God's Great Outdoors... brings out the real man inside

Written by David Lingner


As we were sitting there eatingrepparttar fixin'srepparttar 126818 girls brought out to us "hard working men", I was observing Riley, Devon's old Golden Retriever. I said, "I bet Riley really likes it out here inrepparttar 126819 country." Devon responded, "You know, since we moved out here I've really seen his natural instincts come torepparttar 126820 surface." I sat and thought about that for a minute, and replied, "You know what Devon, itsrepparttar 126821 same for men..."

Recently I was visiting my brother in-law Devon Rolf, a patent attorney with Garmin International (Most of you outdoorsmen know Garmin by their handheld GPS units and fishfinders). Our families were getting together,repparttar 126822 girls catching up onrepparttar 126823 news inside whilerepparttar 126824 guys (Devon, me and three of my sons) were out workin' inrepparttar 126825 woods. A few years ago Devon moved out on some acreage outside of town, and we were clearing some walking trails... no doubt we were checking out allrepparttar 126826 signs of deer activity while we were out... rubs, scrapes, droppings, etc. My 8 year old son Christian found a nice antler from a 12 point buck out there. He wants to mount it somehow in his room to hang stuff on.

After we were done with our work, we sat down inrepparttar 126827 pasture to rest a bit. (You know how good it feels to sit and rest after doing some good ol' hard work.) The girls, anxiously awaiting our appearance, spied us sitting there from insiderepparttar 126828 house and they (My wife Nancy and our two daughters, and her sister Becky and her four daughters) promptly brought out some soup, homemade wheat bread with butter, and refreshments. (The men are teachingrepparttar 126829 boys to work, andrepparttar 126830 women are teachingrepparttar 126831 girls to blessrepparttar 126832 men... ain't thatrepparttar 126833 way it should be?) As we were sitting there eatingrepparttar 126834 fixin'srepparttar 126835 girls brought out to us "hard working men", I was observing Riley, Devon's old Golden Retriever. I said, "I bet Riley really likes it out here inrepparttar 126836 country." Devon responded, "You know, since we moved out here I've really seen his natural instincts come torepparttar 126837 surface." I sat and thought about that for a minute, and replied, "You know what Devon, itsrepparttar 126838 same for men..."

A Servant's Heart

Written by Alyice Edrich


Publishing Guidelines: You may freely reprint this article in a print or online magazine, e-zine, or newsletter provided you leaverepparttar byline intact, don’t changerepparttar 126817 content, and make The Dabbling Mum web address clickable. Please consider sending a courtesy copy for my records. Send an email to dabblingmum@yahoo.com

A Servant’s Heart By Alyice Edrich May 31, 2004

Do you have a servant’s heart? Has God blessed you withrepparttar 126818 insight to seerepparttar 126819 needs of others and reach out in compassion and understanding even when they, themselves, cannot reach out and ask for help?

This month I hadrepparttar 126820 rare opportunity to not only reach out and touch a few lives, but to be blessed in return. I say rare because in my own experience, it’s either been one orrepparttar 126821 other—not both atrepparttar 126822 same time. I used to believe that it was because giving and receiving atrepparttar 126823 same time would takerepparttar 126824 focus off what God intended for us, orrepparttar 126825 other party, to learn.

But this month, as I was fulfilling God’s desire for me to serve others, He sent others to act as servants to my family. And you know what I learned? Humbling yourself to receive God’s blessings is just as important as humbling yourself to give God’s blessings to others. Whether you give or you receive, you must first humble yourself beforerepparttar 126826 Lord and let His will take precedence over your circumstances, your emotions, your finances, and your actions.

It doesn’t matter what you own, how much money you have inrepparttar 126827 bank, how talented or educated you are, or how many people you know. If God calls you to have a servant’s heart, He will make a way for you to accomplish what He has put on your heart to do.

A servant’s heart has more to do with your relationship with God than it has to do with your desire to be recognized for your good deeds. Having a servant’s heart is onerepparttar 126828 most beautiful expressions of love I know. It’s showing your love to another human being by simply being who God intended you to be. It’s about seeing a need and fulfilling it without any strings attached. It’s about making yourself uncomfortable so that someone else could be comfortable. It’s about showing Christ’s love through your actions and words. And finally, it’s about touchingrepparttar 126829 lives of those around you with such a gentle kindness that your act will be remembered for years to come.

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