March is past and we are now into April. Although around here, the weather isn’t cooperating very well and today feels more like a March day, while March, with its very warm, sunny days felt like spring had already arrived. Alas, March offered false hope and now cold, dreary weather has returned to stay for awhile. Which has absolutely nothing to do with why I am writing today! I am actually writing to see how your March Challenge went and to provide a new challenge for April!
Last month’s challenge went really well for me once I was able to work up the courage to invite someone. It’s funny, but that is, by far, the hardest part for me–extending an invitation to someone who is not in my normal circle of friends. But, so far, I have found that those that I have invited are not only gracious, but also seem to actually appreciate being invited.
For the March Challenge, I encouraged you to invite a single person (single, divorced, widowed) for coffee or a meal. I chose to invite an acquaintance who is separated from her husband. I had had a few casual conversations with her in passing and always enjoyed them, so I decided to reach out to her for the challenge. This past Monday we met for lunch at a local restaurant and enjoyed getting to know each other just a bit better. We had wonderful conversation about our families, our life situations, and the Lord. We both have some things going on in our lives and promised to pray for each other as we parted.
It was a great experience and I just wish I could convince more of you to join the challenge. I just know you would be so blessed by this. A few of you have shared your stories with me from the past three months (either here on the blog in the comment section or to me personally) and I am pretty sure that you would agree with me–this challenge has been a blessing! It does take some of us out of our comfort zones but it is so worth it! I hope that you will consider joining for April, if you aren’t already taking part.
Does anyone have an experience to share from April? I would love to hear your stories!
Now onto our next challenge! Ready to go?
APRIL CHALLENGE
I want you to invite a family you do not know to go along on your summer vacation! Pick a fun spot like the Caribbean or Europe and enjoy getting to know one another as you navigate unknown areas while in a culture that speaks a different language!
Okay, that’s not the challenge. But I couldn’t resist. It’s April 1 and I just couldn’t resist. April Fool’s!
Here’s the real challenge for April:
Invite a family or two from your past for a pizza night. It may be someone you just haven’t made time to see in a while or it may be an old high school buddy or a college friend. It may be someone you used to hang around with when you were dating or when the kids were little but time took over and you haven’t seen them for ages. Whatever the case, call them up or email them or Facebook them and invite them over for pizza! Pizza is easy and cheap and you can make it or you can buy it. If you feel stressed about having someone in your home at this time, then meet them at a local pizza shop. I hope you have fun with this challenge!
I didn’t stick to the March challenge but I did invite the women of our house group to a Saturday morning prayer breakfast in our home. In the end only one lady could come, we were blessed with time to get to know each other across the kitchen table as we talked, looked at a Bible passage and prayed together. I confess I was initially disappointed at the lack of response to my invitation but believe it would be right to try again soon.
My mind is ticking over already as I contemplate the April challenge…
:) I know how you feel!!
I have just come across your blog and I am enjoying it very much. I am up for this challenge as my husband and I love hosting and entertaining. We do homemade pizza on our BBQ every Friday night in the spring and summer. You are correct pizza’s are easy and the kids usually make their own with Nutella and strawberries for dessert.
What a great idea! I would love to have your recipe/instructions for your pizza (and the strawberry pizza, too) on the BBQ. Sounds like a wonderful Friday night tradition :) Thanks for reading the blog. Nice to have you here!