I am honored to have Tammy Helfrich guest post today.  She is a remarkable and godly woman whom I have had the pleasure of meeting on the Micheal Hyatt Platform Launch Team.  I really enjoy reading her posts as she never fails to bless me.  Please be sure to follow her Blog | Facebook | Twitter.

A theme has continued to come to my mind over and over lately.

You can make a difference right where you are.

Courtesy of Creative Commons

You don’t have to become a missionary and move to Africa.

You don’t have to start a nonprofit.

You don’t have to save the world in one day.

After years of fighting with God, I finally gave up the illusion of control I thought I had. I surrendered everything to Him. But shortly afterwards, I was conflicted. I wanted to do something that mattered. I wanted to do something BIG. I wanted to change the world!

As I wrestled with this, I kept hearing God’s voice.

Make a difference here.

Right where you are.

Stop and pay attention to the people I’ve placed around you.

That was eye-opening for me. I started thinking hard about that and spent lots of time talking with God about it.

Where was the first place I started?

In my family. With my spouse. I started paying attention. I also listened when God told me to “be quiet & back off.” My frustration and irritation with my spouse was not helping what God was trying to do in his heart. In fact, I was in the way. (Ouch!)

I started paying more attention to my kids and trying to be present when I was with them. I tried not to be distracted by my phone or on Facebook or Twitter.

Where else did I pay attention?

At work. To the people in the cubicles next to me. I started listening and asking them about their families, their lives, their dreams. I took the time to get to know them.

I started truly listening to God when He prompted me. If I felt led, I would reach out to someone at church. Someone I didn’t know and typically wouldn’t reach out to. I started obeying God faster. Even when it didn’t make sense, or I felt uncomfortable.

I started doing more random acts of kindness. Without telling anyone about it. I started helping when I saw a need. Sometimes it was incredibly simple. Other times, it requires some sacrifice.

But, guess what happened?

God started blessing me just as much (if not more) than those I was paying attention to. And people started opening up to me. Other people weren’t paying attention to them. They felt they could be transparent with me. And all I did was listen.

I am still learning when it comes to obeying God and learning to make a difference where I am. But I am now encouraging others to do the same.

It doesn’t require heroic effort, usually. The majority of the time, I am amazed at how God uses the simplest acts of obedience to bless someone else.

How has someone made a difference in your life recently?

What can you do today to make a difference for someone around you?