And while I don't deny I wouldn't love being under some of these palms right now....

...I am even more inspired and thankful for the man that went walking through, over, and under palm fronds towards a calling that had to be scary to fulfill.

Palm Sunday image

Today is Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week in the Christian faith. Today was the day, years ago, when Jesus began the final leg of his journey to be sacrificed as the perfect offering for our sins. To give his life so that we may all be saved. I pray that you all consider that this upcoming week and all of the blessings that have been poured out for you, thanks to our beloved Jesus pouring out his blood for you. It is a message that brings me so so so much joy that I can't help but shout, or type, it out to all of you. 🙂 Thank God this week and share that love with others! Through a smile to a stranger, a hug to a neighbor, a loving comment to a friend, or other acts of service.

Last night, we continued the celebration of a wonderful day to serve God by having a great night of fellowship with a group of our friends. We all met for a cookout in the afternoon and a fun time was had by all.

The men spent time getting comfy with the grill.

grilling men

The ladies spent time preparing the kitchen amidst laughter and conversation.

my lovely lady friends

part of the delicious spread - broccoli slaw, salad, potato salad, the balls, fruit

my contributions

And a good beer. 😀

Original Sin Cider Beer

Lastly, all the little kiddos had a blast just being themselves and entertaining us.

It was a fabulous night! And if any of you from last night happen to be reading this right now, I pray that you know just how much I value your friendship and could not be blessed with better friends than each of you. 🙂

• Did you do anything for Palm Sunday? We of course went to church for a great service. They did have a Palm Parade in the nursery for kids to participate in. M loved waving her palm!
  

  waving her palm for glory

• What is your favorite way to spend time with friends?

Today was the annual Great Day of Service at our church.

2010 GDOS Church Logo

The Saturday before Palm Sunday, our church urges all members to sign up for one of the many service projects our church regularly participates in and then we all go out into the world to be the hands and feet of Christ. Our church is founded on the idea that there are three parts to really living the call of faith - worshiping God in Sunday worship services, growing your life in small groups/Bible study/personal devotion time/etc, and also serving the world. Today was all about the third focus of our church. And I hate to admit, it is the area I need the most help in so I was eager to sign up, just like every year.

Most of the teams met in the morning for communion and a short bit of worship and praise before heading out to the various projects.

we're ready to go out...to cities and towns we'll take your name

Peter and I signed up to join a small group that went to a local children's shelter to do some landscaping and painting their building needed. We arrived at around 9 am and got to work for a few hours painting the halls, lobby, and common room.

getting things ready for painting

my mad painting skills

It was very uplifting to do even such a small act to support the wonderful programs and services the building we were helping offers. I was sort of sad we didn't get to interact with any of the children though, since they were in a different area of the shelter.

Every time we participate in one of these activities with our church it really weighs on me that I am not more involved with service projects. Sure, I try to be a light, as Jesus would say, to others through kindness and openness to anyone I come across in my regular path. I try to be supportive and available to anyone who may need me. Every month, we happily pay our tithe of  10% to the church. But I know my weakness is I don't serve more regularly outside of my comfort zone...or more accurately, my convenience zone.

I don't go out of my way to find a program to volunteer in or take the time to even regularly sign up for work in areas our church needs help. I do what is easy for me. Serving as a leader in our Sunday school. Volunteering in the nursery once a month during worship. Bringing meals to friends after a birth or during another struggle. Taking time to stop and pray for any prayer request that crosses my path. But sometimes I feel like I can do more in order to grow more as a follower of Christ. Knowing all that God has done for me makes me want to go out and share His love. Hopefully one day I will find the perfect fit for me to do just that, even more so than I hopefully do now. 🙂

happy from serving

• Do you have any activities you volunteer in or ways you contribute a service to your community and those in need?
• What do you think qualifies as a true act of service? Do you think if there is some level of personal sacrifice involved the service is more profound?
• How important do you think serving others is as part of faith? Or even as part of humanity?

Don't forget to enter my giveaway!! Ends tomorrow morning. 😀