Reading the Bible

"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." Hebrews 4:12

Reading the Bible.

Reading the Bible? Where am I supposed to fit that into my already busy schedule?

What am I supposed to read any who? Shall I just open it up and read wherever my finger lands? Yes, that must be how the Lord intends to talk me. Bible reading - my own little version of Russian Roulette.

Am I the only one to have had these thoughts? This, shamefully sister, used to be how I would have my daily (or maybe not so daily) quiet time. I had no idea how to love the word of God and how to read the word of God. Yes, I loved the Lord. No, I didn't read my bible everyday.

ENTER -- our amazing church and our amazing pastor.

One Tuesday night during my husband's bible study, our pastor challenged the guys there to commit to reading through the bible chronologically in a year. My husband accepted that challenge and encouraged me to do the same. We downloaded YouVersion's Bible App and off we went.

It took me over a year, but I did in fact (for the first wonderful time) finish reading the entire Bible. It was FANTASTIC! My faith grew so much by reading how the Lord displayed his love for his children from generations to generations. Reading the Bible chronologically helped me get a better understanding of who God is, how he has worked in the lives of his children from the beginning of time to present day, and what is Christianity.

What I learned about myself by doing this plan:

1. I need a PLAN of attack when reading scripture. Knowing what I was supposed to read everyday when I sat down to do my quiet time was extremely helpful. Reading the word is not like playing Russian Roulette (duh?!). Reading the word is a discipline. A fruit creating and life giving discipline, but a discipline nonetheless. From now on I always have some sort of  bible plan that I'm working through, whether that be reading through the gospels, reading the New Testament, memorizing Romans 8, etc. I always know what general direction I'm headed towards to when I sit down and spend time with the Lord. And that makes spending time in the bible with the Lord less stressful.
2. Reading the word of God daily is important and has the power to change my life. Hebrews 4:12 is true! The word of God is dangerous. It prods into parts of my soul I'd rather keep hidden and completely changes how I think. I am a different woman because I spend time in God's word everyday. A beautiful, lovely, and sweetly broken woman of the Lord. 

You have got to get into the word sister! We cannot be women of the Lord without being women of the word. God is our first priority. That means that when I look at my to do list for the day, if I haven't spent time with the Lord yet that's the next thing I need to get after. 

Need a little encouragement on where to start? So did I. Here are a few key things I've learned these past 3 years:

1. Buy a Study Bible. We love the ESV Study Bible and MacArthur Study Bible. Yes, it is an investment. But it is a worthwhile investment. Don't be cheap - make it a priority and buy one. It's easier to read the word when you're given a little more insight into what the word is talking about.
2. Download the YouVersion Bible App and pick a reading plan. If you've never read through the entire bible before I'd highly recommended choosing the chronological reading plan.
3. Stick with it. Go to the App and actually check off the boxes for the chapters you've read. It will be encouraging to see your progress overtime.
4. If you fall behind in your reading, take a deep breath, smile, and say no big deal! You hear that? No big deal. Whatever you do, don't give up and stop reading just because you've fallen off course. This is why I love the YouVersion Bible App. If you miss a few days, or weeks, just go to the settings tab and click catch me up. It will be like you never missed a day. Ta-dah! I used to be so hard on myself when I fell behind in my reading. At times, I felt like a failure because I wasn't reaching my goals in reading. But then my sweet husband reminded me to be easier on myself. He'd say, "but look at how much you've read since even a year ago. Last year you couldn't say that you'd read all of that. The Lord is pleased simply by you being in the word." So remember - Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep reading. Just keep reading.

Has this post been helpful? I sure hope so. If you've decided to start a reading plan I'd love to hear about it so that I can give you a Hoo-Rah fist pump of encouragement. If you've recently finished a reading plan, leave a comment below about what God taught you and how he changed you. 

Now, let's get after it. Let us together be women of the Word. 

Learning to Pray

 Luke 11: 9-10 "And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened."

The Lord's been reminding me this week how important it is to pray. And to top that off he's been sweetly whispering in my ear ways to help me implement this sweet grace. How you might ask? By choosing to use objects around my house as daily reminders to lift certain people up to the Lord. The picture of my daughter on the wall. The canvas of my husband and I standing under a tree holding hands. Little toddler t-shirts and clean underwear. How often I pass these mundane items and fail to take note of the deeper beauty. I'm blessed to have a family to fold underwear for and to hang pictures on my wall of! So I'm trying to choose little things here and there that are already around my house and to use them as prayer markers.

The plaque you see above is a quote from the song that was played at our wedding. If you haven't heard the song yet, you ought to youtube it. It's lovely. Anyways, while scrubbing the jelly off of my counters tonight I looked up at that plaque that's been staring at me for such along time and thought, "what a great thing to use to help remind me to pray for my marriage."

And so I prayed. And will try to continue to every time I see that little plaque perched up next to my husband's coffee pot.

Dear Lord,
Be with my husband and I and bless our marriage. Knit us tightly together and help us to cling to one another in times of joy and in times of trials. Protect us from the traps that can so easily ensnare. Help us everyday to choose to love you and love one another. And by your grace let us grow really old together. Like hearing aids, and gray hair, and dentures old. Please bless us with a long and fruitful life together that is lived to your glory. Thanks Dad!

Happiness is...

Today is the first official day of Spring. Welcome Spring!

This stay-at-home mama is so glad you're finally here. 

I've decided to start a section of my blog devoted to the idea "happiness is" We have so many things to be thankful for in our lives! So many ways that we can experience God's face smiling upon us everyday and share in His joy. I don't want to miss these moments. These little blessings from God. These little times of happiness. 

Today happiness is when my daughter picks dandelions for me and, with a triumphant smile, eagerly places them in my hand. What misguided person ever decided that dandelions were weeds and not flowers? Shame on them. These bright yellow little balls remind me of the sunshine and immediately make me smile. Some may scoff when a child hands them a "weed," but I, I celebrate. Thank you for, literally, brightening my day HG. These will always be priceless flowers in my book and I'll take a bouquet of them any day!

Thursday Scripture

Overtime the Lord has taught me how helpful it is to have scripture around your house. I love the idea of having one piece (whether artwork, or sculptures, or a printable verse, etc) in every room to remind me to think about our wonderful God. For me today, it was something as simple as writing these two verses out on sticky notes and posting them to my kitchen cabinets.

"Fear not, little flock, for it is the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."

Luke 12:32

artwork credit: Johann Baptist Hofner

"Do everything without complain and arguing."

Philippians 2:14

artwork credit: Curly Girl Design

One of the best antidotes the Lord has given me to complaining is to plant thankfulness in my heart instead!

A Stolen Monday

Over two inches of ice fell here last night in our little corner of TN. Excitement buzzed in the air as we woke up this morning - would it be an ice day for hubby? The trees were covered in ice. The swing set was covered in ice. And the roads were covered ice. Hooray! Not such a party for all the people that tried to get into work this morning (we frequently heard of 12 vehicle car crashes on the highways near us and of other vehicles getting stuck going up hills), but HG and I celebrated this stolen Monday home with Dad. I prayed for all the nurses that would have to make the trek into Nashville this morning, and thanked the Lord that I was not one of them. Then it was onto pancakes!

Once the sun started to rise, the snow started to fall. It was glorious. A few hours later and we were all bundled up and ready to have fun. Here are a few of my favorite shots from our snowy, splendid day:

Hot Chocolate Cheers to Monday Y'all!

Messy House Happy Family

While reading Desperate: Hope for the Mom Who Needs to Breathe, I came across this bible verse and immediately fell in love with it. In love with it so much that I made an 8x10 printable out of it to hang in my kitchen! My house may never look like a home straight out of Southern Living, but that's okay. These little oxen are messy. Is your house messy too? Read this verse and remember to give yourself grace for today! #messyhousehappyfamily

PS. I highly recommend this book to all moms and moms-to-be out there! I've found it to be so encouraging in my walk with the Lord & my journey as a mom.

Easy Tex-Mex Soup

During my devotion time today I was reading Desperate: Hope for the Mom Who Needs to Breathe and loved what author Sally Clarkson had to say about creating a life-giving home: "Determine that you will, in time, subdue your home, overcome in the fight for the hearts of your children, and find God's joy and blessing through your obedience." This quote encouraged me to stop, ask for the Lord's help through the Holy Spirit to change my selfish heart, and reflect on how I could be obedient to the Lord in serving my family during Hannah's remaining nap hour. A still small voice answered, cook dinner. And so in practicing obedience, I cooked dinner at 12:30 in the afternoon.

And you know what? This small act of serving blessed me and actually did fill my heart with joy. So simple and so sweet. I found that plucking cold chicken off of a rotisserie chicken gave me ample time to pray for the people that I have been meaning to, and I smiled knowing that because I made dinner early today our family might have enough time tonight to go grab an ice cream dessert at Sweet Cece's (a favorite weeknight tradition). The Lord is good.

If any of you mama's are like me, you are always looking for new easy recipes to make for your family... and so I thought I'd pass along what I cooked for dinner tonight. I've made it before and can testify that it is warm and delicious!

Easy Tex-Mex Soup (courtesy of Cooking Light Magazine)

Ingredients:

• 1 TB olive oil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 3/4 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 2 cloves garlic (time saving tip: buy the squeeze bottle pre-minced garlic, available in the vegetable area of the grocery store where fresh herbs are sold)
• 1, 8oz package of pre-chopped onion and celery mix
• 4 canned tomatillos (green tomatoes), drained and coarsely chopped
• 2, 14oz cans of chicken broth
• 1, 15oz can of white hominy, rinsed and drained
• 2 cups chopped boneless rotisserie chicken
• 1 TB lime juice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/2 ripe avocado
• cilantro leaves

Directions:

• Heat oil in skillet. Add dried oregano through pre-chopped onion/celery mix and saute for 2 minutes.
• Stir in tomatillos, saute for 1 minute.
• Add broth and hominy, cover, and bring to a boil. Uncover and cook for 8 minutes.
• Stir in chicken, lime juice, salt, and pepper. Bring to a simmer until heated through (I would let it simmer for about 10 minutes). 
• Garnish with chopped avocado slices and cilantro before serving

As my daughter would say, "yum, yum!"