ARNITA'S LEAD

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

“There is nothing more beautiful than someone who goes out of their way to make life beautiful for others.” - Hale...

Therefore today...Don’t be selfish; don’t live to (JUST) make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself. - Philippians 2:3 (LB)

What is on your plate today?

Agenda already full? 

What about your prayer time?

Where has it been focused?

Not trying to be confrontational.  If I am speaking to anyone I am speaking to “me” today.  I can get a little self-absorbed.  It is my nature, it always has been. 

I still suffer from fits of narcissism.

Yet today, I want to take “heed” of that Word from Paul.  I want to live today not for the good impressions it will make on me but rather find ways to make the day more beautiful for someone else.

That takes "intentionality".

Maybe that is stopping by the store to pick up a card and sending it to that person you know is lonely today.  Maybe that is being intentional to put down all of the “me focused” prayer requests and instead humbly focus them on the others GOD has and will intersect you with.

“Being others-focused instead of self-focused changes your worldview. Living in a selfless manner and seeking to help others enriches our very existence on a daily basis...” M.A. Smith

…through love serve one another...Galatians 5:14 (ESV)

I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Arnita yesterday.  She is the FOUNDER and E.D. for the Community Recovery Center in Marion Ohio.  She epitomizes “selfless service”.  After years of civil service working with the “recovering and incarcerated” since the mid 70’s, she has now “retired” to daily serving up to 14 (and soon to be significantly more) men and women who are craving a sober life.

You would think after “all that serving” she would be exhausted. 

No. Quite the opposite.

She instead has a countenance that “gleams” with hope and possibility.  Even though her phone rang no less than 7 times while we were together she handled each ride request, each coordination, and each interruption with grace, love and pleasure.

She has found her FREEDOM in serving others. 

Her focus is simple and fundamentally pure… 

(she has) made (herself) a servant to all, that (she) might win more of them…

(2 Corinthians 9:19 ESV)

What an example for us to follow today.

Serving others to win others to Jesus; simply allowing our countenance and selfless attitudes open doors for others to see and experience Him.

Nouwen said it this way

“Ministry means the ongoing attempt to put one's own search for God, with all the moments of pain and joy, despair and hope, at the disposal of those who want to join this search but do not know how.”

That is Ms. Arnita.  She has dedicated herself to putting her “pursuit” of serving GOD to the TEST and on display every day for those who society labels as some of the least “redeemable”; the addicted.  She does it not to make a good impression but rather to make life more beautiful for those she serves.

Can we take her lead today?

To be unselfish?

To be more interested in the needs of others than our own?

To allow our “pursuit” of GOD be so evident that it becomes attractive to those around us?

I believe we can!

I love you all!

Opportunities for Hope (Champions Charge)