How should your local church help the community?

As part of ongoing research I am trying to find out how a church can help or assist in the local community.

Typically, the church has been an important link in helping those in need; unfortunately the reality is that often some needs are not recognised by the local church and go undetected.

Of course - help can only be provided if the church has the resources and the manpower to assist, but unless the church has the opportunity to make this decision, nothing can be done.

If you have any ideas on how the church can assist those in and around the local community, please let me know.

Living with Regret

When I was younger, time seemed to go so slowly and I just couldn’t wait until I grew up and became an adult. In contrast – now that I am an adult I understand that the reality is that life just goes way too fast and I got old really quickly!

With that in mind I have realised that I do not want to get to the end of my life and wish that:

• I had done things differently
• I had done all of the things that I wanted to do whilst I still could
• If I had just understood more I would have done a better job
• I should have learnt whilst I had the opportunity too
• If I had just learnt some self control and tolerance for others' opinions, maybe so many of my relationships would not have ended
• I hadn't let my fear control my life
• I hadn't let my arrogance and pride get in the way of so many opportunities
• I didn’t do something because of what others might think!

My advice today is "don’t live a life of regret and missed opportunities". Grab life with both hands and see what it holds. You just never know what God has in store for you just around the corner – if you put him in control of your life.

CAMBODIA

It is always such an awesome experience to go to another country and see how other people live life.

There are two things that constantly amaze me about Cambodia, but this year there were three.

1. I can’t believe how much the nation has developed since I was last there in 2006. The roads have less potholes and are so much easier and faster to travel on. The rubbish on the sides of the roads has been remarkably reduced which means that the city doesn’t smell like a dump anymore either.
2. The majority of people in Cambodia live in these little one or two room houses that are really no bigger than most Australian lounge rooms. They are happy with so little, which is a real contrast to our materialistic obsession to have every new gadget that comes out.
3. The people who tirelessly serve in that country, who continually endure the climate and the inconveniences of lack of modern medicine or water supply, for very little personal gain, are amazing.

It really does cause me to pause and think about the real reason God chose for us all to be born into such a wealthy country. Could it possibly be so that we could learn to give to others instead of ourselves, or is it something more?

You're Not Perfect!

Over the past few weeks I have been talking about helping others. But how many of us actually look in the mirror and see what is really there? Look at it this way – sometimes we can look out of smudged sunglasses, through a filthy windscreen or an unwashed window and not actually see the dirt that is on the glass. We just look straight though it! But I wonder how many people can see it when they look at us – even though we can’t see it ourselves.

So often though we are so consumed with our own lives that we fail to notice someone else’s pain and hurt. So often we are so consumed with what we want, we forget to give to others in need. So often we are so consumed with our own pain that we deliberately hurt others to make ourselves feel better.

Is it time to give your self a clean up? Are you critical and judgemental of other people all the time? Are you constantly talking about other people and how bad they are? Do you blame other people for what is wrong with your life? Do you know how to fix everyone else’s problems, and are you able to tell everyone else what their problem is?

Sometimes we really need to clean the glass through which we view others. In fact it is best not to look at others too closely at all. You see – we are all as bad as each other, just in different ways. Nobody is better than anyone else and nobody can make us react the way we do but ourselves. We do what we do and think what we think because we choose to.

If you really want to change, ask someone who is really honest whether you are any of these things and see what they say! But ask yourself first are you ready for the response?

Show Mercy To Others

I am a very blessed woman. I have a few people in my life who seem to accept me for who I am. They don’t try and change me or put conditions on our relationship and they don’t expect me to be somebody that I am not. They help me through understanding where I am at, and they also encourage me to keep going regardless of how many times I stuff up. They usually offer me sensible and valuable advice and sometimes point me in the direction of a different perspective. It is these people that I respect and admire most.

Mind you, relationships like this are never one sided. Everybody has faults and it requires that both parties in the relationship make allowances for each other. Since the creation of time human beings have been making mistakes – regardless of how hard they try not to. So the question today is how do we treat others who aren’t as perfect as we are ourselves?

The answer is simple! Treat others how you want to be treated and never, ever pay back a wrong with a wrong!

Why? I met up with a friend of mine this week who shared with me some personal stuff going on in their life that I had no idea about!

We cannot always know what is going on in someone else’s life, nor what they are going through, nor what they have been through. All we can do when someone does something that hurts or that we don’t understand, is show mercy. Mercy means to forgive someone regardless of whether they deserve it or not.

You just never know what is really going on in someone else’s life and there may even be a time when we will need that mercy reciprocated!

An Unrighteous Society!

How often do we complain to ourselves that the world is changing for the worse? But how often do we do nothing about it ourselves other than complain? I believe that in general our society is so consumed with ME that they have forgotten about other people around them.

Too many people today seem to lack the basic component of being able to identify right from wrong and moral from immoral. For me personally – trying or striving to always do the right thing is important even though often I undoubtedly fail myself - but helping others is easier than most people think it is.

God’s word tells us if someone is hungry to feed them. If someone is thirsty, we are to give them a drink. If someone is sick then we are to go and visit them. Basically, we need to make sure that if we can’t do these things ourselves because we are time poor then we should give money to someone else who can. And…if we are money poor then we should give or volunteer to others our time!

If we don’t start looking after others instead of just ourselves then our society is going to continue on its self destructive pattern and a whole generation of children are going to grow up with no role modelling of how to think and care for others. What a selfish and self absorbed society it would be then!!

Let’s make the change now and be a generation who hunger and thirst for integrity and righteousness. The way to do this is to make sure that we first “do it ourselves”. Together let's start to look for ways to change and show our kids how to care for others.

Mothers Day

What does it really mean? Mothers Day is the one day that is set aside for all children to show appreciation and acknowledge the things that their mum does and show them some love back! However – my experiences through-out the years of Mothers Day has rarely been like this and I will admit that once or twice I have been left a little upset about their attitudes and efforts.

This year my family tried – they really did. My sons set their alarms the night before so they could get up and make me fruit salad with yogurt before I went to church. Unfortunately, one set his alarm for pm instead of am and the other only made it in time to help DAD put the final touches on my brekky. At least they tried.

I have rarely found a Mothers Day that is actually about the mother or the gift for that matter. Too often mums are still required to do what they do. But this year – I did really feel appreciated and valued because I received the best gift yet.

Let me explain how. You see my daughter got her self into a sticky situation by making a bad choice that required that I run interstate to rescue her this Mothers Day. And as I was heading for my early afternoon flight I started to wonder what I had done wrong. And then it hit me. I hadn’t done anything wrong – in fact I had obviously done something very right. You see the best present is knowing that in times of need my kids know where to turn and what is needed to fix the mistake that we all inevitably make on our journey of life and learning.

I am actually really proud of all my kids. That is what I got from Mothers Day this year. They have all made decisions that I don’t necessarily agree with, but then again – who of us doesn’t regret some of our past and wish we had done things different? It was a great day for me. My girl came home and admitted she was wrong! I will take it when I can

Feel free to share your Mothers Day experience