Put Your Hands Together

Hands On Experiences
I've been thinking about "Hands" a lot this month.  Our hands are pretty incredible instruments or tools.  I do not have lovely, graceful hands.  I got the short stubby finger gene and playing piano was a real "reach" for my fingers, if you'll pardon the pun.  However, I come from a long line of do-it-yourselfers who rely on our hands, to make life better.  I did have an ancestor who probably had lovely white hands and lived in her English manor, but insisted on marrying a  mere clerk and setting off for America in the 1840's. Instead of ringing the bell and asking the maid to remove the tea things, she found herself in the wilds of central Missouri doing everything for her family "by hand".
I started thinking of what capable hands the women (and men) of my family have had:  their hands have built homes, cleaned homes, killed chickens, plucked feathers, made the chicken into dinner and sewed pillows using the feathers, made quilts and clothes, knitted many articles, turned pages of the Bible and taught children how to read books, soothed fussy babies, smoothed hair or troubled faces, arranged flowers, set lovely tables, refinished furniture, painted and papered walls, driven cars, trucks and tractors, operated telephone switchboards, made jams and jellies, canned food for families, corrected an errant child, hugged and loved on the same errant child, washed dishes, planted gardens, bottle fed calves, pounded gavels at meetings, taken food to the needy and any other task needed to keep their families and communities safe and growing.  I realize all our pioneer ancestors had to do these things, but my family still does!
I do a lot of those same things and try to maintain the "handy" legacy.  My daughter got married this summer and it was a handmade wedding.  I sewed 2 wedding dresses, just to make sure I got one right--she was not at home so she then chose the one she wanted!  We made silk flower arrangements and decorations by hand, stirred up 24 dozen brownies for the reception, cut wildflowers from our garden for the tables.  Her friends and our family also helped wash fruit, curl hair and do makeup, play violins, throw wheat at the happy couple and cleanup afterward.
It was a beautiful wedding and fun time thanks to "many hands making light work!"
  We use our hands in many ways to bless others...and God designed our hands and us for this reason!
Our hands also tell a story..my hands are covered with age spots from too much tractor driving even though I wore gloves, and some dirt under my nails from time to time testifies to my time in my garden.  Right now they have black spray paint remnants from a project and the real kicker is that I am wearing an ace wrap on my left hand!
I have gained a new appreciation for hands, being as I am "short handed" right now.  It is really slowing me down as I use my left hand a lot more than I realized and it hurts now to use it for some things.  I have a new empathy for the many people who have arthritis or have lost the use of their hand(s) for some reason.

Lift up your hands...even if I'm unable to do something right now, or can't always be available to "lend a hand", I can always lift my hands in praise to our Father God who does all things well.  The most important thing I can do for my family or anyone I want to help is to pray.  I can bless others with my hands but God can bless others through my prayers and supply those things I can not, which brings us to:

Hands Off!
         I've been attending the Bible study, Seated, mentioned in our Lovely Branches website and learned something that I'm still trying to grasp.  Sometimes God wants me to just sit down and rest in Him, trust in Him and even sit on my hands..in other words, let go and let Him work in a situation.  He does not need my help nor is it even help if I try to "fix" things when He is the one with the plan and ability to do whatever is needed.  Actually, I ought to get out of the way! Well, this was disconcerting news to a "Martha", a do-it-yourself type such as myself.  How freeing though and a little scary. It turns out that everything does not pivot on my ability to fix things...thank goodness and thank God!!  I can trust Him to work and do those things I can not.
Give yourself a hand-
There are things we can be doing to help ourselves and our families, though. The holidays are coming up.  Now is the time to think about expectations and alternatives.  If you want to simplify things or change how you give thanks and how your family celebrates the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, now is the time to start talking and planning.
Do some fall cleaning and get rid of outgrown clothes or extra knickknacks. Put some casseroles or chili in the freezer for later.  Sip some cider, collect some leaves, carve a pumpkin or make some pumpkin bars.  Rejoice in the things your hands can do!  And praise, pray and give thanks to our Heavenly Father who has us all in His hands.

Service with a Smile .....or "Get me out of my recliner and not be a whiner!"

"Live life comfortably",  is the clever motto of the Lazy Boy furniture company.  I'm telling you, though, that recliner, comfortable as it is, is not your friend.  As much as I enjoy curling up in our recliner with a good book, I know that God did not put me here on earth to be "comfortable".  He wants me to glorify Him.  That is our ultimate purpose, and one way we do that is by serving Him.  Boy, can that be uncomfortable!!!

Paul tells us in Romans 12:1-2
 
"Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God's great mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship.  Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Somehow, offering my body as a living sacrifice does not sound like a life of ease and comfort.  Paul knew something of sacrifice and discomfort, even pain and imprisonment in his quest to serve God and others.  If we are obedient to serve God and others as well, we can kiss our recliners and comfortable lifestyles goodbye for a time.  Someone once told me that the shortest line anywhere is in the line to serve. We all want to be served, but very few of us want to serve others. This means we need to change our minds, like in the verse above, to not think of ourselves first, but of doing for others instead. As contrary to our culture as that is, you can never out give God.  Serve God, it pays..in all kinds of ways.  You may not receive a lot of appreciation from others, though.
One of my favorite cards shows Jesus with the crowds on the hill behind him, having just received the loaves and fishes that He blessed and multiplied to feed everyone.  In this cartoon card version, you see people starting to complain...."could I have some blackened fish instead?", and "I need gluten free bread"...  Jesus is smiling whereas I would be bent out of shape because people were not properly appreciative of what I had done for them.  Service with a smile is not always one of my strong suits.

I have good intentions and even follow through sometimes and have received the blessing of being able to supply a need in someone's life, letting God love them through me. It is with a profound sense of gratitude that you realize God let you have a part in His provision for someone else...the answer to someone's prayer!

Too many times, though, it has been with mumbling, dragging of feet and an "oh, poor me" attitude that may be obedience, but certainly is not with a glad, trusting heart..nor a smile.
And then...God puts someone in my life at just the right moment to supply one of my needs or to give me fresh courage, or encouragement, which was just what I desperately needed to keep pushing on.
How can I begrudge being "the hands and feet" of Jesus when I know full well the difference a person can make when they show me His love?

There are many ways to serve others and Jesus.  He tells us that whatever we do "for the least of these", people who need His love the most, it is like doing those things for Him.
I read an article many years ago in VIRTUE magazine called, Ways you can reach the world for Christ without ever leaving your Home. As a mom with little children in a small town, it got my attention as I felt my options to serve God were somewhat limited.  This was an eye opener. though and put an end to a lot of my excuses. We can all:

Go..visit others who need a friend, some cheering up
Call or email someone who comes to our mind with a word of thanks or encouragement
Cook or Bake food for those needing a meal--some organized types keep a meal or casserole in the freezer just for this purpose..some church groups make this a ministry and stock the church freezer with meals
Walk around town and get your exercise as well as pray for people in homes you pass, your town, the schools, etc.
Give--your time to volunteering in some ministry or give your money, or give out of our excess--
  extra clothes, books, knickknacks, can be donated to Goodwill or the Salvation Army to bless others. I read recently of a lady who is purging her home of excess by getting rid of 10 things a day.  Think of the extra room and time we'd gain!
Clean someone's house or your teen's room after a tough week.  A friend and I cleaned closets at our church this summer in order to gain space and do an inventory.  We found lots of items we can use and save money by using what we have and giving extra materials away to a ministry in Belize!
Grow flowers or vegetables to give to others.  Some people donate extra produce to their food bank, or give flowers to nursing homes for patients.
"Mother" some other children besides your own.  As a teacher, I can tell you that we have lots of chldren who could use some extra time and attention and a big thank you to those Mamas who find room in their hearts and "nests" to take in those children who don't have homes.  You can change a child's life for eternity! Besides adoption or foster parenting, or just informal mothering of kids, you can support children with organizations like Compassion.  We have children we have sponsored in this way, but I need to spend more time writing to them and assuring them of God's love.
Drive those who can't take themselves to appointments or the store.
Sew-help others with mending, or make quilts for others.  I have some friends who use their extra fabric to make simple shift style dresses for little girls in Africa
Pray, which is the most important of all.  Become a prayer warrior.  I have been prompted many, many times to pray for even strangers I meet, even when I don't know their circumstances.  You never know how our prayers may be answered or what a difference they can make, but I know God listens and answers.
You get the idea..whatever God has given us, whatever resources or talents and gifts, someone has need of them.  We need to be more responsive to God's nudges to serve instead of making excuses as we relax in our recliners!

Having listed some ways to serve, however, I have a caution.  In her book, Never Say Never, one of author Lisa Wingate's characters is struggling with doing what she knows she needs to do as
God's direction, but hesitates because she already has her "plate full".  She makes the observation that, "the biggest enemy of havin' our hands ready for God's work is having them full up with other things already."  Too, too true.  We may need to scrape a few things off our plate.(A good rule for life and church potluck dinners!)

So, leave some room on your plate..don't have it so full there's not room for God to add something He really needs you to do. We all have things we're more passionate about and are more able to do...God made us this way for a reason.  Sometimes, however, He may call us out of our comfort zone to lean on Him to do what needs to be done. It really is fine to have some recliner time, too...re-charge before your next opportunity to serve.

Out of love, let us serve one another and throw in a smile and prayer for good measure.