Monthly Archives: October 2010

O Taste And See!

I have been reflecting on God’s goodness over the past couple of months. There are so many ways that He has blessed, encouraged, brought healing, provision, strength, hope and joy to my life. In all of these areas, I have seen His immeasurable goodness towards me and I am so grateful.

Over the last couple of days I have been meditating on this Psalm:

Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. (Psalm 34:8 NIV)

I don’t just want to SEE the goodness of the Lord, but I want to TASTE it!

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Puddles

Our children are in the process of potty-training our two and a half year old grandson. He is a willing and happy learner, but he is definitely still in a work in progress. A few weeks ago they shared the following story with me:

“Your grandson is trying, but lately when he misses his potty chair and leaves a little puddle on the floor, he goes and finds Zoe. (Their new puppy, who is still little enough for a two and a half year old boy to carry and is still in training herself).

JJ carries Zoe to the puddle, puts her nose by it, and scolds her.

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Lifestyle Ministry

I have recently been reading a book- Broken Down House by Paul Tripp- which has made me rethink my views of some things. One of things the book has made me rethink is my view of ministry.

Often, I see ministry as what I do at church. I work in the nursery once a month. I teach a Sunday School class. I help in AWANA. I am involved in ministry. But Tripp challenges us in the book to think of ministry as our lifestyle. Ministry shouldn’t be what I do on the side. My life should be my ministry.

When I am frustrated with my husband, remember, my marriage is my ministry.

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God is in the Detours

The mind of man plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.
Psalm 16:9

I got lost on the way to church last week.

It wasn’t the church we usually attend; my husband has been filling in there for several weeks, but I hadn’t been before. The church is several towns away in a community I’ve never explored. Dean needed to leave earlier than the boys and I, so I printed off the map and headed west.

Apparently, Google didn’t know about the off-ramp construction. And I didn’t know that the exit signs I needed were boarded over. So one wrong turn led to another before I found a way to plug in the Garmin and get directions that didn’t include the freeway off-ramps.

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Unclean

Lately my mind and my “to do list” have been focused on clean, clean, clean. You see, my house could use a good cleaning from top to bottom. Especially before we drag out all of the Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations and bring in a whole new lot of toys, games and clothes. Since both kids have birthdays near the end of the year and Christmas presents will be coming in soon, it can get to be a bit overwhelming. That’s why it especially struck me when twice this week, once in chapel at school with my kids and then at church, I heard the story of the leper Christ healed.

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Worry to Praise…

Several weeks ago, my husband challenged me to change my thinking. He suggested that whenever I get worried about something, instead of sitting in fear, I turn my worry into thanks.

For example, if I was worried about finances, I would recognize the worry and then thank God for providing for our family and for His abundance.

I fought doing this.

Like crazy.

I wanted to sit in my worry — because I knew all the answers, right? Slowly, I found that instead of trusting I was becoming a bit pessimistic. And this, my friends, goes against my nature. So Todd, my husband, asked me again to praise whenever I was fearful.

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His Love Endures Forever

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His loves endures forever. Psalm 136:1

Each of the twenty six verses in Psalm 136 ends with the words, “His love endures forever.” It’s hard to wrap our brains around forever. The dictionary defines forever as: through eternity. Always! 

What things can you think of that last forever?

I went looking for quotes on the topic of “forever” and discovered yet again why it’s hard for us to understand this word. 

  • “Everything is temporary. Everything is bound to end.” ~Keren Ann
  • “This too shall pass.” ~Author Unknown
  • “This is just a phase.”

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Living in Community

Hebrews 10:24and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds,
25not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

These are verses we often hear discussed within the context of telling us we should not miss church on Sundays. I’ve been reading a book- Broken Down House– by Paul Tripp, and one of the things he discusses in the book that has really made me think is this idea of living in Christian community. He suggests that living in community is much more than just meeting at church for an hour on Sunday.

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