When our children were at home I would often awaken them by singing, “Rise and Shine and Give God the Glory!” We even had actions that went with it, although it was often hard to get them to join in first thing in the morning. LOL
Isaiah 60:1 reads: “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.
How has “rising and shining” been going for you? It’s hard to arise shining in the middle of January. It’s dark and cold, and here in our part of the world most days are covered with clouds.
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As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife. Proverbs 26:21 NIV
“I can’t find the thing,” I spat into the phone.
“Which thing?” my husband questioned me.
“The thing. The thing! The thing that tightens the car seat!” My patience thin, I shouted into the phone while my husband tried to explain how to install my daughter’s car seat.
I hunched in the back of the van, stepping on toys and castaway cereal, heat dripping down my face, trying for the life of me to find the magical tightening strap for baby Grace’s seat.
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WHAT? How come I put the peanut butter on first?
This morning, as I was making my son, Brennan, a sandwich, he looked up at me and asked me the peanut butter order question. As I stood there with a knife loaded with peanut butter, I didn’t know what to say. I had never thought about why I put the peanut butter on before the jelly. I’ve just always done it that way.
So I told him that I didn’t know and that’s the way I always do it.
His response? “Maybe you could try to do the jelly first sometime?”
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As I’ve sat and reflected on the coming New Year, there are a few goals I would like to accomplish. I have always been one to make resolutions — a resolution to lose weight, spend more time with my family, be more organized, simplify, eat better, sleep more, and be more patient and loving. But as each year has come and gone, I have found that, for the most part, my resolutions remained unmet, and I was left confused, angry at myself, and unmotivated to continue the journey.
I have always been an “all-or-nothing” person. And when I fall short, I can tend to be hard on myself.
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I remember the first Christmas without my father. I was only eighteen, my brother only fifteen. We were no longer small children busting at the seams with dreams of Santa and tiny reindeer, but we were still children. Ones with a newly widowed mother.
I do not remember any of the gifts I got that year. I do not remember lights or tinsel or Christmas carols. But I do remember how gaping and obvious my father’s absence felt. I remember a feeling of fumbling through the holidays, an unsteadiness that made all of life seem off kilter. I remember packing up and going to stay with friends because we could not face Christmas morning at home.
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This past Sunday while I sat in church there were many great challenges and ideas thrown out that day. My hand was furiously writing as I tried to keep up with all the notes that I wanted to put down on paper as the pastor was preaching. Notes were lining the edges of bulletin and I loved it. In the midst of these great insights and ideas there were three little words that pierced right to my heart.
Reclaim your commute.
It sounds simple enough, but what does that really look like?
If you are like me, you like to multi-task and the commute is the perfect time to get phone calls made or even just chill out to some great music.
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We can so easily get caught up in the hustle and bustle of preparing for parties and presents at this time of the year that we forget to prepare our hearts for the arrival of our Savior. In my dear husband’s message this past Sunday, he shared four ways we can prepare spiritually with eager anticipation.
We know how to bake, shop, wrap, and celebrate, but how do we prepare our hearts for the celebration of our Savior’s birth?
1. Live in humble repentance – Most of us like to believe that we are basically pretty good people. We look around at other people and determine that we’re “not so bad.”
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This last week has slipped away from me. The days race by…faster and faster and faster. As hard as I try to utilize every moment of time, I still find myself short, wishing for just a little more time to cram everything in.
What is it about time? How can I need more time? The Lord gives us 24 hours of time every day. Not a minute more, not a minute less. And yet, here I am, frazzled and yearning for more time to complete everything.
Strength and dignity are her clothing,
and she laughs at the time to come.
Proverbs 31:25 (NIV)
Laughs at the time to come?
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