The Morning Mommy Challenge

      About a year ago, I read a blog post about this fantastic mamma. She was convicted to get up for her children, not get up to her children. I dreaded hearing the cries of my two year old waking me up, after I had a late night at work. I was beginning to resent my child....resent him for waking up.

     I had to change. I couldn't live a life where I was mad at my son for waking up. I knew that we would have more kids in our house, and my attitude and lifestyle was not going to cut it. Change was a' comin! I began waking up at 6:30. I would sip on some coffee, spend a few minutes with God through prayer and Bible Study, and get started on some work. Over the course of a year, I have gradually gotten up early. *GASP* Monday- Friday, my alarm goes off at 5:30am, and on the days where I am REALLY lucky Miss Chicky Baby wakes me up a 5am.
 
      I NEVER thought I would be the person to wake up so early, but I am realizing I need it. I crave my morning time with the Lord. If I am not filled by Him, how can I possibly give to my kids, to my community and to college students?  Once I hear "Mom!" from my preschoolers bedroom, I am ready to greet him with a big hug and kiss, telling him "Good Morning, I just spent some time praying for you my sweet boy! I am so glad you are awake. Let's do this day!"

 The Process:
1. Plan ahead. I lay things out that I will need the night before. (Bible Study tools, journal, planner, etc)
- Set up the coffee pot.
- Clean the house, so I don't wake up to a mess. Boy, how that can ruin a day quick.
-Go to bed on time. For real. I need a bed time. I need to stick to one! It's much easier to wake up when you are rested.
-Look at my planner? Do I need to do anything to plan for tomorrow?

2. Get out of bed.
-Hitting snooze feels so good, but you will be much more awake if you actually step out of bed. Sometimes I tell myself, "I am just going to walk to the bathroom and back to bed" Usually by the time I get to the bathroom, I am awake enough to go downstairs and turn on the coffee pot.

3. Time with the Lord 
-I spend time in Bible Study, prayer and journaling.

4. Check messages (Email and facebook) 

5. Look at my planner. What is on the agenda today? What do I need to prepare for? 

6. Shower. 
I would love for this to be the first thing I do, to wake me up, but I fear that it will also wake up my 4 year old. I wait to shower until I don't care whether or not he is awake (after 7am).

7. Work 
-If kids are still sleeping, I am able to get some work done. This may or may not happen each day:) The trials and joys of working from home.

The Challenge: This year of getting up early in the morning has been so refreshing and life changing for me. I want to invite all of you, even the non-mommies, or the mommies who don't have kids at home. Starting our day off right, makes a huge difference.

If you are interested in joining me, let me know. I'd love to create a facebook group for accountability and support. Looking forward to seeing more of my friends be changed by the Lord by spending time with Him in the morning hours:)

My prayer for you my baby.

Cute video right?  I mean, come on. Cute kid. Kid who loves to dance naked?

This video is so much more than "cute." I want it to be truth that is in instilled on the heart of my baby boy.

"For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks." Matthew 12:34 

My son, may you always speak words of wisdom and grace. May your tongue be slow and your ears be quick.

May you seek understanding before wanting to be understood.

May your words be filled with love.

May your lips speak the beauty of Christ.

May your speak scripture, because you have it memorized.

May your words be a treasure.

All because your heart, is passionately longing for the heart of Jesus.

Sticks and Stones

 Sticks and stones, may break my bones, 

 but words will never hurt me. 

 Whoever coined that phrase was either a coward or not honest with himself. 

So let's just gather in, take a step back and be honest. 

Words hurt. 

Sometimes more than sticks. Much more than sticks. 

I would be doing my son a huge disservice if I let him believe that. 

I don't want him to throw words around aimlessly, like a wrecking ball. 

Words that hurt. 

Words that scar. 

Words that cause wounds. 

I don't want him to cause unnecessary brokenness in relationships. 

I want him to be a man that thinks carefully before he speaks. ( A lesson that he could teach his hard headed, stubborn, opinionated mamma.) 

I want him to choose words that build others up, even when he wants to tear them down. 

Words that give people and dignity. 

Words that speak truth. 

Words that encourage. 

Words that heal. 

.... It's your heart, not the dictionary, that gives meaning to your words. A good person produces good deeds and words season after season..... 

 Words are powerful; take them seriously. Words can be your salvation. Words can also be your damnation.

Matthew 12:34-37 (The Message) 

Novemeber 2

IBS. No, not the bowel kind, the Bible kind.

Today I am very thankful for inductive Bible Study. I love learning the scriptures in a deep way.

I am part of InterVarsity, and by nature, we are scripture study-ers, studying scripture by manuscripting it. It is not uncommon for me to carry markers and colored pencils with me all the time, because I might just start studying the Bible, and would need markers and colored pencils.

The manuscript process...
1. Observe. What is the text saying? Act like a reporter, look for themes, repeated ideas and words, who are the characters, etc

2. Interpret. What did the text mean to the original audience?

3. Apply. What does the text mean to me today?

4. Integrate. How does this stand with the rest of scripture?

I am thankful that I have been taught how to study the Word of God. Though pastors and teachers are good, and needed, I don't need to wait until Sunday morning to learn on my own. I know that God has given me a brain and I can use it to study His word well. I am so grateful for that.

I am grateful that I get to teach students how to study the word. I am even grateful that I might be able to do more teaching of the Word at church (maybe).

Thank you Lord, for the study of Your word!

90 Day Challenge

"So, are you going to get a maid, and a cook?"

Normally that response from my husband would make my skin rise with feminist ideas, but not today. It is like a challenge..... I am shouting in my head, "Watch me." I will do this. Just watch me.

Maybe not the best attitude, but something to jump into. Sometimes you have to do that right?

I am jumping into the Read the Bible Through in 90 Days Challenge. Wow. Time Commitment for sure. I am excited to practice discipline, to grow in God's word and to prove my husband wrong:)

I know it will take discipline.....which I need all around right now. I also know that I have been yearning and wanting more of God's word. I have been spending about the same amount of time required to be with the Lord during the day anyway, this will just be a lot more reading. I am excited. Feeling overwhelmed, but so excited.

So....who is with me? I want to do this with other people. I want to do this in community, but not break any of my other friends Bible reading plans....so, who's in?

Snapshot and Scripture #1

Not here.

When one part of the body is broken we all are.  We may not know the details, but we know that something is wrong, that something is not working as it sure. 

At first, it is hard to recognize it. We don't call it for what it is. We call it "brokenness." And it is. It is so broken. Sooner or later, we need to come from behind the facade of brokenness and call it for what it truly is.  

Sin. 

Ouch. The politically incorrect word. The word we must avoid. 

And yet, when we avoid it, it gets deeper and deeper. What once started off as something attractive, is now becoming destructive and rearing its ugly head. 

Take this piano for instance. In its hay day, it was used to lead others in musical worship on Sunday mornings. It was a tool that led people into God's presence. It was valuable.

As time passes, the piano gets left behind. It is no longer tuned regularly, or taken care of properly. It can no longer serve the purposes for what it was created to do.

Much like our sin. Once it gets a foothold in our lives, it takes root. It holds on and begins controlling us and making us do things that are against God's word. We do thing that are not glorifying to God and will in the end hurt us and our relationships.




l

Before we know it, the sin is getting bigger and bigger. It is becoming blatant and obvious to everyone around us. Sometimes we recognize is and sometimes it takes the words, observations and careful reflections of those who speak truth. Either way if we don't stop it, it start to control us rampantly. It is no longer just an ugly part of our life that is not bringing glory to God, but the ugly part is ruling our attitudes, thoughts and actions. 

The gasoline has been poured. 

The match has been lit. 

Once the match is lit, everything catches fire,quickly. Even the parts that are not on fire are being affected. The wind blows, the air is filled with smoke, people are coughing, things are covered in soot. They may not even know where it all came from, or the cause of the fire, but they are surely being influenced by it. The fire cannot go unnoticed.

Before you know it, sin has overtaken, and we can no longer be what we were created to be.

We have been walking through some junk with some people. We have see sin take hold in lives and bring ruin.

Today, I became aware of  my own incredible, nasty, destructive sin. It doesn't look quite as ugly as a burning piano, but I know how quick of a leap this can be. Lord, stop it now! May my life bring You glory. I don't want to walk in disobedience.

When I see the sin creep up in my life, I want to stomp it out and walk away from it. I will shout from the roof tops...NO MORE, NOT HERE.   I will do battle on my knees.

A response to bin Laden

Pumping our fists in victory or celebrating in the streets is probably not the best Christian response to anyone’s death, even the death of a dangerous and violent enemy. The world can be relieved that a leader as evil as Bin Laden can no longer plot the death of innocents. We can be grateful that his cynical manipulation and distortion of Islam into a message of division and hate is finally ended. Even if we sharply dissented from the moral logic or wisdom of the failed wars in Iraq and Afghanistan of the last decade, we can be glad that a mass murderer has been stopped and brought to justice. And we can be hopeful that the face of the Arab world might now become the young nonviolent activists for democracy rather than a self-righteous smirk of a self-promoting video character who tells us he is going to kill our children if we don’t submit to his hateful agenda.

But the book of Proverbs clearly warns us to “not rejoice when your enemies fall.” And, in the hardest words of the gospel, Jesus tells us to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Neither of those texts have been very popular pulpit texts during the years since 9/11. So as people of faith, we don’t celebrate the death of other human beings, regardless of how twisted or evil they have become. See the rest here. 

I could not have said it better Jim Wallis, I could not have said it better. 

The Memorization Challenge!

Over time I have come to love God's word. Really love it. I crave it, and want it to be a part of my life. It has helped me to grow in my faith, to grow in my love and my knowledge for God. 

This year, I have committed to memorizing the longest chapter in the Bible, Psalm 119. 

Will you join me? Together we can memorize the word of God together and draw near to Him. 

Pick a passage (one that is challenging in length, yet one that is attainable). 

Ask someone to keep you accountable 

Start Memorizing 

Let me know what you are choosing to memorize this year!!! 

My Memorization Method! 

1. Read the verse out loud 10x. 

2. Say the verse out loud 10x, looking at the verse if you need to  

3.Meditate, journal on and pray through the verse.

4. The next day, repeat the verse 10x 

5. Start the cycle over with the next verse. 

Good luck friends!

 

Did you know?

That born-again Christians spend 7 more hours a week in front of the television or computer screen more than they do in Bible reading or prayer?

Wow.

No wonder we don't look like the Jesus we claim to follow. We will never look like Him if we don't know Him and we can never know Him if we don't spend time in His word and communing in prayer.

It is time for me to turn off this screen and enter into the presence of the Lord.

Peace out.

Today, I started studying this.