RAK

Hey friends and family,

I really love this idea of RAK (Random Acts of Kindness). It makes me sad that it has a name and is something we are trying to get people to do because we don't see it often. But I remember it being a normal part of life growing up. For example, taking some one's Herby back, or lending some flour to the neighbor.

So I would love for it to be a normal part of life again. This website is created by a church (not my church, I don't live in OH). It is giving you a RAK for each day this month. I encourage you to try to do as many as you can or make up your own!

I am so excited to be doing this. It's funny because the whole time I lived in Groton, I wanted to take our firefighters cookies, but for some reason I never found the time or always ate the cookies myself. But this month I'm getting back on track with my giving and will continue to throughout 2014 and the rest of my life.

Will you join Axis church and me?

http://christmasinvasion.org/

I love responses. You can comment right on my blog!

Merriment

A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones, (Proverbs 17:22, NKJV).

 

My devotion from Girlfriends in God talked about being merry today. It was saying how of all people those who follow Jesus should be filled with merriment! They gone on to discuss how God not only desires for us to be merry, but gives us a full life so that we can be merry. 

I could think of only one person while reading this devotion. My professor Dr. Babara Kennedy. She is filled with joy, happiness, and merriment even when teaching us. It isn't that fake kind of joy that many people force on themselves and pretend they are happy. She really is excited to be teaching us and helping us further our education. She loves what she does and shows us that in how merry she is. I haven't seen her outside of class, but I'm pretty sure she would exude merriment in any place you would meet her.

Challenge for today: Be merry in all you do. Glorify God in everything.

Here is an exert from today's devo:

 "Are you enjoying God? As you live and move and have your being in Him, is there a smile on your face and a skip in your step? Do you expect the rich adventurous faith-filled life that you read about in the Bible? Do you expect to experience God’s glory today? If not, perhaps you need to raise your expectations of what your relationship with Jesus can be.

Once we’ve tasted the sweetness of His fruit, to settle for anything less than the bountiful orchard of His blessings will always disappoint. Oh yes, there are heavy-laden branches filled with low hanging fruit just waiting to be picked. If only we would reach up high enough, raise our expectations, and pluck them from the tree."

Plans

Do you try to plan your life instead of letting God plan it? Sometimes I feel that we all have this problem. And right now I do. I had plans for my life, but since I've shared them, they have changed, I have waivered from wanting or not wanting the plans I've created. The most recent is when I want kids. Often I'll be around moms and I have this strong urge to be a mom, but also often I'm around those without kids and I want more of that. I want to enjoy time with Steve and have fun with others who are married yet don't have kids. The problem: all our married-without-kids friends are in other states or other parts of the world! Through this realization, I've gone to wanting kids right away, to never wanting kids, to not sure. In other words, I haven't been listening to what God's plans are for me!

So here is what I know: We want kids. I have a strong passion to be a head teacher for many years. I want to be a stay-at-home-mom when my kids are young. I hate subbing.

From that here are some questions I have: When will I teach again? When will I be a mom? Will I be able to stay at home? Will I even want to stay at home? When do I want kids?

Kids bring lots of amazing moments and joy to our lives. But I believe that it will happen with God's timing.  I have obviously been enjoying not being a mom. I have no idea when I actually want kids. I am selfish right now. I love that I can get a full nights' sleep or can go on a trip short notice. I love having my body. I love being free of the restrictions that children can bring. I know there will be a point when I can't wait to have those "restrictions" but I'm not sure when it will be.

The Lord has a plan, I just need to figure out what it is. I need to listen and wait. For now, I will continue enjoying being married to the most perfect-for-me man ever!

"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 (NIV)

I always love people to pray for me, so please feel free to do just that!

Idols in our Closets

My devotional this morning was so great I wanted to share it with you. I am currently using The Power of a Positive Wife devotional and journal on Monday Mornings. I love it!

The Key scripture for the day is 2 Kings 17:13-15 (NLT)

¹³ Again and again the Lord had sent his prophets and seers to warn both Israel and Judah: “Turn from all your evil ways. Obey my commands and decrees—the entire law that I commanded your ancestors to obey, and that I gave you through my servants the prophets.”

¹⁴ But the Israelites would not listen. They were as stubborn as their ancestors who had refused to believe in the Lord their God. ¹⁵ They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and they despised all his warnings. They worshiped worthless idols, so they became worthless themselves. They followed the example of the nations around them, disobeying the Lord’s command not to imitate them.

Arthur Wallis says, "An idol may be defined as any person or thing that has usurped in the heart the place of preeminence that belongs to the Lord."

Often you hear cast all your idols away or something of the sort and you hear how the Lord is in your heart, but I have never heard it in the way Arthur Wallis puts it.  He says that the idols take up the space in our hearts where the Lord is. If we have even one idol other than our Lord, there is less room for Jesus. I take things pretty literally and this time it works. I could immediately relate to this because I don't like tight spaces. If having idols makes a tighter space for the Lord, then by all means get them out! He deserves all the space, all the attention. In fact, we are blessed with His presence in our hearts. We belittle our blessing when we have those idols. 

I also believe that many people use the word "love" too often. You don't really love your shoes and if you do then shoes are one idol you have. Love is such a strong word to use, but most people forget. I know there are people who will only use the word "hate" very rarely. They believe it is a strong word with a lot of meaning. "Love" should be used in the same sense. I say all this because I feel that once you say you love something, it starts to take space in your heart. Now Jesus asks us to love one another, which we should. But this love comes from Jesus. If we truly love something than that love comes from God. We love it because he does. Our thoughts should be His.  

The book points out that "sometimes our idols aren't 'stuff' but things like security or orderliness or even ourselves. Husbands can become idols, too." This is so important to remember. Nothing can meet all our needs except God. 

Challenge: Ask God to help you become aware of your idols that take up the space in your heart meant for Jesus.

Reflection of Sermon

I really enjoyed today's sermon at church. We have been following Moses' life story and how God chose him. A man who was imperfect, had a speech impediment, and thought he was not good enough to help God. He was so determined to not do his job that he actually asked God to have Aaron speak for him.

Today's sermon focused more on his call to get God's people out of Egypt. The part of the sermon that stuck out to me was part 2, he always has 3 parts. :) Moses first had to become pure or "clean before doing the great liberating work of God." Meaning that "his character comes before his call." We all have to find balance between our character and calling. Look at who you are versus what you do. It is so important to have the character or the heart God intends for us to have. If we don't then we cannot perform the great works God has in store for us. He knows who we are and chooses each one of us to do His work in different ways. I think this is the most difficult thing for me. I see the things others are doing sometimes and think I really want to do that, I really need to be there or I should be doing that. When really I should be thinking what does God want me to do?

Often we forget to take a look at our lives, to see who we really are. I think it is important to do this every so often, kind of like a checkup. Sometimes this comes in the form of a spiritual retreat with a church group, a solitary day or weekend, or maybe just a daily devotion or sermon to wake you up and say "alright, it's time to look at who you are once again." Are you really who God wants you to be? Are you thinking like Jesus, or doing like Jesus? Or are you stuck in the mud, living a normal life, but forgetting that God has more for you in His plan? These are just some of my thoughts and I know that this sermon was definitely for me! :)