Pulling the Weeds

I came up with this analogy based on the idea of reflective journaling which has you look over your day and question where improvement is needed and praise where improvement was made. What weeds did you pull and did you pull them totally out. The analogy is of our soul being like a garden and like any garden, it needs to be tended to each day. The weeds of negative thinking have to be pulled out so that new seeds can be planted and grow. Weed pulling is not as simply as you think. You have to get to the roots and pull them out as well, otherwise, they will grow back.

Are You Digesting God's Word?

Study is a discipline that we in today's culture do not tend to make a priority. How often have I and my fellow bible study friends said we read the lesson right before coming. Reading scripture is the beginning of study but how often do we follow through on what we read. In the book Prayer-Finding Your Heart's True Home by Richard J Foster is a chapter about the Prayer of Examen. At the end of the chapter he suggests that we journal as that tends to help most of us get out our thoughts and feeling and fully digest them. We are eating God's Word but are we fully digesting it and getting all the nutrients it can give us? I am going to commit to making time for journaling each night at 8:30 to examen my day, actions, inactions, words, sins and my readings so I can fully digest and grow as God intends. What will you do to ensure you aren't just eating empty calories but digesting God's word and gaining the nutrients he wants to give you?

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 57

On the way home last evening as I was battling the super strong wind gust with my little blue car, I was thinking on what was spoken and discussed in our class at our church and the word reflection came up and I wandered into thinking about this ministry and what faithbooking is. There really are a number of ways that it can be looked at. I have been looking at it more as a way to study deeper what we hear at church or read from the bible or in a bible study. I have been applying what I am learning to my life which in education terms is called life application. Often times, in our studing of the bible and wanting to learn about God, we are leaving off the most important aspect with the life application. Following through and applying what you learn to your life and taking it one step further by putting into a concrete form of a scrapbook page can have incredible benefits. Since begining this ministry, I have been in the bible everyday, praying everyday and I can see that I am thinking and feeling and living with the Lord more and more in my life, not just on Sundays or Wednesday evenings or with my bible study ladies but all of the everyday parts. There is still lots of room to keep that intimacy with the Lord growing but I feel more happy than ever, yes, even despite the pains of life and the negativity that strikes me thanks to hormones. So I am praising God today and everyday for encouraging me and guiding me and calling me to do this ministry. Is follow through a tough one for you? Have you tried some life application? Journaling is a good first step but if you have never scrapbooked, I would love to help you take that step into discovery. I will discuss a little more about "reflection" in faithbooking tomorrow. Stay tuned.
Proverbs 27:19 As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man.