Comments (7)

By bethany (dreadlock girl), March 1, 2010 23:04

It seems to happen on the days when I sleep in later than I should, the days when the world seems to be spinning a little faster than usual, those are the days when life gets the best of me.

We all have these days, the days in which our grandmas would have said that, “we got up on the wrong side of the bed”. That seems so meaningless- and when you think of the situations which we tend to let overwhelm us, they are really just as trivial.

We have an extra bill to pay instead of spending that dough on shoes, I didn’t get up in time to go running, Oliver gets the bigger ice cream cone, Brad doesn’t call me when I was needing him to, it is raining, it is cloudy, it is cold, it is hot, the house is dirty, I have no clean clothes, I have so much to do….on and on and on. However, I am a wimp. Even one of these non-hypothetical problems can throw me off for the day. If it is ‘the house is messy’ one, awk-there goes my week! Yep, it happened just the other day, the boys were fighting from when the got up and I hadn’t had my tea, my run, or most importantly any time with God and therefore allowing my circumstances control me and my mood.

Jackson screeched from the other room about how Oliver had hit him and not said sorry, and then Oliver started crying too. I stomped over to their room looking as grouchy as I could declaring, “You guys are acting horrible, and making me get into a bad mood”!! Did I say that!?! Yes, I did. The very thing that I have been working on my kids with- that others don’t control how they feel, or what they do. It is true for me too- so true. It doesn’t get any easier as we get older unless we work on it, does it?

Nothing has the power to rob me of my joy unless I allow it to, and I do let plenty things under my skin. Maybe not who gets the bigger piece of chocolate cake (don’t think I am above that though) but close.  I want to be more and more filled with Christ and the joy He gives which is certainly not circumstance based, but a commitment of lifestyle. It is so much easier for me to be joyful when I spend time with God, each time I fall in love deeper and the things that used to bug me seem less and less important.

What dictates your day?

PS. That chocolate cake sounds really good right now.

Comments (2)

By bethany (dreadlock girl), February 18, 2010 22:26

Closer: Devotions to Draw Couples Together

Devotions need to be a priority, weekly, daily- that is up to you, but there needs to be time set aside to nurture and grow that relationship which is of utmost importance- the one between a couple and towards God. So often when you don’t it is easy to nag each other, pick fights or feel like your marriage is a working relationship, or maybe a black hole depending on how dramatic you are. Over the years love hits the backseat and romance has departed for good after  you spend a good amount of time pushing your spouse away. I suggest devotions together, they bless us every time we do it, and we see the rewards big time. It doesn’t have to be this book, it could be one that speaks to you, or reading the Bible together- but don’t put it off.

Brad and I have made our way peeking into several different devotion books over the 8 years of our marriage. I thought this one would be the same, but this time this book hit the mark. The initial devotions seem a little to simple and straightforward (just blah) so we almost tossed the book into the pile of devotional books that haven’t quite cut it.However, Closer gets better and better (or was it my attitude that improved?) I recommend sticking with it through at least the first 5 devotional sessions and you will find yourself and your spouse in a deeper place with God and a closer place as a married couple.

Jim and Cathy Burns co authored this book, I have been blessed by them in the past as Jim Burns wrote several amazing books for age appropriate sex education which I love, LOVE. This devotional book is good, and I recommend it. Our typical devotions set begins with some worship, then we read and answer the questions from on chapter of Closer: Devotions to Draw Couples Together, then read a chapter of the Bible, and close it off with prayer for each other. We have grown, and God has grown in us through this time. There is nothing more we could ask!

Do you have a favourite couples devotional book that you could recommend to me?? We’re going to be done with this one and I would love some suggestions on ones that aren’t cheesy and that really dive deep. Ideas anyone??

ISBN:9780764207037
Subtitle:Devotions to Draw Couples Together
Author: Burns, Jim And Cathy
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Subject: Christian Life – Devotional
Christian Life – Love & Marriage
Publication Date: October 2009
Pages: 222

I am an affiliate of  TOMS SHOES and Powell’s Books and I do receive a percentage of the sales of any item you buy using my links. Thank you!

Comments (0)

By bethany (dreadlock girl), January 4, 2010 23:05

How to Raise a Modern-Day Joseph: A Practical Guide for Growing Great Kids

If you are a parent, you know that a parent does what a parents gotta do-that is just the way it is. We drive the kids around, we make sure they brush their teeth, we take them to school (or even Homeschool them) we aim to do everything short of coddling them in order to have them turn out into able bodied adults and well rounded individuals. However from so much scheduling and activity the most important aspect of a whole person, which is the spirit and soul is many times neglected, or passed off as “the Sunday school teacher’s job”. We aren’t doing our job as parents who love Jesus if we aren’t intentional in instilling faith into our children.

How to Raise a Modern-Day Joseph is a book, or even more a type of help manual which goes through each age and stage of the child from preschool through high school and equips parents with the tools necessary to pour a passion for what is right into their children. It is called How to Raise a Modern-Day Joseph because no matter what the situation, Joseph (yes as in the Joseph with the coat of many colours) was able to make the right decision even when life really was not seeming to move in his favor. God gave him a dream as a boy and he must have thought many times that it was just a hoax and that God was no where close- however the faith that he kept when it came time to make the right choices is to be admired. He was surrounded by a people who didn’t know God, who worshiped all different sorts of gods and he didn’t even have a local home Bible study to go to, or a youth group and still he stood strong.

That is what every christian parent should aim to nurture in their child, not that everything is up to the parent, but it is nice to know when your kids grow up that you did what you could with the gift that God blessed you with. It isn’t up to a youth leader to train your children spiritually, just as much as it isn’t up to the pastor make you grow. The biggest problem with kids and adults alike is that they think they go to church to be challenged and to grow- and the result is that church has never been so full of saggy and faithless Sunday-only Christians. It is up to the individual to trust God, to place their feet on steadfast ground, no program for adults or kids will ever fashion that on its own. With or without programs and church events, we as parents are called to guide our children into a real relationship with Christ.

How to Raise a Modern-Day Joseph is not a step by step guide on how to raise all children, it is a guide for creating a personalized and practical plan to best help your children bloom into teenagers who know, love and serve their Lord. I will use this book with my kids. We have started working with it and I love the scripture verses that it has for each different age group. Modern-Day Joseph is an excellent book for parents to keep on hand.

Title: How to Raise a Modern-Day Joseph
ISBN: 9781434765314
Subtitle: A Practical Guide for Growing Great Kids (An Awana Resource)
Author: Linda Weddle
Publisher: David C. Cook
Subject: Christian Life – Family
Publication Date: June 2009
Pages: 220

I am an affiliate of  TOMS SHOES and Powell’s Books and I do receive a percentage of the sales of any item you buy using my links. Thank you!

Comments (3)

By bethany (dreadlock girl), November 28, 2009 00:04

God*Stories: Explorations in the Gospel of God
by Andrew Wilson
302 Pages
Non-Fiction
Christianity
July 2009
David C. Cook

I started this book last night and finished it this morning. I couldn’t put it down! The author, Andrew Wilson stormed the gates of hell when he drafted this one up, no question. GodStories is a powerful, life-changing yet incredibly digestible book on putting the punch back into God’s word. The truth is that it has always been there, but we Christians have minimized it down to suit ourselves and fill our little cups. GodStories is about ambushing our limited view of God, and what He has done by the study of key verses and very short (most not even 3 pages long) devotional type  blurbs  that will cause the reader to think, remember and be transformed all in the same breath.

Andrew Wilson shatters the ‘Christian’ thinking when he puts God back into the Bible and not just any god, but the God who can actually change things, who is all-out Holy, and who has proved Himself to His people. These GodStories take the reader through the Bible from the Creation of the world to when we will see Jesus face to face in Heaven. By reading the sections I completely understand what the author means when he says, ” If we are not careful, we can take a story about Jesus rescuing creation and reduce it into a story about ourselves. We can turn stories into statements, and poems into punchlines. We can miss the sweeping, triumphant, heartbreaking, and glorious stories that make up the gospel of God” (back cover, God*Stories).

I love understanding scripture better, understanding who Jesus is and how the prophecies led up to Him and the salvation He brought. It is so easy to make the stories about us, to strip them of all that brings transforming change and then wonder why there is no power in the Christians of this day. Why do we not stand where we should? Why do we not feel backed by each other through prayer? What has stolen our joy and life? It is our own lack of knowing God. What is worse is that we don’t even want to know Him because the image we have of Him is so small it makes Him not even worth it.

This book shook me, changed me and made me think about so many things, manly how I myself am completely guilty of this behavour, and that I want to change it now. I recommend this %100, perfect for daily devotional, for small groups, or just to read through it like I did. I loved this book!

Have you ever had a book be the perfect book at the perfect time? What was it and why was it perfect?

I am a Powell’s affiliate and I do receive a percentage of the sales of any book you buy using my links. Thank you!

Comments (6)

By bethany (dreadlock girl), November 16, 2009 00:01

There are seasons in life that are happy, and times in which you just sit and soak in the goodness. There are seasons that are hard and dry and others that are for replenishing. Just as the earth needs the seasons of the weather that God brings for growth and life, in the same way we completely need the seasons He brings to us in life.The season I am in right now, well I would call it waiting.

A while back we felt God saying things to us, telling us to do a couple of really big things.Things we didn’t really want to do, but stepped towards in faith. First He told us to have more kids. Brad wasn’t so excited, but wanted to walk in obedience, and I had felt we were to have more so for me it was mostly exciting that Brad + God + I were all in agreement. That was one year ago this month and I haven’t gotten pregnant. We have two kids, and both were conceived very quickly, so I have no doubt that this is God. What is He saying? Did we not hear Him? A year later it is easy to question, it is actually natural. But, then I stop and realize God will give in His time, for His purpose and to His glory- not ours. I am waiting, and most of the time with a very patient attitude (unless my hormones get the best of me).

Another huge thing we felt like a load of bricks to the face was that we were called to be missionaries to Spain. We struggled with God, got on our knees, went to Spain to visit, and all we got were closed doors. Not a yes in sight, only no. What is God saying to us? What is He wanting us to get from this? I have been wondering if it would be nicer of Him to at least tell us what our lesson is to be, so that I can stop guessing, but I do know that that is in His design too. God knows all, and loves us more than anyone so why do I need to worry? Still I do. Sometimes when my flesh is louder than I can silence, I do. Maybe worry isn’t the right word, mostly I am annoyed. Annoyed with God for not telling us where our next foothold is. I know that my annoyance with God in no way makes Him smaller, or less capable- it merely shows that I am human and I am imperfect and that He is even bigger for loving me through it, despite of my inadequacies.

For these two reasons I know I am in the middle stage, the waiting stage, the place of indecision and questions. I have choices right now, to glorify God even when I don’t feel like I am hearing Him, or to turn inward and focus on what would seem to mean that God isn’t listening.The interesting thing is He is still completely speaking to us, through us and it is a blast, yet in these two areas He has chosen to remain silent for this time.

I have no idea if I will ever have another baby, or if we will be missionaries in Spain but what I do know is that He is always faithful. He is faithful even when it doesn’t look that way. Lately I have been reminded of Joseph, he had a dream but it didn’t take place when he thought it would or how he thought it would. I think of Abraham of whom God asked to sacrifice the very son that he promised and who was conceived through a miracle- but then God wanted to see his heart, to see if he would obey. Yes, sometimes it does seem that God sends mixed messages but that is only because we are so limited in our understanding of it all. What do I want from this time in my life? I want the obedience of Abraham and the faith of Joseph. I guess I dream big but that is okay because my God is even bigger than my dreams.

Have you had a similar experience? Any wisdom to impart? Do share.

—Proverbs 3:5-6

Comments (2)

By bethany (dreadlock girl), August 4, 2009 06:40

Our friends, the Bocks (they have known me since I was 5 years old!) are leading an amazing ministry in Spain and all throughout Europe known as On The Red Box: Proclaiming Christ on the Streets of Europe.

They gather and pray together and then use props to help the listeners remember and relate to the concept they hear. From my time in Spain I know that witnessing in this way is one of the most humbling things that one can do. You stand there and people who don’t even know what you are preaching yell at you as they walk past, they laugh at you and then you realize just how much you rely on approval, and on the common consensus being that you are cool. It always made me think of Jesus and how much more it would hurt him, because when He was being laughed at it was direct, when we are mocked it says in the Bible that they are persecuting Christ, not us.

I had only heard about On The Red Box since about 6 years ago, but since there are videos up I just had to share them too. It is powerful stuff, the word of God spoken in the streets.

There is something about standing there proclaiming Christ that makes your blood run quickly through your system. Fear, energy and the power of God all contribute to the adrenaline rush, but just as God said, where His word is preached it will not come back without bringing change.

In this next clip Ben Bock (the son of the man preaching above) who is a college freshman pours out his heart to the crowd. It says something about a ministry when the kids are fired up enough by the parents to walk the walk too. It is a testimony of God’s faithfulness.

The Mirror from RedBoxMadrid on Vimeo.

When you do street ministry, you realize more than ever just how people would really see you if you were wearing a billboard sign that said: I am a follower of Christ, redeemed and forgiven- not by what I have done or will ever do. ASK ME HOW. Maybe I should make a shirt out of that. I love how people all the way in Europe can stir me on, inspire me to be aim to be Christ seeking instead of self-seeking and how to really lay it all down.

Thank you to all the peeps at On The Red Box, you inspire me!

For more information go to: On the Red Box

All images in this post are Copyright ONTHEREDBOX 2009

Comments (15)

By bethany dreadlock girl, January 7, 2009 05:11

The Shack/La Cabaña
by William P. Young
266 pages
Fiction

The Shack is a fiction story that, after a devastating event, takes Mack, the main character into a fantasy-like dream place where he meets God, (or “Papa”) the Holy Spirit (or “Sarayu” and Jesus. There he heals, learns from them about the way the world should be and about how he should see the things that happen to him. It is filled with theology, mostly about how to live and his attitudes towards what comes his way.

I went back and forth between listening to this in Spanish and reading it in English. In Spanish it is called La Cabaña. I wish I could say strongly one way or another if I loved or hated it, but to me this book really wasn’t either so good I am thrilled by it, or so horrid I want to rag on it. There are some things in it that are a little strange, and for my tastes there was way too much debatage between the characters on different theologies and such. I enjoyed the beginning, the mystery and such, but once he went into the fantasy land…it was just not the same stuff for me.

I didn’t think the book was written particularly well, but I decided I would forgive that if it made an earth shattering impact on me. As much as I did learn things from the book, it was not earth shattering enough to move away from the just average writing.

I will say that this book has caused more than its fair share of controversy in my own life, and even the mention of the title can strike up a conversation. I have had two people call me up afterwards apologizing for their drastic/harsh opinions on it (mostly because they were rude in their approach) so I know that it is controversial. The funny thing is that those who haven’t read it seem to have the strongest opinions. As in what I was yelled at the first time I mentioned it: ” AHHH, that is not a christian book!!!! It contains 13 or 14 counts of HERESY!!!” Seriously, when was the last time you heard the word heresy!?!? yuk. Okay, and that dweeb hadn’t even read it, he said that he gathered his information from “snippets” that he saw online. Seriously? ya.

Because of all the strife I have endured for it….I don’t think I will try to bring it up in a group of friends, at least not my most opinionated friends until the topic settles a bit. I guess if you are one of those who claims it is heresy, but won’t read it, all I can say is that really you should give it a read first. It isn’t claiming to be a new add-on to the Bible, or that it is divinely inspired, so chill folks. I think dooming some book and therefore neglecting the little good morsels it contains is really sad, and this book certainly does have some good. Having said that…I still have yet to determine if it is good enough to merit the several hours it takes to read. It was just blah for me.

What did you think about The Shack? Always remember that if you have reviewed it and would like me to link to your review comment a link to me on this post and I will