Tuesday, May 24, 2011

undoing busyness

baaaaahhhhh!!!!

I'm so thankful I'm not unraveling...yet. Back in January when my sister asked me to be Matron of Honour for her, I accepted. I didn't tell her, but I was kinda scared. I'd done lots of bridal party duties before, but now I had a husband and a child! I said then that I was going to prioritize.
1. God
2. Husband
3. Caden
4. Other responsibilities including Maid duties

And, I did well...until crunch time. Yes, I coasted through til April. At the end of April, I knew it was gonna start getting busier, with showers and more and more helping, my duties were piling up, the things I'd been asked to do for her, some big jobs I hadn't even started. I knew May would be busy. Now here we are closing out May.

So in this last week I've been seeing a lack of intimacy/closeness with my husband over May. Enter: busyness. Busyness is an intimacy killer. We had a good chat about it and its me that needs to change - address it and change it. Definitely pray about it. So, yes I know we're still not at the wedding (less than 2 weeks to go), but I'm glad I know what to watch for and if you're praying, can you please pray that God can help me prioritize like I listed, like He wants me to? I'm a bad time manager, prioritizer, so I know the days I pray for TM and Priority help, I notice such a difference.


I am very excited for the BIG day! Despite those "worries", I'm there, its so close, its very exciting. We've had all the showers, which were great, my sister agrees - they were blessed like MAD! She already has her dress at home, oh so much is in place. OK, I should go write a list of my to-do's.
Thanks blog readers!
XO

Thursday, May 19, 2011

education


This popped into my inbox this morning, funny! Funny because teaching Caden has been on my mind over the last while...I want to find the balance between teaching him, giving him the education he needs, but also understanding ultimately we don't need to worry about it so much, but hand it over to God. God knew him before he was born and the plans for him, so ultimately I, or we, pray that Caden would be led by God as he matures into a young man and pursue God's plans for him, because I know those plans WILL be so much greater than what our minds can comprehend, we can't see the whole picture, God can, so how can His plan not be so much greater?


Knowledge v. Wisdom

1 Cor 1:20-21: "Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe" (NASU).

The education of our children can be an all-consuming passion. We struggle to get them into the right schools, starting with pre-school and continuing through graduate school, but we must keep in mind that a great education does not guarantee success in God's eyes. Many of today's schools, particularly colleges, consider the message of the cross "foolish". To them it is a sign of weakness, disgrace and low standing. As parents, we must balance that message with the truth that the world's wisdom does not save. The greatest secular education misses the point - only the cross can save.

Wisdom is available when we seek God. When we concentrate our efforts on teaching the value of an eternal perspective, we can worry a little less about the world's view of where wisdom can be found. - Parentingbydesign.com

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Spiritual Blindness

Spiritual Blindness - John 9
35 When Jesus heard what had happened, he found the man and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

36 The man answered, “Who is he, sir? I want to believe in him.”

37 “You have seen him,” Jesus said, “and he is speaking to you!”

38 “Yes, Lord, I believe!” the man said. And he worshiped Jesus.

39 Then Jesus told him, “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.”

40 Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard him and asked, “Are you saying we’re blind?”

41 “If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty,” Jesus replied. “But you remain guilty because you claim you can see.


Christian arrogance and spiritual blindness. Being a Christian for many years, getting caught up in arrogance is too common I think. It's been in me for some time. Lately I've been shown and this arrogant veil has been removed, there is no room for being taught - while in an arrogant state of mind. ugh, it disgusts me. After time, we allow our minds to think we know everything there is to know about the Bible, being a Christian and God. "You remain guilty because you claim you can see. - Jesus".

Matthew 18:4

"Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

Luke 14:11

"For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Ephesians 4:2

"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love."

James 1:9

"The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position."

James 4:6

"But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

1 Peter 3:8

"[ Suffering for Doing Good ] Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble."


Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Prayer and the Difference It Makes

Learning an awful lot about prayer over the last while, just one of the resources is this series of articles:

Also, still immersed in the Crazy Love book, teaches about God's crazy love for each of us, so kraaa-zy! Helps with prayer as well. Our small group is very thrilled to be going through it, we haven't done a series this enthusiastically in a while (in my opinion :). mm-mm-mmmm!