Being a Blessing

Feb7

Ann Voskamp’s book 1,000 Gifts is very popular these days. I haven’t read it, but from what I’ve gathered, the premise is that you can find blessings in every single day. There are multitude tiny ways God shows us He loves us.

King Solomon had that idea long before this book came out. Ecclesiastes 11:7 says: “Oh, how sweet the light of day, And how wonderful to live in the sunshine! Even if you live a long time, don’t take a single day for granted. Take delight in each light-filled hour” (The Message).

In that same chapter, Solomon says, “Be generous: Invest in acts of charity. Charity yields high returns. Don’t hoard your goods; spread them around. Be a blessing to others. This could be your last night” (Ecc. 11:1,2 The Message).

Enjoy what you have and share it with others. Live generously and you will find that God is generous with you. Sow thankfulness and you will reap a thankful heart that is a blessing to others. It’s a people magnet: others will be drawn to you because of your heart.

I’m getting a little bit of a late start, but each day I am going to list three things for which I’m thankful, so that at the end of the year, I have 1000. Maybe I’ll even read Ann’s book.

I’ll start big:
1. My salvation
2. My husband
3. The way all my children still like to hug me (my boys are 15 and 13–in 8 days–and my daughter is 9).

Feel free to join me.

The Marriage Mystery

Feb6

In 25 days, David and I will celebrate 21 years of marriage. I can honestly say that, while not easy in the sense that we don’t have to work at it, it’s always been good.

Neither of us had great examples. My dad found it hard to give a compliment, though I think he would have done anything for my mom. And though they were both dedicated church goers, my siblings and I were not brought up to honor the Word of God. But they stayed married, for better or for worse.

David’s parents separated after 48 years of marriage,.

So, David and I are pretty determined to doing everything we can to make our marriage great. We’ve read multitudes of books. We’ve been to marriage conferences and, though I selfishly fought it for years, we saw a marriage counselor about 5 years ago. 

Best move we ever made. It wasn’t that we were in really bad shape, but there were some attitudes and barriers that we just couldn’t overcome without some professional advice. Reading today in Ephesians 5:33, I am reminded that I need to do whatever I can to make my marriage great not only because it’s the right thing to do, but because David and I are a reflection of Christ and the Church. How we live our married lives is a picture to the world of the mystery that is Christ and the Church. I want to be a master painter of that work of art.

If You Can

Feb5

Jesus said, “‘Everything is possible for him who believes.’ Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, ‘I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!'” (Mark 9:23, 24 NIV84).

I’ve heard it said that having faith is like sitting in a chair: you believe it can hold you, but you can’t really know until you give it a try. After that first time of trying and seeing, the sitting becomes a lot easier.

We read in the Bible time after time after time about God doing amazing and miraculous things, but we still don’t completely trust Him with everything today. We get stumped by the verse that says if we pray in God’s will. What, we wonder, is His will? How do I know if He wants to heal that person, or for me to have that job, or that car, or that child? All things are possible, but not all things are profitable.

It’s one of those mysteries. So still we trust and we ask. God will do the best thing.

Today is Superbowl Sunday. I’ll be praying, like thousands of others, that God would deliver those who are caught up in the horrible atrocity of sex trafficking. Both the victims and the victimizers. God can do it.

The Word

Feb4
“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double‑edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart (Hebrews 4:12 NIV84).”

In the past, I’ve always struggled to have consistent times in God’s Word. I’m not a morning person, and my days always got away from me. Then along came this little thing called an iPhone, and an app called the YouVersion Bible.

The YouVersion app has many different devotionals and Bible reading plans to choose from. Two years ago, I read through the whole Bible in a year. Last year, I read through the whole Bible chronologically. This year, I chose a devotional reading plan instead.

I have a clock dock by my bed where I keep my iPhone charging over night. In the mornings it wakes me up with a random song from my “God Songs” playlist. I set that alarm to go off a half hour earlier than I need to get up and get the kids going. After one song plays, I grab my phone, open the YouVersion app and read the devotional for the day.

After two years, this is now an ingrained habit. I love using my iPhone because I don’t have to turn on the light. The praise song focuses my heart and the devotional is short and sweet and gets me thinking about living right. And it has me writing on a regular basis: I chronicle my thoughts from the devotional and then post them here.

After two years of reading through the Bible in two different ways, I feel I have a clearer understanding of this rich, vibrant Book that shows me God’s heart. After this year, I might do that again with some other plan just to get another perspective.

If you’ve never read through the Bible completely, I highly recommend it. You might be surprised what you’ll find.

Are You Ready?

Feb3

In Luke 21, Jesus talks about the end of the world and His return. He warns His disciples not to get caught up in the things of this world or that day will catch them unaware. Like a flash of lightening; like a thief in the night; like a bridegroom returning from a journey, ready to claim His bride. Be ready. Be ready. Don’t be caught unaware. He is coming. Be ready. It’s exciting, isn’t it?