Announcement - 31 Hugs - October 2017!

The thirty-one hugs challenge is back! Maybe you remember the 31 Hugs Challenge of October 2016. It’s almost October again, and this is one small way we can combat the darkness, and ‘spur and encourage each other on to love and good works’ (Hebrews 10:24). So, I’m excited to announce 31 Hugs Challenge for October 2017!

The challenge is to make an extra investment in someone else’s life every day in October. It's about looking into the meaning behind a hug, and conveying that to someone every day for the month of October. A physical hug can mean support, care, love, appreciation, gratefulness, sympathy, congratulations, and so on. It’s a tiny investment in someone else’s life that can mean a lot to them and have a large impact.  

The purpose behind the challenge is to show support and appreciation, share hope and joy, and be the light for God’s glory, as Matthew 5:16 says. It’s a call to rise above the busyness of life and give to someone – even the smallest thing could brighten a mood, change a day, lift the spirits of someone.

Jesus also says that ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive,’ (Acts 20:35) and this focus on giving will a blessing for ourselves as well. ;) 

It will look different for everybody – whether you plan who you’re going to ‘hug,’ write a list of ‘hug’ ideas, or take things as they come. Most importantly, think broadly. Hugs can be given to family, friends, workmates, cashiers/sales attendants, the person next to you on the bus, bloggers, youtubers, authors, artists, musicians: anyone. They can be a literal hug, words of appreciation, a note or message, a phone call, a gift, homemade treats, a picnic lunch, a hike together – anything that’s a little extra investment in someone. Here's last year's list, for more ideas and suggestions.

I want to add a community element to the challenge this year. It’s easy to get discouraged with another thing on the to-do list, and every day comes around often. But we can pray and encourage each other to keep the vision, and share experiences and things we’re learning. I’ve started using Instagram recently, and plan to post regularly about the challenge using the tag #31hugs. Please join in – share your own posts, let’s have discussion! (And, side note: drop me a comment or something on Instagram @applesofgold.97 so I can find and follow you!) Otherwise the comment section here, and email inbox are always open for conversation. :)

I don’t have everything figured out (note my ‘procrastinate now, panic later’ tendencies), but I plan to have some surprises along the way, so keep an eye out for those. ;)

This is where it’s over to you. Who would like to join me in the challenge of sharing hope and joy, showing appreciation and gratitude, and being Christ’s light? This isn’t about me or my glory; if I can touch one heart with His love and become a more giving person, the mission of this challenge is fulfilled. 

I’m excited – just writing this post has my hugging motivation and inspiration levels up, and I can’t wait to see how God works through this! Do you have more questions, comments, tips, suggestions, experiences? How can we best support each other during the challenge? Are you in?

Hope Outside Ourselves

It’s national suicide prevention week in America, and Elissa is doing a beautiful series on why it’s worth it to stay. I was reading through the posts of her guest bloggers, and thinking about my take on stay. I remembered a post I’d written a couple of months ago challenging the ‘be yourself,’ ‘you do you,’ ‘live your own truth,’ idea. It didn’t feel right to share back then, but now I realize why it means so much to me.

I agree with living authentically and being genuine. God created us with different interests, preferences, and tastes, and He has a purpose in those differences, a plan to use them together in His service. We enjoy different foods, sports, and hobbies; we like different style of dress, art, and music; we have different talents, gifts, and callings. That’s the wonderful diversity of humanity, and that’s the way it should be.

But how does this relate to suicide prevention? Because if the only direction I had was ‘be you,’ I don’t know if I would be here. When I look inside myself, it isn’t pretty, it isn’t noble, and it doesn’t offer hope. I’m selfish, I mess up, and I hurt people. Sometimes I make someone smile, achieve a goal, or find satisfaction in new possessions, but it isn’t lasting. At the end of the day, I still have reason for discouragement and depression.

It’s a law of nature that we become like what or who we focus on. To rise, to find hope and reason to stay, we have to look outside ourselves. Even if our goal is to become our best self, we must analyse people we admire, consider qualities to imitate, look at the past and choose how the future will differ. 

But my goal isn’t to become the truest version of myself, because I don’t want to be that selfish failure. I’m not aiming for the best version of myself, because all my goodness adds up to nothing before Him. Instead, my greatest satisfaction and hope begins in laying myself down, and becoming who I was created to be: like God. As Vishal Mangalwadi explains:

As I started rereading the Bible’s first chapter, I found a radically different view of the human self. It says that God created human beings in His image (“man” – both male and female). On one hand both dogs and I are creatures. We are similar in many ways. For example, we are both mammals. Yet, in fundamental ways we are very different. I cannot know the essence of my humanness by studying dogs. If I am made in God’s image, would not knowing God be essential to knowing myself? The Book That Made Your World page 47

If dogs could reason, the only place they could look to be themselves is within. There is no greater dog they are made to be like; they can’t elevate themselves. But we’re made in the image of God, to be like God. If we want to rise, to find out who we’re meant to be, to discover the reason for our existence, we have to study the Pattern. 

I believe the answer is not to look in, but to look up. That’s why I have hope, rest, and reason to stay, even amid my mistakes: I know I am loved by a God who never lets go, and He’s slowly shaping me to be more like Him.

So don’t misunderstand – we’re purposefully unique individuals. But immaterially, in your soul, in the deepest parts of life, don’t do you. Don’t be yourself or live your own truth. Look up; look to the only One who understands what you’ve been through, who picks up the failures and messes of our broken existence and meshes them together as only grace and love could imagine. Be who God made you to be: a beautiful soul created in His image. Our hope is in Him. 

P.s How rare and beautiful it is to even exist... Listen here.