Winter Colds

My husband almost never gets sick. I can't remember the last time that he stayed home from work because he was not feeling well. This weekend the poor guy was hit hard. Fever, chills, sick stomach, the whole bit. He is the type of man who is not happy unless he has ten projects going at once. This weekend was extremely hard for him because he was unable to do anything but rest on the couch under a blanket.

On Thursday, our oldest daughter was sick. I got a phone call to go pick her up at school because she wasn't feeling well. When we got home I gave her some tylenol, made some soup, and put her to bed. By that evening she was back to her normal, cheerful self again.

All of this just made me start to think about how it sometimes takes an act of God to make us slow down and rest. With our busy schedules, my husband and I hardly take any downtime. If we aren't working, we're going to church, taking the kids to a function, or trying to cram in financial discussions between the children going to bed and us finally passing out for the night. It seems like we never slow down enough to enjoy just spending time with each other.

Yesterday afternoon, with my husband wrapped up in a blanket and drinking cold water for the fever, I settled in beside him on the couch. Our daughters came and curled up close and we all watched a full two hour movie sitting together. I thoroughly enjoyed that time. There was no hurry to answer phone calls, no rush to get one last page edited, and no rushing off to respond to an emergency on my husband's part. There was just the five us, wrapped under blankets, watching a movie and enjoying some quiet, quality time.

I want more weekends like that, without the sick part of course!

No More Being a Hermit!

So I have a nasty habit of cocooning myself in myself and not wanting to venture out. I find myself spending days just hanging out in my sweatpants and working on my computer. Last night we had some friends over. It was the first time in a few months that we have had anyone over just to hang out and play games. It was so much fun! They have children about the same age as ours so all of the kids were playing together which gave us parents some much needed adult time.
We spent a few hours eating pizza, cookies, and playing Yhatzee. I really enjoyed having a conversation with someone that did not revolve around pink tutus and imaginary friends. When our friends left my husband and I smiled at each other. We had both truly enjoyed the evening. As I headed to bed I started to think about God's design for us. He did not create us to live our lives in a vacuum. He wants us to interact with other Christians and to experience fellowship with them. A very important part of our Christian walk is to establish relationships with other Christians and to allow them to hold us accountable to our own walk with God.
As our friends left the house last night we decided that we would spend more evenings together. I am excited to spend more time with people who will help me to break out of my comfort zone and develop truly Christ centered friendships.

Following the Way That Seems Right

"There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." (Proverbs 14:12)

Sometimes in this world it is easy to just go along with what we think is the right thing to do. I have learned in the last year that it is best to stop and pray before making any big decisions, probably any little ones too. It says in Proverbs 16:9 "In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." We might have ideas about where we want to go and what we want to do, but it is the Lord who will determine if those things will occur.

Last March we decided that we wanted to move to Cody, Wyoming. We made plans and plunged forward, but all of our plans fell apart. It was only after we stopped and sought God's guidance that we actually found our way to Cody. We discovered a lot about the strength of faith in that time of our lives.

Now we are faced with a life decision again. Do we take a job opportunity that might make us move again, or do we stay here in Cody, where we have come to love. Before we even begin to consider this decision we will seek God's guidance. Only with his direction will any move that we make be successful.

Controlling Sinful Desires

"Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature." (Romans 13:14)

Do you ever find yourself thinking sinful thoughts? I have been struggling with my thoughts. I have made a decision in my heart to follow God and to obey all of his commands. There are days though, when my mind wants to go a different direction. In the last few months I have found myself considering ending my marriage. I know that the Lord does not approve of divorce. I allowed my thoughts to enter the realm of sin by considering seeking a divorce. I was trying to gratify the desires of my sinful nature rather than following God.

After spending much time in prayer and reading my Bible, I realized that no amount of rationalization could make it all right to end my marriage. I chose to clothe myself with the Lord Jesus Christ. Rather than thinking about how to gratify my sinful desires I am focusing on how to honor God. And as I choose to follow God's commands for my relationship with my husband, I am seeing my thoughts come under God's control as well. I am finding myself thinking of ways to bless my husband and to show him the love of Christ.

My life goes much smoother when I am controling my thoughts in ways that are in honoring to God rather than seeking to satisfy my own sinful desires.

Reining In Your Thoughts

In Kay Arthur's book Lord, Give Me a Heart for You she says "... when it comes to a path, a direction, a conviction that's contrary to God and His Word, you cannot compromise your relationship with God under any circumstances."

I struggle with this the most in my thought life. I find myself thinking about ungodly things and desiring to fill my life with material possessions rather than the treasures found in God's kingdom. I am meditating on this verse: Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things."

I live in Wyoming and am surrounded by God's miraculous beauty. All around me are things to praise the Lord for, from majestic mountains to peaceful wildlife. I often get so busy trying to keep up with my busy life that I just zoom around and take no time to enjoy the beautiful things around me. I will find myself thinking about what things I want to aquire, new activities to do, and my to do list. While these things are not in themselves ungodly, allowing them to come between me and my relationship with God is.

I am not going to allow worldly thoughts to compromise my relationship with God. I am going to meditate on my verse from Philippians and allow that to consume my thoughts. I will take time to notice the beauty around me and appreciate the amazing place that God has chosen for my home. I will deny any desires that are contrary to God's word and instead focus my energy on glorifying him in all that I do and think.

Give Me A Heart For You, Lord

This is my prayer today. As I enter my day in the world I want my heart to reflect God at all times. I want my thoughts, actions, and prayers to be truly honest and rhiteous. The Bible says that none of us are rhiteous, not even one. The only way that I can be rhiteous is through the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. I talked to my daughters about this last night. We talked about how the only way to get to heaven is to believe that Jesus died for us and that is how we can get to God. I am constantly amazed by the hearts of young children. My oldest, 7, told me that she loves Jesus more than anyone else because he loves her. My little ones, 4, said that God loves them and that when they read the Bible and pray every day the grow, grow, grow!

I want to grow, grow, grow. I want to read my Bible and pray every day. I want a heart for God!

Dear Lord, please be with me today, help me to live my life with your son living through me. I want to be a completely commited Christ follower and I want the people around me to see that in my actions. I love you God. I am humbled and eternally grateful for the awesome sacrifice you made for me in your son, Jesus Christ. I am still a sinner Lord. Every day I sin. Please forgive me. Work in my heart, clean out all of the dark corners and make them shine for you. Through your wonderful son, Jesus, amen.

Good Morning, Lord

I heard it said once that there are two ways to greet the day: Either, good lord, it's morning or Good Morning, Lord. I have made it my goal to greet each day with Good Morning, Lord. So, how do I do that when my natural inclination is to grown and crawl back under my covers? My Bible sits right next to my bed and the temptation to ignore it in the morning and just jump into my day is sometimes impossible to resist. When I don't start the morning with God, then I notice my mood is darker, I am easily irritated by my daughters and I just plain don't have a good day.

So, my new goal: to greet every day with time in the Bible. I usually end my day with Bible study, but now I want to begin my day that way as well. With three busy daughters and a husband as well as myself to get off to work in the morning, this is going to be a daunting task. I know I can do it! I know my relationship with the Lord will grow and I will experience his blessings in my life in ways that I have yet to see.

Good morning, Lord. I am ready for a new day!