Home Sanctuary

Oh, yeah. Sweet Ride.

Have you ever dropped a bit of onion from a fast-food hamburger in your car?

Hoo-Boy!  Them babies sure stink up the place!

Is it just me, or do fast-food onions smell like body odor when they've been in the car?

On that note, let's discuss the state of our cars' interiors.  Seems like I'm forever hauling around a bunch of trash from the various fast-food stops during the week.  And there's a tendency for cups to get left in the car, as well as paper plates, granola bar wrappers and junk mail.

For awhile, we had a mouse who lived in our glove box and we could never catch him.  Every morning we'd open it up to discover that he'd made a fabulous nest for himself out of shredded napkins that must have fallen behind the opening.  He had plenty to feast on: old french fries and chips and pop tart crumbs.  Oh, he was livin' the good life in there.  Just traveling around in style.

It was good incentive to clean out the old Explorer.  And it sure felt good to see the carpet again.

Today's Small Thing is to gather up the debris that travels with you in your vehicle.  You don't have to detail every nook and cranny, but just grab a trash bag and haul out the trash and cups.  You're gonna love your Sweet Ride!

POINTS:  40 for a 5 minute car cleaning

P.S. Did you see the new tally sheet for April?  It's in the "sticky" post at the top of the blog.  Print it off so you can smoke your competitors as you rack up the points!

I know, I know! I'm preaching to the choir....but I can't help myself!

Starting a new month has re-energized my excitement for creating Sanctuary in the Small Things!  When I first started thinking about posting one small thing that could make a difference at home each day, I wondered if I could possibly come up with enough things to fill up one month, let alone a whole year.  But I felt like maybe I oughta step out and see what would happen.  Armed with a scribbled list of ideas, I invited you to come along in this silly adventure.

OK, my house didn't suddenly start running like a well-oiled machine.  It's still a little messy and I still struggle with being overwhelmed with the "to-do's" on my list. 

But something is happening in my heart and maybe it's happening in yours, too.

What I'm realizing over and over again is that God is able to take something small and make something great out of it.  If you think about it, that's just the way He has always worked.

• He took a little boy's lunch and fed 5,000 people with it.

• He took a widow's drop of oil and fed his prophet and a woman and her son.

• He took a shepherd boy and made him a king.

• He took a child in his lap and said, "of such is the kingdom of heaven."

And He delights in Small Things:

• Small mustard seeds.

• Small children.

• Small widow-women.

• Small fishermen.

• Small steps of faith.

• Small things done for our families.

Most days our Small Things are so ridiculously insignificant by themselves that I'm almost embarrassed to share them with you.  There's really nothing super-creative or fabulous or Martha Stewart-like in any of them.  (oh how I wish.....)  And you are already doing a thousand small things a day for the people you love.

But they are important.  They add up.  They are steps of faith.

And God can do something with them.

You see, the minute we offer up just a tiny bit of effort, He springs into action to bless it.  Because it's not just our action He's looking at. 

It's the heart that goes with it.

When we serve in small ways, when we give of ourselves, and when we choose to love in ways that require a little bit of sacrifice, we are really worshipping God.  With all of our hearts and our beings.  We are living in the true spirit of an incredible God who is blessing what we put our hands to.

You've been given people and things in life that are to be treasured and cared for.  You may never really do it perfectly or with the style and panache you'd like, but no one can do it like you can.  You're someone's mommy, someone's daughter, someone's wife, someone's friend .  Each Small Thing is a way of expressing love and gratitude for the wonderful gift of being part of someone's life.

It's worship and service and love and even fun, sometimes. 

It's God working in small ways to make something great happen for you.  Because that's just the way He does things.

Girls, thanks for being a part of Sanctuary in the Small Things, 2008.  I'm praying for you and I love you.

Here's to another great month!

April Prizes! And Today's Lil' Thing-y

I'm pumped about this month's verse, because it's just SO PERFECT for our Small Things theme.  I'll get it prettied up for another post, but for now, here it is:

Zech. 4:10 Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin...

Our verse isn't going to be the prize for this month, sorry!  I've had a few technical problems getting the previous verses printed and framed so I'm going to have to skip this month.  The past winners' prizes are JUST NOW getting sent out and I am feeling real, real bad about that. 

The MOST POINTS prize is going to be a $25.00 gift certificate to Mardel.  You can purchase whatever your little heart desires....books, art, CD's.  You know you'd love it and will want to earn as many points as possible to win it! 

The RANDOM DRAWING winner will receive:  Rise and Shine by Liz Curtis Higgs.  Talk about an encourager!  She will have you shining in 2 minutes a day when you read her book!  You don't have to keep score, just participate 5 times during the month and you'll be eligible.  Even if your month is CRAZY, you should be able to accomplish 5 small things!

Now, for Today's Small Thing, we are going to make a small beginning. 

Next to actually COMPLETING a job, the hardest part of any task is GETTING STARTED.  Especially if you know it's going to take awhile, require physical or mental exertion or be messy.  Quite frankly, procrastination often seems to be the go-to answer to all that. Can I hear an "Amen!"

Here's what we'll do.  We'll take a big job, divide it up into bite-sized portions and then just do the first part.  For example, I really really really need to clean out my closet.  I've managed to avoid doing it for several (cough) months. 

So today, I will begin by picking up the things on the floor.

That's it.

Done.  Finis.

See, I didn't say you had to finish the job.  Just get it started.

What job can YOU start today?  Do you have a gazillion loads of laundry to do?  Why not just start with one load and call 'er done?  Tomorrow you'll have a gazillion-minus-one loads to do and it will be easy.

Messy paperwork to catch up on?  How about getting it stacked neatly so that when you DO decide to do it, the first step is done?

Are you catching on?  Woo Hoo!  Let's get it started!

POINTS: 30 for starting something in a small way

Remember, don't despise these small beginnings for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.

Go Ahead, be a link in the chain. And March's Winners!

Tell me you didn't see this song by Aretha Franklin coming today....

Now before you start getting worried about what Small Thing goes with this song, let's get to the winners of March's Small Things Prizes!

Winner of the Most Points (Ever) is The Cool Mom!  With 7 kids and a busy household, she really raked in the numbers on the COPS day, but we won't make her tell us how many dishes she rounded up and brought to justice that day!  But if I take her score of 1250 and start subtracting the other possible points.....well!  Congratulations, Mrs. Cool!  Way to go!

And our Random Drawing winner is Cara at What's Next Girls?!  She'll be receiving the two books by Anita Renfro!  Awesome job, girls!

Stay tuned tomorrow for April's Prizes!

Today's Small Thing is to be a fool.

I mean that in a good way.

Let me elaborate: I recently had the privilege of taking a Dale Carnegie course that was being offered in my area.  I thought it would be a great way to gain some confidence in my "professional" life.  What I didn't expect was the added benefit of personal skills that improved in every other aspect of life as well.   

One of the exercises was to act out some well-known nursery rhymes in an exaggerated, outrageous manner.  Our instructor prepared us.  She gave us a great pep talk. She had us rolling with laughter as we watched her make a fool of herself reciting "Fee Fi Fo Fum."  Oh, that's so funny, ha ha.

And then it came time to take our own turns.

Can you say "terror?"

Deeply ingrained in our psyche is a paralyzing fear of feeling foolish, especially in front of people.  Even with pleading, coaxing and encouraging, there was one gentleman who simply could not play the part of the enraged giant.  He just felt too foolish to try.

But what was amazing was how every other person who broke through their inhibitions that night felt afterward.

"That was fun!"

"I should do that more often!"

"I never laughed so hard!"

"I broke free!"

"That was incredible!"

Laying down your fear of what people might think of you is one of the most liberating things you'll ever experience.  Because the truth is, people really don't even think of you that much to begin with.  They just don't care as much as you think they do.

So in honor of April Fool's Day, I encourage you to do something "foolish" today!  Step out of your comfort zone and break free of your inhibitions.  You'll be amazed, astounded, thrilled and excited at how wonderful it is to just enjoy being silly for a few minutes.

Need ideas?

• Turn a cartwheel in the yard.

• Skip to the mailbox.

• Play "Ring around the Rosie" and actually fall down in a heap (not just pretend to).

• Here's something really foolish: serve dessert before dinner!  (gasp!)

• Turn your car radio up and sing out loud.

• Stand on your head.

• Burp your ABC's.

• Play "who can touch their nose with their tongue" with your kids.

• Act out a nursery rhyme in an outrageous manner.

• Thing a thilly thong without thaying your etheth.

• Ask your kids what foolish thing they'd like to see you do!

• Wear your shirt inside out.
  

OK, now you go on.  Get up!  You can do it!  Be a fool!  If you can't be a fool in your own Home Sanctuary, where can you be??  Life's too short to be staid and boring.

Life's too short to be staid and boring.

Oh. Did I already say that?  Well, it bears repeating.

POINTS: 40 for being an April Fool (You don't have to be one ALL day, just once!)

BONUS: 10 for letting us know what you're doing

P.S. I'm going to turn cartwheels....what could be more foolish than a 44 year old lady trying to do a round-off? 

P.P.S.  Don't forget, tomorrow I'll post April Prizes!