Day thirty nine #40acts

I wasn't very inspired when I read today's act. It's Good Friday, and Good Friday in the life of a kids worker means being at church all day. Being at church all day means being in contact with Christians all day. I knew I wasn't going to find anyone and change their view of God. However, I decided to look just at the sharing my story bit. I managed to chat to one person about how God had called me into kids work. It's a very small part of a much bigger story and it doesn't convey giving my life to God or anything like that, but it's a story of how God was speaking, guiding and showing me my purpose. Sharing my 'calling' with that one person today may not have done anything for them except they understand better why I'm passionate about my job. It really spoke to me though. In a time where I really need God to reveal to me his plans, it's reminded me of that time four years ago where I also needed Gods direction and he showed up and look what happened! I know God has my whole story written and he's holding it in his hands. 

Day thirty eight #40acts

A very wise person once told me, 'Unforgiveness is like you drinking the poison and expecting the other person to die.' To this day I remember this little quote. It's so true! Someone hurts me, I get angry, I sit with it, I get more angry, the anger turns to bitterness, I keep hold of the bitterness that works it's way into hate. Meanwhile, the person who has hurt me skips about their life blissfully unaware that I'm harbouring all these feelings of anger, bitterness and hate towards them. It's a no brainer as to who is worse off in this scenario yet time after time I do it. I keep hold of yucky feelings instead of giving them over to God and forgiving. 
Today I let rip with God and did some forgiving. Some things were really small but I knew I still needed to let them go and some of them were a bit bigger and even though I've said the forgiveness words, I expect I will need to keep on forgiving until I've let go completely.
I don't want to spend my life drinking the poison and I want to get better at letting go quicker. 

Day thirty seven #40acts

As an extrovert I love spending time with people so really, today's act should have been very simple. Sadly, in the run up to the Easter Weekend you will find me in my office buried under Easter eggs, photocopying, laminating, stickers and curriculum! There wasn't much chance of giving over a chunk of my day to anyone. 
At 1pm the lunchtime buzz begins and at church we are all very good at doing lunch together. Today I had decided to work through lunch in the hope of getting away from the office a little earlier. However, as people began filtering outside I longed to be part of the community, part of the laughs and chats going on, part of sharing life with each other. So I switched off the computer, left my phone in the office and went to sit for an hour and do lunch with some of the best people I know!! 

Day thirty six #40acts

Sharing lunch today was a fail! I didn't even make my own lunch in the first place because I was running late so Ash had made my sandwiches for me. Despite not sharing lunch I did share lunchtime with the wonderful staff team of St Bs! 

Day thirty five #40acts

Today I shared the gospel message in three simple words. The recipient knows the gospel message but I wanted to send her a reminder today. I know this challenge was intended to be bigger and more brave....what can I say, I chickened out. But I really felt my friend needed to hear the gospel message 'GOD LOVES YOU'. 

Day thirty four #40acts

Joy came over me when I read today's act. Planning an event for next Saturday. Well, here I am giving myself a whopping big pat on the back. Although, is it cheating if the community event was already planned ahead of knowing what today's act was? It's not cheating I hear you say, well that's a relief!! 

Our church Missional Communities have been encouraged to do something outreach based on Easter Eve. A lovely couple came up with the idea of running an Easter Egg hunt for the local families and the families that come through our doors for toddler group and our Friday kids group. So, next Saturday we are having a Family Easter Egg hunt round our local park, followed by a bit of craft and a visit to the Easter bunny for a treat! I'm very excited! 

Day thirty three #40acts

Any petition that's going to make a child's life better is a petition worth signing to me! Today I signed a petition to stop the trafficking of Christian children in Bangladesh. 

Since 2005, a special group of human traffickers have been operating in Eastern Bangladesh. They approach desperately poor Christian families in remote areas and pretend to represent a humanitarian organisation, and offer to make their hopes come true by providing a good and inexpensive Christian education for their children.These malicious traffickers then take the children far away and sell them. The children’s names are changed, they are issued new identity papers as Muslims, and then forced to study Islam all day, every day. Children rescued from these institutions report being starved, locked up in closets, and being beaten with live wires and canes if they refuse to learn the Quran. Worse still, some of the boys have been forced into child labor and some of the girls forced, starting at around age 12, into prostitution.
Today this trafficking ring is still operating in Bangladesh. The petition is calling the government of Bangladesh to account and demand they take action to shut down this vile group before any more children get harmed.  

Day twenty nine #40acts

I have a lot of favourite Bible verses, many of them committed to memory. I try to remember the ones that help me out the most when I'm sad, angry, feeling worthless or unloved. The verse I've chosen to share today is from the end of Psalm 23. This little sentence talks about a father's love. A love that will come running after me no matter what I do or how far I've wandered.

Day twenty eight #40acts

I'm cheating a bit today and using something from yesterday as a way of completing today's challenge. Last night myself and Ash decided to help out some friends of ours. It had been a bit of a disaster day for them and we just wanted to offer something to say we are thinking of you and to try to ease the situation for them. 

We popped some money in an envelope and in my worst handwriting (we wanted to be anonymous) I wrote their names on the envelope. Ash then went on a ninja mission to drop it through their letterbox without being seen. 

Unfortunately our ninja mission failed and within 15 minutes we both had a text message to thank us for the money! They had figured out it was us.....FAIL! Never mind, anonymous or not we still provided an unexpected gift that I hope will help our friends. 

Day twenty seven #40acts

I'm not really a flowers person. They are pretty and everything but if you want to let me know you care then give me chocolate! 

I'm yet to complete this challenge. There's loads of people I could send flowers too just because, but I want to send them to someone it will have an impact on, cheer up, or just let them know I'm here. 

So, if you want flowers you need to drop me some major hints in the next day or so!!

Day twenty six #40acts

Today my heart sank. The words 'buy the next person in the line a latte' burned out at me!! I still haven't quite recovered from my Starbucks incident the other week so there was absolutely NO WAY I would be offering to buy a stranger a coffee any time soon. 

I did something very small and quite insignificant. I was in Tesco's after work and despite just wanting to get home and veg out on the sofa, I let an elderly lady go before me in the queue. She took literally forever over packing her shopping and I wanted to cry when she produced a massive wedge of coupons when it came to paying. I could feel myself getting frustrated but as she finished and turned to leave she shot me a big smile and thanked me for allowing her to go first. I don't know whether she will pass it on or whether any of the other people in the queue were watching what happened but it doesn't really matter. I made her smile and in return I left Tesco's feeling grateful I hadn't had to buy a stranger a coffee!!!!!

Day twenty five #40acts

Today's challenge couldn't have been better timed. Yesterday we were on a staff away and an awesome guy called Michael Ross-Watson was speaking to us. I was encouraged by what he was saying but I was also challenged. This guy has some crazy amazing God stories to tell. I was left thinking 'why doesn't God use me in crazy amazing ways?'  I know the answer....it's not difficult to spot the difference between myself and Michael. Michael spends time in the presence of God, he spends time listening to Gods voice and he makes himself available to God by saying 'here I am'. 

I am struggling to remember the last time I said to God 'here I am'. I am busy, there's always things to be done and people to be seen. Often my work for God will get in the way of God himself. I'm just not available. 

After reading today's act I spent time asking God to use me, listening to his voice to guide me. I don't have any crazy amazing God stories to tell you but I know that God was guiding me in the moments I took to say 'here I am' today. 

Day twenty four #40acts

I like today's act! Rather than playing practical jokes on people or laughing at their expense, today was about making someone smile in a good way. 

I didn't spend the day cracking jokes but it did make me remember our Mothers Day service from Sunday. We were looking at The Good Shepherd and I was co-leading. To add some 'humour' to the service we did some research on sheep jokes and I thought I'd share with you the highlights!! *dont get too excited, they are pretty baaaaaaad! 

What do you get if you cross a sheep with a kangaroo? 
A wooly jumper!

Why did the policeman give the sheep a ticket?
Because it made an illegal ewe turn!

What do you call a sheep with no legs?
A cloud!

Ok, I hear the groans, I will leave it there! 

Day twenty three #40acts

As a non coffee or tea drinker I don't often make hot drinks. It was only the other day that I made Ash a cup of tea and he commented that it was the 4th hot drink I'd made him since we got together! Oops!

Today I've been to two meetings both held in coffee shops, so I've spent time chatting over hot drinks but I definitely can't take credit for making those drinks! This evening we had a training evening for the St Bs kids teams and I have learned that a meeting will always be a happier environment with endless tea and coffee! I took on the job of making hot drinks and setting up the coffee station.

It has made me reflect on how little I offer to make hot drinks for people. Even though I don't drink them I could still spend 5 minutes making someone a drink to put a smile on their face. So...if you want a brew, give me a shout!

Day twenty two #40acts

So I only read today's act after I'd checked emails, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram....FAIL! But let's face it, was I ever going to keep to the challenge of unplugging for a day...erm....nope. As sad as it is I enjoy technology and don't mind that my life is occupied by it. 

Today's act encouraged conversation, spending time with people (in real life not through a screen!) and playing games or walking. Rather than just blatantly ignoring today's challenge, I decided to engage with this whilst still having Facebook to hand! Ash and I went out for lunch and chatted and watched the world of North Finchley High Road pass up by. We spent the afternoon away from screens and did some baking for church tomorrow (well....I baked and Ash washed up) and then we played card games. It's been a fun day of chatting, being silly and throwing good humoured insults whilst beating each other at Monopoly :)

Day twenty one #40acts

Today I did lots of shooting type prayers. The ones where someone will be telling you something and you quickly and quietly in your heart just shoot up a 10 second prayer to God. I don't often pray in this way, not for an entire day anyway. It was quite tiring but it felt good to shoot up those prayers before I gave wisdom or voiced an opinion or offered help in some other way. To ask God to help first is the most obvious and sensible solution to everything but so often I only ask for Gods help when it's a last resort and there's no other way out. 

So today I've prayed about house moves, surveyor reports, job interviews, dream jobs, nursery places,  tests to be passed, cars to be fixed, colds to be healed, work to be completed, peace to prevail, rehearsals to go well....and the list goes on. 

Day twenty #40acts

Half way through!!!!!

When I saw the title of today's act a sense of dread came over me. The dread wasn't because of what I had to do, it was because of the reaction I feared I'd get. 

As a born and bred northerner I'm quite happy chatting to random people. Up north it's okay to chat to people at the bus stop, perfectly acceptable to engage the checkout lady in conversation and definitely 'sane' to be walking along the street with your head up smiling at passers by! So, you can probably understand the cultural shock I went into when I moved to London. In the last three years I have slowly but surely learned that it is absolutely not okay to even make eye contact with the person opposite you on the tube, let alone talk to them. Engaging the checkout lady will result in one or two word answers and if I walk along the street smiling at people they presume I'm more than likely on 'day release' from the local hospital! 

Despite the fears of the reactions I'd get, I embraced my inner northerner and spent the day saying hello and making small talk with strangers, desperately hoping they were fellow northerners! And you know what....it wasn't that bad. One or two 'do I really have to say something to you' looks, but nothing to deter me from continuing to chat to randomers :)

Day nineteen #40acts

Words are powerful. There's that old saying, 'sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me.' I think this playground rhyme is complete lie. Words used against us can be really painful and if held on to they can become a negative part of our identity. It's so important we use words carefully, to build up rather than knock down, to praise rather than constantly critique. Words are important to me and it's one of my top two love languages. I need to hear the encouragement, the 'well done' the 'I'm proud of you' the 'I love you'.....words mean the world! And because they are important to me I try my best to be an encourager and say those things to other people. Words to let them know they did a great job, they are awesome, they are valued and treasured. 

Today's challenge gave me the chance to further exercise my encouragement by writing notes. It felt a bit weird writing it down but it felt good to commit those words to paper where they can be seen and read over rather than vocalising encouragement which can so easily be forgotten. 

Day eighteen #40acts

Until today I had never heard of Charity Tuesday! I donated to my chosen charity from a few days ago....Home for Good. 

Day seventeen #40acts

I'd like to think I'm already quite a polite person. I remember to say please and thank you and try to be aware of the people around me when it comes to holding doors open and stuff. I guess the one place where my politeness has a major downfall is the moment I step into the car! 

The past couple of years have taught me that London has entirely different traffic laws to everywhere else in the country. People are crazy! The other week some guy cut me up on a roundabout so badly that I had to swerve to avoid him hitting me. He then raised a middle finger at me and shook his head like it was MY fault!! I mean...what?? However, I have also noticed that since getting our own car I'm slowly becoming one of these monstrous London drivers who has no patience to sit in traffic jams and NEEDS to get to my destination as quickly as possible! 

Today I took the being polite challenge onto the road. I was patient, I stopped and waved pedestrians across the road, I let cars out in front of me. I even stopped at Amber traffic lights without convincing myself they were still totally green!!!! What effect did my politeness have? Well, I may have got to my destination a few minutes later than it would usually take me but I got there chilled and rather pleased with myself.

Day sixteen #40acts

I was so happy to receive this mornings email. No scary challenge, just baking which I happen to be quite good at! The suggestion was cupcakes but I get bit bored making cakes so I decided to do something more fun and make Mocha Slices. I cannot take any credit for this recipe. There's an awesome lady at our church called Pauline and she is seriously one kitchen goddess!! This is one of her recipes and it's soooooo yummy! In fact, these little slices of heaven are soooo good that I ended up making two batches because I knew I'd end up eating a load of them. 

The recipients of my baked goods will be my Kids Church team tomorrow morning. We all have quite a long morning of two back to back services and I think this little baked goodie will give us a zap of energy to keep on going :) Plus, they are an amazing bunch and an absolute pleasure to lead. They definitely deserve a treat for all the commitment and hard work they put in week in week out. 

Day fifteen #40acts

A campaign very much on my radar and close to my heart at the moment is Home for Good. I was excited to see that it was the #40acts chosen charity a few days ago. Home for Good is linked with Care for the Family, CCPAS and Evangelical Alliance. The campaign is seeking to find homes for the 6,000 children who are currently waiting for adoption and to provide 9,000 more foster placements throughout the UK. They are trying to reach out to churches because they state that if one family in every church decided to adopt or foster then the current need would be met in the UK! 

They are doing some amazing work and are already working with 15,000 churches who want to champion adoption and fostering and to bring kids into a safe and loving church family. 

Day fourteen #40acts

A day of not letting your left hand know what your right hand is up to. It's also a day of not letting you guys know either! My act of generosity will forever remain anonymous. 

As I can't say anything about today's challenge I thought I'd let you know how blessed I've been through doing #40acts. I think I wrote in my blog on day one how I suspected that I'd become better off for doing all these generosity and blessing acts. A kind of reverse generosity. In 2008 I went on a two week mission trip to Uganda. I went out there to serve and give my all to the people I met and the church and orphanage I worked in. I'm sure in different ways I made an impact but I know for sure that the lessons I learned, seeing utter poverty, watching how faithful people were and how much they gave out of the little they had, transformed my life so much more! That's what I mean when I say reverse blessing. 

So, during #40acts as I've been writing thank you notes, collecting loose change, giving generously, I've also been the recipient of three separate thank you notes. Along with the thank you notes were gift cards with various amounts of money on them. All the thank you notes were for work or other things I've done but none of them were ever expected. So a reverse blessing! 

Is anyone else finding themselves being reversely blessed during #40acts? 

Day thirteen #40acts

Yesterday was a crazy busy day and sadly I didn't get to do the challenge of going local. If I had had the time my choice of venue would have been lunch at Vero Caffe on Sussex Ring. It's a little cafe only a 5 minute walk away from church. They serve amazing panini's and despite the extensive range on the menu, they still will make you pretty much any sandwich you want providing they have the stuff in to make it. The staff are always lovely and happy to have chat which makes going here a great experience. I don't drink tea or coffee but Ash (who did go here yesterday!) has reliably informed me that the coffee is good! 

Day twelve #40acts

Become like children. Oh, as a passionate kids pastor I could waffle on about this for hours and possibly write a sermon or even a sermon series on it! In Kids Church a month or so ago, the children were in the midst of their 20 minute free play activities before we officially began the session. I was on the door registering kids as they arrived. Every Sunday we have a lunch for the homeless and often some of the homeless people will come to the service before lunch. On this particular morning one of the homeless men appeared with a trolley full of his 'belongings'. Rather than dragging it into church he pointed to the corner of the Kids Church room indicating he wanted to leave it there. Of course I said yes to his request but not before a whole ton of thoughts had passed through my brain. Thoughts like 'I'd better just watch him whilst he is in the room to make sure the kids stay safe' Yes, I have a duty of care to the children but why did I jump straight to the conclusion that he could be some kind of peadophile? 

While the man was dragging his cart into the room, one of the boys looked up from the Jenga tower he was building, stood up and walked over to the man. I was a little panicky but interested to see how this was going to play out. The young boy, with all his innocence asked the man why he had brought all his 'toys' to church. A number of different things happened inside me at this point. A part of me wanted to laugh, another part of me cringed and another part of me just wanted to get the child as far away as possible. This man clearly just wanted to leave his stuff and go and sit in church, he hadn't spoken a word to me, just pointed, so why would he bother with a small child? To my surprise the man spoke to the boy, it was brief, I can't actually remember what he said but it satisfied the child's curiosity and off he went back to his Jenga tower. 

That event hadn't really impacted me until I remembered it today. How judgemental had I been, maybe not with my words but definitely with my thoughts. If I hadn't had my filter and been more like my Kids Church child that whole interaction could have been so different. Obviously I knew the real reason behind why he was carrying all his stuff in a trolley but I could have asked some other questions, like his name, or offered to help. It's so so easy to judge people and have preconceived ideas. I hope I can become more like the kids I teach and catch some of their innocence. 

Day eleven #40acts

Confession time. I don't always remember to take the reusable bags to the supermarket. I don't recycle everything because sometimes I just can't be bothered to wash out tins or bottles. Since getting a car, despite saying I wouldn't use it all the time, I do! 

Today's challenge woke me up to my own laziness towards looking after the planet. Annoyingly I only read the challenge after I'd already been to Tesco's (in the car!) and used plastic bags! Whoops! So to attempt making this up I spent some time looking up what I can and cannot recycle. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of items that can be recycled these days, and also a little shocked by my own ignorance. From today I am going to endeavour to make more of an effort with the recycling and remember that every little bit can help to change the world! 

Day ten #40acts

Secret talents. I can design, I can draw, I can cook, I can bake, I can take a half decent photo, I can keep kids amused, I can teach, I can write, I can whip up a fancy dress costume out of nothing.... But I think most people would know those things about me. 

I don't think I have completely secret talents but I guess my 'secret talents' are the ones I don't push forward as much either because I'm still learning or improving or just because I don't get the opportunities to use them. I play guitar, I can organise and administrate, I can do street and contemporary dance, I know basic makaton and I can ride a bike with no hands on the handlebars (rebel!) 

Im pretty sure there are more to this list but something I'm definitely NOT talented at is writing a blog when I'm extremely tired so I'm off to do something I'm very talented at....sleeping! 

Day nine #40acts

Listening. This morning, just like every Wednesday and Friday mornings, I was at our church toddler group that I co-lead. I love sitting down and having a cup of tea (well...I'll be drinking milk!) with mums, dads, grandparents or carers. It's such a lovely way to spend a couple of hours, I love my job!! A lot of the conversations I have over cups of tea are about sleepless nights, naughty steps, breast-feeding, nappy rash or poo. I find listening really hard work because I either get distracted or I just want to butt in with my own story or ideas. But while listening to the highs and lows of toddler group parents, I can't offer advice or tell my own anecodes because I'm not a parent and I don't have a clue about any of these things! So I just listen. 

I'm listening so they feel heard, so they feel there's value in what they are saying. I'm also listening for the unspoken words that say someone is having a hard time. I'm listening for their achievements so I can encourage and say well done. I'm listening for the moments of celebration so I can join in with their joy. I'm listening to God so I know what to silently pray in my heart. 

Listening might come fairly easily at toddler group but I know that I need to be better at it in many others areas of my life.  

Day eight #40acts

Extravagant generosity. Thursday is my child minding day and from 10 till 5 we are pretty much on the go with playing, nap time, feeding, attending an afternoon group session, doing a school run and more feeding. I wasn't entirely sure where or how I was going to fit in extravagant generosity. I also didn't have a clue what my act of generosity was going to be. I've thought about it all day and settled on heading to Starbucks after work and buying someone coffee. It didn't feel that extravagant but the challenge also talked about being uncomfortable. If I was to buy someone coffee then that would mean engaging them in a conversation, possibly having to explain what I was doing it for, running a massive risk they would think I was a complete weirdo! Yup, I think I was definitely going to encounter uncomfort!!!!! 

So....deep breath and into Starbucks I went. There was no one in the queue so I had to take an extremely long time deciding what my order was going to be while waiting for someone to join the queue. I praying hard for an elderly lady, old people are always nice and easy to chat to. Instead I got a young, trendy looking couple. I placed my order, turned to them and asked if I could buy their drinks. Phew, I'd got the sentence out! I was met with silence while they looked at me, looked at each other, looked back at me....this went on for what felt like hours. Okay, I needed to say something. I repeated my request and added something about just wanting to bless them and that I wasn't a weirdo. By saying I wasn't a weirdo I immediately sounded like one! This time the girl spoke, she was very lovely in declining my request. Against my better judgement I pushed a tiny bit harder and said something about the 40acts challenges. They still declined the offer. The Starbucks guy behind the till who was watching this whole thing play out tried to make a joke, nothing was going to cover my embarrassment but thank you Mr Barista for trying. And just to make things that little bit worse, they took FOREVER over making my chocolate frappe and so we had the awkward wait for our drinks, no eye contact, no more conversation, just pure awkwardness in all it's glory. 

I am never ever ever doing that again! I think I've definitely ticked off uncomfortable for today! Despite my failure I still wanted to do something generous. On my way back to the car I saw a homeless girl who regularly sits on our High Road asking for money. Ash and I have helped her out in the past so I know her name is Abi, she's 17 and I know a little bit about her life. Some other lovely people had clearly helped Abi out today as she had a drink in her hand and a McDonalds bag by her side. My act of generosity was to buy her a Sainburys gift card so she could go and buy some food or anything she needed. It wasn't a big deal, much less scary than offering to buy someone coffee yet much more rewarding. I'm so glad God gave me that chance to not only be generous but to really help someone who actually needed the generosity. 

Day seven #40acts

I knew there would be at least one #40acts challenge that I would absolutely dread or just not want to do and today was the day! I have a fear of speaking on the phone. It's not a rational fear...it's not even a proper fear, I just don't like doing it. I'm that person, when I HAVE to ring someone, who's whispering 'please go to voicemail, please go to voicemail' as the phone is ringing. I don't know why I have this dislike of phones, I just do. 

I much prefer a face to face conversation. I know this isn't always possible but it's my preferred choice of communication. I like to be able to see a persons expression, to be able to see what their words might not be saying whether that's joy or sadness. I like the tangibility of being able to reach out and hug them. I like being able to show I'm listening with my face rather than having to keep 'hum humming' on the end of a phone to show I haven't fallen asleep! 

Dispite my dislike I still did today's challenge. When a friend is far away it is good to be able to hear their voice rather than connecting via text messages and facebook. I haven't got over my phone phobia but it's made me consider having more phone conversations with the loved ones in my life who I don't get to physically see as much I'd like. 

Day six #40acts

Today I have picked you guys as my sphere of influence. I have a video to show you which encapsulates what I want to say better than I can say it. Happy viewing. 

Watch me here

Day five #40acts

Today's act encourages us to be thankful. I read over the challenge and my immediate reaction was to write my note of thanks to someone I know, someone who would appreciate it, someone who wouldn't judge me, someone it would be easy to write to. I mulled over who that 'someone' would be whilst I drove to my morning meeting. I don't know whether it was God's prompting but my heart just wasn't content with writing to someone I knew. 

After my meeting I needed to swing by Tescos and pick up some bits for dinner. I grabbed a card and inside wrote a couple of simple sentences expressing thanks and gratitude. As I walked into Tescos I prayed that God would show me who to give the card to. I was literally shaking as a wandered round picking up the things I needed. Why was I so scared about handing someone a card? I felt so pathetic getting worked up over this!

I had a basket of shopping and walked up and down the checkouts waiting for God to highlight a cashier to me. I had the colour red in my head and as I looked up and down the cashiers there was only one lady wearing a red Tescos blouse so that's the queue I chose to join. My cashiers name was Bhundi, she seemed like a nice lady and we exchanged small plesentaries as she bleeped through my shopping and I paid. When she handed me my change I took it and gave her the card, saying that it was for her, and then I walked away. My heart was literally pounding out of my body and I practically ran to the safety of my car. 

The first sentence of today's challenge says "There's something rather wonderful about genuine gratitude: it impacts both the person who says thank you and the person who hears it." I have no idea about Bhundi's life. I have no idea how my gratitude card was received. Whether my card made her smile or whether she thinks I'm a complete weirdo, I'm so glad I gave her that card and I have definitely been impacted by today's challenge. 

Day four #40acts

Connect with your neighbours. Yes, that's exactly what we were doing at 7.30 this morning when Ash went round to bang loudly on their door in an attempt to get them to turn the music down! Ok, so maybe that's not quite what today's challenge was about.

Thankfully, like today's devotional bit pointed out, our neighbours aren't just the people who live directly next door to us. They are the people who we come into contact with as we go about our lives.

The nature of Ash's job means we live practically on top of Strawberry Vale, our local estate which falls within the top 10% of deprevation. There are some days I wished we actually lived on the estate, like Ash used to, mixing with the residents and enjoying the same sewer problems they encounter. There are also many other days when I'm glad we are a one minute walk away and can get into our lift and be thankful it doesn't smell of weed or urine.  However, no matter which day I'm having I still want to build community with the people. Ash does an awesome job with relationships (for someone who would describe themselves as an introvert!) He knows the people in our community, he makes himself available to them, he wades through their problems with them and he celebrates in their joys. When you wander through the estate there's an oppressed kind of feel about it, a darkness if you like. But the light comes from the people. When you wander through people say hello. Kids are playing football outside together or tearing round on their bikes. You can get invited into people's homes for a cuppa and a chat. I don't know of anywhere else where this kind of community happens. Where community feels like family, a disfunctional one, but still a family.

So as we get to know our neighbours, these are the people I'll be trying to spend some time with and getting to know better. The ones who are already doing community well. Maybe they will teach me something!

Day three #40acts

Today we have been encouraged to think about what's in our toolbox, or in other words, to think about what resources we have to hand that we can give out at anytime. I don't want to sit here and get all boastful about my list, but I was surprised with how much I have. 

Yesterday I mentioned our Kids Church offering mantra "God gave us everything and we want to give him something back to say thank you." Yes, God gave me everything and that's not just the things of monetary value, it includes all the things in my toolbox. The gifts, talents and resources I have are mine because he gave them to me.

There are tools that I love and therefore use all the time but I'm aware that I have tools that sometimes go to waste because I don't take the opportunities to use them. How much TIME do I waste away on Facebook? How much MONEY do I waste away on unecessary purchases? How many times do I keep quiet about JESUS? 

If God has given me my toolbox then he wants me to be using it. Lord, help me to once again to remember that everything I have comes from you. Help me to use what you have given me wisely. 

*my rather amazing friend Alice is also blogging her #40acts journey. You can find her at www.hellotheremynameisalice.blogspot.com go take a peek*

Day two #40acts

Today's challenge is to make a generosity jar. I hunted high and low for a suitable jar but couldn't find anything. For now I've settled on a candle holder but it really doesn't appeal to my creative side!

The idea behind this challenge is to collect loose change in the jar that will then be used later on in lent. I happened to have a whole pile of change on my bedside table so quite smugly popped it all into my jar. I gave myself an imaginary high five and a gold sticker and went off to work.

During the day I was suddenly struck by my actions. All the loose change I had chucked inside my jar had been sat there on my bedside table for weeks. The only times I looked at it was when I wondered if I had enough time to swing by Starbucks before work, or whether I'd need one of the pound coins for a shopping trolley at Tescos. Not once had I thought to use it to be generous and bless someone else. The smug feelings from the morning were beginning to fade away. Why did I never think to carry around that change? Perhaps I'd meet a homeless person who needed a sandwich and a coffee. Perhaps I'd see the guy selling the Big Issue outside Sainsburys. Perhaps a friend would be having a bad day and I could buy them something just to make them smile.

In Kids Church when I ask the children why we do an offering the mantra we have is "because God gave us everything and we want to give him something back to say thank you." Everything I am and everything I own is his, not mine. All my loose change is his not mine. It will be hard to look at the change in my purse and think about my generosity jar instead of my Starbucks/new boots/takeaway food. My prayer is that I will remember God gave it to me and so I should use it to be generous. 

Day one #40acts

Like many others across the nation I have signed up for the 40 Acts movement. All through lent I will be participating in big and small actions that help me give back, live generously and do good! As much as I want to bless others over lent I have an expectation that I will end up learning and growing through it too. I'm excited about the challenges and all that is to come!

Today's challenge was to write a gratitude list. I enjoy being thankful to God for the 'highlight' moments of my day but it was really good to sit and write down not only those wow moments but the little, seemingly insignificant, things in my life that I forget to be thankful for. 

I'm thankful that I am a chosen child of God
I'm thankful I have a husband who loves me despite my faults and failings
I'm thankful for our flat and our car
I'm thankful I get to do a job I love doing
I'm thankful for the friends I have around me who support me and make me laugh

I'm thankful for the sun which is shining right now!
I'm thankful for clothes to wear 
I'm thankful for clean running water that comes out of a tap
I'm thankful for food to eat
I'm thankful for social media which allows me to connect easily to far away friends