Day 15- Pray for your husband

I found this great illustration on Pinterest which coincides with a book i have been reading- The Power of a Praying Wife. I believe every woman should pray through this book! Prayer is so important in relationships, and as women, wives, it is our duty and joy to pray for our husbands and our relationships to them. 

One of the most poignant things I learned from this book is that I can't do the work of the Holy Spirit. Duh right? But think about it, how often do we try to change them on our own? Tears, nagging, getting angry- while not always intentional it happens- but those things don't work. God works. He is powerful and knows our husbands more deeply then we ever could. Prayer is our connection to God and in our prayers for our husbands we are also grown and changed by God. What a blessing!

See the rest of 31 Days here.

Day 8- Wherever You Are

Living in the moment has always been a problem for me. I'm a planner. I love to think about the next fun thing and plan it,  I obsess over know what my day tomorrow will look like, I like to know what's going on when and how we are going to get there, do it and all that jazz. This is a good thing, to an extent.

I often miss out in the now, and then miss it later. For instance, right now I am in my last semester of college, I don't know what I'm going to do with my major and I am SO ready to be done with school. I'm ready to know where we will be for next school year (when Jeff starts grad school), where we'll work, where we'll live. I'm just ready for the next step!

I have to remind my self to slow down and enjoy where I am at. I am taking some fantastic classes and if I'm not "all there" I'll miss out on the fun and the important learning experiences. If I'm too focused on the future I'll miss out on college, the friends, activities, campus life and I know that I will miss this time of life badly.

You would think after years and years of dealing with this problem I'd have it worked out, but no. It is hard to just trust the future to God and be in the moment.

It's Monday night and I'm procrastinating on writing a paper (a short paper) for my Russian Literature class, but here is my goal for this week- Wherever I am, to be all there. Whether its in class, doing homework, at work, spending time with Jeff or just relaxing, I'm going to be in the moment and trust the future to God.

You're prayers would be appreciated! And with that said, I'm going to go write my paper.

See the rest of my 31 Days Here.

Day 6+7

oops. I totally stink at blogging everyday. Well, I was having a good weekend if that helps :)

Saturday I worked in the morning and then went to a Mad Hatter Day tea party! It was so fun, relaxing and very cute. I love having girly girl time every once in a while. I didn't think I'd miss it (constant girl-time like in the dorms) after I got married but I do! Anyway, the tea party was fabulous and I even tried new teas!

I don't like tea, by the way. It makes me gag. I love the idea of tea so I've been slowly making myself like it. Up until Saturday the only tea I liked was chamomile with LOTS of honey, but now I can add white tea and pumpkin spice to the list!

Mad Hatter Day is the 6th day of October because of the card stuck int the Mad Hatter's hat in Alice and Wonderland.

Adrienne, our hostess who put together this lovely table, and I thought it would be fun to take a group photo together so we got out our creative sides and made/bought little props to represent some of the characters from the story.

We have the Queen of Hearts, The Mad Hatter, The Cheshire Cat, The Rabbit, and Alice.

   
    Saturday night and Sunday Jeff and I went and celebrated His mom's birthday. WE spent the night with his parents, went to church with them, had Yumm bowls for lunch, Momma opened presents, we drove up to Belknap Hot Springs for a soak and then ended the day with Pizza. Sherine, Jeff's mom, is such a wonderful and beautiful woman. I am so blessed to have her as my second mom!

Momma Sherine, Daddy Byron and all the kids.

Sherine and all her Daughters

Jeff and Sherine

So what about the 31 Days? Well, besides church service I wasn't in my Bible, but we did pray together as a family and I was (and am) very thankful for time with family.

Day 5- Purpose

Have you ever wondered- why am I here? What's my purpose?

I have.

John Piper says it well...

The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever.

I've never really understood the "religious" practices of denying/emptying of natural human desires. Weren't we given these desire for a reason? The need for love, accomplishment, recognition, joy, fun, and many other desires are easily corrupted but in God they are good.

God is Love.

Working for the Lord accomplishes His perfect plan.

We will share in Christ's glory.

In Christ their is joy in good and bad times.

God created the platypus-what's more funny or playful than a platypus?

Today (tonight) be still in His presence and ENJOY Him. We are building stronger relationships with Him-what is friendship, relationship, without love and enjoyment?

But how do you enjoy God?

Reflect on your blessings and thank Him for them.

Enjoy His creation.

Enjoy His gifts in a spirit of thankfulness. 

 

See the rest of the 31 Day Posts Here.

Day 3- God's Beauty

Fall is probably my favorite season for many reasons: Pumpkin lattes, pumpkins too, the delicious crisp smell in the air, new school supplies, etc.

But the thing I love best about Fall is how beautiful the trees get. The leaves start changing color and then the wind picks them up and tosses them in a rainbow of natural confetti. It is so beautiful.

Isn't creation beautiful? Isn't God beautiful?

Today I just want to reflect on His beauty, which is often revealed to us through His creation. And think of this-His creation is only a shadow of His glory!

Thank God today and worship Him in His beauty and power.

Here are some images that brought me to thank God for His beauty:

Read the rest of my 31 Days series Here.

Day 1: Be Still

Psalm 46:10

"Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations,I will be exalted in the earth."

I think a good way to start off these 31 days would be to do a quick study of the inspiration verse above.

If you are going through this month with me, I encourage you to grab your Bible now or Google Psalm 46 and read it entirely. It's only 11 verses long, nice and short. We'll do it together, ready go.................

To really know what the meaning of a verse is we need to read it in context- that's why we just read all of chapter 46. I see three main sections in this verse:

First: verses 1-3: talks about not fearing because the Lord is our "refuge and strength." in other words the Lord's protection.

Second: Verses 4-7; This part is a little weird at first. There's this river, and then the earth is melted. Whaaa? Really this section is using poetic language (the Psalms are poetry bytheway) to show us the Lord's presence. He is in His Holy City, He is helping, protecting, He is there.

Third: Verses 8-11.This part shows God's might. He always wins His battles.This is showing the Lord's preeminence. (preeminence: simple definition: having the highest rank, honor, dignity, importance)

 To fully understand the meaning of truth of a verse we have to set it in it's original historical context as well.The Psalms were used for Hebrew worship and private devotions, they show a vast range of human emotion and experience all while praising God and acknowledging His power, greatness and love. Psalm 46 then is observing and telling the Israelite people that the peace and security of their nation was because of God. We all know that the Israelite nation has not always been at peace- this is because they broke their covenant with God. (see Exodus 19:5-6) Though this isn't a direct promise to believers today the principle and truth behind this passage are applicable to us.

Principles and Truths:

God is with us. (Matthew 28:20)

He is our protector. (John 10:27-29)

He is trustworthy. (John 14:1)

Therefore, because He is our protector, because He is always with us, and because He is above all others, we can be still (or cease striving) and know that He is God.

Application: Today I have been all too busy, striving with life, striving with work, striving with school, striving with God even. Go, go, go. Do, Do, Do. I need to cool it. I need to slow down, spend time in the Lord's presence. I need to Be Still, meditate on His word, and Know that He is God. He'll protect and provide for me, I don't need to worry. I don't have to work for His love and presence, He's already here.

That is what this month is about: slowing down and actually taking the time to study, meditate (think about and fill yourself with) on the Word, and get to Know God in a deeper way.

Are you ready to Know the Lord? I am. 

See the other 31 Days Here.

For this study I used Libronix Digital Library. It's a fantastic Bible study tool. It was a required "text" for my school and SO worth the money put in to it!

Be Still - 31 Days

I have been a "Christian" as long as I can remember. I asked Jesus into my heart when I was about 5 years old sitting on the living room couch with my momma.When I was 12 I realized what "Christianity" was really all about.

Let me explain why I use quotation marks: Christianity is far more than a religion, a bunch of rules, or some sort of action-consequence-god-induced-karma. I say "Christianity" because until I was 12 I thought of it as simply going to church, praying for meals and going to heaven one day.

 I was that Sunday school kid who knew ALL the right answers and was the disdainful little goody-two-shoes in elementary school. When I was 12 I attended summer camp (I had been to summer camps before mind you) but God met me there and I realize I was missing out- missing out on a relationship with Jesus. Now I knew and had said these things before, but it hadn't sunk in until just then. I rededicated my life to God and asked him to be not just my Savior, God and Father, but be a friend to me, a lover in a sense that I would know Him fully and completely.

At 21 years old I am not perfect and by all means have not made Jesus the Lord of my everyday life. I have so much to learn, so much room to grow, and so many faults to be pruned away. I want today to be another turning point in my walk with the Lord, and I want to share it with you.

There is a lot of talk in the "blogger-sphere" about the Nesting Place's 31 Days. Basically she challenged blogger to blog about one subject for the 31 days of October and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity for me to accountably still myself before the Lord.

For the next 31  days I'm going to blog about my walk with the Lord, what I read that day, hot topics, Sermons, whatever the Lord has put before me for that day. I hope you join me in this. I'm calling it
31 Days to Be Still.

This is based off of Psalm 46:10
"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exulted among the nations, I will be exulted in the earth."

Each day I'll add a link below so it will be easy-peasy to find all 31 days. May God bless this next month.

Day 1- Be Still- Psalm 46:10
Day 2- Prayer with Thankfulness 
Day 3- God's Beauty 
Day 4- Think on these things
Day 5- Purpose
Day 6+7
Day 8-Wherever You Are
Day Nine- Time 
Day 10- God's Glory 
Day 11- Draw Near 
Day 12- Christian Lady 
Day 13+14- Oswald Chambers 
Day 15- Praying for your Husband 
Day 16+17+18- God's Love 
Day 19,20,21- Priorities
Day 22,23,24- Philippians
Day 27- Don't be Selfish 
Day 28- A Day of Rest 
Day 31- Wrap Up

Life is like...

"Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get."         -Forrest Gump

Taken over a year ago on a family vacation. BTW, i LOVE shrimp!

I love that movie. (Forrest Gump is a must see if you haven't already!) There is so much to think about in one two hour film. Parenting, bullies, friendship, schooling, war, social fads, sports, relationships, death, new life and of course love.

When Jeff and I watched it tonight the quote above got me thinking- do really not know what you are going to get? Are our lives simply left to fate and the which chocolate piece we unknowingly pick out of the box?

There is some truth to fate/destiny I think, at least in our not knowing what the future holds. We can't with absolute certainty say that  in 5 years we'll own our own home, or even that tomorrow I will be in class. Of course I plan on being in class and I really do want to be there but things can happen-alarms don't go off, flat tires, traffic, accidents. Life certainly does hold the unexpected and it is silly of us to think that we can control our lives completely. 

It would also be silly to think that we are robots and have no control over our lives. We choose what we wear, where we go, what we say and how we react to life. Our decisions result in consequences, good or bad, and it is our choice which way to go.

It is said that the only things that are certain in life are death and taxes. I can add another thing to that list: God's love and perfect plan are certain. Even though I don't know what I'm gonna get, God does "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28) God has a plan for my life. My choices will effect how I get to His final destination, but I'll get there because another thing I am absolutely certain of is my life will end in my entrance into heaven.

"And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns." (Philippians 1:6)

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)

"Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him, and he will help you." (Psalm 37:5)