Others

Our Daily Bread
When friends asked me about my plans for my birthday this coming Thursday, Aug 20, I said "well, I am helping out at the homeless shelter, then off to dinner or a movie".  What? You are helping at a homeless shelter on your birthday? they asked.  In one of my finer moments, I said something like "what better gift can I give myself than to help others?"

I wrote about loving others in one of my Simply Saturday blog entries recently. I said something like "loving others helps us know ourselves and love ourselves more". Loving others in good times can be hard enough.  Loving others in difficult times can very very hard indeed. It is all about attitude. Here is one of my favorite stories from EFM two years ago:
"A missionary visited some of the poor folks in the country in which he served. The mother and her young son lived in near starvation and terrible poverty. When the young son brought home his wages for the day, mere pennies, the mother put part of it aside in a jar. The missionary asked if the woman was saving up for something special. She said "No, that is for the poor".

Even in her need, she thought of others!  We can all do more for others. Let us pray for the leadership of the Holy Spirit and be sensitive to where it leads us!  May the Lord be with us!

Teaching Tuesday
I found out what the books will be for my fourth and final year of EFM.  I already bought the Kindle versions.  ;-)  Here they are:

Theology for the Troubled Believer by Diogenes Allen
The Christian Moral Life: Practices of Piety by Timothy Sedgwick
My Neighbor's Faith edited by Jennifer Howe Peace, Or N. Rose, and Gregory Mobley
Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman
We Are Theologians: Strengthening the People of God by Fredrica Harris Thompsett

The first three books were used by Year 4 last year. They seemed OK. I will see how this goes.

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We know we were made for so much more than ordinary lives
Its time for us to more than just survive
We were made to thrive
- Thrive by Casting Crowns