Sharing and Serving - meeting physical needs?

A did excellent at the pool on our trip to the beach. She is now able to go under the water all by herself, and E tried to follow accordingly. He wants to be just like his big sister. She made great strides in learning to swim this past weekend. The pool had a kiddy-like area where E was able to walk around, and he loved that!

We attempted the unthinkable and took the children to a water park! Now, I know you have to be thinking, "What! Are you crazy?!" Well, yes, we are, but my family wanted to go, so we did it anyway. We didn't know how much help we would have with the kids or if we would be watching them in the kiddie areas all day, but we actually managed to go down a couple of the adult slides. And E managed to take both of his naps that day. You never know what you are capable of until you try it. If you know me a little bit, you know that in my past life, i.e., high school, college, I was not very daring. I mean, yes, I was somewhat adventurous, but a big waterslide or a roller coaster was not my thing. The roller coaster thing mainly has to do with a great fear of heights, but anyhow, I went down a very scary all enclosed black water slide BY MYSELF (as A would say), and my husband was quite proud of me.

This got me to thinking about fears and what we should be doing for the kingdom of God. How often do we stop shy of saying what we should say for fear of what someone would think. How often do we stay in our little zones of comfort and never step outside of the box to meet new people, form new relationships, and share Christ the way that we should.

Wednesday night, we attended our church's bible study, which was on the parable of the rich man (Luke 16). Basically, Jesus's parable instructs us to give and do for the poor. Now I think that this is somewhat pathetic, but I don't know many people in the world around me with genuine physical needs.

Earlier that day, my daughter and I gathered up loads of stuffed toys to give away to other boys and girls. What I want to do is actually find a family or some children who need these toys and take my kids to them, but I do not know where to find them or how. I will post more when I do find them.

Again, this got me to thinking - why do I live where I do? I certainly want to be in an area where I can minister to others. Certainly, God has not called me to live a cushy comfortable life so I can sit back and relax! And who exactly is the needy in my area? I say most of my neighbors need to know Christ, so they are needy in a spiritual sense, but who are the needy in a physical sense? How can I come up with a plan to meet physical needs besides just donating my leftovers to the goodwill, Hannah Home, or the like (which I do regularly). I want to be known for serving others as Christ has so humbly served me and continues to do so. If anyone that is reading this knows of needs, please contact me. I grew up in an impoverished county, so not knowing someone needy is new to me. I did think of contacting a women's shelter and going from there... If you already know how to meet needs like this or know of needy in your area, please let me know. I feel somewhat ashamed that I don't know where to begin...