Do Over

Have you ever been on a diet? Have you ever struggled with losing weight? This has been the story of my life since finishing college. Why? Well, that's a very loaded question. Why. I could blame married life, I could blame having children, I could blame a lot of things, but that would just be placing blame, rather than taking ownership.
Two years ago, my husband and I jumped on the Biggest Loser band wagon and began their 30-Day Jump Start. It was amazing! The pounds just melted off. And we didn't even do the exercise program that came with it. We just did the strict diet and lost the weight. We looked and felt better. I lost over 35 pounds. I went from a size 20 to size 14. I was so happy. I gave all my fat clothes away and was able to go shopping for skinny clothes. It was a dream come true!
But then we went on vacation and several splurges later, I was right back to eating fattening foods and overindulging. I am ashamed to say that I have almost gained every pound back. I am already toying with size 18! What a disaster! What happened?
At the time I was so distressed, I was invited to join a book study at Central Christian Church. The book is called Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeurst. The study was about how to crave God, not food. I don't think it was a coincidence that this happened to be offered at the same time I was distressing over my weight regain. God's timing is perfect! It was a great study!
It is distressing to me to realize how I have used food to "fix" or "fill" things in my life instead of God. It is very hard for me to tell everyone that, but it's true. So, here I am. I'm going to "do over" my quest to get healthy. This time exercise will be coupled with my eating plan and I will stay committed because I understand that my crutch doesn't have to be food, because I have the Lord. Amen! I'm not saying I won't falter, but I know that I can have ultimate success when God is on my side. Praise the Lord!

So armed with  my new inspiration from the class and working through my food issues, I created a eating plan for 40 days. (That's the calendar in the picture.) It was a lot of work but I am so happy it's done. It is like a weight has been lifted. Being a stay at home mom, you may think it is easy to eat healthy, but actually, if I don't have a healthy eating plan mapped out, that's when I will run through the drive-thru in between errands, school and doctor visits. So, I took what I learned from Biggest Loser and tweaked it to match our tastes. Then I took a popular menu board idea I found on a blog called RobbyGurl's Creations (http://robbygurlscreations.blogspot.com) and made it my own. Instead of using the menu board for only planning dinner, I made a menu board that plans my day menus as well as dinner. And with 40 days planned out, I can cycle the days and not have a lot of repetition throughout the year. My husband and I are so excited and we began the healthy eating on March 1st. Last week we didn't even look at the calendar, because we had company. But that's okay. We're back to it now and with the planning, comes relief and peace for the day's food choices.
The next thing I am going to do is make an exercise plan. I'm setting a goal to be able to run a marathon. It's going to be a great journey. I know I'll have the Lord with me and He can be my strength, when I feel like I can't continue. Now you may think, "What does eating healthy have to do with living a life for the Lord?" I think it is very important to take care of the bodies the Lord has given us. There are a lot of scriptures where the Lord talks about how important food and discipline is, but one in particular stands out to me.

"They willfully put God to the test by demanding the food they craved." Psalm 78:18

Now we all know the story. The Israelites are saved in the Exodus and as they settle in the wilderness with the Lord to protect them and provide for them, He is giving them Manna to eat, food from heaven! Yet they are unsatisfied. I had seen the obvious life lesson, but I had never before seen this applicable to my issues with food until I read Made to Crave. Lysa does a great job in presenting how God's Word can help us in this every day struggle and how it is completely applicable. God's Word came alive for me with this stumbling block, and I am confident that this time, taking Yeshua with me each step of the way, I will make a permanent change.
If you are looking for a chance to "do over" your quest for a healthy lifestyle I suggest the following:

1. Central Christian Church will have another class of the Made to Crave Book study in June. Watch for it at www.ccc.org
2. If you don't live in the area, get the book at the author's website www.MadetoCrave.org or on Amazon.
3. The Biggest Loser 30-Day Jump Start is an excellent way to lose weight and learn how to eat and what to plan. You can find the book at Amazon.

To those women who were in the book study with me, thank you so much for your stories and commitment. Each one of you are an inspiration and a joy to know! I pray God showers His Shalom on you all!

Purim: Party On!

Purim is such a fun festival, and I am so glad I have children to share in the crafts, baking, costume making, game playing, storytelling and just plain fun! Purim is the biblical feast that celebrates the Lord's salvation of the Jewish people from annihilation using Queen Esther. It is also known as the Feast of Lots, since Haman casted lots to determine what date he would destroy the Jewish people. The story is recited in synagogues and Messianic congregations from the Book of Esther. It is a great story. And of course, it has many traditions! Hamantachen are the traditional cookie that is made to mimic the hat, or some say the ears, of the villain, Haman. Children and adults dress in biblical costume with special focus on dressing like the good guys, Queen Esther and King Ahasuerus and Mordechai. While the story, or Megillah, as the scroll of the Book of Esther is called, is being read, the audience yells "Yay!" for the heros Esther and Mordechai and "Boo!" for the nemesis, Haman. Traditional noisemakers for the event are used, called graggers. There are expensive and elaborate graggers,  or inexpensive mass-produced graggers you can buy, but I think the best ones are those made by the children themselves.
So the boys and I ventured to make our own graggers! Below are the instructions. If you have never celebrated Purim, I encourage you to make this easy craft with your children. Even small toddlers can accomplish this craft. Then, have them dress in costume (any sheet can make a biblical costume and couple that with a self-made crown and you have Queen Esther and King Ahasuerus already!) and read the Purim story out loud to them. Don't be afraid to read the whole story from your own bible, rather than a children's bible. The fun is getting to boo and yell during the story, so wait patiently after each main character's name to give them a chance to join in the fun. Have a blessed Purim filled with lots of Simcha (Joy)! Party on!

These graggers turned out so great and are really loud! The boys can't wait to take them to the Purim Spiel on Friday!





Paper Plate Gragger Instructions

Items Needed:

paper plate (sturdy dinner plate with lip on edge is best)
buttons, beads or dry beans
water colors
sponge craft brush
2-3 pipe cleaners
gift wrap ribbon assortment
single hole punch




1. Let the children paint their own original designs on the bottom of the plate.

2. After the plate is dry, fold it in half, and punch holes around the edges. Be sure to hold the sponge craft brush in place on one end and make sure the first two hole punches are close enough that the beads won't fall through but far apart enough to fit the handle of the brush through. Then punch the rest of the holes about 1/2 inch apart.

3. Let the children choose which buttons or beads they want to use and set them aside. It doesn't take much to make the noises. My children picked out about 3 times more than we needed, but that's okay. They didn't  notice that I didn't use them all.

4. Cut 8 inch strips of the ribbons. You'll need enough for half of the amount of holes that you made around the edge of the plate.

5. Cut 4 feet of one ribbon color. I let each of the boys choose their favorite color. This also helps in identifying their own gragger later! Use this longer ribbon to tie and wrap around the sponge craft brush. I folded it in half first, then tied it to the brush, then looped it around and through the first two punches I designated for it earlier.

6. Carefully place the beads and buttons in the paper plate. Then tie the remaining 8 inch strips of ribbon on every other hole punched from the handle. If the children are too small to tie, let them choose which color comes next.

7. Let the children use the pipe cleaners to weave through all the holes along the edge. Any way they choose as long as they get it nice and tight so no beads fall out. Weave ends in. This is perfect for toddlers and preschoolers to practice those motor skills!

Come Here

Come here. Ven aqui. Bohu he'na. Whether you say it in English, Spanish, or Hebrew, it's still a simple phrase. They are two little words and yet, they are most ignored and quite possibly the most difficult to obey. I cannot tell you how many times I myself have said "come here" to my children without a response, with an opposite response, and with a hopeless response. Most parents know what I mean. It's at these times that I remember the stand-up comedy of Bill Cosby and his recounting of how his beautiful wife became an ugly monster of a woman with a contorted face, repeating everything she said over and over again with increasing speed and volume to no avail, all on the account of motherhood. Yes, that's exactly how I feel sometimes. And yet, it was at this very moment that I learned something from the Lord. Here I am trying to get my children to heed my "come here" plea and getting so frustrated in the process. Don't they realize that I'm trying to help them out? Come here and put your coat on. Come here and eat your food. Come here and take a nap. Come here and take a bath. Come here and play with this instead of messing with that. Come here and pick up your toys. Come here and stay by my side so you don't get lost! Ahhh!
Yes. It was like a ton of bricks. How many times is the Lord frustrated over me, His child, when He is calling me to "come here" and I do not heed His plea? Come here and put on My armor before you start your day. ("Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil." Ephesians 6:11) Come here and feast on the Bread of Life. ("Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst." John 6:35) Come here and rest in Me so that you may be renewed. ("My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him." Psalm 62:1) Come here and pray. ("pray without ceasing." 1 Thessalonians 5:17) Come here and hide My Word in your heart. ("These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. Deuteronomy 6:6) Come here and witness to My people. ("...Tend My sheep." John 21:17) Come here and be by My side so you do not get lost! ("Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming." 1 John 2:28)
Come here. It's a simple enough command, and yet, so hard to obey. I will have to pay closer attention to my Father's voice and heed His requests for my benefit. After all, He is only trying to help me out.

"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand." John10:27-28

All I have to do is listen. Now everytime I am trying to encourage my children to listen to me, I will be encouraged to listen to my Lord, my Father, my Savior. What a blessed reminder!

Check Your Expiration Date

I don't know if this ever happens to anyone else, but I seem to do it all the time. I was making myself a turkey sandwich today for lunch because first, I like sandwiches, and second they are easy, and third, they're cheap! But then I realize that the turkey is expired. Expires: December 24,2011. I'm always doing that..buying something that is either already expired, or is going to expire in the next few days, making it impossible to eat it all before it goes bad. I know that some things can last longer than the expiration date, but nine times out of ten, it goes bad before we can use it. Can anyone really go through a jar of mayonnaise in two days? How wasteful! And it's my fault because I didn't check the expiration date. Why? I'm usually shopping with my two boys and those of you who shop with preschoolers and toddlers know that it is a mad dash to get what you need until the first melt down happens! Other times I may be shopping alone or with only one child, and even then I am in a hurry to shop before I have to pick up the children, or am still chasing after the one child I took. In any case, taking the time to read the labels is not a luxury I can entertain.
This issue of expiration dates got me thinking about how important they really are. You have to check the expiration dates before you purchase an item, because apparently the grocery stores cannot keep up with this task. Also, You have to be on top of the expiration dates for items you already have so that you can make note of when you need to replace something. You have to prepare so that you can have things available when you need them. Expiration dates are very important, especially when you want to get fed or are trying to feed your family.
So it becomes obvious to me to be aware of my own expiration date. We all have them. We will all eventually expire and pass from this life into the next. How important it is to prepare! While we do not know when it will happen, our time will be up.

"All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return." Ecclesiastes 3:20

"For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten." Ecclesiastes 9:5

So, what do I need to do to prepare? I believe I need to make sure that I have the Word of the Lord in my heart before that day happens, so when it comes, I am secure in knowing where I will be. I need to make sure that I am doing my job with my children, so that they know that when we die, we go to heaven if we believe in God's son whom He sent to save us, Yeshua, our Messiah.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

If the expiration date of hummus and yogurt are so important, how much more important are our own expiration dates? To me, it's definitely food for thought!

"You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." Luke 20:12

Turn off the Auto Pilot

I didn't realize how busy I was, until I noticed I was through the last few weeks getting things done without really thinking about them or enjoying them. Then I knew I was on auto pilot. Hanukkah is so busy because, if you know me, you know that I can't buy cookies, I have to bake them, and I can't not have Hanukkah decorations up, and I can't go through a festival without at least doing one project or craft...etc. etc. And with two little boys, all of this takes about 4 times as long to do!
I wouldn't change that for the world, but I do need to turn off the auto pilot. I went to a MOPS meeting recently (a great organization, by the way) and one of the things that impressed me was a quote the speaker repeated, "Don't let the 'getting things done' take away the 'joy in doing them.' That was so simple and yet very profound! It spoke right to me. I realized that as a fairly new mom and mother of two small children, I run on auto pilot a lot. And then I myself miss what's going on around me. Things go so fast when you have a lot to do that you blink and its all over. I've even found myself thinking,"Thank God that's over!" for an event that was suppose to be fun. What's my problem? I need to "stop and smell the roses," I need to "work to live and not live to work," I need to "have my cake and eat it to," and I need to (insert your own cliche here.)
Well, this message hits home for many people, especially parents. Between carting children back and forth to school, doctor's appointments, play dates, nursery or day care, church or synagogue, grocery shopping, clothes shopping, gift shopping, holiday parties, birthdays and the like, it's a crazy time of year. Actually, at my house, it's always crazy. So take the time to stop and enjoy each other. A good friend of ours told us once that it's not about the quantity of time you spend with your family, it's about quality time.
For Hanukkah we will do our family traditions and I will try to actually enjoy them rather than rush through them. We like to fry tostones. They are a Puerto Rican dish of fried plantains. They are so yummy and we make a point to make them on one of the nights, since the tradition is to fry things on Hanukkah to celebrate the oil that lasted eight days. Of course one day we'll make latkes. Then I make homemade Sufganiyot (jelly donuts), and Loukoumades (fried honey puffs). With little hands to help and a new deep fryer, these should go faster and be less messy...maybe.
Last year, our craft was to make a homemade Hanukkiah. If you don't have a menorah for Hanukkah, I encourage you to make one, especially if you have kids. We'll continue this tradition of making a homemade Hanukkiah every year. I think it'll be a great memory.
I'm even considering adding a family play to act out the story of the Maccabees. Judah wouldn't even have to change his name! Won't that be a fun family tradition? You can have a script for older children or a read along play for younger children so they can just act it out. One of the synagogues we use to attend had a Hanukkah play and it was great fun!
Whether you do projects, or cook special foods, play the driedel game, or just light the candles and say the blessings, focus on spending quality time with your family and acknowledging the provision of the Lord. That is what Hanukkah is all about.

The following two Hanukkiah crafts are perfect for toddlers or young children who cannot light a flame. They can make one of these homemade Hanukkiahs and still participate in lighting a Hanukkah menorah!

Hanukkiah Craft #1:











Items needed:
Foam
Felt - to cover foam
9 fillable driedels
hot glue
9 battery operated tea light candles

Cut foam to size about 25 inches long x 2 1/2 inches wide x 2 1/2 inches tall. I used insulation foam which is only about 3/4" thick, so I had to glue three 25" x 2 1/2" pieces together to achieve the final height measurement. I also cut a small 3 " x 2 1/2" piece, and glued it at the top in the middle where the Shammash candle will sit. After all the pieces are glued together, I cut 1/2" holes into the top of the foam where the fillable dreidels will rest. Make sure to space them appropriately so that all 9 fillable dreidels will fit across. My holes were 1" from the ends, with 1 1/2" in between each. The Shammash hole was of course in the middle of the small raised block on top. Cut pieces of felt to coverall the foam areas, leaving holes in the felt where the holes in the foam are. Glue on the felt. Glue on any decoration such as ribbon, or beads. Glue base of fillable dreidels in their holes. Put in a battery operated tea light inside each fillable driedel.

Hanukkiah Craft #2:
















Items needed:
Empty Cereal box
8 toilet paper rolls
1 paper towel roll
Felt - to cover rolls
9 craft foam blocks 3/4" x 1 1/4"
9 battery operated tea lights
Craft paint
Tacky glue

roll is meant to be the Shammash candle. Cut the paper towel roll to measure 6" tall. Cut the felt for the paper towel roll to 6" wide and 7 1/2 " tall. Glue felt to paper towel roll. I cut the cereal in half lengthwise in the middle. Then I folded the middle part in, with the inside of the box facing out to create a base for the Hanukkiah. Paint the two pieces with craft paint. After it's dry, glue one end on each base piece. The open ends should slide into each other about 2 inches. 5 candles should fit on top of the outside portion and 4 candles on the inside portion. Glue the foam blocks where the candles fit over them. This just stabilizes the candles a bit. Decorate with stickers or glitter glue.

Halloween

"What are your children going to dress up as for Halloween?"  - Someone inevitably asks almost every day.
"Oh, we don't celebrate Halloween," I respond.
Awkward silence.
Why this has to be such an uncomfortable topic for people, I don't know. I am not a weirdo just because I don't celebrate Halloween. I just CHOOSE not to celebrate it now.
My husband and I use to have huge Halloween costume parties. Every year, we would make a big deal about it. We would give prizes for the best costumes. I would sew and sew and sew to make sure we had homemade costumes. I would cook, and buy alcohol and oh, was it a great chance to have a party! So what changed my mind? My faith.
I wasn't trying to impress fellow believers and I wasn't trying to feel better than those people who still celebrate Halloween. As I started to really learn the Word and work towards being closer to the Lord, I discovered that I wanted to please Him.  The more I worked on my spiritual journey, the more I wanted to do what was good in His eyes.
As I started to celebrate the biblical feast days of the Lord, I began to reevaluate the holidays I was already celebrating as a Christian. When I looked at Halloween, it just didn't line up with my faith. I say I believe in God and His son, but then I celebrate a day that is rooted in pagan worship? I started to feel uneasy and convicted.
What is pagan? The American Heritage Dictionary defines a pagan as 1. A person who is not a Christian, Muslim, or Jew; heathen 2. one who has no religion 3. Formerly, any non-Christian.  
Halloween has it's roots as a pagan holiday. It originates from a festival celebrated by the Celtics, who would observe the end of summer with sacrifices to Samhain (pronounced pronounced sow-in), "the lord of death and evil spirits". There are many websites, books and information out there to provide the background about Halloween and how it began. Below, I have sited a few websites if you want to read a more concise explanation.
So, since Halloween is a pagan holiday and is something that is rooted in and customary for non-Christians, then what was I doing celebrating it? How did that effect my witness to others as a believer? Obviously I needed to rethink my Halloween involvement. So I went to the Word of God to find what it says about celebrating pagan holidays.

"When you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD; and because of these detestable things the LORD your God will drive them out before you." Deuteronomy 18:9-12

 Well, Halloween obviously focuses on witches, divination, magic, and the dead. You see that in the decorations alone. Is it okay to pretend that these things are okay even for one day, one hour, one minute?

"When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, beware that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, 'How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?' You shall not behave thus toward the LORD your God, for every abominable act which the LORD hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods." Deuteronomy 12:29-31

Carving pumpkins and wearing costumes on this night was part of a ritual for a Celtic god. It was adopted into an American pastime, yes, but it is rooted in pagan worship. If the latest American pastime was drinking blood from goats, would we succumb to that?

"What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? {No,} but {I say} that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than He, are we?" 1 Corinthians 10:19-22

To me, this verse says: You cannot be a follower of the Lord, a believer, and still celebrate a pagan holiday. No, you will not find the words "Thou shall not celebrate Halloween" in the bible. But you will also not find the words "Thou shall not commit tax evasion" or "Thou shall not smoke crack" or "Thou shall not put laxative in your brother's milk", but I think we can all agree that these things are against the basic commandments set out in scripture.

"...What commandment is the foremost of all?" Jesus answered, "The foremost is, 'HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.' "The second is this, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' There is no other commandment greater than these." Mark 12:28-31

There is only one God and His Feasts are what we should follow, not that of another god. Are you showing your love for God and your neighbor as you celebrate Halloween? If you have been wondering how this "holiday" has or will effect your spiritual walk, please do the research into the background and reconsider opening this door to your family and teaching your children about a holiday that is not centered around the Lord, but actually ignores His sovereignty.
I am very grateful to the Lord that we stopped celebrating Halloween 10 years ago. My children have never celebrated it and it is not something we will teach them. I really believe that it will be easier to explain to them why we don't celebrate it, rather than why we do if we still had it as part of our family traditions. That is really what it comes down to: Family. Play dress up with your children to build their imagination, give them a lolly pop or their favorite candy every now and then, make apples with caramel on them for dessert; but it doesn't have to be connected to a pagan holiday. As I discovered, there are always better, even biblical reasons, to have a party!

For concise explanations about Halloween, it's practices, traditions and the rituals that started it all, please go to the following links. I found them to be very helpful in knowing the truth.

http://logosresourcepages.org/Holidays/halloween.htm

http://www.history.com/topics/halloween
http://www.jeremiahproject.com/culture/halloween.html

Good Deeds

I ran out of gas. It was so frustrating! I had just dropped off my eldest at preschool, but I still had my 2 year old with me. So here I was, 10 blocks from home, and I had ran out of gas. Since I happened to be talking to my husband at the time, and he is a "car guy", he headed to my rescue. As I sat in the vehicle, I was watching vehicles race up behind us, not even paying attention to my hazard lights. I know I was on the side of the road, blocking one lane, but drivers are suppose to be aware, right? Wrong! They were making me so nervous! I decided to get my son out of the car and he and I would wait outside of the vehicle on the sidewalk. This way if they hit the vehicle, we weren't in it. To my surprise, people stopped to try to help. One couple stopped and pulled in behind the van. The man asked me if I needed a ride and offered to push the van out of the way so it wouldn't get hit. I told him he really didn't need to go through the trouble since my husband was on the way and thanked them for stopping. Soon, another couple drove by, then doubled back, and then asked if someone was on the way. My husband arrived a minute after and filled the tank with a little gas and I was on my way to the gas station. Not before I thanked my husband for coming to the rescue when I was so negligent as to not watch the gas gauge. Unbelievable.
As the night progressed I started to wonder, why was I so surprised that people would stop to help? Is it because I wouldn't stop? Do I do good deeds? I began to evaluate myself. I can call someone when they are ill. Maybe even take some food over to them if they are sick or have just had a baby. But these instances are usually people in my congregation and it is normal for us as a body to help each other out. But do I do good deeds for complete strangers? Would I help out someone I don't know? Would I fix things that are not my doing?
The next day I was driving along, and some bagged trash had blown into the street. It was a typical windy Kansas day and a pretty busy street. Then I noticed a woman had pulled off on a side-street, waiting for traffic to break, she ran out into the street and grabbed the trash bag (which was pretty large) and moved it back to the side of the road. Then she got into her car and drove away. Now, that was a good deed. It wasn't her trash that blew into the street, but she took it upon herself to move it so others wouldn't have to dodge it and she may have even prevented an accident. That's nice.
I think that good deeds are different than just being polite. Getting up for an older person to sit down, holding a door open for a woman or your elder, letting a woman and her children go before you in the check-out line are all great things, but that is just being polite. It is still something that needs to happen more and we need to continue to teach it to our children. But a good deed, is something that takes a little more time and effort and you don't get anything in return. Imagine that. A selfless act. It is biblical to do a good deed.

"One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the LORD, And He will repay him for his good deed." Proverbs 19:17

I realized that I am so caught up in my own little world that I often don't pay attention to the opportunities right there in front of my face.
Several years ago, my husband and I visited a church in Alabama. They had this program they were promoting to their congregants called CSI:Huntsville. It was so inventive that it stayed with me. They had business cards with CSI:Huntsville printed on them and on the back they said, "You have just been served by a member of ________ church." I don't remember what the CSI stood for, maybe "Charitable Services Initiative" or something to that effect. The idea was for the congregants to use these cards and leave them behind when they would do a good deed. Some of the examples were: paying for the next person behind you at the drive-through, or leaving money with a cashier at the grocery store for a needy family that was shopping and about to check out, or offering food to a homeless person. It's a really good idea isn't it? They were doing something to encourage people to do good deeds to complete strangers. They kept it anonymous, but still let them know that it was a person from a Christian church.
I know the world we live in isn't the same as it use to be and certain people have to be careful to not put themselves into dangerous situations. Single women, children or youth and women with children who are alone should not approach people alone. Basic safety and awareness for you and your family should always be first. But there are effective ways to do good deeds without putting yourself in danger. Plan to work good deeds with groups of people, or just be in a public place where there isn't a chance of you being taken advantage of or harmed. I am going to try to keep my eyes open for safe opportunities to be a witness. Because when we do a good deed for a stranger, it is a witness to that person about the love of Yeshua and how they are just as important to Him.
Leading up to and during the days of awe, Jewish people are being nice to everyone they know, even people they don't know, to ensure that they are written in the Book of Life. As people of the Lord, who believe in His son Yeshua, we are already written in the Book of Life and don't need to fret about not making it to the kingdom. But this doesn't usurp our responsibility as believers to spread the love of Messiah. The Word says it best:

"Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it." Hebrews 13:2