This is the last chapter in the book. Like Debbie I do find that worship means several things and that each is a critical component of our worship of our creator. It is more than just the music that occurs on Sunday morning and the debate between traditional or contemporary misses the point about what worship is. For some of us the can become a jubilant as David to the old traditional hymns while other may need the more modern lively music. I personally get something out of both types. But then I am a person who has always loved all types of music.
I also agree with her comments (and others) that we need corporate worship. Her example of removing an ember from the fire and placing in on the grate where it's fire dies is a good example from my own life. Yes as she next talks about I do get much soul restoration in the intimacy of individual worship. However, I also need other people, but I don't need them to the point of busyness. Busyness is an insidious vine that can creep in and strangle my worship whether corporately or individually.
Next she talks about prayer which she sees as a part of our worship. We need to discipline ourselves to build that relationship with God, not only through worship but also through time spent in prayer. In an individual time of worship and prayer, using that ever format that works for us, then points us towards doing the same with others in corporate worship.
Let us never forget as we close out this book that as Debbie says "We were created for all these things...but most of all,we were created for love. We were created to be loved y God and to love Him back. We were created to love others and to love the life God has given us."
I'm going to close out these posts on Debbie's book just as she closed the book:
"Live creatively, friends. . . . Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don't be impressed with yourself. Don't compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life. (Galatians 6:1, 4-5 THE MESSAGE).
We each ave been knit together by God for a purpose, for a reason. May His handiwork be evident in your life today and throughout te days to come."
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Created For Blessing
What a great chapter! Debbie starts out with discussing our greatest blessing: God's Amazing Unmerited Grace. But then she goes on to say that because of this factor (God's unmeritied grace which is his blessing to us), we need to bless others. Like the two examples she gave of how blessing others has in turn more greatly bless her sons' and herself, I to have experienced that blessing others ultimately blesses me. I often think it blesses me more than my pitifully small efforts to bless others.
On page 197 inside the yarn box she talks about "Knitting a blessing". My mother was the one who taught me to love doing yarn/thread crafts but she is not the person who taught me to knit. In fact I actually taughter her how to knit. It became a blessing for both of us. The one craft my mother did that was truely her creative outlet was her quilting. This is one skill I have not acquired. She made lovely quilts many of which were her own special design. I treasure the ones she gave me. Another craft I have not learned was the one that Grandma Abbott enjoyed which was tatting. I never could see the need because I had other ways to make beautiful edging for various items, now I often think how neat it would be to add a tatted edge to a blouse or other piece of clothing.
My knitting is also a way of being able to bless others. I have setting in a chair by my desk several baby blankets that I have knit and crocheted, along with other items for babies and toddlers. In a few days they will be turned over to Project Linus and the Red Bird Mission contacts. I have no way of knowing who will ultimately end up with these items but I do know that I have been blessed by hours of enjoyable industry which have blessed me more than any one who receives the item will be blessed.
In the last part of the chapter Debbie talks about the blessing of prayer and acts of kindness. Again I could so identify with the examples she gave. I have been so greatly bless by the
prayers of others as well as their acts of kindness. Therefore, I feel that I am just returning the favor when I pray for someone else or extend to them an act of kindness
On page 197 inside the yarn box she talks about "Knitting a blessing". My mother was the one who taught me to love doing yarn/thread crafts but she is not the person who taught me to knit. In fact I actually taughter her how to knit. It became a blessing for both of us. The one craft my mother did that was truely her creative outlet was her quilting. This is one skill I have not acquired. She made lovely quilts many of which were her own special design. I treasure the ones she gave me. Another craft I have not learned was the one that Grandma Abbott enjoyed which was tatting. I never could see the need because I had other ways to make beautiful edging for various items, now I often think how neat it would be to add a tatted edge to a blouse or other piece of clothing.
My knitting is also a way of being able to bless others. I have setting in a chair by my desk several baby blankets that I have knit and crocheted, along with other items for babies and toddlers. In a few days they will be turned over to Project Linus and the Red Bird Mission contacts. I have no way of knowing who will ultimately end up with these items but I do know that I have been blessed by hours of enjoyable industry which have blessed me more than any one who receives the item will be blessed.
In the last part of the chapter Debbie talks about the blessing of prayer and acts of kindness. Again I could so identify with the examples she gave. I have been so greatly bless by the
prayers of others as well as their acts of kindness. Therefore, I feel that I am just returning the favor when I pray for someone else or extend to them an act of kindness
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Not really related
This post is not really from the book that I'm studying but it is about becoming the woman God wants me to be. I finally decided last week to give in and have bariatric surgery (stomach reduction). Yesterday I had my very first appointment in the process. I really have begun to feel much as I did 27 years ago as I struggled with how out of control my drinking had become. My eating is now what is out of control and if I am truthful is the same as my addiction to alcohol. Once I start I can not stop on my own. I need something outside of myself to stop. I know there are those what would say that God is that outside something and I should not rely on surgery. However, just as in my early recovery days of AA I needed the fellowship (along with God) to stop drinking I need something in addition to God to help me stop over eating. Nothing else has worked and I believe that surgery is my only other option if I want to live a normal productive life. There are so many things that I would like to be able to do for Bo, for God, for Asbury and I can't do any of them because they are too painful. I can stay doped up on drugs to overcome the pain because that would just create other problems. So I have started as of today on a life changing process so that I can live another 20-25 years and enjoy my living. There are things that I really want to be able to do.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
You Were Created For Gratitude
This chaper was again a reminder of what a blessing an attitude of gratitude can be; whether it is mine or someone else's. People who are grateful are just more pleasant to be around. Unfortunately, I do not practice having gratitude often enough. Every since I enter AA this phrase "attitude of gratitude" has been one I have heard of regularly. It is also something that I try to have more of, having mastered it yet but I am a whole lot better than I used to be.
Today while running usual Saturday errands to include picking up something for my husband I got throughly soaked to the skin. Initially I found myself complaining to God about having to be out in the rain and getting really wet. Telling God that He really could have had the rain let up just a little when I had to go in and out of the car to reach a building. As I type this now that seems so totally absurd but I did do that. Needless to say this is one day He felt I needed to get my feathers literally wet. The amazing thing though was when I got home my husband had a hot cup of green tea brewed and ready just the way I like it. Now I firmly believe God put that idea in his head because making tea, or even thinking of hot tea as a answer for being cold and wet, it just not where my husband's mind would go. He's more of a coffee or hot chocolate man.
Therefore this afternoon and am again listing all the things I have to be grateful for. I have also been reading about the extent of world poverty in the book "The Hole In Our Gospel" and if someone living in this country can't come up with dozens of things to be grateful for after reading that book there is something wrong. We are such a blessed country. I need to remember that but also remember that a way God want's me to expess that gratitude is through helping those that are less fortunate.
So Dear Lord, always remind me of all the blessings you have given me and remind me to share those blessings with others who are not as fortunate. In Jesus name, Amen.
Today while running usual Saturday errands to include picking up something for my husband I got throughly soaked to the skin. Initially I found myself complaining to God about having to be out in the rain and getting really wet. Telling God that He really could have had the rain let up just a little when I had to go in and out of the car to reach a building. As I type this now that seems so totally absurd but I did do that. Needless to say this is one day He felt I needed to get my feathers literally wet. The amazing thing though was when I got home my husband had a hot cup of green tea brewed and ready just the way I like it. Now I firmly believe God put that idea in his head because making tea, or even thinking of hot tea as a answer for being cold and wet, it just not where my husband's mind would go. He's more of a coffee or hot chocolate man.
Therefore this afternoon and am again listing all the things I have to be grateful for. I have also been reading about the extent of world poverty in the book "The Hole In Our Gospel" and if someone living in this country can't come up with dozens of things to be grateful for after reading that book there is something wrong. We are such a blessed country. I need to remember that but also remember that a way God want's me to expess that gratitude is through helping those that are less fortunate.
So Dear Lord, always remind me of all the blessings you have given me and remind me to share those blessings with others who are not as fortunate. In Jesus name, Amen.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
You Were Created For Laughter
I really enjoyed this chapter. Some of the stories Debbie told in some sections I had already read in her fictions but some I had not. I most enjoyed the stories she told about herself. I got to thinking about the times I have told about what I considered minor incidents that have occured particularly when I was living overseas. I see them as minor incidents that are just part of living in a foriegn country but people who have not had the priviledge find some of them funny. Just the other day I was talking about the sights, sounds, smells, and behaviors of people I experienced in markets in Korea. A trip to a Korean market is a feast for the senses; some pleasant juicy morsels and others repulsive as a bit of foul tasting medicine. There are no separate sections, or apparent organization in setting up the stalls which often serve as homes for the shop keeper (living quarters in the back). Since there is no really organization you have a stall selling bolts of cloth for making clothes next to a stall selling live seafood or live chickens. The stall selling live seafood may just have washpans or plastic tubs with some water and that particular item. Therefore you'll have various muscles, swimming shrimp, wiggling eels, and octapus climbing out of their tub being occassionally corralled by the vendor.
Then the conversation turned to strange things we have eaten and between myself and someone else who had also lived overseas we had the group and ourselves laughing until our sides hurt. They were both repulsed and laughing at our descriptions.
There were two sections that I really enjoyed, these were; that we need to laugh at ourselves and that God wants us to laugh. God created us to laugh, to experience joy and the release of laughter. I think this is why laughing has such benefical results on the human body. One of the things my addiction robbed me of was my ability to laugh. I remember vividly hearing a deep, roaring belly laugh coming from my body. That kind of laughter really is, as Debbie says, exercise. It is still an a amazingly healing time to spend a few hours with friends that leave my sides hurting from laughing so much. To laugh until the need for my bladder control underwear is very apparent.
The situations of Debbie's that I identified with were putting pantyhose and the street vendor in Hong Kong suddenly jumping out in front of her yelling "we even have your sizes". The pantyhose identification is understood by just about any woman who has ever worn pantyhose. The street vendor is more identified by American women who have ever spent anytime shopping in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong (China) because oriental women are so much smaller than most of us. It is often almost impossible to find ready made items in their local markets that will fit.
This chapter brought back some memories fond and not so fond. It also brought back some much needed laughter.
Then the conversation turned to strange things we have eaten and between myself and someone else who had also lived overseas we had the group and ourselves laughing until our sides hurt. They were both repulsed and laughing at our descriptions.
There were two sections that I really enjoyed, these were; that we need to laugh at ourselves and that God wants us to laugh. God created us to laugh, to experience joy and the release of laughter. I think this is why laughing has such benefical results on the human body. One of the things my addiction robbed me of was my ability to laugh. I remember vividly hearing a deep, roaring belly laugh coming from my body. That kind of laughter really is, as Debbie says, exercise. It is still an a amazingly healing time to spend a few hours with friends that leave my sides hurting from laughing so much. To laugh until the need for my bladder control underwear is very apparent.
The situations of Debbie's that I identified with were putting pantyhose and the street vendor in Hong Kong suddenly jumping out in front of her yelling "we even have your sizes". The pantyhose identification is understood by just about any woman who has ever worn pantyhose. The street vendor is more identified by American women who have ever spent anytime shopping in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong (China) because oriental women are so much smaller than most of us. It is often almost impossible to find ready made items in their local markets that will fit.
This chapter brought back some memories fond and not so fond. It also brought back some much needed laughter.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Created For Work
In this chapter Debbie focuses on Goals. At the end of the chapter she has this worksheet. My answers are in red.
Goals for This Year
List three new things you'd like to experience this year:
1. The joy of being philantropic
2. The wonder of God in a new way
3. A renewed sense of purpose
List three nonfiction books you want to read this year:
1. The Whole in Our Gospel
2. Finding God in the Shack
3. Never Give Up (Joyce Meyer)
List three things about yourself you want to impove:
1. Weight
2. Habit of exercising
3. Use of time
I. Spiritual Goals: Read through the Bible using the chronological study Bible NKJV and daily time alone with God.
II. Family Goals: Be more loving and respectful toward my husband and contact my daughter more often.
III. Physical Goals: Exercise more and loose weight.
IV. Career Goals: Find a realistic way to make more money because it appears that we will not get the annual bonus and cost of living increase that we have been getting. Get started on becoming a free lance writer.
V. Recreational Goals: Be able to attend an out-of-town conference/seminar/workshop related to work, church, or writing.
VI. Financial Goals: Begin to make enough money to become truely philantropic.
These are my answers. Please leave a comment and let me know what yours and then we can pray and encourage one another to reach our goals.
Goals for This Year
List three new things you'd like to experience this year:
1. The joy of being philantropic
2. The wonder of God in a new way
3. A renewed sense of purpose
List three nonfiction books you want to read this year:
1. The Whole in Our Gospel
2. Finding God in the Shack
3. Never Give Up (Joyce Meyer)
List three things about yourself you want to impove:
1. Weight
2. Habit of exercising
3. Use of time
I. Spiritual Goals: Read through the Bible using the chronological study Bible NKJV and daily time alone with God.
II. Family Goals: Be more loving and respectful toward my husband and contact my daughter more often.
III. Physical Goals: Exercise more and loose weight.
IV. Career Goals: Find a realistic way to make more money because it appears that we will not get the annual bonus and cost of living increase that we have been getting. Get started on becoming a free lance writer.
V. Recreational Goals: Be able to attend an out-of-town conference/seminar/workshop related to work, church, or writing.
VI. Financial Goals: Begin to make enough money to become truely philantropic.
These are my answers. Please leave a comment and let me know what yours and then we can pray and encourage one another to reach our goals.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Created For The Word
Loved this week's chapter from Debbie. I love the time I spend in God's Word and it always speaks to me. I have often prayed God's Word but don't remember a time when I have done the one she used. It was Paul's prayer for the Ephesians (3:14-21). After reading it through I did then pray it out loud for a couple of people who are going through a tough season in their lives. I have found that there is nothing more powerful than praying God's word out loud for someone. It is something I learned from Beth Moore and Stormie Omartain. This was of course the passage the was used by Pam Gibbs for the Diving Deeper Retreat.
The next section "Believing What We Read" has never been an issue with me. I know that the people who wrote it AND translated it (including the King James Version which is a translation) we God-inspired. I also like the simplicity of the three options she quoted from Voddie Baucham (pastor and speaker). Those really are the only three options and leave you with only one option. The three options are:
1. Men were the source of the Bible.
2. Satan was the source of the Bible.
3. God is the source of the Bible.
Baucham explains that if men were the source then they were evil men attempting to deceive people. If the Satan was the source he painted himself as the villain and revealed the only means by which men can resist and defeat him, which doesn't make sense. Therefore it comes down to the God is the source of the Bible.
I also agree that I have been guilty of what she talks about in the next section, which is using the Bible to bail me out. I have learned has Debbie says to spend consistent time with God, reading and studying his word. I may use her idea of each year reading through a different version of the Bible. This year I am using the Chronological Bible and maybe next year I use The Message or maybe one of the one that have The Message and another version together. Maybe her selection of the New Century Version which I have never used before.
Next she talked about the four words she uses as criteria for every story she writes. These four words are: provocative, relevant, creative, honesty. She then equated those four words to the Bible.
Her next section talks about the fact that studying God's Word require discipline and she equated this to knitting in a very interesting way that I had never thought of. First is you only practice knitting a stitch for a little while and then quitting you don't progress as a knitter. The more you knit the more accomplished you become and the more you study and put God's Word into your heart and lives the more beautiffuly His love is able to be revealed. Then if all you ever knit is scarves using only one stitch you miss out on the other beautiful things that can be made. If we only go to the Bible when times are difficult we never develop that close personal relationship with God.
Then she talks about developing an active prayer life. In this section she reminds us that there are times when God leaves prayers unanswered and we will ultimately see that this was for our good. We forget that God has the big picture. I know in my life I have seen this to be true but it is only in hindsight that I realize this.
Lastly she closes the chapter with a section entitled "Savorin God's Word" and shares that for her the best way to savor God's Word is to be in Bible studies with other people, particularly women, as either a student or a teacher. She closes the chapter with a wonderful story about having her heat go out during cold period in Seattle where she lives. It turned out the only thing wrong was that the filters were dirty and needed cleaned out. She leaves this chapter will the following advice:
"If you are in need of a heart cleanup, the best place to start is with the Word. Take the time you need to spend with God each day. Study His Word and memorize it so you can take it with you wherever you go. Savor His love for you, and remember that you are indeed created for the Word. It is our only true road map that will show us where to go next."
So spend time with God through His Word this week.
The next section "Believing What We Read" has never been an issue with me. I know that the people who wrote it AND translated it (including the King James Version which is a translation) we God-inspired. I also like the simplicity of the three options she quoted from Voddie Baucham (pastor and speaker). Those really are the only three options and leave you with only one option. The three options are:
1. Men were the source of the Bible.
2. Satan was the source of the Bible.
3. God is the source of the Bible.
Baucham explains that if men were the source then they were evil men attempting to deceive people. If the Satan was the source he painted himself as the villain and revealed the only means by which men can resist and defeat him, which doesn't make sense. Therefore it comes down to the God is the source of the Bible.
I also agree that I have been guilty of what she talks about in the next section, which is using the Bible to bail me out. I have learned has Debbie says to spend consistent time with God, reading and studying his word. I may use her idea of each year reading through a different version of the Bible. This year I am using the Chronological Bible and maybe next year I use The Message or maybe one of the one that have The Message and another version together. Maybe her selection of the New Century Version which I have never used before.
Next she talked about the four words she uses as criteria for every story she writes. These four words are: provocative, relevant, creative, honesty. She then equated those four words to the Bible.
Her next section talks about the fact that studying God's Word require discipline and she equated this to knitting in a very interesting way that I had never thought of. First is you only practice knitting a stitch for a little while and then quitting you don't progress as a knitter. The more you knit the more accomplished you become and the more you study and put God's Word into your heart and lives the more beautiffuly His love is able to be revealed. Then if all you ever knit is scarves using only one stitch you miss out on the other beautiful things that can be made. If we only go to the Bible when times are difficult we never develop that close personal relationship with God.
Then she talks about developing an active prayer life. In this section she reminds us that there are times when God leaves prayers unanswered and we will ultimately see that this was for our good. We forget that God has the big picture. I know in my life I have seen this to be true but it is only in hindsight that I realize this.
Lastly she closes the chapter with a section entitled "Savorin God's Word" and shares that for her the best way to savor God's Word is to be in Bible studies with other people, particularly women, as either a student or a teacher. She closes the chapter with a wonderful story about having her heat go out during cold period in Seattle where she lives. It turned out the only thing wrong was that the filters were dirty and needed cleaned out. She leaves this chapter will the following advice:
"If you are in need of a heart cleanup, the best place to start is with the Word. Take the time you need to spend with God each day. Study His Word and memorize it so you can take it with you wherever you go. Savor His love for you, and remember that you are indeed created for the Word. It is our only true road map that will show us where to go next."
So spend time with God through His Word this week.
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