Twelve Days of Christmas-ing

It's time to share the love! It's time to squeeze out all the meanness and hate and selfish-tinted motives that drive us so much of the time.

...

Today, as I sit at my desk behind a Christmas tree and manorah and a big bowl of M&M's (in our company's colors, with our companies name on them--- on each and every M&M-- this is not cheap people), I feel rich. I feel blessed. I know that as an American I have so much more than majority of the population of the world have.

I know this is true. I believe it is true. I've seen it, I've heard from those who've experience it first hand. When Chris told me stories about the street kids in Rwanda who literally live on the streets, it broke my heart. Rummaging through the city dump and taking care of each other at five, eight and eleven years old- it's how they survive.

So why do I feel entitled to a massage? My needs no longer include water, food and shelter. I need a certain amount of counter space in my kitchen, nice jewelry, a fifteenth lip gloss and a massage at least once a quarter.

Sometimes, and I guess especially at Christmas time, I am overwhelmed with the opportunities to give and serve and minister and be charitable. There are so many people who need their basic needs met as well as needing to experience sincere care and love and hugs.

I want my life to be effective, and not just by writing a check or donating a baby-doll or a gently used winter coat. I want to have an impact. And I'm not talking about changing the entire world tomorrow. I'm not naive enough to think that I matter all that much, but there has to be a better way.

Maybe it's just one blog post at a time. Or hugging one Scrooge a day. I'm not really sure what making an impact on my part of the world looks like right now, but I feel like something BIG is coming. I find comfort in knowing that all I have to do today is what God intended for me to do today- no more, no less. But I don't want to sell myself short, or aim too low, or completely miss using my talents, gifts and abilities for greatness. Something larger than I could dream. Something outside of myself. Something only God could do.

Change.