Blessed

Happy Sunday!

Source: yes-butno.tumblr.com via Carrie on Pinterest

Bible Reading Plan for Slackers and Shirkers

The title of the blog entry has you intrigued, right? Me too. I'm totally a slacker. I have never signed up for one of those Disciple Bible studies where you read the whole Bible, because I know I will fail and not hold my end of the bargain. I know I am not the only one.

So, I happened upon this entry on Incourage, which is a Christian women's site. I don't visit their site often, but I "like" them on Facebook, so I catch little snippets there most often. Back in January around resolution time they posted this blog entry called "The Hardest Thing To Do Is Open Your Bible," that was talking right to me. -and still is. I shared it with the ladies at my Mom's Group, and really this blog entry is partially for me to share the links with them.

Some hints given in the blog entry were to just leave a bible open on the kitchen counter at all times. Another was an actual reading plan, which I gave the title to in my blog title. Great title, right? The idea of the Bible Reading Plan for Slackers and Shirkers is that there are no dates to keep to. You can't really fall behind. It takes the bible and breaks it up into sections, that you read by day. Here is how it is set up:

Sunday: O.T. Poetry

Monday: Pentateuch (first 5 books of the Bible)

Tuesday: O.T. History

Wednesday: O.T. History

Thursday: O.T. Prophets

Friday: N.T. History

Saturday: N.T. Epistles

If you miss a day, you just pick it up next week and there is a chart that helps you split up what to read. For the chart click here.

I'm enough of a slacker and shirker that I haven't started yet, but I'm moving toward it. What about you?

Sunday School Revelations

Abby had a couple "kids say the darnest things" moments this afternoon after church that were too cute. I just have to share.

When we picked her up from Sunday School, all the kids had cute little sheep ears that they made out of cotton balls and paper that they clipped into their hair. Obviously, the lesson had something to do with sheep, right? So, while we were eating lunch, I asked her what they learned about today....

Abby: "That Jesus is our Leopard."

Me: "You mean Shepherd?"

Abby: "Shepherd, Leopard. Whatever."

This little mouse here is Whiskers. He is a puppet that goes with the Sunday School curriculum that the teachers use to help with the teaching, I believe. So, anyway, Abby started telling us of a big girl (first grader) that was in her class today that told Whiskers that she doesn't talk to mice; to which Abby told us, "But she just did!" Ah, can't get anything past Abby.

Beautiful

He has made everything beautiful in its time.

~Ecclesiastes 3:11a

Rejoice!

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

-Philippians 4:4-9 (NRSV)

From Upper Room

With all the changes that our family is going through right now, this Upper Room daily devotional seemed worthy of sharing.

Today's Scripture

The Lord says, "See, I am doing a new thing!"

-Isaiah 43:19 (NIV)

WHAT is God up to now? How did I ever end up at a writers conference? I can barely spell correctly. Just writing for my speaking engagements as a pastor's wife takes hours of exhausting effort.

God has such a sense of humor! God provided the conference fee, a free plane ticket, even my meal money. How could I not go? Though I wouldn't have dreamed this for myself, it is clear that God has new adventures on my horizon. What a blessing to hear the words of Isaiah 43:19: "See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?" (NIV). I believe that God is creating a new thing in me.

Considering this "new thing" God wants me to do fills me with fear. The task seems daunting. I am not a wordsmith. My husband, an English major with a master's degree and a Ph.D., should be the writer.

But I believe that God calls unlikely persons to do the extraordinary. I don't know what lies in my future, but I do know that God may call all of us to do "new things." If we believe this and trust, God will equip us as we write new chapters in our lives.

Prayer

Father, help us to never allow our fears to stand in the way of the wonderful plans you have for us. Open our eyes and hearts to see you in all you call us to do. Amen.

Ashtray or Beautiful Vase?

I've left this Upper Room devotional sitting in my inbox for a while because I liked it, so I thought I'd share (and then I can delete it):

~

You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, "He did not make me"? Can the pot say of the potter, "He knows nothing"?
-Isaiah 29:16 (NIV)


I have to admit that I have trouble with the concept of being clay and not having a voice in my development. It's not that I'm rebellious and want my own way; it's just that I want some say in what happens to me. Okay, I admit it. I'm afraid that God's plan for me won't suit me. What if I would make a great ceramic bowl to be displayed and admired, but instead I get molded into an ashtray? All right, maybe being a display bowl is too pretentious. But what if I would make a great serving dish that could be useful in many ways, but I get molded into a chamber pot? (In that case, I think I'd rather be an ashtray.)

In my mind, I know that God wants not only what is good for me but also what is best for me. Still, I have trouble feeling that truth in my heart and living it in my life, especially when people around me treat me like I am an ashtray or worse.

I've learned that when I do what God wants me to do, I am being who God wants me to be. I won't have to worry about how that might look to me or to anyone else.

A devotion

From the Upper Room's daily e-mail devotional.

I liked today's, so I thought I'd share. The part that stuck with me was the last paragraph.

RECENTLY I had a fright while riding my bicycle. I was racing along on a downhill slope when an adult deer darted out from the woods, heading for a collision with me. I swerved and tried to stop, but an accident seemed imminent. To my relief, the deer turned, ran alongside me, and then gracefully dashed back into the woods. Her movements seemed effortless; the whole incident took only seconds. One moment I feared I'd be jolted off my bicycle and badly hurt. The next, I was peering into the woods looking for the gentle creature. I thanked God that I was safe and watched out for deer on the rest of my ride.

Later, as I reflected on the damage a collision might have caused, I thought about God's call for us to be peacemakers. In Romans 12:18 Paul wrote, "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." This call gives me hope to grow in my ability to respond gently to others and turn away from causing them harm. In this way, I'm doing my part to live peacefully with others.

With our words or actions, we can either cause collisions or gracefully avoid hurting others. The encounter with that doe encourages me to think of God's power making "my feet like the feet of a deer," enabling me to avoid hurting those around me.

The Sovereign Lord is my strength;

he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.

-Habakkuk 3:19 (NIV)

Thought for the day

The way we treat others matters to God.

Comparing Yourself with Others

My Mom's group is starting a new book next week and I just finished reading the first chapter. It is called You Matter More Than You Think by Dr. Leslie Parrott. She shared some scripture in the first chapter that I really liked and also really made me think- It is from the Message, so the text is very contemporary and I just wanted to share:

"Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives.

That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original."

Galatians 5:45-46 MSG

~

"Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don't be impressed with yourself. Don't compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life."

Galatians 6:4-5 MSG