Living a Life Changing Faith

Are you living a life changing faith? I remember nearly 20 years ago when I began working at a new job.  Another employee came and greeted me, welcoming me to the company, and offering her help if I needed anything.  Looking back in this company of thousands, I don't know why she offered her help that day. 

But she continued to come around and befriend me. Soon we were having lunch together regularly, and she shared with me her faith. Her faith was so different than mine.  I wanted to be like her.  I soon learned that while I knew of God, I didn't know God.  And that was the difference.

I continued to want to be like my frined, until one day I discovered it wasn't her I was seeing. It was Jesus in her! And that is who I wanted to be like. Not her, but Jesus. Her faith was life changing, not only in her life, but in mine because it helped me to come to know Jesus.

Are you living a life changing faith? I pray that I am! I want people to see Jesus in me, and to want what I have in that relationship. I want my life to look different from those who don't know Jesus. I want my life to be changed, but I want other's lives to be changed because of my faith.

Are you living a life changing faith, for yourself and for others?

Kelly Combs is a Christian wife, mom, writer and speaker. You can learn about Kelly by visiting her website at www.kellycombs.com

*American Girl Flip Flops*

I recently made some party favors for my daughter's birthday, and due to the level of interest I received in them, I am showing how to make them on my blog.

You will need crafting foam, full size pony beads (the mini pictured did not work), elastic, ribbon, scissors and a glue gun. 

First trace a pattern on the foam, using an American Girl (or other) doll shoe.  You will need 2 pieces of foam per flip flop.

Score 2 small holes side by side in the toe of the "flip flop" foam. Push the ribbon down through one and up through the other, as I am doing below.

Pull both ends through evenly, and string the pony bead on.  The bead is a critical component. Because the dolls toes are fused together, the bead will enable the flip flop to stay on the doll.

Next score 2 holes, one on either side of the foam about 3/4 of the way down.  String the ribbon through those holes as well, creating what looks like a flip flop strap.

Next thread your elastic (about 2.5" long) through the same 2 holes.

This is the bottom of the piece of foam with the pieces threaded through.

Use a hot glue gun to glue the threaded ribbon and elastic flat to the shoe. Now cover the bottom of the foam with hot glue and add your second piece of foam to cover all the ribbon.

I used a different color to make it interesting. This is the side view of the completed flip flop.

Push the pony bead to the front of the shoe to slip it on the doll. Then gently pull the bead up her foot to allow the shoe to stay on.  Ta-da! You finished project! Enjoy!

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Kelly Combs is a Christian wife, mom, writer and speaker. You can learn about Kelly by visiting her website at www.kellycombs.com

My Mother's Hands

When I look at my hands now, I see my mother's hands - the color, the texture, the feel - and it is an unsettling feeling. My mother's hands never harmed me. They loved me, they patted me, held my hands. Yet, those hands did hold pain.

They were the hands that drank the alcohol, and smoked cigarettes by the carton. The hands that took the overdose. The hands that slashed her own wrists. She never hurt me with her hands, it was her mouth that cut me to shreds. Yet those hands, her hands, "The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish woman tears hers down.*" She tore her house down with those hands.

And the pain is there, and I look at my hands and they look like hers. She must have been about my age now, as she tore down her house...our house...with her hands. It hurts. The memory hurts, as I look at my hands, but see hers.

But I am not her. I am building my house up with my hands. I am loving my husband and my children with my hands. I am praying to God with my hands. I raise these hands in praise to him. They are my hands, not hers. They may look the same, but oh, they are different. 

I am sitting at breakfast, and my husband takes my hand. "You have beautiful hands," he says. A gift of grace, from God through my husband. I have beautiful hands. 

I am thankful to God for this gift of grace, and for always holding me...in His hands.

Kelly Combs is a Christian wife, mom, writer and speaker. You can learn about Kelly by visiting her website at www.kellycombs.com

*Proverbs 14:1

Random Acts of Kindness

A local radio station recently asked people to perform random acts of kindness, and then call into the station and tell them about it.  One woman called in, quite annoyed that she hadn't been thanked for her kindness.  That got me thinking.

Why do we do acts of service and kindness?  Is it for the thanks? If so, we need to rethink our motives. I am reminded of the story, found in Luke 17, of Jesus healing the 10 lepers.  Jesus healed 10 men, but only 1 man returned to thank Jesus.  Can you imagine? Jesus performed a miracle, healing these people from a disease that kept them from their family and community, and only one returned to thank him. 

If Jesus only received thanks from 10% of those healed, should we expect more for our random acts of kindness? We should not. Further more, if you read Matthew 6:3-4, it states, "But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret." If we are giving with the hope of being noticed and thanked, that is hardly acting in secret.

Receiving thanks makes us feel good, and that is okay. But if the thanks are what are propelling your good acts, that is where the problem is.  The Bible says that when people see our good works, it should glorify our Father in heaven...not us. Surely, it is God's goodness that causes us to act, when we act without wrong motives. 

You random of acts of kindness are not the things that give you worth. You have worth simply because you are a child of God.  You are worthy, because Jesus died for you. Jesus has done so much for us. Let's stop and thank him for his random, and not so random, acts of kindness.  He is the one that truly deserves our thanks and praise.

Kelly Combs is a Christian wife, mom, writer and speaker. You can learn about Kelly by visiting her website at www.kellycombs.com