A day of rest

If I set my mind to doing something then everyone better get out of my way, because once I'm determined I won't stop. Sometimes I just like to prove to myself that I can do something. Other times I know I need to get A, B and C done before I have time to enjoy D. Pushing myself is something I do often.

I am especially pushing myself physically. My goal is to regularly run five miles. I'm good about getting out and jogging with Mark after work so that's not an issue. I have a weak hip and knee so I am doing exercises to keep those strong as well, not an issue. The stronger I am, the faster and further I can run. I WILL reach my goal.

Saturday I pushed myself a little too hard. I got up and jogged three miles, spent several hours cleaning the house, worked out on my Total Gym, took care of four loads of laundry and cleaned up in time to help some friends move. It was hot, my muscles cramped and there were times that I was very tired. I don't know how or exactly when it happened, but I hurt my back and by the end of the night it took all my determination just to move.

Sunday rolls around and I felt a little better so I really wanted to go jogging before church. Mark, God bless him, told me No! I had to rest my body so it could heal. That day of rest did me a lot of good. I relaxed physically and mentally and was refreshed spiritually by enjoying the fellowship of my family. Usually, I'm thinking about all the things I want to get done so even my relaxing times aren't very relaxing.

As I lounged on the couch I thought about how important it was to rest. Resting restores my strength and energy and prepares me for the work that's ahead. A rested body is a healthy body.

Then I thought about God's rest. He gave us the Sabbath as a day of rest, not because He's trying to spoil our plans but because He knows we need it. I then thought about spiritual rest, and I don't mean a "rest" or "break" from reading God's word and praying and serving. I mean a time of being quiet before God and allowing Him to refresh me. It was a sweet moment because right then, I was truly resting with God. I want to have that moment every day.

Please take the time to rest - body and soul - and let God restore you to life.

Blessed to be a host

Mark and I have a great home and I love it more all the time. There's more than enough room for the two of us, and though I hope to fill it with little Mark's someday, it seems like a waste at times. We live in about half of it and the other half is left to just keep clean. We talk about this and wonder if we made the right decision in buying it - and the answer is always yes!

Sometimes things work out too perfectly for it to be anything other than God. Mark and I looked at houses for months before finding one to buy. We're close to family, close to church, close to work (at least I am) and are surrounded by a farm and great neighbors. It's a beautiful place to live, for sure.

And our spacious garage stores all the wood we need to heat our house during the winter months.

But the house itself isn't the greatest blessing, what we're able to do with it is. As Mark and I talked about our house and the seemingly "too much room for two people", I never truly felt the space is a waste because I believe God gave us the opportunity to live here so we can use it for Him. One way we've been able to do that is by hosting missionaries that visit our church (New Life Bible Church - check it out!). This past weekend we hosted Phil and Linda Gottschalk and I am thankful for every minute of it.

It's so awesome to meet people that spend most of their lives in other countries and feel instantly drawn to them. Though their calling takes them far away, we are partners in living for Jesus. Conversation is easy, prayers are sincere and the fellowship is sweet.

The Gottschalks live in The Netherlands, serving at Tyndale Theological Seminary. Mark and I could spend three months there just on our passports, and if we could get the time off of work we would do it. We would talk apologetics, spend hours in the library and go to bed happy!

Summer comforts

Pizza isn't really just a summer food but when you sweat just sitting in your home office and all you can think about is a cool breeze and perhaps a pool, it is a comfort food. But I don't eat pizza just because it's delicious, I also require it to  be nutritious. And this is what I get:

Homemade goodness! A whole wheat crust with tomato sauce and skim mozzarella cheese, ground venison (no pepperoni) and lots of veggies. I eat a slice or two of this and my body doesn't yell at me later. And that is true comfort.

Good health is important to me. A balanced diet and exercise are a requirement to my way of thinking. As a wife and caretaker of our home, my food choices affect everyone who enters our doors. Just as I want the conversation and atmosphere to be pleasing to God, so I want what is served to be. It's about taking care of what's on the inside.

I'm always looking for new ideas on how to spice up the healthy lifestyle. If anyone has a favorite healthy meal or a tip on how to maintain a home that brings God glory, please let me know! Someday I'll have you over and treat you to your favorite recipe.

My Husqvarna

I’m a girl that likes to do boy things. Some (not all) of the traditional tasks given to men are way too much fun to be left out of. Maybe it’s because I have two sisters and growing up we were “Mom’s Girls” and “Dad’s Boys”. In the morning we’d clean the house and bake with Mom and in the afternoon we’d stack wood and hand tools to dad. Growing up this way whet my appetite for boy things and I look forward to collecting some of my own toys!

I like when my husband and I team up to accomplish a task around the house. There’s something nice about it just being the two of us working together to improve our home. We appreciate the help our family gives us on the major projects and we’d be in over our heads without them. But when it comes to painting a room, building a shelf, fixing up the yard or something like that, I prefer to be the one to help my husband. It’s bonding time!

We heat our house with wood during the colder months and that requires a lot of work in the spring, summer and fall. It’s a big time commitment as well. A lot of the work requires the help of men much stronger than I am and our dads are irreplaceable. But sometimes it works out that only Mark and I are available to down, chunk and chop wood, and in those instances, I need to really help. So…out comes my Husqvarna.

I don’t actually own one but Mark and I talked about it. A small chainsaw that I could use to de-limb trees would be very helpful in those times when it’s just Mark and I doing the lumberjacking. I did a quick search online for lightweight chainsaws and saw that Husqvarna makes one. That being a name I know and trust, I decided to set my hopes on that little chainsaw for fulfilling my dreams of becoming a “Lumber Jill”.

What do my words say about my heart?

Confession: I often speak up when I should keep silent and keep silent when I should speak up. I struggle the most at work where people are constantly talking around me – in both good and bad ways. What’s OK to say and what should be kept to yourself is subjective to some but I struggle with that idea. Whatever happened to “If you can’t something nice, don’t say anything at all?”

The other week, while I was at work, I felt as if I was splashed by a big, cold wave when I realized the type of conversations I was being pulled into. None of them were “bad” by worldly standards but they were by God’s standards and I was ashamed just by nodding my head and listening. I don’t want to talk bad about other people or slander my boss or make a mountain out of an ant hill just to prove a point. But the people you work with becomes your friends, and as friends, it’s natural to share frustrations or vent when you’re upset about something. So where’s the line between good conversation and bad?

Thinking of it in terms of a scale or balance is helpful to me. For every positive, uplifting, praiseworthy and valuable thing I say, I put a marble on one side of the balance. For every derogatory, complaining, unnecessary or hurtful comment I make, I put a marble on the other side of the balance. At the end of the day, I’d discover I was either focused on the Lord and doing right towards others or I was focused on me. I hope the positive side of the balance fills to overflowing as I practice self-control in this area, and the negative empties.

So here’s my golden rule, borrowed from Dale Carnegie, “Don’t criticize, condemn or complain.” My goal is to address issues and confront people, when necessary, without crossing the line into bad conversation.

Matthew 12:34 - “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”

Community is cool

One of the coolest things about family, church family and friends is that everyone’s differences are needed for life to be all God intended it to be. My sister and brother-in-law always host a 4^th of July party for our family and friends. A bunch of people come to eat, play games, talk and blow things up. It’s a lot of fun and I look forward to it every year.

This year, after most people had gone home, some of stayed up and talked about life and church and what God says about both. It was then that it struck me how awesome God designed a local body of believers to work together. You take a group of people, with different backgrounds and at different stages of faith, and you get them talking about church events and what encourages the most participation, and with God guiding the discussion, the outcome is really exciting.

Some people make decisions based on what seems logical to them. Others make decisions based on a deep-rooted faith in God and a desire to follow His plan. Sometimes peoples logic contradicts what the Bible says and is wrong. Sometimes people faith becomes too legalistic, too traditional, and it takes a voice with a different view to help them see what really matters to God. It takes all types working together to balance each other out and bring the focus back to what’s important – God’s thoughts and design.

One thing I realized is that the problem facing many churches today is really a problem in the lives of the professing born again Christians. If people who profess a faith in God do nothing to cultivate that relationship, to grow and to allow themselves to be changed by the Word of God and prayer, then they become stagnant and the ministries around them become stagnant.

I don’t profess to have all the answers but I do believe the question people should be asking is “How do we get people personally committed to reading the Bible and prayer?” You need to get the people healthy before you can make the church healthy.

Allergies and Jesus

People get allergies when their bodies mistake a harmless substance as harmful and attack it. I never suffered from this until recently and the culprit may be my cats.

A month or so back I started having random episodes of heavy sneezing, itchy eyes and congestion that would come and go. Then came the headache that lasted for days and ibuprofen wouldn’t touch. All are signs of allergies and all flare up when I’m home.

It is often easier to tell when our physical health is failing us than when our spiritual health is. The only way to stay sensitive to God is through daily Bible study and prayer. If we’re not sensitive to the things of the Lord, we don’t realize when we become spiritually sick.

The Holy Spirit is a lot like our immune system except He doesn’t make mistakes and attacks only what is evil, not what is good. When the devil attacks us, the Holy Spirit living in us gives us the discernment to recognize the attack and fight it. He brings the victory. And like our immune system, our spiritual discernment can grow weak if we don’t take care of it.

I’ll be experimenting with the cause of my new allergies over the next few weeks. And I want to take care of my spiritual health just as much as my physical, so I’ll be spending less time with my cats and more time with my Jesus.

A tumble down the stairs

Both of my nieces stayed the night for the first time on Saturday. I had one or the other overnight before, but never both together. It’s true that kids change everything – your routine, your sleep, your plans – but I think that change is for the better.

My sister and brother-in-law stayed late enough on Saturday night to get both girls into bed before they left. I was worried about Bella waking up, getting out of bed and falling down the stairs in the middle of the night so my sister let me borrow a gate. We put the gate at the top of the stairs and arranged the room so both girls had a safe place to sleep, and went downstairs for some late night pizza.

Baby Abbi fell asleep so my sister carried her upstairs to put her to bed. Unbeknown to her at the time, Bella followed her up the stairs. If it had not been for the gate meant for her safety, everything would have been fine. But when Bella reached the gate at the top of the stairs she tried getting over it and couldn’t. She lost control and somersaulted down the entire length of our stairs.

Everyone was worried about the poor girl. It could have been a nasty fall that did serious damage. Thankfully, the fall was neither nasty nor damaging and after the initial outburst, she was fine.

It was a lesson learned for me. Though Bella’s getting to be more of a big girl every day, she’s still just a babe and needs protection. As those entrusted with her care, we’re responsible for her safety until she’s old enough to not need that protection any more.

It’s funny how your thoughts change when a precious child is in your arms and you’re worried she might be hurt. God cares the same way for us. We never outgrow our need for His protection and He’ll never stop being the Good Shepherd who looks after us.

So, thank you, Lord, for protecting Bella and help me to watch over the children you entrust to my care as well as You look after me.

Running just for fun

I’m one of those people who actually enjoys exercising. Even if it hurts and I’m exhausted in the middle of it I keep going because it’s more than worth it. It makes me feel good inside and out, it gives me more energy and confidence, and keeps me honest about the lifestyle I choose to live (I’m not going to undo my hard work by chowing down on junk food).

I realize not everyone shares this opinion of mine but many can appreciate it. Taking care of your body prepares you for a higher quality of life.

While I’m pretty consistent about exercising, my husband and I are not consistent about doing it together. We go in spurts; one week we do it every day, the next week maybe once or twice, and the week after that we find so many excuses that we don’t go at all. We recently started running together and this time I hope it sticks.

There are advantages to working out together. It’s time spent together. It’s pain shared together. It’s accomplishments met together. It’s accountability and motivation to continue on when you want to quit. It’s fun because we do it together and it bonds us. We haven’t yet reach any distances that would impress the world but right now it’s not about reaching those distances. It’s about consistency and commitment.

So wives, pick an activity to do with your husband and try your best to carve out time to do it regularly. It doesn’t have to be high intensity but I would encourage it to be something that keeps you active. The physical and emotional benefits will bless your marriage (wink, wink!).

My pumpernickel bread

I never tire of reading about healthy foods and finding new healthy recipes. I can spend hours searching websites for key ingredients to keep stocked in my kitchen and how to use them.

I didn’t always care so much about eating healthy food but when the conviction hit me, it was strong and lasting. I fought the old cravings and weaned myself off of junk food as a teen. Now, if I over indulge in food that’s not good for me, my stomach protests and I soon wish I could scrape it out of me. After a time of eating healthy foods, junk food holds less appeal. I prefer eating the food that gives me the nutrition I need to look and feel my best.

One way I help put healthy food in my family’s bellies is by making our bread. It started with honey wheat bread and has moved to pumpernickel bread. I successfully made my first loaf of pumpernickel bread and am a huge fan! It’s packed full of good stuff and is very yummy. It doesn’t have to be homemade to be healthy, but good health is important to me and I get satisfaction out of making nutritious food for my family.

I believe it is our God-given responsibility to take care of our bodies and I get frustrated when I see people neglecting to do it. Choosing not to exercise and eat nutritious food is neglecting to care for the vessel God gave you to honor Him with. I was thinking about this the other day, and realized that I need to pray for this passion to grow into a burden for people’s spiritual wellbeing as well as physical. Health does not stop with the body, a healthy body can still have a dying soul.

I began to pray that the Lord would help me and Mark develop the spiritual disciplines we need to honor Him, just as He’s helping us develop the discipline to eat right and exercise. I look forward to how the Lord will use this experience to deepen our faith and will share the journey with you all as we go.

A $30,000 wedding budget?!

I was talking with a new friend about weddings and swapping stories about some of the crazy things people do when I was awestruck by the story of one girl overspending on her wedding day.

Most girls dream of the big day when they get to be the princess and have things set out just the way they want them. Some weddings are big and some weddings are small but every wedding is run on a budget. This is when us girls start getting creative with our plans.

There are ways to have a beautiful wedding on a small budget, but just imagine what could be accomplished with a large budget. With a $30,000 budget, the sky would be the limit. You could even through in the honeymoon and a limo. But expectations vary from girl to girl because there was a blooming bride who passed her $30,000 budget and moved right up to $45,000 and counting.

There’s a lot of debate that could go on about such an exorbitant affair but there’s only one point I want to make: It’s not the wedding day but the marriage that counts. If people invested just as much time and energy into their marriages as they did their wedding days, I believe the divorce rate in America would be significantly lower.

So for all you brides to be out there, take it from a girl who’s been your shoes. It’s not the fanfare that accompanies the wedding that’s important. It’s what happens when that day is over and your life with your husband begins. Invest in your marriage and you’ll have good memories from a lifetime of days spent together, not just one.

15 minutes of prayer

When I was employed in full-time child care, I found it easy to make time for daily prayer and meditating on the Bible. The day would naturally have quiet moments and I was blessed with the ability to make faith a part of the day for me and the kids.

It got a lot harder when I jumped over to corporate America. Working full time, fulfilling my church responsibilities, taking care of a home and performing my other wifely duties makes for a full day. I have much more demand on my time than I used to and I often feel the stress of that demand.

A few weeks I go I became convicted about my time management habits. Though I devotedly follow a Bible reading plan and send up prayers throughout the day, I lost the time I used to spend just sitting at the Lord’s feet. So I decided to set aside 15 minutes every day to close myself into a room and seek the face of Jesus.

I pray for a lot of the same things every day. I pray for my husband, our marriage, our future kids and our ability to parent them and train them in the ways of the Lord so they commit to Him at an early age and obey Him all their lives. I pray the same for my nieces. I pray for the struggles other family members are having, my church and my work. I pray for the relationships I have with my coworkers and that I would daily be a testimony of Jesus to them.

I don’t feel bad about praying for the same things every day because they’re important things. Some days I struggle with finding the time because I’m not home to lock myself into my room. But this I know, my life is better for doing it and everything else I do is affected by it. My temperament is sweeter, my home is more peaceful and those I love are being looked after.

Fifteen minutes isn’t a lot of time in a day and it’s a commitment I can keep. As I grow, I want that time to grow too. Can you imagine what it’s like to experience the blessing of a full “sweet hour of prayer”? It would be amazing!

Living for Christ at work - how much does it matter?

I've spent a lot of time thinking about my witness at work lately. Mainly because I've reacted all too human for my own liking and am deeply convicted about being filled with me and not God.

Some people may tell me I take things to the extreme but to me, and to God, the little things count. If God cares for the lost then it grieves him when you don't speak up for your faith. If Jesus came to cast His light into the darkness then it's important that we are set apart, loving those in the world but not living as those in the world. If God hates lies then he is angered when we're not completely honest with our boss. And this is where it gets really hard.

Reading your Bible every day and checking off the verses isn't enough to keep your heart, your life, filled with the Spirit. There must be time devoted to seeking His face, seeking forgiveness, praying to know His will, praying over the people around you, praying over the lost and even praying over your work. I confess that I have failed to do this and I know that is the reason for the unrest in my heart.

Today this grumbler is throwing in the towel because I admit that I can't do it on my own. It's hard to wake up and go to a job you dread and even harder to do it with the right attitude. I believe the right attitude is not only a respectful and kind one, but also an honest one. So when I don't address my concerns and don't speak up for myself, I am wrong. Those negative feelings mount and come out in conversation to my co-workers, the ones I'm called to witness to.

How awful it is to not stand out for the Lord.

I believe that you can still hold your head high after a bad day if you know you've handled the difficult circumstances to the glory of God. That means with honesty, sincerity and without grumbling. With God's help, I'm going to try.

Does God speak?

When some people say “God told me to” and then embark on a new adventure, whether it’s leaving everything to move to a new location or breaking a relationship to pursue something new, they appear to be foolish. It seems foolish because when they get to where they’re going they are humbled and return to where they came. They use God as an excuse to do what they want.

There are four camps people fall into. 1. Those who say “The Lord told me so” without truly seeking Him; 2. Those who don’t seek the Lord; 3. Those who heartily seek the Lord; and 4. Those who don’t believe God speaks into the lives of His people, especially about mundane issues.

With all the false claims from people about the Lord speaking into their lives, seeds of doubt are sown into other believers. People don’t want to look foolish and they don’t want to give their faith a bad reputation. What’s sad about this is God does want that kind of involvement in our lives. He wants us to call on Him with the big and small matters. He wants to guide us and lead us and encourage us and discipline us when needed.

As David danced before the Lord as the Ark of the Covenant was returned to its place in the tabernacle, so ought we be. When David was ridiculed by his wife for what she saw as inappropriate behavior, David replied with, “And I will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight”(2 Samuel 6:22).

While God does not call us to be fools, He does tell us that the world will call us fools if we live for Him. Even so, He directs us to live by faith and not by sight. God wants to move in our lives and have us be obedient to things he asks us. Living by faith is not foolish.

And remember, when God is falsely credited for things you didn’t involve Him with, it’s His name that gets slandered. By the grace of God, live your life overflowing with the love of Jesus. But whether you do or whether you don’t, be honest. God will not be mocked.

Sovereign

It seems to me that when Christians talk about God’s sovereignty it is often in reference to the church and church-like activities. That is why obstacles are obliterated so rallies can be held in major stadiums. That is why missionaries continue to receive financial support when the individuals giving are experiencing a recession, trying to do more with less. That is why His church still stands.

But what about all the other areas of life? Do you believe that God is sovereign over your workplace, over your community, over your country?

I was thinking about this the other day because if people truly lived like they believed God is sovereign in and over all things, lives would be changed. When God is sovereign and all things rest in his hands, then all things are his. Businesses are His. Communities are His. Governments are His. The church is God’s very special institution, but all things are His.

Daniel’s prayer and understanding of God’s sovereignty has always spoken to me, it is so beautifully put:

“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His. He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him. I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers; You have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of You, for You have made known to us the king’s demand.”

I started thinking about this after hearing a challenge to reach lost people in the workplace during several recent sermons. Doing God’s will isn’t just about serving on a committee at church or volunteering during an outreach event. His is everything and we are His stewards. When it comes to bearing His name, the ministry in the workplace, the community, the government, etc., is just as important as the ministry in the church – they all belong to God. I think it’s time to remember that.

I love words

I love words. I love the expression and meaning of them, and I love to read and learn from the styles of different authors. I am a word geek.

I’ve been watching The Truth Project with a Bible study group. This week’s session was on the “American Experiment” and it dealt with the biblical truths and principals our founding fathers firmly believed were the only foundation a government of a free people could be run by. During this video, Noah Webster is briefly spoken of.

I believe Noah Webster and I could have been kindred spirits if we lived during the same age (there’s an unspoken bond between word lovers). Most people know that Noah Webster wrote America’s first dictionary. Any man who has that kind of vocabulary and understanding of the English language and the proper expression of it has my deepest respect. But what really touched me was the reason he felt called to do it.

This is how it’s presented in The Truth Project: Noah Webster believed the fact that God spoke the world into existence is profound. If God chose to speak, then words are important and their meaning is important.

Webster’s dictionary was published in 1828. This dictionary is special because it defines (or strives to define) words in such a way that agrees with God. After all, if a definition of a word does not agree with God’s definition of the word, then it’s a bad definition and should be thrown out. For example, this is what the 1828 dictionary defines truth as:

Truth, n. 1. Conformity to fact or reality; exact accordance with that which is, or has been, or shall be. The truth of history constitutes its whole value. We rely on the truth of the scriptural prophecies. My mouth shall speak truth. Prov 8. Sancitfy them through thy truth; thy word is truth. John 17.

Can you imagine having this dictionary in schools, libraries, homes and offices to teach people the meaning of words? It would be radical.

For all you fellow word lovers, Noah Webster’s 1828 dictionary can be searched online here. Eat your heart out!

Putting out fires

Some days go  better than others. Monday was one of those “other” days for me. People were bailing on their responsibilities, leaving me to deal with the mess, and I was extremely frustrated.

When working for a manufacturing company, tradeshows are a huge part of life. I am the tradeshow coordinator, whether I like it or not, so I get to manage all the details and make sure things happen in the right place at the right time. I’ve got it down fairly well and things don’t go wrong as often as they used to. However, there is one unknown factor that I can always count on causing issues. People.

In the grand scheme of things, I realize that one bad day isn’t going to keep me down forever, but in those hours of constant chaos and putting out fires, it feels like the trouble will never end. Here’s the situation. My company is exhibiting at a local tradeshow this week and there was a schedule in place to cover all our needs. That schedule was tossed aside when people higher up on the corporate food chain decided they were not able to live up to their end of the deal. I spent the entire day running around trying to find people to help me fill in those holes.

I needed help and help wasn’t easy to find. Just when I was ready to tell people what I really thought, however blunt and unprofessional it was, I got help from an unexpected source and almost instantly the wind was put back in my sales. I breathed a sigh of relief and thanked the Lord for coming through for me.

Then I stopped. In the midst of all that frustration I never paused long enough to seek out the Lord. I didn’t pray for guidance, I didn’t pray for patience and I didn’t ask Him for help. Even though I was upset and frustrated, I tried to handle it on my own.

I am so thankful that God’s faithfulness to us doesn’t depend on our performance. In that moment when help arrived, I knew in my heart that the Lord heard the unspoken plea in my heart and came to my rescue, because He loves me. It reminds me of 2 Timothy 2:11-13:

“This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him. If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.”

Dear God, Help me to be faithful in the good times and bad!

Learning to listen

I struggled over whether or not to post this but much of what I say is generalized so I hope you read this with a grain of salt and know that my intent is not to be down on anyone but to share what the Lord has used to convict me…

Begin Post:

It seems like the Lord is trying to teach me a lesson about listening. A few things keep playing over and over in my mind and I’m beginning to think that this might be an area in which the Lord would like to do some stretching…

First, I’ve been getting really frustrated by people who don’t give you a chance to finish a statement before going on about what they think and why. It starts with a simple, every day conversation, or maybe an issue that needs to be addressed, and before you know it you feel like you have to go back and restate what you’ve said because it’s been completely twisted. Some people have a way of talking around an issue so their opinion gets justified and yours gets compromised. So frustrating!

Second, I was listening to Family Life Network and the program being aired was about women in violent relationships and why they often don’t say anything about the abuse to other people. Do you know what the #1 reason for women not talking about their problems is? Other people don’t listen. Oh, they’ll hear it and they’ll probably have a lot to say about it, but few people will zip their lips and listen with a compassionate heart.

Third, I was talking to my mom about whether or not people actually keep things in confidence if they’re part of a sensitive conversation. I was more or less just curious because it seems like talking is a favorite pastime for most people. I was encouraged after sharing about certain men and women we know that can take what’s said in confidence and keep it in confidence.

Fourth, it seems like people are so busy telling other people their opinions – in conversation, in writing, in formal and informal ways – that the power in having a voice becomes greater than that’s person self-control and discernment. Not all things need to be said. I bet that if people were to listen back to all the things they’ve said and read through all the blogs/posts/emails they’ve written, they would be a little surprised about what all those things say about them. I've become more conscious of what I say and how and will continue to bear that in mind as I write.

The Bible has a lot to say about taming the tongue and being quick to listen but slow to speak. A reflective study of the book of James is a good check for Christians, and one I must admit I need to do again. It is really easy to get caught up in all the conversations surrounding you that you soon leave behind a lot of the character God has been developing in you. And I’m guilty of it.

So, I’m taking it as a personal challenge to do less 'empty' talking and more listening. Any other takers?

God's good design

I am thankful for the way God designs a marriage to work. The husband is the head of the home. The wife is his helpmate. Together they make up a team. I like being on the team.

Yesterday was a full day. Mark and I were off to church by 8:20 for worship practice. At 9:15 my sister and I taught Sunday School. The church service started at 10:30. We left church around 12:15. Once home, I did my work out, baked bread and Mark and I prepared and ate lunch together.

Feeling the urge to move around, I went for a walk while Mark rested up after a weekend of visiting with his best friend from out of town. On the walk, I began thinking about everything I wanted to get done at the house, especially since I’m hosting the Mother’s Day meal this year. So after the walk, I got to work cleaning our sunroom – vacuuming, wiping off dirt, rearranging. I took our big wooden swing outside so I could sand it down before we reapply the stain. Sanding done, at least the first round of it, I went to get Mark to help me take it back inside.

At that point I wasn’t feeling so strong and full of energy any more. And that’s when I needed my teammate.

After cleaning myself up, I began to empty the dishwasher only to discover that all the glasses in the top rack didn’t rinse properly. Not a big deal normally, but when I’m tired everything feels more overwhelming. I showed Mark a glass with soap residue and preceded to rinse out all our glasses before drying them and putting them away.

And Mark, I’m not sure if he sensed my frustration or was just being nice and helping out (he usually does), came and helped me put away the rest of the dishes. At that point in time, that’s exactly what I needed him to do. I needed him to help me out. I needed to be able to tag-team it to get things done so I could relax, knowing our home  was taken care of.

From that moment on I was so full of appreciation for my husband. I appreciated that he chose to help me instead of filling his time with something else. I appreciated that he chose to spend time with me instead of play a computer game that evening. Because that’s what it means to be a partner in marriage. It’s about doing life together and helping each other out. Even when help comes in the form of being a shoulder to lay my head on as we unwind at the end of the day. I need that shoulder.

So I thank God for His design and for my husband. And I’m thankful for the reminder of how well things work when we do it God’s way.

The Puppeteer

Have you ever gotten excited about a possibility, shared about trusting God’s will to be done and then wait in anticipation as all the pieces fell into place? I have. I’ve actually been thinking about it a lot lately. But yesterday I realized  my “state of anticipation” was turning into a “state of anxiousness”. I want things to work out the way my mind has already settled on.

I realized with a bit of a start yesterday that I wasn’t actually living in faith. I was calling on God and seeking Him for His will, but I wasn’t living as if I really believed that His will is the best solution – especially if it’s different than what I want it to be.

As I waited for things to work out, I started being consumed by the “what ifs”. What if it doesn’t work out? What if nothing changes? What if I have to accept a situation I don’t like? What if I’m disappointed by the outcome?

It’s then the Lord spoke to my heart, “When you’re seeking My face, when you accept and do My will, there is no disappointment. I know what’s best and when you trust Me you must believe that I’m working things for the ultimate good.”

I think many Christians want to step out in faith but when they’re teetering on that limb, their sense of security gets threatened. The lack of solid, sturdy ground beneath them tempts them to take their eyes of Jesus and worry about all the details that will lead them back to that place of security and familiarity. Instead of living by faith, we live as if we believe the security we would create for ourselves is better than the security found in God. Really, it’s like we think we know best and we can do a better job of handling things.

As I pondered these things and felt conviction in my heart, I began to picture a Pinocchio style puppet show. We are like those puppets and the stage is like our lives. God is watching over us, wanting us to let Him be the puppeteer. When we pull against those strings, they become tangled and knotted and we fall down. When we submit to His leading and direction, we get to experience His grace played out in our lives.

So with a little nudging from the Lord, I have come to accept that His will may be different than  what I want it to be but it is still the best possible scenario. I just have to be willing to trust Him enough to get me there.

Making all things new

2 Corinthians 5:17 – Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

After living so long in the daily grind of the Christian life, sometimes things seem to stop being new. Never is the knowledge that we are new creation, no longer a vessel enslaved to sin, lost but the luster of the new vessel seems to fade as it gets worn down by life’s hardships.

And today I stand amazed at God’s infinite goodness, because He is able to take that tarnished vessel and make it shine again. What I think is so neat in all of this is that God’s plan is so much higher and greater than our own. As a human, I tend to see my purpose in life with narrow vision. I get tripped up by setting my own boundaries in what God wants me to do and when. God, however, is outside all of those expectations.

Here I am, living a happy, middle class American life. I have a terrific home, a great family and a godly support system like none other. I believe in the power of Jesus’ death and resurrection over sin in our lives, I believe God has created each of us for a purpose, and I believe He takes all things – including the most difficult ones – and works them to our good.

I know a lot of people who would say the very same thing. Yet I constantly encounter those who seem to think that the purpose God has for you in one season of life must remain the same for every season of life. It may not be said in so many words, but the resistance to change and the Lord’s leading (especially when it’s uncomfortable) is unmistakable.

I believe that God is able to work greater things in our lives than simply having a single-minded purpose. I praise the God who is able to take a life devoted to him and continually make it new. Whether it’s renewed devotion to Him or a new direction in life, He is the orchestrator.

The Redeemer by Sanctus Real speaks this message to my heart. I heard it for the first time on the radio this morning and was blessed. Here’s to accepting the change the Lord brings to life and trusting Him when He makes all things new.

A sense of community

I love my house. I love my neighbors. I love my neighborhood. I’ve always enjoyed being home, but the satisfaction I feel when I’m home with my husband, at our house on Lincoln Rd, is different than anything I’ve felt before. The other night it dawned on me why that is. It’s because of community.

It seems rare when people wrap their arms around their new neighbors and treat them as part of the family. That’s how it’s been for me and Mark. We are the “new kids on the block”, though we’ve now lived in our home for a year and a half. On one side of us is a family that runs the farm surrounding our land, on the other side is the daughter of the woman who owns the farm, and her family. Across the street is a horse barn.

Often when we’re out in the yard or walking around the fields – our neighbors are very generous in letting us roam as we please – we stop and talk for a half hour, an hour, or even two hours. And I look forward to it. I want to see my neighbors and talk to them. I want to hear all about the farming, the kids, the home renovations. I want to tag team our attack on the rotten box elder beetles that threaten to take over our homes.

Belonging is a terrific feeling. And my neighbors have made Mark and I feel like we belong. I thank God that he opened up this home to us. Community doesn’t just happen anymore.

It seems like community used to be more important years ago than it is today. In part, it is a reflection of different people groups, I guess. When I was younger and living near the Tug Hill Plateau, our church family looked after us. If my dad was gone for a week, gentlemen from the church would stop in to make sure we had enough wood for our wood burning stove, to see if there was anything we needed. Our neighbors, even though they weren’t right next door, cared enough to involve themselves with our lives, to look after us. And the favor was returned.

I wonder why more people don’t take the time to develop a community with the people around them. Are people’s lives so busy, so important, that they can’t be worried about what’s happening with someone else – good or bad? Sadly, this sense of community seems to be lacking even in churches and families.

So my glimpse of God today has come in the form of the community he has blessed me with. Once in a while we’re given a peak at life as it ought to be, not how it is. It’s when we see what ought to be that we see the reflection of God Himself, stamping his imprint on the world around us.

Someday, when I’m on the other side of the yard, welcoming the newly married couple next door, I hope I show them the same sense of community that my neighbors have taught me. I believe this brings glory to God and joy to our hearts.

A reflection of Jesus

Today's divine revelation came a bit unexpectedly. I've been thinking about what to write for a few days. A pathetic profession, I know. But there was something God wanted me to pay attention to so He hit me with a big one.

I was talking with my husband about conversations I had at work and was misunderstanding his opinion about it all. In my misunderstanding, I felt unsupported. I reacted in a way that was hurtful to him.  Thankfully, we sat down right then and there and talked through the misunderstanding on both sides. It was a hard way to get to a place of agreement. I hate knowing I've done something to hurt him.

Now, I realize that misunderstandings happen and it's better to deal with them right away then to let them fester. So in that respect we handled it well. The part that wasn't so good was the reflection of my heart toward my husband - I was too focused on myself.

You see, I am to treat my husband the same way Jesus treats God the Father. That is with love and respect, in all submission, and with a meek and gentle spirit. Just like Jesus taught us that He and the Father are One, so has He called me and my husband to be one. Just as Jesus was in submission to the Father's will, so must I be in submission to my husband. Just like Jesus honored the Father in thought, word and deed, so must I honor my husband. Just as Jesus put on a gentle spirit, so must I be a reflection of inner peace, contentment and meekness. In God's perfect design and order, He has created marriage and family to be a reflection of His nature. And in that order, the husband is the head of the wife.

I realized tonight that I was not behaving like Jesus at all. I was acting in direct opposition to the order He set in place. It took gazing on the face of God to realize the sinful attitude I was harboring in my heart.

Today served as a gentle reminder that it's too easy to take your eyes of God and put them on yourself. I was focused on what I thought my needs were and I totally missed something important. And now that I have apologized to my husband for my wrongful actions, I can appreciate the right relationship God wants us to have.

What an encouragement to know that as I honor God's design for my marriage He will bless it. And now I can go back to work and know I have my husband's support and we'll make the decisions together.

When you read through the Gospels, pay close attention to the relationship between Jesus and God the Father. What does it tell you about your marriage relationship?

Direction - I need a purpose

What I feared would happen has. I started a blog and haven’t committed to it. I think about it and the different things I could write about but nothing much has come from it. I now realize I was missing an important “ingredient” that will help me be successful. Direction.

I need a purpose for this blog and I’ve decided that the purpose will be to find God in the day-to-day. That’s not to say I don’t think he’s there and it will take great effort to find Him. I actually had the idea because there are days I feel so rushed to get from one task to the next that I never take the time to notice Him. So that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to make it a point to notice God in the day-to-day.

This morning I was particularly struck by my husband’s love for me. He’s not a romantic guy and he doesn’t have some ridiculous notion that I’ll break if he doesn’t serve me, but I know he loves me.

I can tell in the morning when it’s time to get up and he wants me to stay close to him. I can tell when he waits for me to get ready so I can tag along on a silly errand, just to be together. I can tell when he sticks up for what’s important to me. I can tell when he hugs me extra tight when he gets home from work. I can tell when I don’t have to ask him to wash the dishes, he does it automatically when he sees me working to clean up the kitchen.

It’s not difficult to see that my husband loves me because I’m tuned into him and he’s tuned into me.

That’s the way God wants to be with us. Think about it. The Almighty God, Creator of all things, Sovereign, Holy, Just, Merciful, and Good – wants intimacy with us despite our many imperfections. We must be crazy to think that anything else could be more important and a better use of our time.

I hope you’ll help me stay accountable to recognizing God’s involvement in my day-to-day and then sharing it with you all. And I hope it may encourage you to do the same.

My Kinect

I have now had the connect for about a week and so far it’s everything they say it is and more. I haven’t had time to play many games on it (not surprising when they’re $50 a pop), but the two most popular games I have played and already find myself near addiction.

Sports is a lot of fun. The motion is very intuitive and the Kinect sensor is sensitive enough to pick up your natural movements. I dislike bowling, in part because it’s inconsistent (possible user error there) and in part because it requires the least amount of energy. This may be the same reason it endears the game to others but I prefer to get my body up and moving. My favorite Sport is probably Beach Volleyball. Though we’ve already had two incidents with the ceiling and ceiling fan. You have to be careful when you jump up to spike the ball over the net.

Dance Central is by far the most fun. Some of the moves are tricky but I like how they organize them in an easy to learn way. I enjoy learning the basic steps and then working my way up through the skill levels. It takes a couple runs through each dance for the choreography to feel natural, but once that happens I’m able to relax and feel the beat and have a lot of fun. I’m hoping for this to turn me into a confident dancer that graces the dance floor with my amazing moves. Or at least gives me the nerve to get out on the dance floor when a fast song plays.

I think the Kinect is a great game console to have for playing with friends and family. The extra exercise is added bonus!

I plan on checking out the Zumba game and get into some kind of regular dance workout routine right from the comfort of my living room. Does exercise get any better than that?

The stomach bug blues

My family has been passing along the stomach bug for about a week. It started with my brother-in-law, then my niece, then my sister, then my parents and other sister, and finally me. It's a nasty little thing and I don't think "bug" is a strong enough word to describe it. It's more like a monster.

I went to bed Tuesday night feeling great from a day off. I bought my e-reader, collected maple syrup, and had a good time with the neighbors. At 2:30am the following morning everything changed when I woke up in the middle of the night feeling absolutely miserable and losing everything that was in me. It was terrible.

But looking back on it there's something I will always cherish, and that is how my husband took care of me. He really hates it when I'm sick. He would do anything to fix me if he could. While I was up emptying the contents of my stomach, he was up reading about he could make me better. He would comfort me, talk with me and bring me whatever I needed. What a guy!

He even offered a little comic relief. During an, ahem, "episode", he met me in the bathroom with some Peptobismol, hoping it would settle the yuckies in my tummy. I didn't have my glasses on and I don't see very well without them but when he came real close to me I saw that he was wearing something very familiar to me. My pink, fluffy bathrobe!

In his haste to get me something to settle my stomach, he grabbed the closest thing to him and dashed down the stairs. It wasn't until later he realized what he had grabbed. The sweet, thoughtfulness of the gesture, as well as the amusement of seeing him in the pink robe, made my heart smile.

What more can a girl ask for than a husband who loves her and takes care of her? I am so blessed.

My Nook

I have wanted an e-reader for quite some time. The way I see it, it's an easy way to carry an entire library in your bag. And if you know where to find some great, free e-books, then the whole world is at your finger tips.

My husband gave me a choice for my birthday. He had some work points saved up that he could use to buy an item from his work's "store" and graciously offered to use all his points to get me what I wanted. The choices were an Xbox with the Kinect, an e-reader, or an iPad. And boy did I ever deliberate over this choice. All three have great things about them and I wanted each of them for different reasons.

I decided on the Xbox with the Kinect because I love that it's a game that requires you to use your whole body. When you sit at work all day and sit at home most of the evening, the body tends reject movement. A body at rest will stay at rest. I refuse to let this be lifestyle of me and my family so I wanted something fun that would get us moving around a bit. So we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Xbox so we can get our game on!

The real surprise came when my husband brought up the idea of me using some money I received from my birthday to buy the e-reader of my choice. So when we had our random Tuesday off of work, we went out shopping to check out the Kindle and the Nook. After some brief deliberation, I opted to buy the Nook.

So now I've got my little e-reader and I plan on spending many hours getting to know it. I love that it's so small, fits so nicely in my Vera bag, and can carry so many books at once! The only thing I would like even better is to have more Christian books available for free download. Now that would be a sweet deal.

A day off and maple syrup

Monday afternoon my husband texted me and said he had the next day off and hoped I could get it off too. Though it was incredibly last minute, I called my boss and he agreed that if I came to work in the morning to get a few things done then I could have the rest of the day off. That sounded like a great deal to me so I immediately accepted.

Tuesday morning I went to work and got caught up on all the important stuff, got a hair cut, and headed home. My husband was visiting with our neighbors, who farm the land around us and are some of the most wonderful people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, so I walked over to chat a while too.

They were in the process of boiling sap to make maple syrup. It's quite the long process and I truly appreciate all the time and energy poured into it. The sap gets collected into a big 350 gallon drum than pumped into a "washtub" where it then can drain into the evaporator in the appropriate amounts. The evaporator is fired by a wood stove underneath it that needs to continually be fed. It's a great, rewarding process, but one that requires a keen interest and a lot of patience.

My husband has taken a particular interest in how the whole process works so we like to spend time over there whenever we can. Tuesday evening we were able to go out and help collect the sap - which was awesome! If you love the outdoors and you love the natural exercise then you'd love collecting sap. I was surprised at how tired I actually was when we were all finished. There's just something about those buckets that beckons me to fill them to the top - even if it does make them a little too heavy for comfort.

So we are thoroughly enjoying our maple syrup and hope to experiment on new ways to use it. Some use it in their coffee and some use it place of sugar when baking. We plan on trying it all!