Got sheep?

As I've written before, I've kicked up my scripture memorization habit a knotch this year. In doing so, I'm memorizing two scriptures each month along with thousands of other "Siestas" that follow the Living Proof Ministries Blog (Beth Moore). I can't tell you how much this has blessed me. Not only am I "hiding His Word in my heart", but God has allowed me to share these scriptures with others at the most providential times. I've allowed God to lead me directly to each scripture He's wanted me to memorize, and it's as if each scripture has been intentionally meant for me to share with another. The one that continues to pop up over and over is from the little known minor prophet, Habakkuk. Now, Habakkuk is usually not the book of the Bible that most people turn to when searching the Word for scripture verses to memorize like they might the Psalms, Proverbs, the Gospels, etc. However, there is a very powerful group of verses towards the end of the book that is especially now bringing comfort to many people in light of the current economic times we're living in...

"Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior." (Habakkuk 3:17-18)

I love how Habakkuk made a choice in spite of the circumstances or perhaps because of the circumstances. Either way- Habakkuk chose to be joyful, to trust in God who saves. He knew that looking directly at the situation provided no hope, but looking above the situation to the One who provides hope is where joy can be found. It's in those times of uncertainty, times of struggle, times when we have "no sheep", times when we see clouds before sunshine...it's in those particular times, that intentionally looking to find joy in God alone can get us through each day.

An evening with Paul Young - author of The Shack

The words of this post aren't sufficient enough to describe the utter joy I experienced after spending last Wednesday evening at a local church listening to the heart of Paul Young. If you aren't familiar with Paul, he's the author of the best selling novel, The Shack. If you've been following my blog for awhile, you might remember that one of my earliest posts was on The Shack. I still say that it is one of the best pieces of fiction I've read in a very long time (perhaps ever).

The evening began with Paul sharing a bit of what led him to write The Shack...his wife asked him to write a book for his children for Christmas. With the manuscript complete, and no financial resources to have it professionally printed, he prayed that God would guide him. God's answer to Paul..."You give this to your kids, and I'll give it to mine." So, he came up with enough money to run 12 copies of it at the local Office Depot. He distributed the copies to his children, wife, and a few other family members and friends. For those that had the privilege to read it, they knew that it couldn't just stop there and encouraged Paul to have it professionally printed. With the help of friends and family, he was able to have 1000 copies printed. That began what led to a book that has sold over 5 million copies worldwide and is radically changing the lives of its readers.

As the evening went along, Paul also became very transparent in divulging different aspects of his past that caused him to live in his very own "shack" for 11 years. However, the little nuggets of wisdom that he shared throughout the evening allowed me to fill many pages in my notebook. God has certainly blessed this man beyond belief and restored, many times over, the "years the locusts have eaten"! The evening ended with a book signing and an opportunity for pictures. However, what possibly impressed me most was that he gave each person requesting a signed book, a personal note in the book and a hug! He was a pure delight!

Here are a few of the nuggets Paul shared that spoke volumes to me:

"God's love is 100% all the time. Everything He does is motivated by love."

"God pursues us with relentless affection!"

"What is it about the way you love me right now that I don't get?" (What Paul prays when fear shows up. Remember the Bible says that "perfect love casts out fear".)

"There is healing in the receiving and giving of forgiveness."

"Let's bring our secrets into the light, because we're as sick as the secrets we keep."

"Even the wrath of God results from His love, because He does nothing that isn't first motivated by love."

One last note - if you haven't read this book, PLEASE DO!!! You won't be disappointed.

Coupons, coupons, and more coupons...

Being a follower of Christ means that I also try to live out His attributes in my day-to-day life…I simply try to be a good steward of the resources given to me. OK – what I’m really trying to say here is that I clip coupons! Betcha didn’t see that coming! Really, I have been an off-and-on coupon clipper for a while, but I decided to take it seriously here as of late. During the current economic times, it certainly can’t hurt to shop a little smarter even if it might take a little work. So, I did a little online research, talked with a few friends, and now I have created a system that’s really beginning to work for me and one that saves our family quite a few pennies. What am I doing? Allow me to share…

1. I buy the Sunday paper, and pull out all the coupon inserts (anywhere from 1-4 inserts generally). I don’t subscribe to the paper, but I find that I easily get back the $1.50 that I spend on the paper just in coupon savings each week.

2. Thanks to a sweet friend, I now have a wonderful way of organizing my coupons to make them more accessible to me. I’ve included a couple of pictures here. The basic idea of this system is that you take a 3-ring binder, divided by coupon categories (i.e. dairy, frozen foods, hygiene, household products…) and you place coupons into baseball/football card holders behind each of the dividers. It allows you to easily see what coupons you have on hand and the expiration date. Additionally, you can get something like a pencil zipper case to put in the front of the binder, and you can use it to store the coupons that you’re planning to use while you shop. They’ll be ready to hand over to the cashier in a moment’s notice.

3. Six weeks ago, I also began playing The Grocery Game. I had never heard of it until then but found it to be wonderful! You can read more about it at http://www.thegrocerygame.com/. I won’t go into lots of details here, because the website really explains everything you need to know. Allow me to just point out that it has been very effective for our family!

That’s pretty much it in a nutshell. It takes a little time to get organized and start up your system, but it’s well worth the investment.

How about you? What good stewardship ideas do you have? What works for you? I’d love to hear about it. Be blessed my friends!

Bye Bye Bully...

Some of the most teachable moments come through some of the most obvious ways. After having spent the last twelve years perfecting my “mom skills”, I can say with a loud proclamation – I’m nowhere closer to perfection than the day I began! WOW – parenting is so tough sometimes! As my wee one is now a pre-teen, I am trying to pass the reins to her a bit when it comes to issues needing resolution. I’ve taught her to try and handle difficult situations (i.e. school bullies) to the best of her ability and then call in her “back up” if needed. She’s actually done quite well during the few times that it’s happened, however she ran into a situation recently that didn’t seem to want to disappear with her tactics alone. I kept offering my services, so to speak – a little “mom intervention”. She kept reminding me that she would handle it. The situation only continued to worsen. I reminded my daughter that it’s okay to ask for help – that sometimes there are situations bigger than we are, and we simply can’t resolve them on our own. She relinquished “ownership” of the situation to me, and the problem was resolved in less than 24 hours. I did nothing special, but I relied on my adult “power” to step into this adolescent situation in a tactful way and in a way that would not bring my daughter any embarrassment. Needless to say, she’s happy – the tears are gone – and, mom’s smiling!

As is always the case, the tangible life lessons that involve me as teacher almost immediately find their way back to me as student. This time – I was the one needing intervention, a little “back up” assistance, but I didn’t own up to that. Finally, a still, small voice inside me kept reminding me, “My power is made perfect in your weakness.” (See also 2 Corinthians 12:9) Yes it is – sometimes, I can only rely on God’s divine power to solve a problem. It may just be more than I can conquer on my own or simply more than I choose to deal with. But, He’s more than ready to take our load, He doesn’t want or expect us to carry our burdens alone – just ask Him!

Child-Like Faith...

Allow me to be a little transparent, if you will. Historically, I put God in a box. There I said it. He had to line up to “Leah Theology”. Now…this wasn’t a new type of theology that I just made up but it was a compilation of things I had been taught through my growing up years. Every new concept, I would line up against that “Leah Theology”. At this point in my life, I had never even considered trying to back up those things that I had been taught against scripture, etc. While most of them were right on the mark, what was missing was a relationship with my Savior that was personal to me! Up to this point, my relationship was what had been molded FOR me through the acts, beliefs, and opinions of others. Additionally, I have a rather analytical mind. Everything just has to make sense. If it doesn’t, I’ll generally analyze until it does or discard it. Well…you know what? That doesn’t work when it comes to Christ. He doesn’t want our intelligence to get in the way of knowing Him personally. Just the other day, I was having lunch with some friends, and this came up in conversation. I shared with them, that I feel like it’s hard for the super intelligent to know Christ intimately unless they allow themselves to remove the intelligence factor out of the equation.

For me, that’s where faith comes in. Christ wants us to accept Him as a child would – not too frustrate things with intellect. Christ spoke to His father on this when he said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.” (Matthew 11:25 NIV)

As I was studying in 1 Corinthians this morning, God showed me more on this, and I personally love the Amplified version in this case. “For it is written, I will baffle and render useless and destroy the learned and the philosophy of the philosophers and the cleverness of the clever and the discernment of the discerning; I will frustrate and nullify (them) and bring (them) to nothing.” (1 Cor. 1:19 Amp)

That’s it! That’s what got me, because that’s where I was years ago. It was only when I would simplify Christ, did I truly began to understand His depth. Thankfully, He did not only come to the brilliant, the intelligent, the smart, the braniacs, the philosophers…He came to all! In order to know Him more, I simply want the faith of a child…the type of faith that will accept who He is, what He’s done, and what He’s yet to do. Period.

Pure as Snow...

Never forget these sweet words from Isaiah...

"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." (Isaiah 1:18 NIV)

Each time I am blessed with a glimpse of beautiful, white snow...I can't help but rejoice over the cleansing that I receive as a result of the shed blood of my sweet Savior.

Scripture memorization...

As promised, I wanted to share with you a little more a bit the new scripture memorization journey I've begun along with thousands of other women. Another blog that I consistently follow is that of Living Proof Ministries, which was founded by Beth Moore. Rather than explaining this particular plan to you in my own words, feel free to check it out for yourself at the following link:

http://livingproofministries.blogspot.com/

You'll just need to scroll to the bottom and click on "older posts" at which time one of the very next posts you should see is entitled "Anybody Game?". Read through this entire post, and you'll see what I'm talking about. It's a wonderful idea and a great way to stay accountable. And...even though January 1 has passed, it's not too late to begin.

I love reading & studying God's Word and find that literally memorizing scripture is one of the best way's to absorb His beautiful, life-giving Word. My favorite thing to do is memorize the Psalms, but I'm stepping outside of that comfort zone a bit this time and focusing on scriptures outside of the Psalms. Now, I realize some of you might be at a different place in your journey through God's Word. Believe me, I've been at the place where it felt like such a chore to read even a few verses, let alone a whole chapter or book. However, I made the commitment to God that if He would help me get to the place where I longed for His Word and would actually long to get into it, then I would (with His help) commit to reading it daily. It was very hard at first, but now - I run to it. And...if a day goes by that I don't meditate on His Word (which is rare), I feel it for the rest of the day - just a heaviness that won't go away.

So, I challenge you to open up THE Book and spend more time in it this year than you did last year. Through your obedience, watch how God works!