Okay, so I thought I would write more often. Silly life keeps getting in the way. So here is something I wrote a long time ago. First a small disclaimer. I'm not sure if I should have used "effect" or "affect" and it is too tedious to look it up. So I hope you like it. I will write "fresher" stuff soon. I have to tell you about the flying turkey and flying duck. And the new flowers on the mountain. But for now here is this:

Eric Clapton has a song called “Change the World”. I don’t remember all the words right now but I love the concept. We have heard this theme many times and in many ways. But are you in your day-to-day existence “changing the world”? Actually, you most likely are and don’t even know it. You are probably saying right now. “Change the world? I’m just trying to get by in this world. Who has time to change anything?” Well, you are being watched by the people in your life. And we never know what an impact we might have on them. We think we have to have it all together, be perfect to effect people. Do some big dramatic thing to effect them. But we don’t, we effect people as we travel through this journey we call life. No matter where you are or what you do for a living, you are effecting people. What you say, how you behave effects people. People are watching you. You may speak a good word into their lives. You may role-model something to them. You may just show them kindness. You may be that one person who believes in them. Or you could be effecting them in a negative way. You have to choose. This may all seem a bit daunting. “People are watching me? How do I do this well?”, you may ask. It’s simple really. You live the best you can with what you already know. And you keep learning and growing. You live the basic right things the Bible talks about. Honesty, kindness, joy, peace, love, gentleness, purity, integrity, etc. You read what the Bible says and keep embracing what you find there. You realize that you won’t ever be perfect but you keep trying to be Christ like and than when someone is watching and they imitate you, it will be a good thing.
One person who really affected my life and it was a good thing, was Sandra Shelton. She was a pastor’s wife at a church I attended. She probably doesn’t even know she effected me so dramatically. I was so young and so unsure of myself. I had strayed from God a few years before and felt so unworthy and unlovable. But she started me on a journey of learning to worship God. She made me believe that He cared enough about me that He wanted “my” praise. She opened my eyes to start believing that God found value in “me”. It took years for me to really be able to love and accept myself but she started me on that journey. She is an awesome woman of God. She showed me that God found value in women, 25 years ago we didn’t really know that in the church. I only lived near her for a short time and I’ve not really kept in touch with her but her influence is still felt by me and by those who I touch. I’m convinced that someday God will tell her the influence she had and she will be shocked.
I’m doing a Beth Moore Bible study that ask you to remember different eras of your life and tothink about the people who influenced you then. I remember a number of Sunday School teachers. Ican’t remember exactly what they taught in the class but I remember that they cared for me and that because of that I wanted to please them. I somehow knew that they loved God. a lot. So I got the message that loving God was important and that I would please them if I did. This made me start thinking about my being a craft teacher at my church. I need to love on those little ones and love on my awesome Father. And somehow that will be translated to them. I will be effecting them, maybe even changing the world a little at a time. That is a awesome opportunity.
So my question to you is: What are you doing to change the world? Are you loving God wholeheartedly? Are you doing the right thing though no one is looking (or so you think). Are you being kind? Do you love peace? Do you remember to be gentle? Even to your own family? Okay, don’t get discouraged. Don’t beat yourself up. We all need to grow in areas. Remember God’s mercies are new every morning. So start where you are and follow the shepherd each day as he leads you. Just do what you already know to do and keep learning and applying the new stuff you learn. I promise you will effect people for the good if you do and you might, just change the world. And how exciting is that?