Are you a chicken or an eagle?

About a year ago, I was sitting in Bible Study listening to my friend Heather talk about eagles and chickens. "God created you to be an eagle not a chicken," she exclaimed. Chickens live cooped up, never flying, eating their own waste. They tend to be irritable and get into squabbles with one another (eating your own waste would do that to you). Eagles, however, are strong, wise, discerning and they have incredible vision.

How many times have I been content in my little part of the world, doing the safe thing?

How often have I wanted to stretch my wings and fly, but through my fear, I talked myself out of it?

but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:31

God intended us to live this way, through Him and his Son.

This verse and God's intention for our lives led me to create my latest painting.

God has a huge heavenly purpose for you! God does not want you to be content with the chicken life... confined to a coop and being irritable.

Open your wings today and soar on His strength and power.

God and I both believe in you!

You are treasured!

I read this post last week, and as a mom of a boy, I cheered. Thank God there are families in this world teaching good moral character. They are taking a stand and saying this is what we believe, this is what we are looking for and we will not put up with anything less.

... and... as a mom of a girl, I wanted to cry. What are we teaching our girls? Are we telling them how wonderful they are because of who they are in Christ? Do they know there are boys who are looking for good, nice, modest girls? Do they understand that not all attention is good attention?

I have seen some questionable pictures and frightening comments. I wish I could talk with each of these girls...

"Do you know how special you are? God created you just the way you are. He knit you together just the way He wanted. You are His masterpiece. He has a wonderful plan for you and your life. I know that life is hard sometimes. Not everyone is going to like you all the time and that is ok. Sometimes it is more important to stand apart from the crowd than it is to blend in. There are people who will love you for who you are, and you won't need to compromise your morals for them."

I can't speak with each of them, so I created art instead.

You are precious.
You are beautiful.
You are adored.
You are a masterpiece.
You are royalty.
You are victorious.
You are free.
You are treasured.
You are His.

They will be available with different girls and customized with names.

I would love to hear your thoughts!

*** they are up on my etsy shop now *** order yours today ***

The Whole Truth

All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17

I am a Bible Study nerd! I confess that I love sitting down and reading the Word, searching for new ideas or thoughts. I look forward to learning something new each day.

When preparing to study, there are a few things I must have:
- my Bible (of course)
- reading glasses for the small type
- my journal
- a cup of coffee
- my little black bag, which includes hi-liters, pencils, a few different pens and post-it notes

I always thought I was thoroughly prepared for my study time.

My study right now is The Hole in our Gospel by Richard Stearns, President of World Vision in the US. It is a life-changing book. It is really challenging my view of the world and the way I live.

One of the things Stearns mentions is taking scissors and cutting out all of the parts of the Bible that we don't believe or choose to ignore. Our Bible would then be full of holes! This is an echo for me. My Dad has talked about using a Sharpie to cross out all of the Scripture that we don't really believe.

all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. -Psalm 139:16b


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


...you are precious and honored in my sight, and I love you -Isaiah 43:4a


I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. -Psalm 139:14

We have a decision to make. We can believe God and His Word as the Whole Truth or we can treat the Bible like a buffet; picking and choosing what to believe and what to ignore.

I am trusting God on this... He is much smarter than me!

So, this morning I added a Sharpie to my little black bag, just as a reminder.

I dumped my resolution!

Photo by Stoonn

I don't make New Year resolutions. There are many reasons... I never know how to pinpoint the change I want to make. I get overwhelmed by the vast possibilities. I'm not sure how to go about the changes. I have trouble following through on them and then I feel disappointed with myself for failing. Many years ago, I decided that avoiding resolutions altogether was the best option for me.

Last year, however, I heard about an alternative to the traditional resolution. It is called My One Word. This organization encourages focusing on one word rather than a list.

I like it! I think I could actually follow through with one word.

So after praying about it, "Love" became my one word for 2012.

At first, I felt like this was a rather simple word. The more I thought about it, however, the more complex it became in my mind. I really feel that God is leading me to love people the way that He loves them. To look at others beyond what is seen or first appears and to look deeper.

God reminded me of this verse A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. (John 13:34)

So I wondered, how do I go about this? It goes against my human nature to love others completely and unconditionally the way God does. I turned back to God's Word and our friend Paul for more direction.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1 Corinthians 13: 4-7)

This simple recipe for loving others is something I can do. Not through my own strength, but with God's help. I know I will have good days and bad. But I also know I will become more like my Father through this year and that is my ultimate goal, even beyond 2012.


***
I would love to hear from you, please leave a comment. What are you hoping to do in 2012?  Share your resolutions or perhaps your word...

Marvelous Memory Monday

Hi All! I have been so caught up in the prayers, I forgot it was Monday! Here is our new scripture card:

Marvelous Memory Monday

Here is our new Scripture for this week:

Not sure about you, but I had trouble with the sizing last week. It printed out huge! It is supposed to be 3x5. I posted differently this week, so hopefully it works better.

Grumbling Jar

I heard a little grumbling last week after I posted our Memory Scripture. I agree, it is an easy one to memorize, not so easy to actually do. That being said, I know I am going to hear even more grumbling this week!

It is not enough just to memorize God's Word, we must actually let His Word transform us. Our challenge for this week is to actually use and apply this scripture to our lives.

First you will need a Grumbling jar (or cup or bowl).

This week we will be "catching" the grumbling, arguing and complaining. If I catch the kids arguing this week, I will say, "Do everything without grumbling or arguing. Philippians 2:14". They will have to put a coin in the jar (we decided on a nickel). If they grumble about being caught, they put in another nickel.

The thing is, Mom and Dad, the catching goes both ways. We cannot expect our kids to stop grumbling and arguing if we are not willing to stop ourselves. Please remember this is for the good of our family, so when our kids catch us, we can't get upset with them. We must lead by (a good) example.


To take it a step further, here are some questions for discussion:

1. Why does God want us to stop grumbling, arguing and complaining?

2. Why is it so hard to stop this bad habit?

3. How do we make it right with others and with God when we are caught grumbling or arguing?


Decide as a family what you will do with the money you collect in your Grumbling Jar and let us know!

Marvelous Memory Monday

Happy Monday! It is amazing (and sometimes convicting) the way God uses our kids to speak to us. Recently, Little Miss came to me and said she wanted to start memorizing scripture. I have stopped and started this habit several times, so I told her I would join her on this journey.

I chose a scripture that is fairly simple to get us going. I created a printable 3x5 card that I will post in several spots around the house to help us commit the verse to memory (and maybe get more people involved).

Would you like to join us?

Just click on the picture and print as many as you want.

We will keep this scripture for two weeks and then move on to a new one. Make sure you stop in next Monday and see how we are doing on our memorizing and I will have some fun ideas to make the memorizing more fun.

Please let me know if you plan to join us! I want to talk with my kids about the impact one idea can have on other people. Leave a comment here or on FB and let me know you are in! (We would love to hear if your kids are "in" too.)

Wednesday Wisdom

Proverbs 8 (MSG)

Lady Wisdom Calls Out

^32-36 "So, my dear friends, listen carefully; 
   those who embrace these my ways are most blessed.
Mark a life of discipline and live wisely; 
   don't squander your precious life.
Blessed the man, blessed the woman, who listens to me, 
   awake and ready for me each morning, 
   alert and responsive as I start my day's work.
When you find me, you find life, real life, 
   to say nothing of God's good pleasure.
But if you wrong me, you damage your very soul; 
   when you reject me, you're flirting with death."

Wednesday Wisdom

  If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat;
   if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
 In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head,
   and the LORD will reward you

Proverbs 25:21-22

Marvelous Memory Monday

Wednesday Wisdom

He reached down from on high and took hold of me; 
   he drew me out of deep waters. 

He brought me out into a spacious place;
   he rescued me because he delighted in me.


Psalm 18: 16, 19

Marvelous Memory Monday

The enemy is happy to fill our mind with lies and get you off track. God has given us the power to take every thought captive and line up with His Word.

Wednesday Wisdom

Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; 
   teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.


Proverbs 9:9

Marvelous Memory Monday

I know that we are supposed to hide the Word of the Lord in our heart. I always say I am going to start memorizing scripture and I fail to do it for one reason or another. So I am starting today and you are welcome to join me. I created a card for you to print and post wherever is most convenient for you. Happy Monday!

Praise Him

On the radio this morning, I happened to catch a few minutes of the Joyce Meyer broadcast. There was one thing that really stuck out for me. She said we need to fill our spirit. I have heard these words before, but what does it really mean? She went on to explain, that we fill our spirit when we read the word of God. When our spirit is full, we react better to life. When something bad, maybe I should say, when life happens and our spirit is full, we have better responses, use kinder words and we act out of love. When life happens, and our spirit is empty, our flesh speaks loudly! These are the times when we say hurtful things, lose our temper or we are just plain grumpy.

Everyday life is draining! I don’t always find it easy to act the way that I know God wants me to act. There are days that my patience dwindles, everything upsets and irritates me. These are the days that I need God the most! These are the times I need to stop whatever I am doing and turn to Him. Often, these are the hardest times to reach out to Him. I think it is possible that I let myself get so empty that there is nothing left. It is scary how quickly our flesh takes over: you don’t really need God. How is that really going to help you? What has He done for you lately?

The longer that I walk with Him and the more I know about Him, the easier it is for me to recognize these “empty times” in myself and even in my kids. I see the signs. Actually, I usually hear the signs before I see them and I have found a few ways to fight back against the darkness that can so easily take over.

Like every household, our morning routine is pretty rushed. I have one child who happily bounces out of bed and another who would love to sleep until about nine a.m. everyday. One or the other eventually gets upset about the toothpaste, the unequal amount of cereal in their bowl or some other great offense. When I hear the voice levels raise, I know it is time to pull out the praise music! I have stopped trying to solve the disputes or argue about who gets what color juice cup. I invite God into our morning. I have a playlist of songs that we all love. They are fast, uplifting and fun! We often “get our praise on” right in the middle of breakfast. Sometimes there is dancing, sometimes there is silliness, but there are always smiles.

Another way that we have found to fill up our spirit is, our praise jar. I got the idea during one of our Tuesday morning Bible Studies. I don’t really remember how the idea came about, but I was trying to think of ways for my little ones to be more conscious of our day and our faithful Lord. I started with a vase. It is one of those simple ones that comes with a flower arrangement that I never know whether to keep or get rid of. I cut up some pieces of colorful paper and put them in a bowl and then put a pen right there. This collection now sits on a shelf in a high traffic area, right in eye sight. It is an open invitation to praise Him. Sometimes it is one word, sometimes it is a name, sometimes it is something we saw outside, sometimes it is when are spirits are full and sometimes it is when our spirits are empty. I have found that when I am empty, I really need to look at what I have. This praise jar reminds me to focus on Him rather than on me. Physically writing it down and focusing on the good snaps me out of the darkness. I am reminded that I am not really as empty as I may feel.

Ezekiel 3:3 Then he said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth. 

I love this passage. My NIV study Bible says, “ Ezekiel must ingest the Lord’s message... so that it becomes part of his being. The words of God are sweet to the taste.” The more we fill ourselves with the goodness of His word, the sweeter our life will be. The more we praise, the happier we are. The more we spend time with Him, the more like Jesus we become.

I love looking through our praise jar. My kids are just learning to write. There are a lot of papers that say “Mom”, “Dad”, “God”. There is even one that says “elephants”. But really, what else do we need?

Bible in 90 days

While at my retreat at the end of April, the pastor mentioned her church had just read the Bible in 90 days. Last summer, I let my study go a little bit and I didn't want to repeat the same mistake. I decided that I would read the Bible this summer and that I would start on June 1. I have never read the Bible cover to cover. I have read books and chapters and verses. But, I have never done the whole thing from Genesis to Revelation.

There are several reading plans available on Biblegateway.com. So, as June 1 approached, I went to the website to prepare. Imagine my surprise when I discovered the Summer Reading Challenge! I signed up on the website and also on Facebook. I feel like I am part of a group instead of doing it alone. There are daily emails full of encouragement and stories from other people.

My prayer before I started my reading:

Father, your word is precious to me. I don't want to read alone. Please let me hear your voice as I read. Holy Spirit, please speak to me and make the stories personal to my life. I don't want to hurry through my reading, just to get it done. I want to feel the emotions, smell the smells and see the stories come alive. I want your word to penetrate my heart. I want it to become part of me and who I am. Please help me to learn and remember your word. I ask this in the precious name of your son, Jesus.

It's not too late to join me!

Be Bold

I have been praying lately that God would make me more bold.

My good friend tells me that I am bold in my prayer life. That I ask for things she would never think to ask. One of my recent prayer requests was that I become more like the woman from Proverbs 31. She has it together! Her house is in order, her husband praises her and her children call her blessed, she works to help her family and I bet she never ran out of milk or bread.

She is a godly woman. Verse 30 says, Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. I would like to know more about her. I would like to know what her prayer life was like. What did she pray for? How did she approach God? My guess is that she was bold. She was a go-getter! Buying property, planting a vineyard and then (I'm assuming) selling the grapes to make a profit. I don't know much about the other women of her time, but I am guessing they were more concerned about the affairs of the house than buying property. She was not the normal housewife.

She always knew what to say to others. Verse 26- She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. Sometimes I say the most foolish things and there are times I don't know what to say. More times than I would like to count, however, I hold my tongue and don't speak. The subject is often faith. Why do I worry so much about offending others with talk of Jesus? I am comfortable with people that I know, but with people that I don't know, I censor myself.

One scripture that has always stood out to me is Matthew 7:21-23 - ²¹"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²²Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' ²³Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' Jesus is talking about false prophets. People who say they are from God, but they are not. For a long time, this scripture did not make me uncomfortable. I figured that Jesus was talking about the people that claim to know God, but had nothing to back it up. Until I did a little more digging. The NIV study Bible references Romans 10:9-10 ⁹That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. I have confessed that Jesus is Lord and I believe it in my heart. I believe I have been saved.

Luke 12:8-9 ⁸"I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. ⁹But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God.

From the dictionary:
- acknowledge: 1. to admit 2. to show recognition of 3. to show appreciation for
- disown: to refuse to acknowledge as belonging to oneself

That makes me a little more uncomfortable! I have never outright disowned him, but there are times that I don't speak up about my love for him because it is "not the right time" or "it is not the right place" or "I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable". Is there much difference between disowning and remaining silent?

I want to be more bold in my relationship with him. I submitted my application for baptism yesterday. I filled out my paperwork almost a year ago and then I got nervous and didn't turn it in. I was baptized by sprinkling, but not immersed like every baptism in the Bible. It is a big, bold, public statement at our church. There is an auditorium filled with more than a thousand people and that scares me. I don't have to talk in front of anyone, but I have to walk out on the stage and get into the pool. I know that God has been leading me in this direction. And I want to be obedient.

- bold: 1. courageous and daring 2. vivid; prominent

Acts 4:29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.

I firmly grasp the prayer of Paul:
Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. Ephesians 6:19-20

Seeking Wise Counsel

This topic has come up so many times in the last year, I felt compelled to write something about it.

There are so many decisions to make. Some are life changing, while others barely deserve a second thought. It is so important to stay tuned in to God and his promptings, because even the slightest decision can have huge consequences.

I am really thinking about the big ones though. The decisions that change our life. It is so easy to go over and over a situation in our mind without seeking advice. I am very good at this!

A dear friend of mine has a check-list of sorts that she uses before making any big decisions. First, she checks her spirit. What feels right in your heart? What is your gut telling you? All believers have access to God through the Holy Spirit. Paying attention to (and obeying) this voice could keep us out of so many sticky situations and help us make wise decisions. Her second check is the Bible. What does God say about your decision? It may take some hunting, but again, follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit, and he will lead you to scripture that fits your situation. If you don't know where to start, there are some great sources on the internet to help you out. Break out your concordance, search biblegateway.com or biblestudytools.com. Google can even be a good source to get you started. But, I encourage you to check the scripture for yourself, in your own Bible. Lastly, she seeks wise counsel. Ask a pastor, or godly person whom you respect and trust. These three often echo the same answer. You will sense where God is leading you.

When we are not walking closely with God, it is easy to find someone who will tell us what we want to hear. If I am mad at my husband, I have a friend I can call, who will tell me "you are so right and he is so wrong". She will tell me that all men are rotten and that my husband is no better. That I have every right to be upset and that I should never expect anything better from him. Is this wise? No. It may make me feel better for a minute, but not in the long run. It is not always easy or painless to do the right thing. I have another friend who I can call who will be honest. She will listen, and tell me the truth. It may not be what I want to hear, but if I am being ridiculous about something, she is sure to tell me. This is part of growing up and following in the footsteps of Jesus.

This also makes me analyze the kind of friend that I am. When someone calls me for advice, do I take the easy way out and tell them what I know they want to hear or do I tell the more difficult truth? I know what God wants me to say. It is so hard sometimes, growing in our walk with Him. I risk losing friends that have been around for awhile, people who may not want to know God or his truth. But, then I ask, are these the friends that I really want around anyway?

We will always have big decisions to make. Following God does not mean that all of our questions go away. By seeking Him though, we can follow the path that He has prepared for us.

Lord, please guide my decisions today. I want to follow in your path. Help me to seek the truth and to be a truth teller.