365 Days of Service

Day 120 - Oct 11

Have you ever eaten Puppy Chow? It’s pretty tasty stuff. I spent the afternoon mixing up a couple of batches for the kiddos in our LifeGroup to eat on Sunday. We are having a party and I made each kid a little bag for themselves. If you have no idea what I’m talking about here is the recipe:

9 cups Chex Cereal
1 cup Chocolate Chips
1/2 cup Peanut Butter
1/4 cup Butter
1/4 teaspoon Vanilla
1 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar

Put cereal in large bowl. Melt chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Pour mixture over Chex cereal, stir and put into a large plastic bag with the powdered sugar. Shake well to coat.

Spread the mixture out evenly on wax paper and allow to cool.

This is a very easy tasty treat. I used a non-stick stock pot for the cereal mixing step since I didn’t have a bowl large enough. It also kept the mixture from sticking to the sides. I also skipped the vanilla and didn’t notice that it was missing. I put some in individual baggies so that you didn’t have to put your hand in a big mixture of it - even after it cools its pretty sticky.

*The kids loved this treat and they all walked around carrying their baggies and saying “I’m eating Puppy Chow” - it was cute.

Day 119 - Oct 10

Our good friends play music and they had a show tonight. I have been telling everyone in our LifeGroup to let me babysit for a 365 project. These guys took me up on my offer again. I went to their house this time and the boys were so laid back, kept themselves entertained… it was really easy. I wasn’t nearly as worn out as I was when they came to our house. We had a lot of fun. It was especially fun watching them put themselves to sleep. They sleep in the same room and the 2 year old can climb out of his crib. That keeps you on your toes! They are sweet little boys and I didn’t have to break up any fights or put anyone in time out. That hardly counts as babysitting!

Day 118 - Oct 9

Out neighbor’s house caught fire last week, and we left them a note asking them to get in touch if they needed help. I didn’t hear from them (I can only imagine what they are dealing with right now). I am still hopeful they will get in touch. In the meantime I am praying for them and I also bought a Visa gift card and put it in their mailbox. Whatever the cost involved with the repair, I am sure every bit helps.

Day 117 - Oct 8

Ryan recently read “Crazy Love” by Francis Chan and has recommended it to everyone in our LifeGroup. We handed out a couple of copies tonight hoping to get them passed around to everyone in the group. I haven’t read it yet, but I have been asked to, so I’ll post after I have an opinion to share. It comes highly recommended by several people I know.

Read more here: Crazy Love, Francis Chan at Barnes and Noble

Day 116 - Oct 7

Tuesdays are busy days. By the time I lay my head down in bed I am wiped. I serve at two Internet Campus experiences - one at Noon CT and the other at 8:00pm CT. At the noon experience today I led a father through prayer for redemption and forgiveness. He recommitted his life to Christ. It was a powerful conversation. His family is struggling through some very difficult financial times (I think we are going to see a growing trend there) and he was desperate for some hope. I only hope I was able to offer him some through the hope that is Jesus Christ.

Tonight when I got home I wrote a note to our neighbors whose house caught on fire yesterday. They weren’t home, and I am not sure if they have been home since it happened. I left it in the mailbox. Hopefully they will find it and know that not only are we praying for them but that we are willing to do what we can to make their situation a little better. I’ve already had people offering clothes and toys for their 3 year old. I hope they get in touch - we’d love to help. Please continue to pray for them while they go through this. They are the Griffin family.

Day 115 - Oct 6

Our neighbor’s house caught on fire today. I emailed some folks for prayer for the family and sent an update letting them know everyone was safe. Please continue to pray for the Griffin family as they deal with this terrible event.

Tonight I went to Mercy Ministry to meet up with a LifeGroup and to sort clothing. Ryan and I alone were able to donate 4 lawn garbage bags full of clothes and shoes. And I promise we won’t even miss what we gave away. What about you? What’s sitting around your house that you could give away and not even notice?

Day 114 - Oct 5

The weather has been outstanding in Oklahoma City recently so I left the house with the dogs today for some fun and exercise. We went to Lake Hefner and I rode my bike while they ran. I let them swim a little, but there are so many distractions there they could hardly stand still. After they were dragging a bit I took them over to the dog park (where we normally can’t go) and let them run around. Pongo found a big hound dog that was swimming laps and proceded to follow him around the pond for 30 minutes. It was hilarious and he was exhausted.

There is a dog wash just down the road that we will use in the winter and every now and then during the rest of the year just for the convenience. It was definitely a convenience day. You buy tokens to operate the tubs, so when I left I put some tokens near a tub for the next person to use. You never know when someone won’t have the change for a dog wash. And there really is nothing grosser than a really dirty, wet dog.

Day 113 - Oct 4

Here is my service project for the day: Recommending married couples go see the movie “Fireproof” and to get a copy of the book “The Love Dare”. After I sold two copies to men at the bookstore tonight, I got curious and looked it up. It’s a marriage challenge in a devotional format for expressing and developing unconditional love for your spouse. The movie “Fireproof” - by the makers of “Facing the Giants” - recently released this movie about saving a marriage. The movie looks pretty good, on a similar level as Facing the Giants.

After I looked up the book at the bookstore I went and grabbed a copy and thumbed through it - reading the challenges of the first few days. It looks like a pretty cool concept. Then another couple came in and bought the book so I asked them about it and the movie. They had seen it and highly recommended it. Watching the trailer, I bet it will be a sappy tear-jerker, but I also bet it will change so many lives. I wanted to spread the word about the movie, the book and most importantly, the importance of cherishing our marriages and our spouses. Remember to honor God through your marriage. If you’re interested in improving the state of your marriage, I’d say this movie and devotional are a great start.

Check out the movie here: http://www.fireproofthemovie.com

Check out the book here: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Love-Dare/Stephen-Kendrick/e/9780805448856/?itm=1

There is also a written version of the movie Fireproof: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Fireproof/Eric-Wilson/e/9781595547163

If you do see the movie or decide to read the book, let me know and comment about it here. I’d love to know who else is doing this. I’ll probably be blogging about it here as I work through it.

Day 112 - Oct 3

Today was the last day of our All-Staff event for LifeChurch.tv. Craig Groeschel was the featured speaker today and I think he knocked it out of the park. It was an awesome talk and really good for staff morale. The Oklahoma City campus hosted the event and we used the building up. It was packed all week and a bit of a mess.

After lunch, they asked all of us there and able to help put the campus back together. It was fun to watch 100+ people work together to restore the place to it’s normal state. We got them ready for the weekend and I hope we were helpful.

Day 111 - Oct 1

That’s Ryan’s favorite thing to say these days on Trash Night (do you know what trash night is? At our house it is the dreaded evening before the day the trash is collected). Ryan has been helping a lot more around the house now that he’s actually working a reasonable schedule and has what we like to refer to as “free time”. He hasn’t really had any of that in the last three years. Before he had free time, however, he only had a few tasks that I required his assistance for around the house - dishes (gross), mowing the lawn and trash duty. I kept reminding myself on the days any of those went neglected that it was simply because he didn’t have the time. He’s been so good lately using his free time to help around the house, that I’m feeling more and more like I should be helping him out. So tonight, when we pulled in the driveway after a long day and I announced it was Trash Night, he says “We can just get it out in the morning”. That, of course, is not the response I like to hear, so I gladly took the trash and recycling out myself.

*Update: Friday morning when he heard the trash truck outside the house, he yells “Did we get the trash out!?” - it was so satisfying to say, “Yes, of course” and see his relief.