Lent: A Cup of Water

Relatively few people I know still participate in lent.  I believe that most of us (including myself) might have great intentions, like making a new year’s resolution, but we don’t follow through. Maybe it’s because I’ve honestly never really understood how giving up chocolate or fast food helps me focus on Christ.

Yet a few days ago I was reading a friend’s fb status, which inspired me to think about the possibility of maybe not giving something up but instead focusing on a few small acts that I could do. Even giving a cup of water (or Venti coffee) to someone in need.  This would allow me to focus on Christ and what he did on the cross. Remembering his sacrifice by living out the life he would desire for me, one which would make a difference in the lives of those I come in contact with everyday.

For the next 40 days I’ll be posting daily quotes meant to inspire, encourage, and equip us in this journey. To get these daily posts “like” Livin’ Venti’s facebook page (found on the right side of this blog.) 

Day 1:

“When God asks us to give him something, he asks us to give him only what we already have. It might take a little work to identify what that is, but we already have what we need to help move others closer to him. The problem is we don’t think that what we have is enough.”

Evangelism Without Additives- Jim Henderson

"It'll Be What Makes Us Different" Human by Natalie Grant

The reason that I share a weekly song, video, or other media is that there is no need for me to reinvent the wheel when others can put ideas into words much better than I can. Human by Natalie Grant speaks to each one of us and the choices we have in this life. Are we going to live this life without a mission or are we going to make a difference? As she says... maybe if we listen carefully we will "hear the cry of God's children." And than it just takes "A little love... a little kindness... A little light in this time of darkness... It'll be what makes us different... It'll be what makes us human... I'm human, you're human, we are human."

Human by Natalie Grant
Every life has a choice
To rise up to fill the void
Every heart has a mission
And we are called to be human

We gotta do better than this 'cause we only got
One chance to make a difference
We gotta do better than this 'cause we only got
One life that we've been given

A little love, a little kindness
A little light in this time of darkness
It'll be what makes us different
It'll be what makes us human
I'm human, you're human, we are human

We are marked with His image
And we are scarred with indifference
Maybe now we should listen
Hear the cry of God's children

We gotta do better than this 'cause we only got
One chance to make a difference
We gotta do better than this 'cause we only got
One life that we've been given

A little love, a little kindness
A little light in this time of darkness
It'll be what makes the difference
It'll be what makes us human

I'm human, you're human, we are
We are human
I'm human, you're human, we are
We are human

Gotta do better than this 'cause I only got
One chance to make a difference
Gotta do better than this 'cause I'm only
Just one

I'm human, you're human, we are
We are human
I'm human, you're human, we are
We are human

It'll be what makes the difference
It'll be what makes us human

Credits :songwriters: ingram, jason; muckala, dan; sparks, jordin
© sony/atv sounds d/b/a timber pub co-windsor hill music

"No New Friends"

For most people, a new year’s resolution tends to focus on losing weight, eating right, working out more, getting out of debt, finishing school, etc. Most years I don’t even attempt to make a new year’s resolution, for it typically means the death of whatever I hoped to accomplish. For example, this year I chose not to make a new year’s resolution, yet still decided to coincidentally start counting calories on January 1st. Needless to say, two weeks later I was no longer counting those calories.

A few years ago, I made a different sort of New Year’s Resolution. This particular year, I choose to make the resolution to “make no new friends". Typing that out makes it seem really awful. What kind of person chooses to make such a declaration? How could a person like that have any credibility in blogging about loving one’s neighbor? Honestly, to this day I’m not sure if it was the right decision to make. Maybe it should have been worded differently.

What would lead someone to say that they didn’t want to make any new friends? It may have been because there was a trail of good friends and family who were often pushed to the wayside, when the needs of others took precedent day after day. I wasn’t really loving those neighbors who were closest to me. On the outside people saw this person who would drop whatever she was doing to help people, but was left with friends who were hurt when I double booked myself. And a family who only received the little that was left after I served people all day long.

If any of you read my blog about “I Love You Always, I Like You Sometimes”, you probably wouldn’t be shocked that these happened about the same time. I was so busy focusing on the needs of people I barely knew that my close friends and family were getting the raw end of the deal.

What I saw happening when I reflected on the past year and was looking forward to a new year was that while I was pouring my energy into the many, I had nothing left to give to those closest to me. As we go about trying to love our neighbor, looking at those that we come in contact with on a regular basis, let us not neglect the neighbors closest to us. It’s the perfect place to start, a great launching pad to then continue to open our hearts to those other neighbors who may just be passing through.