God's Design Has a Purpose

Loves to serve others

One morning while I was putting on my makeup, Olivia was standing next to me looking at herself in the mirror and made the comment that one of her eyes was larger than the other. Olivia and I both have a lazy eye and this size difference is more noticable in us. I explained that to her and showed her my eyes. Then I went on to explain that no ones eyes are exactly the same size, and our arms and our legs are not exactly the same size either. We talked about how God formed each part of us to be a little bit unique and not exactly alike, and how He made each person different. She thought about it for a moment and said "just like not two snowflakes are exactly the same." So as we talked, and I began to think about it, I couldn't think of any two things that were exactly alike.

You know I had never really thought about it before. That just amazes me! God stopped and thought about each and every element of His creation individually, and how He would design it, that one individual element, different from everything else He had already created. That includes you and me. He stopped and thought over you when He designed you .... does that not just make you catch your breath? And He considered how He would design you different than me and everyone else He has ever created all the way back to Adam, and than everyone else He ever will create in the future.

Knowing this makes me realize how much God must value uniqueness and individuality. Since God does nothing for no reason, He must have a purpose for that unique quality in everthing He created. He designed into each of us specific likes, dislikes, passions, tastes, styles, personalities, skills, and talents, just to name a few. Which means He must have a purpose for these qualities. So much of the time we hide our unique qualities. We don't want to appear to be different. God wants us to let our unique qualities flourish so that He can use us for His purposes.

See how she puts all her other passengers in front of her and she takes the caboose.

You can't miss the extra dose of personality in this one.

Golden Opportunities

This is my grandaughter Olivia. In this picture she is pouring drinks, not for herself, but for those that we came to serve. For a few years now Olivia has been expressing an interest in wanting to help others in need. I could see that this was something that God was putting on her heart so I began to pray for an opportunity. Unfortunately it's not that easy to find hands-on volunteer opportunities that children can take part in due to liability issues. I think that's sad because it teaches them how to take part in volunteer efforts as adults. I believe that a lot more adults would get involved in volunteer work if they had some previous exposure, and when children grow up doing it then it is more likely to become part of their lifestyle.

In any case, God opened up an opportunity where we could volunteer as a family to serve women that have left a life of abuse. SafeHaven of Tarrant county offers services for battered women and their children that include emergency shelters, a transitional living program, counseling, and others. It is a wonderful organization that helps these families to make the adjustments necessary to successfully leave their abusive situations and not walk back into them. Once a week families in the transitional living program meet for counseling and a meal is served before their sessions begin. So every 3 weeks my daughter, grandaughters, and I get to prepare the meal and serve it to these families. These people are so nice and a joy to cook for. One little boy is especially fun, he is about 5 or 6 I think and he can EAT! He always comes back for seconds and thirds at least and each time he comes back to the table with a HUGE smile on his face.

Olivia is totally loving this. It is so clear that she is doing what God has designed her to do. The other two are also loving this even though they aren't doing any serving of food, they are spreading love to all the other little kids as they play with them. It's so sweet too because they understand our purpose there and they are quite patient about waiting until we serve others before fixing them a plate. I love what this is teaching them.

We cannot take pictures of anyone in the program but here's my little ones enjoying their meal.

After we packed everthing up to go home we took a few pictures of the girls being who God created them to be, distinctly individual and unique. Of course I have to add ... Aren't they just adorable!? :D

Where Have You Been?

Well it's good to be on the road to recovery ... at least I hope so. Has God ever had to tie you down and take away your voice to get you to Sit Down and Be Quiet? I got the message so I must prioritize my bloggy time a little better.

I sure have missed all of you, and I have sooo appreciated all of your very thoughtful comments and prayers. Thank you also to my friend Lea at Shabby Olde Potting Shed for her kindness and friendship. I hear there's something special going on over there today so be sure to go visit her.

I just took a tour around the world in this blogosphere trying to catch up and I've Been Everywhere, Man! Ok maybe not everywhere but several countries and most of the US is quite a jaunt for one night. So I have to ask ... how long does it take you to go visiting all your bloggy friends?



Funny, I learned tonight that this song has ben adapted for just about every location around the globe. Check out Wikipedia for the appropriate lyrics for your area so you can sing along.