Philippians 4:4-7 (NKJV)
Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Your ways are not our ways.
Praise you, Lord, for that truth.
Isaiah 55:6-7 "Seek the Lord while He may be found; call to Him while He is near. Let the wicked one abandon his way and the sinful one his thoughts; so He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will freely forgive."
Isaiah 55:8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways.' This is the Lord's declaration."
Isaiah 55:9 "For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. For just as rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return there without saturating the earth and making it germinate and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat, so My word that comes from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please and will prosper in what I send it to do."
There is always a struggle in
life. There is joy. There is pain.
There is busyness. There are many cares of life.
And then, there is You, Lord.
Luke 12:22-34
And He said to His disciples, “For
this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will
eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. For life is more than food,
and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor
reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more
valuable you are than the birds
Luke 21:34-35
“Be on guard, so that your hearts
will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of
life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come
upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth.
HCSB “Be on your guard, so that
your minds are not dulled from carousing, drunkenness, and worries of life, or
that day will come on you unexpectedly”
NKJV “But take heed to yourselves, lest your
hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and
that Day come on you unexpectedly.”
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by
the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice,
acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be
conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so
that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable
and perfect.
Colossians 3:2
Set your mind on the things above,
not on the things that are on earth.
Hebrews 12:1
Therefore, since we have so great
a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance
and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the
race that is set before us,
1 John 2:15-17
Do not love the world nor the
things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not
in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the
eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the
world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the
will of God lives forever.
Our Christmas season break was very, very good. We simplified and it was quite relaxing and enjoyable. Purposefully we planned our big family gathering at the very beginning of our break and intentionally made decisions to create a low stress time together.
We actually made it through our entire December, never missing a day when we had a short advent devotional as a family. God was present and we enjoyed worshiping throughout our time at home together. We watched many movies, played games almost daily, and had time to be ourselves without the normal pressures of everyday life.
Regular routines begin next week and while I don't enjoy the idea of the busyness that it brings, I feel rested and mostly prepared for the challenge that awaits.
***
Originally, I started this blog to document and share my husband's cancer journey. When he decided he wanted to remain private and not share his details, I proceeded by sharing my point of view through our cancer journey. Writing is very therapeutic for me.
Later it became somewhat of an attempt to share my reality of faith in life, but it lost some of its purpose and wasn't very cohesive. I'm not sure how much of my blog was for a larger audience and how much was simply helpful to myself. Only God knows what the future holds.
We carved pumpkins tonight! It's a tradition we didn't always participate in, but it has become a fun family event.
The boys created faces with theirs -learning tips and tricks of carving. While our older girls got creative. They made a cross on one and a dove on another.
We'll set them out on the front step on Halloween when we hand out goody bags.
The kids all helped to make the goody bags. We buy colorful sandwich baggies and fill them with a gospel tract, candy, and a small toy:
The gospel tract is because we want to shine the light of Jesus to all who come to our door.
The candy because it is the typical expectation. This year we chose dum-dum suckers. I noticed last year several kiddos were excited to have a sucker vs chocolate in their bags.
The toy because we know what it means to have food allergies. I don't want any kid to get something from our house and not be able to enjoy at least one item they get. This year it is a small, rainbow-colored spring with a smiley face on it. Last year we did a variety pack of things like sticky hands, slap bracelets, etc.
It's fun to hand out the goody bags. The kids are often surprised that they get a baggy of things and not just a piece of candy. We've also gotten to know several of our neighbors this year, so we will recognize more of them too, and that is also fun!
The more I simplify the things around me, the more I am noticing the ability to slow down and take in each moment.
I didn't anticipate that. It has been an unexpected blessing.
This afternoon I played a game of cards with my son and was able to be fully present with him. Often times, I am mentally an energizer bunny, but today it was just the two of us and our card game. No mental interruptions or random thoughts. It was strange and really nice.
I was recently inspired to simplify my social media. I unfollowed several accounts on my feed. Some, I think were only "followed" because my fat fingers hit the wrong button while scrolling. Other pages that I unfollowed share content that I like to read and learn about, but at this time in my life were just cluttering my brain with information I couldn't put into application right now.
Taking away the mental clutter is freeing. More and more I can focus on what is most important. And the phrase that is beginning to take up more living space in my brain is this one:
Live for God's Glory.
I suspect God is teaching me more about this phrase and what it will mean in my life.
