Sunday Scripture

And now I ask you, dear lady-not as thought I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning-that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.

2 John 5,6

Sunday Scripture

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Romans 12:9-13

Sunday Scripture

But the wisdom from above is first pure,

then peaceable, gentle, open to reason,

full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere

James 3:17

He Will Be My Refuge

I've been reading The Gentle Ways of the Beautiful Woman by Anne Ortlund which is a compilation of three of her bestselling books: Disciplines of the Beautiful Woman, Disciplines of the Heart, and Disciplines of the Home. I am only a few chapters into it, but I am already finding it so inspiring!

I love this passage:

If you have made God your highest priority of all, he is
there. You are learning to abide in him, and he in you. there is
calm, there is peace. He is your refuge, to which you continually run. He
is organization, and living in him you sense control and plan. He is
spirit--your living and breathing, your laughter and tears--and all of it becomes holy because his spirit is
holy. Wonderful! Alleluia!

If this is true, your mental and emotional life should
reflect his presence, whether there's nobody around but you, or kids everywhere:
"Whatever is true,...honorable,...right,...pure,...lovely,...of good repute (or
attractive),...let your mind dwell on these things" (Phil. 4:8). (Yes, God says this even to
mothers, and he never asks anything of you that he doesn't also give all the
ability necessary to carry out.)

And also, if this is true (that God is at your life's center)
then your immediate surroundings ought also to reflect him. Your immediate
surroundings--your drawers and closets, your bedside table, your desk--are the
filmiest clothing of your most personal, private life. Even if you have
ten children, those areas should be yours alone, and they should reflect the
order and peace of your inner life with God.

This is so convicting to me. If my immediate surroundings are the clothing of my most personal, private life, then my personal, private life is chaotic! I obviously have not been abiding in God like I should. But I can take heart because when I abide in Him, He will give me the ability to carry it out. He will replace the chaos in my heart with calm and with peace. He will be my refuge. And then my surroundings will be calm and peaceful as a reflection of what (and Who) is in my heart!

Sunday Scripture

Blessed is the one who finds wisdom,

and the one who gets understanding,

for the gain from her is better than gain from silver

and her profit better than gold.

Proverbs 3:13, 14

Sunday Scripture

Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

Titus 2:3-5

I Have A Plan

Do you have a plan when you read your Bible? Recently in my Bible reading I have been trying to have a more cohesive plan.

Previously when I read my bible I would first wipe the dust off, (I used to be very sporadic in my devotions... and I don't like to dust) and read randomly with no rhyme or reason to my choice. Or, I would pick up a devotional and read whatever that author had to say about the Bible.

The problem with these two methods is:

1. In order to learn what God is saying in His word, we need to be reading it in an ordered and disciplined way.
2. In order to learn what God is saying in His word, we need to be reading His word, not another persons interpretation of His word. (I'm not saying that reading devotionals is wrong, I have several that I love and appreciate, I am just saying that it should not be our main focus during our devotional time.)

So, lately I have begun reading my Bible with a plan.

For my daily reading I begin with reading a chapter in Psalms. I have worked my way through the Psalms several times, and sometimes I will pause to pray through the Psalm if I find that chapter speaking to a specific need or situation in my life.

Next I read the chapter in Proverbs that corresponds to today's date. This way you will be reading through the book of Proverbs every month.

Then I move on to a chapter in the Old Testament. Previously I had never really read much of the Old Testament, so I'm making my way through that too. Currently I'm in 2 Kings.

And finally I read a portion of the New Testament. My plan is to read through the same New Testament book every day for a month (or a section of chapters if the book happens to be long.)
Last month I read through 1 John, and this month I am reading through Titus. By the end of each month, I will have a greater understanding of what God is saying in that book.

So, there it is, my bible reading plan. I have found that I am getting so much more out of God's Word when I stick to my plan!

Do you have a specific plan when you are reading? If you do, please leave a comment and share!

Sunday Scripture

I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up

and have not let my foes rejoice over me

O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,

and you have healed me.

O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol;

you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.

Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints,

and give thanks to His holy name.

For His anger is but for a moment,

and His favor is for a lifetime.

Weeping may tarry for the night,

but joy comes with the morning.

As for me, I said in my prosperity,

"I shall never be moved."

By your favor, O Lord,

you made my mountain stand strong;

you hid your face;

I was dismayed.

To you, O Lord, I cry,

and to the Lord I plead for mercy:

"What profit is there in my death,

if I go down to the pit:

Will the dust praise you?

Will it tell of your faithfulness?

Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me!

O Lord, be my helper!"

You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;

you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,

that my glory may sin your praise and not be silent.

O Lord my God I will give thanks to you forever!

Psalm 30

Please Pray

Please be praying for those people here in the Midwest who have been affected by the devastating floods.

Our family has not been directly impacted by these floods, but many people in our community are suffering. The amount of flooding around our rivers and lakes is so astonishing I've never seen anything like it. Many homes, businesses, and farmlands are flooded

Thank you.

Sunday Scripture

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil, for you are with me;

your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Psalm 23

My Summer Schedule.

When the kids were in school I was very good about getting up at 5:00am, doing my devotions, and making the family breakfast. But since school has been out, I have been waking up when my husband gets up to go to work (around 6:30.) I go down to the kitchen to make Peter's breakfast, and watch the news with him. Then I check my email, update my pod casts, and end up reading a lot of blogs, and maybe writing a post on my own blog ;). By then Spencer is usually up so I feed him breakfast. By now it's after 9:00am and I haven't done my devotions, showered, or even eaten breakfast, and the kitchen is already a mess.

It's not the best start to my day. I end up feeling behind the whole rest of the day!

So, I am instituting a new Summer Schedule for myself. I am not planning on waking up at 5:00am this summer, (I'll start that again in September) but I am going to get up at 6:00am.

Here is what my new Summer Schedule looks like:

9:00pm - (the night before) Program coffee pot to start at 5:50am. VERY IMPORTANT!


6:00 - Wake up
Pour myself first cup of coffee
Spend time reading Bible and praying

6:45 - Make Peter and myself breakfast
Spend a few minutes with Peter before he leaves for work

7:00 - Put away dry dishes from the previous night
load dishwasher

7:15 - Exercise

7:45 - Shower and get dressed

8:15 - Do daily chores

9:00 - Computer time.

I am thinking that this will be a much better start to my day, and I will be much more productive. (Don't worry, Spencer will still be fed breakfast when he wakes up, the older kids usually make their own breakfast in the summer) I am leaving the rest of my day open because I don't want to over schedule myself when the kids are home.

Now it's your turn! Do you change your schedule for the summer? If so, leave me a comment and tell me what works for you! :)

It's Gonna Be Quiet At Our House!

I haven't been posting much lately, mostly because I haven't had much to say. I've really got to bet better at this whole blogging thing.

Anyway, tomorrow Andrew and Kristen are going away for nine days. Our local Campus Life group puts together a production each year where the kids sing and do skits and give a wonderful presentation of the Gospel. They then go on a tour of different churches.

It just hit me today that they're really going tomorrow and how much I'm going to miss them! It's going to be very quiet around here until they get back.

Please keep them in your prayers, that they will have a safe and fruitful trip.

Thank you!

Mindy

Sunday Scripture

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. the reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.

I John 3:1

Sunday Scripture

If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

1 John 1:6-10

Sunday Scripture

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Galatians 2:20

Sunday Scripture

By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established;

by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.

Proberbs 24: 3,4

Early Riser

Since reading this book several months ago, I have been getting up at 5am each weekday to do my devotions. I can't say it's been easy, especially the first month or so. Having a coffee maker with a timer has helped a lot.

Other than the obvious benefit of having a committed time to read my bible and pray each day, there have been additional changes in my life due to this habit.

I have become an early riser.

This morning I awoke to the sun shining through the windows and the birds singing and I thought to myself "wow, I must have slept in really late this morning," only to look at the clock and realize it was 6:06am.

And I was wide awake.

On a Saturday.

I don't mind becoming a morning person, it's actually kind of nice having an early start to the day.

The only real downside to rising early is that I am now absolutely exhausted at 9pm each night.

Sunday Scripture

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22, 23

The Best Gift Ever

I had a wonderful Mother's day, my husband and kids made the day so special!

I've been looking forward to this Mother's Day for a long time. That's because S is in third grade this year and third graders at S's school make a special gift for their moms each year. They make a book where they write all about mom from A to Z .

This year I received my book from S, thus completing my set of Mother's Day books from my four kids. Here's a few excerpts from S's book:

It is "X-tra Speacial" It's sad but true. I invent nothing.

You know I'm a good mom 'cause I never punch....

Or kick.

I do expect him after school... but only sometimes?

He did make note of the most important things:


I couldn't have asked for a better Mother's Day.

Sunday Scripture

Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord! Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the Lord! May the Lord bless you from Zion, he who made heaven and earth!

Psalm 134