365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Day-321

My bible study is working on The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth by John Maxwell. We had a good discussion on chapter 4 which is about the law of reflection. I love what he said about experience. It is not the experience that makes you grow it is the evaluation of the experience. I think for most of us have random growth moments but what if we really took the time to stop and reflect each day on what we may have learned for that day? How much more growing we could accomplish! As I drove home from work yesterday, I thought about that question, “what have I learned today?” I ended up having a great learning moment. I realized the stress I feel from work is because of my drive to be recognized and successful. The work I do is done well and I do what I can so stressing about the rest of it waiting for me the next day isn’t going to make it go away any faster. I realized God wants me to just take pause in my plowing through work to focus on Him and give it to Him. I am doing my best and the rest is for God.

Matthew 25:23 "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 78

My mind has been on our aunt who had a stroke this week. We went to visit her in the hospital up in Denver yesterday and I was delighted to see that she was doing much better than I had anticipated. She suffered a stroke pretty much centrally located at the base of the brain. She couldn’t move her left side but that has come back and now is just a numbness. The main issue now is her eyes are not working together and what the doctor called ‘boucing eyes’. So, I am praising God that she is in good hands and seems to be the same aunt we all know and love. We also pray that she will continue to improve especially with her eyes and that she may find the time in the hospital a time of reflection and prayer that will draw her closer to our God. Despite the stroke, God has already brought good from it by her quitting smoking. So, we are singing praises to God.

Psalm 150:6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

365 Days of Praise Challenged-Day 198

You would think it was July or something? This heat is not fun. We braved the heat and went to the Renaissance Festival yesterday. I think my brain is still melted from it. I do not do well with hot weather but I made the best of it and just plowed along enjoying those moments that will come but once. My son had a momentous occasion and bought his first hunting knife. My daughter's momentous ocassion came while she was eating a vanilla shake that was topped with chocolate sauce. She blended it in and was making a good mess of it on her face when a Renaissance Festival character walked by and said "are you eating mudd?" Her face was just classic. Another personal highlight of the day for me was the wild animal show. This year they brought out a white tiger that was only 8 months old. Mind you at 8 months, they look full grown but he acted like a cub with a very playful nature. It was quite the site to see the tiger giving the trainer a playful hug. Tigers are my favorite animal in all of God's kingdom so when I saw a drawing at a booth of a tiger and his reflection in water, I knew I had to get it. It reminds me of how we are always casting a reflection. Whether we see it in a mirror, water or not at all; it is there. We constantly are reflecting what is in our hearts and minds. I have to be more aware of how I am reflecting my thoughts and feelings. Is the love of Christ being reflected or is it my own frustrations of life? More often it is the latter but I am praying that there will come a time when I will be reflecting my love of Jesus more than anything else.
2 Corinthians 3:18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

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.