Every "could" that "does" counts!

A friend of mine sent me pictures from a friend of hers that just got back from doing a bit of rescue work (mission work) in Haiti. I responded back to her (in my green from pure jealousy), "Wouldn't you have loved to have gone and tried to do something (what we could!!) to help! I suppose that just because we didn't trek the fields over there doesn't mean that we can't "do what we could" over here for them other there. Thanks to you from the book that you bought, I'm learning that every "could" that does counts!"

The book I was referring to is a small read taken from Mark 14 (click here) entitled: She Did What She Could." The book referrences the story in the Bible of the woman who poured perfume over Jesus' head and plays off of the statement that Jesus made concerning her, ""Leave her alone," said Jesus. "Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to Me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have Me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on My body beforehand to prepare for My burial. I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.""

"She did what she could"!

The Back Cover of the book reads:

Five letters. Unthinkable power.  Most of us care. We really do. We care about poverty and injustice, about orphans and the sick. And yet, weighed down by the everyday tasks of bringing home a paycheck, putting food on the table, and shuttling kids around, we question our ability to make a difference. Bombarded by one celebrity help-the-world-athon after another, we shrug our shoulders in futility and do absolutely nothing.

But what if we did . . .

Something?

Just one thing.

The thing that matters more than anything else in that one solitary moment.

What if we did just that?

What if?

S•D•W•S•C

Five letters that have the power to change your life, free your spirit, and transform your world!

It's easy to get discouraged. It's easy to fall into despair of thinking that you're not doing enough, that you're doing too little, that the little you're doing doesn't actually count. But it isn't so! Every little adds up to a lot. If everyone offered a little, if (everyone "did what they could" as the book above suggests), then the world would be reaching out wherever and in whatever way that they could and the world would be sincerely taking care of itself. With God, of course, because we're made in His image... and it's His image in us that wants to reach out.

Anyway, picking up something that somebody dropped...... saying a kind word to one who needs it........ cooking a dish for someone who's sick.......... giving a dollar (or two or three or a hundred or thousands) to a need of some kind........ writing a note of encouragement or a thank you............ writing a book that teaches or gives inspiration........... visiting a shut-in............ babysitting for a friend............ adopting a child (or supporting a friend that has)......... going into a prison (or praying for someone who does!)........... mowing a lawn for someone not able......... letting someone mow yours that needs extra money......... handing down clothes quickly outgrown to a family with children younger than yours.......... dog sitting for someone going out of town........ going to a funeral and hugging one hurt.............. inviting the unexpected one to come to church......... giving a little money and saying something kind to one holding a sign: "Will Work for Food" standing on the side of the road that you pass............ acknowledging a stranger............ generously tipping a waittress that maybe didn't deserve it.......... halfing your cookie with the one sitting next to you............ smiling........... letting someone else go first.......... offering words to encourage instead of put down............. seeing the lonely and making a point of speaking to them..........

So, you might not can do this........... but maybe you can do that!

For after all, like I said, I'm learning that every "could" that does counts!!! And the "could" that you do actually counts too... and seriously makes a real difference no matter the little because truly in reality it adds up to a lot!

We won't have to answer to Jesus about what we didn't do that we couldn't, but surely, upon meeting our Judge we'll have to answer to Him about what we could do that we didn't because we didn't think it enough.