40 day experiment

40 days. lots can happen in 40 days. moses was up on a mountain with God for 40 days. noah was in an ark in the midst of a flood for 40 days (after the weekend we had in nashville, i have no idea how he survived that! maybe that's where the term "cabin fever" came about..hmmm....) jesus lived in the wilderness and fasted for 40 days. you get the idea. so for whatever reason, i feel like God is leading me in a particular path of obedience; one that will require specific action on my part. and if you know me at all, you know i'm not really a "take action" kinda girl. i'm perfectly happy to stay in my comfort zone...until recently. lately, i've been feeling like God wants me to step out in faith. i feel like there are some things He wants to teach me but i have to be willing to obey and trust that He's in control.

so here's the idea, 40 acts of kindness in 40 days. for the next 40 days, i will be performing an act of kindness every day. not necessarily grand gestures, but acts that are atypical for me. and let me be clear, this is not an attempt to build my ego or make others think i'm such a good christian...quite the opposite. i've realized that i tend to obey God's command to "love thy neighbor" when it is convenient for me and really only if it's someone i know. lame, i know. i have a million excuses for why i can't serve i.e. i have 3 kids, i have a schedule, i have too many errands, etc. all of these things may be true, but God didn't really say in his word "love thy neighbor when you get a minute and aren't busy and you're well-rested and all caught up on your laundry". i think if i turn my focus off my own life and onto being available for God's using, i might just learn a little something. like i said before, i'm not looking for daily grand gestures. i'm looking for something that takes my focus off myself.

i'm not sure how this will look on the blog. i don't know if i'll post every day or every couple of days. all i know is, God's going to show up. i don't know how or when, but i know if i show up, so will he (kinda sounds like laundry... i know if i ever want to do it, there are dirty clothes to wash. wait, did i just compare God to dirty laundry? still in need of grace, friends. i don't think he takes personal offense though....he knows i want him to show up; not so much the dirty laundry).

i actually started the 40 day experiment today. i will post about it later but i hope it gets better b/c today was rough. but tomorrow is a new day and i'm hopeful.