 people this year!  We so appreciate your willingness to share your time and talents with us as we work to show God's love to our neighbors in the Brookside community.  We pray that you felt blessed as well by the experience and that you will consider working with us again next year.

300!   That's amazing.   Everything went so smooth and I think the people at Brookside had a great time.  Thanks Erin and Jim for all you do!

[image by J. McPherson]

What are you going to do today?   Do you have a task list, day planner, outlook calendar synchronized with your phone?  I bet it's full appointments, things to do, places to go and people to see.   I know mine is full and there's nothing wrong with that.  However, in the busyness of life, we need to remain focused on two simple things:

1. Love God

2. Love Others

Matthew 22: 36-40 says: 

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

How do you love God and others?  Start by praising God.   Tell him how you feel, verbalize it.  Get into God's word, read the Bible.   Then apply it to your life.   It does no good sitting on a shelf or to just read and not act.    Once you read it, take action and make some life changes.   Serve others.  Put them above yourself.  Humble yourself.

Start today and try to live more intentional around these two things.   Such seemingly small things, but so important to remember in our lives.

[image by Great Beyond]

How often do you think about the purpose of your life?   Is it often or infrequent?   I have to admit that I think about it a lot.  Many days I wonder if I’m fulfilling all of the plans that God has for me.   Sometimes I get depressed because I don’t think I’m pursuing His call on my life.   What is the call?   I don’t know for sure, hence the round and around struggle.  I have some ideas, but it is still getting revealed to me.

Many times I wonder if we’re making our “purpose” out to be more complex than it has to be.   I was reading in the book of Isaiah and one thing that jumps out to me is that God didn’t “Call” Isaiah.   Isaiah responded to God’s question.

Isaiah 6:8 says:

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"  And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

God was searching for someone that could go out and fulfill things that God was interested in.  Isaiah simply responded.   He stood up and said “Send Me!”    And God did.

Is there a situation in your life that you feel like God is searching for someone to step up and say “Send Me”?  Perhaps today you could take that intentional step and tell God “Send Me”.     If you do that, make sure to have an open heart and be ready to listen for what God asks you to do.   Talk about a life of adventure if we could live that way every day. 

How can God use you today?

[image by amboo213]

Do you consider yourself a leader?  Or, do you have aspirations of leading?   I consider myself to have leadership traits and characteristics.  I enjoy leading teams and helping to motivate and encourage people.   As leaders, we need to push people.  We need to help them become more accountable and keep them on target. 

I find myself being a good leader at work, on volunteer committees, at church, but what about at home?   Husbands, what type of leader are you at home?   For me, my wife has asked that I help push her towards goals she has shared with me.  She has asked, and she expects it.   She has specifically said “I need you to Push Me.”  Many days I fail at this.  I get too busy with my own agenda.   Today I had to apologize to my wife for not leading at home like she needs.  

Guys, if your wife hasn’t yet specifically asked you to help keep her accountable in some area, today would be a good day to ask her how you can help.    Even if she says there is nothing, the act of asking her will speak volumes into her life.

[image by stevendepolo]

Am I living my life with passion?   Something I've been thinking about recently.  It's easy to go through the motions and let the days pass by, but it actually takes determination and work to live with passion.  It's definitely worth it, but you have to plan for it and proactively think about it.   For some people out there living a passionate life probably comes quite easy.  You live whimsically, care free, fun loving.   But for others (like me), you take life a little too serious, you're responsible, you're always thinking about the next project, commitment, or the next task.

Just for today, try something out of the ordinary.   Take a chance.  Do something fun.  Break your daily habit of the mundane and do something special.   Heck, that might just mean leaving work for an hour to go sit at Starbucks with a mocha to just dream.  Whatever it looks like for you, do it.  Today.

Post your comment about what you did, I'm curious to hear.

[image by antoine hubert]

Some of my friends know that I'm a big Tony Evans fan.   I really enjoy listening to his messages.  He gets so passionate as he delivers a message that you can't help but get fired up for God.

I received an email this week with his weekly devotional.  I thought I'd share part it here:

Most of us know what it means to be locked in spiritual warfare. There are times when even the strongest believer will be tempted to give up in the battle. That’s why we need to pray for one another. Prayer defeats the enemy right where he stands. Prayer also encourages the hearts of those in the heat of battle.

I do believe there is power in prayer.   If you're struggling with anything that you want to share, please post it below in the comments section.   You don't need to post your real name or a real email or anything.   Just share your struggles.  You will be prayed for by myself and others.

Be Strong.

[image by dtcchc]

I wanted to pass this along to anyone around the Indianapolis area that might have an interest in helping to serve a Thanksgiving Dinner at Brookside Community Church in Indianapolis.   My family helped serve last year and we're planning to help again this year.   We bring our 6 and 3 year old boys and they have a great time helping too.  It really is a blessing to serve other people.

Here's the info from our friend Erin:

Hello, friends of Brookside!
 
This email is going out to everyone that expressed interest last year in helping with the Brookside Community Church Thanksgiving dinner, those who have expressed interest so far this year, and those of you who are already serving on Sunday mornings.
 
Jim (my husband) and I will once again be coordinating the Thanksgiving dinner at church. This year we will be serving dinner on Sunday, November 22nd.  We will once again do what we did last year, which is to serve a light breakfast before church and then serve dinner immediately following the service.
 
We plan to serve the following:
 
Turkey
Ham
Stuffing
Green Beans
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Rolls
Pie
Milk/Coffee/Fruit Punch
 
One thing we'd like to do differently this year is to get individuals to volunteer to cook and slice a turkey at home the day before (November 21st) and then we'll reheat at church that morning.
 
We are eagerly looking for those who are willing to help with cooking turkeys, breakfast that morning, setup, cooking, serving, clean up, and any other fun thing we can think of! :)  And, of course, I have to be shameless and also say that we're looking for any financial/food donations to help us cover the cost of this meal, as it lies outside our church budget.
 
For those of you who have served at Brookside in the past, you know full well that you leave feeling more blessed than those you are serving.  I hope you'll prayerfully consider partnering with us this year in whatever way you see fit as we minister to the hearts, minds and STOMACHS of the Brookside community!
 
If you are interested in this opportunity, you can reach us at 317.253.8966.  We look forward to serving with you!
 
Erin Szalkie

If you're interested in serving, you could also comment below and be sure to fill out email address field (it won't be posted on the site) and I'll help coordinate too.

[image by hendricksfamily]

If you could only describe yourself with two words, what would they be?   I’ve thought a lot about this and the two words I think of for myself would be “Hope Giver”.    At times this is a challenge for me because I get very focused on myself, but being a Hope Giver implies that I must be externally focused on other people and their needs.

There are a lot of people that you cross paths with that need some hope.   Perhaps they’re dealing with a broken marriage, or financial troubles, or infertility troubles, or self esteem issues.   You never know until you intentionally get past yourself and focus on the other person.

How can you become a Hope Giver?

Listen.   That’s pretty easy.   Just listen more than you speak.

Encourage.   You don’t need to preach someone a long sermon or even have any answers.  Just say a few words of encouragement to help lift up their day.

Duplicate.   Start teaching others how easy it is to be a Hope Giver and pass it on.

What two words would you use to describe yourself?   How can you be a Hope Giver today?   Share your thoughts.

[image by niznoz]

It has been almost 4 months since I started my Social Media Sabbatical.   Recently, I’ve started creeping back into social media, but I’ve taken slow steps.  I have decided to end the sabbatical and continue slowly back into the online world.

Here are 3 things I learned:

1. Family is way more important than social media “friends”.  I was just talking with a group of friends the other day and many have this feeling that social networking will be the new boom in higher divorce rates.  Any time we start to put more time into our online networks than our own family, we need to watch out and check ourselves.

2. God longs for us.   I’m serious.   I’ve really dug back into the Bible more these past few months and over and over I feel God’s warmth.  God pursues us.  Just make sure to take the time to spend with Him.  This has been an amazing thing for me and something that will not stop.  

3. Your spouse and kids long for you.  I can’t say it enough. Make sure you’re not neglecting your spouse and kids (or any important person in your life) by spending too much time on facebook or twitter or blogs or whatever your social networking choice is.

I learned much more than these 3 things, but these in my view are the most important.  Have you taken a social media sabbatical or are you considering one?   What have you learned?

[image by jeffry b]

One thing I've noticed recently is when I'm texting and I try and type "Love You" to my wife or family, most of the time I end up typing "Live You". I've hit Send sometimes too fast and sent the text with "Live You" in my message. It got me thinking though that the words "Live You" really are applicable to our daily lives.

When I think about the words "Live You" I think they are a declaration of action for a person's life.  It's a reminder to live our lives with intention and purpose.  Yes, I love you, but I want you to live!  Hence, Live You.  

I want to encourage you to live your life with intention.   Seek out ways to live with purpose and truly live the life that God has called you to live.

PS:  What does "Live You" mean to you?