(By the way...there is a fun song with this, but sometimes I have to scroll all the way to the bottom for it to start playing!)
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Just so grateful...
There are so many blessings in my life that God has been so gracious to allow me to have! Here's to my precious family that make my life more full! I thank them for their unconditional love & support. ~ Love you!
(By the way...there is a fun song with this, but sometimes I have to scroll all the way to the bottom for it to start playing!)
(By the way...there is a fun song with this, but sometimes I have to scroll all the way to the bottom for it to start playing!)
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Life with Boys....
Here are some snapshots of life here in our house with three boys! Always an adventure and so much joy! As I am learning more and more about our sweet baby, I see ways in which God has prepared me to be the mother of boys. I see reasons why he has chosen Wesley and I to raise men and I am so grateful~ HIS plan is perfect and I love being able to fully trust in that alone. We love our precious boys and look forward to what God has in store for us as a family of five!BIG Helpers!! Lots of sleeping & one busy mama!
Friday, January 22, 2010
Surrendered Servant
I have been thinking the past few days about Christ and his perfect example of being a surrendered servant. If He, the perfect spotless Lamb of God, did not view Himself as one who was above serving, then how could I ever think I am above serving those around me? I can not.
Philippians 2:6-7 says this about Christ, "who although existed in the form of God, did regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself taking the form of a bond-servant..."
As a bond-servant, I cannot just talk of the doctrines I believe in or choose to follow, I must act in such a way that I put others above myself. (Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas) Servanthood causes me to grow spiritually and personally. It is a challenge to my personal life to offer myself day after day, but in this place of humility I will grow beyond measure in the likeness of Christ. This is my goal, the essence of Christianity.
The world has made a mockery of what I choose to do with my life each day. I choose to be a wife and mother, to be a servant. The outside influences are strong and pull me to find significance in so many other places, but in all honesty~ genuine greatness lies in being a servant. (Sacred Marriage) Genuine and authentic are words that I would want used when speaking about who I was as a woman. To achieve that is to surrender myself and be used of God, in whatever capacity He chooses.
If we view our everyday lives as a place to serve, then we can help prevent the false view of disillusionment. Even when those around us may not seem "worthy" to serve, we will still have a heart of joy in serving them, because we know that our service is truly unto God.
1 Corinthians 10:31, "whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." Colossians 3:23-24 says, "Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve."
Serving is hard and it will cost us something(s)! But in all honesty, don't you feel that sacrificing for the sake of God is worth it all? His ultimate sacrifice provides for me a hope to which I hold firmly. In an effort to offer a sacrifice of worship to Him each day, I will choose to serve. I will choose to surrender. For I know that in this lies the greatest treasure of knowing Him more closely and having a deeper love for Him. I long to please God with my life and I know that by serving I can cause His heart to smile. I see this when my own children set aside their selfish agenda and work in the interest of one another. This makes me smile~ How happy the heart of my Father must be when I choose to serve rather than be served.
****************************************
This is a great book by Gary Thomas~
Philippians 2:6-7 says this about Christ, "who although existed in the form of God, did regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself taking the form of a bond-servant..."
As a bond-servant, I cannot just talk of the doctrines I believe in or choose to follow, I must act in such a way that I put others above myself. (Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas) Servanthood causes me to grow spiritually and personally. It is a challenge to my personal life to offer myself day after day, but in this place of humility I will grow beyond measure in the likeness of Christ. This is my goal, the essence of Christianity.
The world has made a mockery of what I choose to do with my life each day. I choose to be a wife and mother, to be a servant. The outside influences are strong and pull me to find significance in so many other places, but in all honesty~ genuine greatness lies in being a servant. (Sacred Marriage) Genuine and authentic are words that I would want used when speaking about who I was as a woman. To achieve that is to surrender myself and be used of God, in whatever capacity He chooses.
If we view our everyday lives as a place to serve, then we can help prevent the false view of disillusionment. Even when those around us may not seem "worthy" to serve, we will still have a heart of joy in serving them, because we know that our service is truly unto God.
1 Corinthians 10:31, "whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." Colossians 3:23-24 says, "Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve."
Serving is hard and it will cost us something(s)! But in all honesty, don't you feel that sacrificing for the sake of God is worth it all? His ultimate sacrifice provides for me a hope to which I hold firmly. In an effort to offer a sacrifice of worship to Him each day, I will choose to serve. I will choose to surrender. For I know that in this lies the greatest treasure of knowing Him more closely and having a deeper love for Him. I long to please God with my life and I know that by serving I can cause His heart to smile. I see this when my own children set aside their selfish agenda and work in the interest of one another. This makes me smile~ How happy the heart of my Father must be when I choose to serve rather than be served.
****************************************
This is a great book by Gary Thomas~
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Committed or Surrendered?
Commitment carries the idea that you are choosing to remain. Whether it be in a relationship, a contract, a diet, a belief system (the list goes on)~ you are making the choice to actively remain a part of that commitment. Now, it may not always be easy to remain committed to something because of our own attitude or because of challenges brought by others around us, but you can still choose to remain or to walk away.
Here is Webster's definition of committed: to give trust/charge to, to pledge oneself, to entrust for safekeeping
Now, the idea of surrendered carries a much stronger sense that you are not the one in control, because you have willingly given up that right. The original commitment you made has deepened to a level of fully entrusting oneself to another. You actively make the choice to give up your right to choose what you want to with your own life. You have surrendered yourself, which goes beyond just a commitment.
Here is Webster's definition of surrendered: to yield oneself to the power or control of, to give up one's control completely
When looking at these two areas of thought, you would more than likely think that being committed is better than being surrendered, because you do not lose your ability to make choices for yourself. True, if what you are being surrendered to is unhealthy or dangerous. Not true if you have surrendered to something that is only beneficial for you.
So, this leads me to ask: Am I committed or surrendered to God?
Philippians 2:5-8 says, "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who... emptied Himself...taking on the form of a bond-servant... humbled himself....was obedient."
Christ Himself was the perfect example of one fully surrendered. He was here to do the work of His Father, and I am sure that just by looking at what He endured here on earth, this was not always easy. There is choice involved in being surrendered, because you must continually offer yourself a sacrifice to His purposes, but when the idea of living fully surrendered has taken strong root in your thinking, the following through of this idea becomes more a part of who we are and not just what we do.
Philippians 2:13-14 goes on to say, "for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or complaining."
Why?
Philippians 2:15 "to prove yourselves blameless...innocent...children of God,...above reproach... a light in the world."
Choosing to be surrendered to God is choosing to be a servant for Him. To serve is to be selfless. We cannot be ready to be used "for His good pleasure" if "I" am in the way. The gentleness that I feel is required for me to the kind of wife, mother, friend, daughter and woman of God does not happen in and of myself. I do not possess the kind of diligence needed to love unconditionally, guide, rear, train, come alongside, counsel and help-meet. I must be intentional in being surrendered in order to walk in such a way in Christ. Just one small glimpse of me on my own, apart from Christ, is proof enough that it cannot be done. I cannot just be committed to doing it God's way, I must be surrendered to Him, so He can will in me the way He has already established.
Here is Webster's definition of committed: to give trust/charge to, to pledge oneself, to entrust for safekeeping
Now, the idea of surrendered carries a much stronger sense that you are not the one in control, because you have willingly given up that right. The original commitment you made has deepened to a level of fully entrusting oneself to another. You actively make the choice to give up your right to choose what you want to with your own life. You have surrendered yourself, which goes beyond just a commitment.
Here is Webster's definition of surrendered: to yield oneself to the power or control of, to give up one's control completely
When looking at these two areas of thought, you would more than likely think that being committed is better than being surrendered, because you do not lose your ability to make choices for yourself. True, if what you are being surrendered to is unhealthy or dangerous. Not true if you have surrendered to something that is only beneficial for you.
So, this leads me to ask: Am I committed or surrendered to God?
Philippians 2:5-8 says, "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who... emptied Himself...taking on the form of a bond-servant... humbled himself....was obedient."
Christ Himself was the perfect example of one fully surrendered. He was here to do the work of His Father, and I am sure that just by looking at what He endured here on earth, this was not always easy. There is choice involved in being surrendered, because you must continually offer yourself a sacrifice to His purposes, but when the idea of living fully surrendered has taken strong root in your thinking, the following through of this idea becomes more a part of who we are and not just what we do.
Philippians 2:13-14 goes on to say, "for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or complaining."
Why?
Philippians 2:15 "to prove yourselves blameless...innocent...children of God,...above reproach... a light in the world."
Choosing to be surrendered to God is choosing to be a servant for Him. To serve is to be selfless. We cannot be ready to be used "for His good pleasure" if "I" am in the way. The gentleness that I feel is required for me to the kind of wife, mother, friend, daughter and woman of God does not happen in and of myself. I do not possess the kind of diligence needed to love unconditionally, guide, rear, train, come alongside, counsel and help-meet. I must be intentional in being surrendered in order to walk in such a way in Christ. Just one small glimpse of me on my own, apart from Christ, is proof enough that it cannot be done. I cannot just be committed to doing it God's way, I must be surrendered to Him, so He can will in me the way He has already established.
Monday, January 11, 2010
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