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34. Love In Action - Tuesday Evening · Family Prayer Podcast

• 0:00
  Good evening, Grace Harbor. It’s Dan.
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  I hope you had a Tuesday full of both anticipation and love in action!
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  Today felt a little bit like the calm before the storm here in Grace Harbor.
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  A lot of the shops downtown closed early to let everyone get home
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  and finish preparing for tomorrow.
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  I stopped into Fruit of the Earth, which is the bakery
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  where I get the bread we use for communion during our church services.
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  While they were packing up my order, I saw that they had just four croissants
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  left - one traditional, two chocolate, and one cookie butter.
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  It seemed like a sign that they needed to come home
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  with me for our family of four to enjoy tomorrow morning!
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  As I was putting all of that in my car, I noticed that Brie, who owns
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  the bakery, was starting to bring the tables
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  and chairs in from the front patio, as they’ll be closed the rest of the week.
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  I remembered our time together this morning when we set our intentions
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  for how we might stay focused
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  on the true meaning of Christmas and put love into action -
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  and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to do just that.
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  She appreciated my help, as the tables can be
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  a little difficult to get through the door by yourself.
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  But I decided to do more than just lift a few things and go on my way.
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  Especially since she was getting ready to start a few days of well-deserved rest,
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  I wanted to encourage her and let her know how much she means to our community.
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  I told her that her pastries bring so many people
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  so much joy - especially my kids!
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  And by making the bread we use for communion, which is a really important
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  part of our church services, she’s helping people experience the love of God.
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  How did your day go?
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  Did thinking about it ahead of time help you put love into action?
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  I know you’re probably buzzing with excitement about all that’s coming
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  the next two days, but let’s not overlook or forget all the blessings of today.
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  They are moments for gratitude - and it *is*
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  still Gratituesday, after all, even though it’s a holiday week.
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  So, back to our question: Did thinking about sharing
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  God’s love ahead of time help you put it into action?
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  Sometimes when we set our intentions, we pick out specific things we want to do.
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  For example, maybe you knew you’d be with one of your adults the whole day
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  since school is out.
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  So, you were looking for ways you could help your adult, who
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  no doubt still had some important things to get done.
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  Other times, you don’t have anything or anyone specific in mind,
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  but you know what kind of thing you’d like to do, so you keep your eyes
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  open for opportunities that come up during the day.
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  That’s what happened to me at the bakery.
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  I wasn’t planning on helping Brie close up shop,
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  but once I saw her working on it, I knew it would be a lot easier
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  and more fun if she didn’t have to do it alone.
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  And, like I said, it also gave me the chance to encourage her with my words.
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  Take a moment as a family and reflect on your day.
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  Very briefly talk about what you did, the people you saw, and see if you can
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  each identify one moment where either you gave or received God’s love today.
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  If you need more time, you can pause the podcast,
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  and I’ll be right here when you get back.
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  I can’t think of a
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  better way to end the night before Christmas Eve
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  than naming ways in which we have seen God’s love in action through our families.
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  It really gets to the heart of Christmas.
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  Let’s close tonight with a prayer.
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  If you want to, you can close your eyes and fold your hand.
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  Dear God, we thank you that your love is all around us.
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  It fills our hearts, it inspires us to action,
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  and it flows through other people to us.
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  Give us a good night’s sleep tonight so that we can wake up
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  rested and refreshed, and ready to celebrate Christmas Eve.
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  Amen.
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  Alright, Grace Harbor.
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  Sleep well, and I’ll talk to you in the morning.