Monthly Archives: January 2010

Speak Without Words

This week I attended a woman’s Bible study at my church. It wasn’t my regular study group. I was surrounded by new faces. Each one took their turn sharing their prayer request and slowly they made their way to the young lady sitting beside me. She was an adorable mother of two, all smiles and sweetness. But, the moment she opened her mouth her voice cracked and her eyes misted over. “Could you please pray for my marriage?” She asked. “With our newest little one, I am finding no time for my husband. And quite frankly, I don’t want any time with him.

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“I Know That”

I hear that often from my 4 year old. If, in the course of a conversation, I happen to share a tidbit of knowledge that he’s heard before, I get a teen-sounding, eye-rolling, “I KNOW that!” Frankly, after the first time (where it was surprising and amusing), I find it more than a little annoying.

They say we’re most annoyed by traits in others that we also possess. I’m sure that over the course of my life various people have considered me a ‘know-it-all.’ They might not have said it out loud, but considering my own motives at various times, it must have been thought.

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Chasing Birds

Come near to God and he will come near to you. James 4:8 NIV

“Come back here!” I scolded my son as he darted across the Wal-mart parking lot.

“But, Mommy I almost caught one,” he told me, referring to the tiny birds always found hopping between the cars looking for cast-off French fries and other tasty morsels. I watched as my seven-year-old crept closer and closer to the bird standing next to our oil covered wheels.

Step. Step. Step.

“Aww, man.” He wasn’t fast enough. The bird darted away in search of a safer place to glean.

Do you ever feel like my son?

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What God Wants

Israel, what does the Lord your God want you to do? He wants you to fear Him, follow all His directions, love Him, and worship Him with all your heart and with all your soul. The Lord wants you to obey His commands and laws that I’m giving you today for your own good. Deauteronomy 10:12-13 (GW)

Have you ever wondered, what does God want from me? He doesn’t need anything. What does He want?

The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever— Psalm 138:8

The Life Application Bible Notes for Deuteronomy 10:12-13 read as follows:
Often we ask, “What does God expect of me?”

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Grace is…

Grace…
is the unexplainable hope
that washes away
the accusing whispers that dance in the darkness
and hide behind the mirror
and say, “You need to be thinner
and thinner
and thinner.”

Grace…
is the light that calls you
toward something so good that you’re scared to trust it.
You might even ignore it at first,
thinking it’s not for you.
Instead,
you try to get better
and fix things on your own.
You try to be strong.
Confident.
Perfect.

But hours of 3:00 a.m. sit-ups,
calorie counting,
dieting,
scrutinizing,
and hiding,
will make a person fall.

Yet Grace…
is the mighty hand that will catch you
and promise you
that you don’t have to be
perfect.

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Worship Anyway

A while back, I read Joyce Meyer’s book The Battle Belongs to the Lord. It was a great little book and a quick read about overcoming life’s struggles through worship. What I took away from it is I need to worship God not because of what He does for me, but for who He is!

Joyce sites men and women of God in the Old and New Testament who worshiped God first before facing the enemy. Gideon, Elijah, Paul, Jesus to name a few. All worshiped God despite their circumstances, and God moved!

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.

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Wii Fit Faith

The only gift I asked for this Christmas was Wii Fit. One of my goals for 2010 is to incorporate more activity and exercise into my daily schedule. I asked for Wii Fit hoping that I could make exercise fun, knowing that if I think it’s fun, I am more likely to stick with it.

I took some time this past weekend to get it set up and give it a try. Two of the aerobics activities I liked were stepping and “running.” (I used quotes because it is much better described as jogging in place.) I thought it was fun!

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Who Me?

I was reading through Exodus recently, reading the account of Moses and the burning bush. Here is Moses, once an Egyptian Prince, now an outcast shepherd. He’s taking care of the sheep on an ordinary day when something very extraordinary happens. He sees a bush burning, but it never burns up. A voice- it is God speaking to him out of the bush! Not only does God speak, He gives signs: a rod that turns into a snake, a hand with leprosy restored. And then Moses receives a call, an instruction, to go to Pharaoh. God promises that He is going to deliver Moses’s people who have been in slavery all these years!

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