So are you growing?

So today I am going to look at the “growth” that we might be experiencing. These are the suggested things from the book Never Mind the Joneses which inspired this financial fast. So let's take a look.

Increased Opportunities for Generosity of our time, talent and treasure. The biggest increase of opportunity for generosity has been our time. One of the goals in our spiritual growth process is to have an "outward face". When we start looking at others instead of ourselves the use or our times has become apparent. We spend a lot of time on ourselves on a daily basis. I am not talking about showering and commuting, I mean TV Watching, shopping and the like. When we put those things lower on our list of priorities our calendar becomes more open and we recognize that our time can be shared. As we have read through scripture we notice that Jesus was a great example of how to give of your time. Even when He was hungry or tired He put others before Himself.

Living Simply. This has been relatively easy for us. We have cleaned out some of the nooks and crannies in our house, used up food from the pantry and not added anything to our home. Living simply also provides us with more time to be generous with. We have more than ample living space but it is not huge. We also don't spend as much time cleaning our space as we would a larger space. That 'extra' time can be used to give to others.

Counting our Blessings. Absolutely! We have been through some ups and downs in our journey. We have definitely been tempted to spend above and beyond our budget. However, we have also been reminded of how much we have. We have a lovely home that is very comfortable, we have clothes that keep us warm as fall approaches and we have plenty of food to keep us full. We have so many blessings that we are able to share with others by providing a meal, donating our clothing and sharing our home.

Daily Prayer. We have seen a big change in this area of our lives. We have made a big effort to spend more time praying out loud. Now for some people this is a very comfortable, easy thing and for others it is not. We are a mix of comfort and discomfort when it comes to praying out loud. What has driven us to do more praying out loud, besides this fast, has been the desire to set an example. We pray at dinner together as a family. It is an easy opportunity for us to be an example to our son and we hope that by doing these things now our son will not have the discomfort of praying out loud that we have experienced.

Today's challenge is to look at one of the above areas and see where you are struggling or perhaps were you are excelling. What can you improve and how will you improve on it? Make a decision today to take action and allow God to show you what amazing things He has in store for you!