Hey all. Missy here. With the turn of the year, I found myself thinking on some global changes I want to make. It started with my attempting to recite Matthew 5:1-16. When I got to the "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden" I had to really stop and think about that. Light of the world. That sounds more like a major flood light than it does a candle. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. So whatever this light is and however it manifests itself in me, I know it's supposed to be both bright and obvious.

I was still thinking about this one passage as I worked my way through our CVS pharmacy several days ago. I stepped up to the counter when it was my turn. She said, "Hi, how are you?" rather unenthusiastically. I muttered, "Fine. How are you?" with similar tone to hers. We did our transaction, uttered the obligatory "have a nice days" and went our separate ways. I then thought about the person in line in front of me and the one that stepped up behind me. They were no different. They said the same things. We all looked the same: polite, but flat. I don't think it should be that way. I think however brief my interactions with others are, I have an opportunity to be different. To make that cashier look me in the eye and think, "hmm' as she checks me out.

What exactly am I called to do or be? In questioning this, I read the following passages:
Titus 2:14: [He] gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works."

I Peter 2:9: "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light."

2 Corinthians 2:15: "For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing."

Matthew 5:16: "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven."

The goal is to be so lit up, to even smell like Christ, that someone in the world would see our works and praise God, or name Him, as a result. How do I do this practically? I'm sort of looking for ideas from people who are more natural in social situations. I am fairly social and carry myself fine, but I'm just enough introverted to allow myself to slack when I'm not totally on my game. I suppose it can be as simple as seasoning my speech with grace (Col 4:6) in a brief encounter. I've had people say to me "Have a blessed day" instead of "have a nice day" and this struck me as different. What else can we do to be different in brief situations in the world? If you have any ideas and can help me brainstorm this, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks for the help, girls. Hope everyone is striving to walk in the light.

I was reading some of Isaiah tonight, which I love, and came upon the following verse: "One will say, 'I belong to the Lord'; Another will call himself by the name of Jacob; still another will write on his hand, 'The Lord's,' and will take the name Israel." Isaiah 44:5

This made me think. It's kind of neat to think about having the words "The Lord's" on my hand. So I'm doing it tomorrow, to see what it does for my thinking. To see if it makes me more aware that I belong to Him first. To see if it makes me feel weird or prompts any questions from others. To see.

Hi everyone. Here I sit, finally. I still don't have a great organization to this "group", but if I wait for my brain to return, we'll all grow old in the process. I figure that I'm just going to jump in with some ideas and maybe we'll all transform ourselves one small idea at a time.

I've spoken with a few people about this idea and have even worked on it with Becky here locally. This is really simple to do, but highly encouraging to the recipients of it. I will admit up front that I didn't think of this on my own. It got started rather accidentally. I have a great friend in Seattle that I don't get to see very often. Because we are long distance and because I had babies that wouldn't really tolerate a long flight to the pacific NW, I sent a little disposable camera to my friend and told her to take pictures of her town, surroundings, etc. Things I wouldn't be able to see for a long time. I thought she'd send me back the camera so I could develop the photos. Instead, she developed all of them and turned them into picture postcards and sent them to me every day for a month. So every day for a month I was receiving postcards with pictures that pertained to her life somehow. This was so fun. I wasn't even in a period of discouragement, but was so excited every day to go to the mailbox. It dawned on me during this that this would be a great way to lift up those who are down or discouraged. So I stole the idea, tweaked it a little, and now we call it the Postcard Ministry. It can be used so easily with your "throwoff" photos. Pictures of your kids. Funny pictures. Pictures of nature. Whatever. We all have 4 x 6 photos sitting around that won't make it into scrapbooks. Or we can take a CD or some negatives into any CVS and print out copies of pictures that are especially neat. One of the photos people seem to like is a weird one I took of Buzz and Woody out in my uncut grass. These were just 6 inch high toys that I set on a toy bicycle and then photographed. Makes a happy postcard for sad or sick people. I don't send this one to old folks, though, as I'm not sure they even know who Buzz and Woody are.

The key to this is preparation. Before you start sending cards, get your supplies ready. Get postcard stamps from the post office. Get card stock from a paper or office supply store and spend a few minutes or an hour cutting 4 x 6 cards from the 8 1/2 by 11 sheets. Get photo splits from any drug store or grocery store to mount the photos on one side of the postcard. And get your photos lined up. It sounds like a lot of steps, but it can be done pretty easily and then you are set for awhile. People love receiving personal things and there's nothing more personal than a picture. And people love knowing that they'll be getting something in the mailbox when they walk out to it. It doesn't have to be a month's worth. Maybe a week. Whatever works for you.

We had a woman here about a year ago whose husband left her, took her son, and leveled charges against her. So in one fell swoop, she lost her marriage, her job, one of her children, and her rights. It was terrible. We started sending her postcards and even had multiple people doing it. She received at least 2 a day for quite awhiele. It was a small thing, but was about the only thing we knew to do.

Just some thoughts. Do with them what you will. Hope your day will be blessed.