"Are you ready to make an IMPACT?"

Well, today is the first day of school. We've been getting ready for this "big day" for probably the last two weeks....mentally and physically! But, we arrived on time and in great spirit! As we walked into the classroom, we found ourselves in a busy, but peaceful environment filled with kids finding their desks, pulling all 50 pounds of school supplies out of backpacks, getting organized and settled. While I was there, I was helping Bethany get everything together in her desk and started to allow my eyes to really wander and take in the children in the classroom. Here is our future generation...eager and ready to learn. What futures God has in store for each one of them!

Lately, I've been praying that I would become so much more aware...a NEW awareness would shake me to help me to recognize opportunities right in front of me that I can show His love. I love the song that says, "we will be Your hands, we will be Your feet, we will run this race for the least of these. In the darkest place we will be Your light, we will be Your light!" - I really want to live it more. As I was helping children around me, I began to pray for each one of them...it may not seem much, but inside of me....I know it will make a impact. As I began to leave, I noticed all the moms and dads that had arrived with their children kissing them all goodbye. After I kissed and loved on Bethany, I noticed a little girl sitting next to her staring down at her desk. Everyone around her had at least someone there who hugged them goodbye, except her. As I walked by her, I saw her name on her desk and leaned over and said, "bye! Have a great day!" Her face lit up and her beautiful smile touched my heart deeply. What if I would've been afraid to say something to her because I might 'scare' her or that I might be pointing out that she didn't have someone there? I know these thoughts, because I've had them before. I've walked away from opportunites before and felt the heaviness of 'missing it.' As a mother and as women, we have been called to be givers of life and God has placed in us a nurturing spirit. This is one of His beautiful giftings that we all have.

I remember a couple of years ago, my kids and I had stopped to eat at the Pizza Hut buffet for lunch. I was telling them the story I heard on Joyce Meyers how the men who drive their buses would stop at a restaurant and 'pick' someone in the restaurant and buy their dinner. They wouldn't do it for recognition at all, they would secretly tell the waitress to give them the bill and just tell the customer that Jesus loves them. We were cracking up on how 'sneaky' that was and the kids said, "let's do it now!" So, we scanned the restaurant for the 'target.' Sitting a few tables away, we saw an elderly couple eating their lunch and it was unanimous....they were the Harris Target! We were so excited, but still trying to be "undercover" so that they wouldn't know it was us!! When the waitress came over, I explained what we wanted to do. I told her "we want to pay for that couple's dinner, but don't tell them we did it...just say "God loves you and be blessed." She didn't understand and I had to repeat myself at least three times. She obviously thought we were joking or crazy...but after a few minutes it 'dawned' on her what we really were wanting to do and she started to get excited too! We TRIED not to watch as she went over to them and gave them the message, but I had to control myself and keep the kids under control!! As we watched them go, they didn't make a face or look around, they just simply got up and walked away. Boy, if someone would've paid for my meal I probably would've been a little more obvious (to my children's embarrassment)...looking around trying to figure out "who" and mouthing the words "thank you" to anyone's eyeballs I could come in contact with.... But, instantly, this voice in my head spoke that maybe I had embarrassed them or maybe they didn't want to hear that God loved them. After a few minutes, I shook it off and prayed under my breath that God would reveal HIMSELF to them and that this would be one of MANY encounters with Him that day. We ate our food and I explained to the kids that God saw what we did and how fun was that! When we were about to leave, the waitress came up and explained to me that she didn't know what I was saying or wanting to do at first, but then 'she' absorbed it. She said she had never seen anything like that done ever before and she had been waitressing a long time. She said "thank you for making a difference. It blessed my day."

That was a good lesson for me and my kids that day. When we do good, God-things, we don't need to look for a response because we don't do it for a response. Making an impact means looking outside of ourselves and our own needs and putting others around us first. Making an impact may not be seen by anyone or recognized by anyone, but it's making a difference. And, I believe, the "ripple effect" is always greater than we see with our human eyes. I know that when I focus on other people, that my "situations" or my "needs" decrease and don't seem so big after all.

Here's a quote that I read every day....."Every day God affords you the opportunity to make your mark, impact your world, and take yourself to the next level."


Okay, here's some fun homework....every day this week, look for those opportunities that you might have normally overlooked and step out and make an impact on someone. It could be as simple as a smile, calling someone when they come to your mind, helping a family buy school supplies, etc. It may be in quiet and not seen, it may be under the spotlight, but...do it. Then, blog me (that sounds funny) and let me know what you did and what you learned from it or where you're at right now with what God is showing you.


There's much love coming your direction from me......cynda