How do you reconcile Matthew 5:16 and 6:3?

Matthew 5:16
In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven

Matthew 6:3-4
"But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

Any thoughts?

Will the dust praise You?

Psalm 30

⁷ O LORD, when you favored me,
you made my mountain stand firm;
but when you hid your face,
I was dismayed.

⁸ To you, O LORD, I called;
to the Lord I cried for mercy:

⁹ "What gain is there in my destruction,
in my going down into the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it proclaim your faithfulness?

It is so important to ensure we do not go from gratitude to entitlement, and yet it is an easy path to slide down without realizing it. David asks, "What gain is there in my destruction,... will the dust praise you?"

How easy it is to take our blessings and the Lord's favor for granted! What I think we need to realize is that there is a purpose in everything - God blesses us for a purpose, and allows challenges to happen for a purpose.

Two of those purposes laid out in this psalm is that we are to praise Him, to proclaim His faithfulness.

How do I praise him throughout the day? This doesn't mean I go about singing Amazing Grace all day (necessarily).

• God is a God of order, not chaos. Doing things with order.
• God is a God of excellence, not halfheartedness. Doing things with excellence and with all my heart.
• God is a God of creativity, not apathy. Doing things with creativity.
• God is a God of love. Doing things with love, not selfishness. Serving others.
• God is a God of peace, not contention. Seeking peace with all people.
• God is a God of justice, not injustice. Doing things with justness.
• God is a God of eternity. Doing things with eternity in mind, not just the short term.
• God is a God of now. Doing important things now, not putting them off. (Ecclesiastes 11:4)
• God is a God of perfection. Giving 100% 100% of the time, not 95%.
• God is a God of perfection. Seeking to always improve to become more like my Creator.
• Any others you can think of? Share in the comments box.

To proclaim his faithfulness? To share with others what He is doing in my life, to look for ways to give credit to Him, to have a zeal for his glory, as David did.

Gardening in June - Peppers, Tomatoes, Marigolds oh my!

Josiah's approach to gardening: I wonder what the ROI is on gardening? Let's see, $3 per plant + 40 minutes to plant them + watering + time to water = close to grocery store.

Spending time in the dirt with my best friend, outside, using my hands. Priceless.

Today we planted tomatoes, peppers (green & orange bell, jalapeño, anaheim) rosemary, parsley, thyme and marigolds (for scaring the aphids away).

This is broccoli we actually planted earlier this year from seed - such a lovely little head!

I gave everything a nice shower after we were done.

Garden bed before...(oh, and if you can identify the mystery plant that sprung up from compost, we will thank you heartily!)

the garden bed after, filled with tomatoes, peppers, and the mystery plant.