one hundred (a PINK Tuesday post)

One hundred is a big number. A sizable number. One worth noting.

If you’re a collector and you have one hundred items in your collection, it’s worth sharing with others (possibly worth investing in your own museum for proper showcasing)!

If you’re a cook, the day that your personal specialties numbers one hundred dishes is a day worth celebrating (and please, invite your friends who can’t cook to the party)!

If you’re trying to quit a bad habit and have made it one hundred days without doing that thing that you (don’t want to) do, embrace your newly-found strength (and pay attention to what makes you stronger)!

One hundred of just about anything can seem like a LOT (unless, of course, we’re talking money, in which case one hundred is a lot if you have nothing and not-so-much if you need a whole lot MORE).

When you have done something one hundred times, you’ve racked up a fair amount of practice, and repetition is one of the ways we learn best. Someone who is willing to repeat an action one hundred times is either dedicated or crazy (or, most likely, a bit of both), and this is where I come in…

Today’s PINK Tuesday post is the one hundredth blog posted here at Pink Shoes Ministries!

Looking back over the past eleven months (which have flown by like no other eleven months in my history), I am both grateful and a bit mystified. Grateful to our creative God for the variety of gifts He lavishes on His kids. Mystified as to what His purpose might be for these one hundred musings!

I try not to overthink things too much – maybe you can relate? Because when I do, these efforts become more about me and less about the One who moves me to action in the first place. And I’m serious about being moved to action!

Too often we are guilted into action, or roped into action (even in the church – I know you’ve been there). But when the God of the Universe moves you into action, something different happens than when our action is simply to fulfill some obligation or to get someone (or some ill-fitting expectation) off our back.

Don Miguel Ruiz, author of the little wisdom book “The Four Agreements,” explains it like this:

“The best way to say, “I love you, God,” is to live your life doing your best. The best way to say, “Thank you, God,” is by letting go of the past and living in the present moment, right here and now.”

Paul says it like this, in Romans 12:1 (The Message):

“Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.”

Sharing my heart here, with you, has been an exercise in giving my time, energy and passion BACK to the God who gave them to me in the first place. While it’s difficult (at best) to gauge the ‘fruit’ of an internet ministry, I trust that God will continue to use this effort in His Kingdom for the good of His people, for His redemptive purposes, and for the glory of His Name!

Ruiz notes that, “Doing your best really doesn’t feel like work because you enjoy whatever you are doing.” How many times can you honestly say that this is how you feel in a twenty four hour period? In a week? In one hundred days?

While I can’t say that I have loved every minute of the writing of these one hundred posts, I can say that it hasn’t felt like work.

My prayer for us, in the days and months ahead, is that we would seek to act in ways that GIVE us energy (rather than drain it), choosing to remain true to our God-given giftedness (saying ‘no’ to actions that don’t fire us up and which do not fit with who we are becoming as daughters of the King).

Thank you for being a part of what’s happening here, at Pink Shoes Ministries!

May you find, as I have, the one thing that (for you) is worth doing again and again; perhaps even one hundred times.