Faith Without Deeds

I am a Christian.  That means I am a Christ follower.  Being a Christ follower indicates that I have a relationship with Christ and when you have a relationship with someone you want to get to know them better.  When you get to know them better you love them more deeply and as a result you want to share that love with others.

My life doesn't always reflect Christ, but I want to change that.  Will I still make mistakes? ABSOLUTELY! But I want to strive to be "Holy as Jesus is Holy" (1 Peter 1:16 ).

There are three major commitments that I am making to strengthen my relationship with Jesus so I can be a brighter light in the world for Him:

1. Taking the fall "Hello Mornings" challenge
2. Attending and Volunteering with MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers)
3. Volunteering in the children's ministry at church

The first commitment is to grow my personal relationship with Christ and the second two commitments are volunteer opportunities.  I truly believe that volunteering and serving both in and out of the church is crucial to your growth as a Christian.  James 2:26 says that faith without deeds is dead, but it is important to not just always be doing, but also to recharge by connecting with Christ who is our fuel and source of life.

Hello Mornings is an online (Facebook or Twitter) group Bible study.  The challenge is to get up before your kids do and greet the day with God.  The challenge lasts three months and we will be studying 1 Peter.  I am excited to commit to my quiet time and to have 14 other women (all strangers as of now from all across the country) as my accountability partners in this endeavour.

Last spring I was a member of MOPS and got so much out of it. Not only did I connect with other wonderful Christian moms, but I heard truly life changing messages. So this year I have decided to volunteer on the 'steering' committee (the leadership group) as the MOPPETS (the preschoolers part of MOPS) curriculum coordinator. While all of us moms are learning how to parent better our kiddos are learning Bible lessons. This is a great way for me to serve other moms and their children and give something back to an organization that has given me so much.

Last Sunday our church did a major volunteer push weekend.  This could not have come at a better time for me. For a year now I have been torn about serving in the kids ministry.  Although my degrees are in education, I don't always love working with little kids, but we have little kids and I don't feel like it is fair to take advantage of our great kid's program without giving back.  Plus, investing in the lives of children will plant seeds for eternity and I want to lead by example and show my girls how important it is to serve.