Friday Favorites (2/28)

Hey, y'all! I hope your week has been great.

I've been thinking a lot on my spiritual gift of mercy, and how I can use it better. I'm praying that God will give me opportunities to use it. 

Our week has been a little different than usual. Ben has been out of town for work. He travels on and off, but has not had to for some time now. I could tell that the kids really missed Daddy-time in the evenings. When Ben is gone I don't cook as much. I made quiche Monday night before he left; so the kids and I had the leftovers for dinner on Tuesday. I made a super-simple dinner for the kids on Wednesday, which was whole wheat cheese tortellini with "red sauce," as they call marinara, and then whole wheat waffles with chocolate peanut butter and sliced bananas for dessert. We popped popcorn later in the evening and watched the first 20 minutes or so of one of our favorite movies, Horton Hears a Who. It was a sweet time because the kids were pretty relaxed (for them). I planned to cook dinner on Thursday night because that's when Ben was supposed to come home-but he didn't. I cooked anyway. I made a Rachael Ray shrimp scampi with whole wheat pasta. It was good. Enough about our meals, though. This is supposed to be a favorites post. :)

Favorite Moment: (3-way tie)

Laying on a blanket in the front yard in 70 degree weather on Sunday

  

Eating popcorn and watching Horton with the kids

Ben coming home late Thursday night. (He was in New Haven, CT all week.)

Favorite God-Moment:

BSF lecture on Matthew 19 & 20

Sunday's sermon on sharing our faith with our community.

Did you notice the "note " I wrote to Ben on the top left?

Favorite Meal:

Brittany's black bean burgers and Melissa's sweet potato fries with a side of salsa and avocado. 

Yes, this meal is in a Gladware container. Don't judge- this was the leftovers version and Ben was gone-I had no one to impress. ;)

Favorite Buy:

Racking-up on Bob's Red Mill products at Big Lots again! 

Favorite Treat:

If you like Girl Scout Thin Mints, you'll LOVE these: Snyder York Peppermint Pretzel  Sandwiches. And I found them at Big Lots for $2.50! I haven't seen them in the grocery store for a while, but last time I did I'm pretty sure they were $5.99. 

I'll catch up on blog reading this weekend, hopefully. Maybe I'll do a favorite blog reads on Monday.

We have a busy weekend ahead! It's gonna be a great one, and I hope yours is too! 

Can you believe it's almost March already?!

What has been your favorite thing in February? Mine is all the warm sunny days we've had lately, and catching up on Downton Abbey.

Lordy Mercy!

If you're not from the south you may not know the expression, but around here we use it when surprised, caught off-guard, or at a loss for words. It's slang for "Lord, have mercy!" Or maybe if you're close to my age and grew up watching Full House you've heard Uncle Jesse exclaim "Have mercy!" plenty of times.  I was thinking about this phrase the other day because I was pondering the word mercy. What is mercy, really?

First, let me tell you why I was even thinking about mercy. Last Sunday, Ben handed out a spiritual gifts survey (the Lifeway version) to everyone in our class in preparation for a lesson on community. He challenged us to take the survey and think of ways that we could use our gifts to serve each other. As you probably guessed, my highest category was mercy. 

If I had read the possible outcomes before taking the survey, I probably would have picked mercy because I took a different survey in college and my result was encouragement, which I think falls in line with mercy. So, I was not surprised, but what struck me the most was the description of mercy and what characterizes the person who has this gift. Here's the Lifeway survey definition of mercy:

Cheerful acts of compassion characterize those with the gift of mercy. Persons with
this gift aid the body by empathizing with hurting members. They keep the body healthy and
unified by keeping others aware of the needs within the church (Rom. 12:8). 

The description of the thoughts and feelings fits me to a T. I am very sensitive to others feelings and empathize naturally. BUT, I do not often take action any further than a smile, a hug, or a simple "I'm so sorry and I'm praying for you." Of course, none of these actions are bad, but if I am going to use my God-given super-sensitivity to minister to others, then I need to step it up. 

Oh, God, motivate my heart to not only feel along with the hurting people around me, but to take action in their cause- for your glory. May I "seek justice, encourage the oppressed, defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow." {Isaiah 1:17} May gentleness of heart be evident in my life. 

Source

From now on when I hear someone say "Lord, have mercy," I will be reminded that God has gifted me with the ability to show mercy. 

Have you ever taken a spiritual gifts survey? What was your result?

What gift would you like to improve your score on? Mine are wisdom and evangelism.