compassion blog month: week two assignment

Today's blessing:

This week's assignment:
Write three things about one word

And I get to choose the word? Oh goodness...this is pressure! There is just so much power in words! Here's my problem: I over think things. A lot. I could spend three days trying to think of the perfect word. I want something powerful, but not cheesy. Something with room for humor, but not goofy. Something relevant by not "holier-than-thou" (because really, that's not me!).

Every Friday (almost) I take part in Lisa Jo Baker's Five Minute Friday challenge. She gives us a word, and we spend five minutes writing. No editing allowed. Then we publish them, share them, and encourage one another! For a perfectionist like me, this is quite a challenge! Some of them turn out to be complete and utter failures. Some of them are actually halfway decent. Here are some of my favorites:

Red

Last

Broken

Enough about that...I guess I'll just have to pick my own word this time and go for it.

Strong

I’m not going to lie: I got this word by looking at a tissue box. My tissues are “Ultra Soft & Strong.” I haven’t come up with a better option on my own, so I figured I would let inspiration strike from an unconventional place.

Strong: something I am not. I recently decided that I needed to improve my all-around physical strength. I’ve started doing pushups every day. I won’t tell you how many I can do now before my arms give out, but ask me in a few weeks and I might!

Strong: something that I must be. My husband works in a very high stress field. Pastors don’t have the suicide rate of dentists or air traffic controllers, but there is a very high burn out rate. Here’s one of the biggest issues: my husband is a talker. If he’s upset about or stressed out by something, he needs to talk it out. When you’re a pastor, there are certain things that must remain confidential. Oh dear. I know there will be times when I need to take a deep breath, give him a hug, and somehow convince him that everything will be fine.

Strong: something that we are sometimes forced to be. Sometimes life throws a lot at you. It’s hard to keep your head above water and you just don’t think you can keep going. You have two options. You can give up. You can allow yourself to spiral into a pit of despair, cry until you can’t cry anymore, then sit there and do nothing.

Or…

You can allow yourself to cry because there’s nothing wrong with that and sometimes you just need to. Then you can take a deep breath and go on. You can wake up the next morning and find something worth living for: a family member, a friend, a book that you started and are curious to continue because you want to see how it ends, or a flower in your garden that is just so pretty you want to enjoy its vibrant colors for a few more hours.

The pain may never go away completely, but you can allow it to overtake you, or you can allow it to strengthen you. You can run from it, or you can embrace it and learn from it.

There are children playing or working or sleeping in the world right now who don’t know where their next meal will come from, or even if they’ll get another meal. Talk about justified despair! I am begging you to do what you can to help. Your help does not have to be financial. The power of prayer has been proven, so say a prayer right now for these children. If you are in a position to give financially, please do. Whether it is through a recurring gift and the adoption of a child or a one time gift of $5, $20, or $100, it will not be wasted. Click on the Compassion button on the right side of this post to learn more.

Here is a third way that you can help: share the message. You can reach people I cannot. Share this message with your network, and you just may find another person who can save a life. How cool is it to be involved in that chain reaction?

Whoever thought that a tissue box could inspire a potentially life saving message…