Phrase of the week (word of the Week)...

"Nothing you’ve ever given has gone unnoticed. Every sacrifice you’ve made, every time you stopped to help someone, God has seen it. " Joel Olsteen

This week, I thought I would try something a little different.  I saw this on Facebook, and I follow Mr. Olsteen (I do not know him well enough to call him by his first name).  I love reading about what he has to say about God's word.  This leads up to the word recognition, attention, and the "look at me" syndrome that certain celebs have about them.   We all grew up with it, and it seems that our children are doing the same.  I am not going to bore you with the usual definition of these words, because these words were ingrained in our brains from the time we were very small.  It starts with words, "look at my little baby, isn't she precious", and it goes on from there.  Every dance or music recital, baseball game or gymnastics meet.  I was the kid with the dance and music recitals, my brother was the sports one, and my sister was the dance and gymnastics kid, and wee all wanted friends and relatives to come to see every single last one of them.  We wanted to let everyone know about the different fundraisers our schools had, so we can be the kid with the most funds and get lots of prizes, and get all the recognition we could get.  Hum, I think another word just came in under the radar, and that word is jealousy.

I remember once when I was a teen, I got mad, because no one at church praised me for the good job I did with the children's choir.  I was playing for them alone with an older lady, who is now our oldest member living at 103 years old.  Again, I was a teen, a typical teen, I was at home sulking about the concert, because they clapped for her, and did not say my name not one time.  My mom said to me, as I stood in the hallway pretty much what Pastor Olsteen said in this passage, "God saw it, and he was pleased."   I looked at her as if I was saying to her, "so what."

Mommy was right (yes, I do still call her that), It should not matter, but it did matter that no one said to me, "Look what Patti did" (My childhood nickname).  You should not want people to praise you, but to praise God that you were able to do it in the first place.  In fact, what you do for others just proves that you have learned not to think of yourself, but for the other person.

Now, I do not want people to say what I did, or that I helped, unless it gets someone else to do the same, and it is not for my own self worth.  I just want to see people happy, healthy, and whole, so that they themselves can do something meaningful.  The important thing is when someone ask you to do something, and you do not grumble about it, it does help.  Everyone should want to help another person without an attitude.  God loves a cheerful giver as well. 

So comment below, have you ever done something that you thought you should have been recognized for?   I would love to see what you wrote.

Have a blessed evening.