Right now my days are busy with simply taking care of daily necessities, homeschooling, sleeping, organizing parts of my house, resting, going to church, and did I mention sleeping?

I’m not dying…well, technically we all die a little bit every day…(isn’t that a lovely thought? ). I just need to take a break. I don’t know when I will be back on a regular basis. Maybe a few more weeks…? I may publish a post randomly, or I may not. I’m letting my body decide what it can get through in a given day instead of pushing myself like I’ve done so many times before.

I will let you know what my body is dealing with when I know. In the meantime, I am definitely having to utilize my OneWord365: Faith. I’m finding the balance between doing what I can in the natural for healing, while speaking the Word and believing God for total restoration of my health.

When I’m feeling well enough to be back on a regular basis, I’ll invite you to join a new online ministry I’m starting with some friends. Please pray for that, too!

Thank you for your prayers, and for giving me grace during this season. I’m praying for you, too.

I lived at home for free with my parents and had a good job, so my plan wasn’t too difficult. The part that wasn’t easy was the discipline of keeping to my plan.

My plan

• To make a budget, and send in a payment on time each month
• To send extra with my payment whenever I could
• To ask myself three questions whenever I went shopping

My three questions

One day, I was browsing the shoe aisles of a store, and I was carrying a pair of shoes I had selected. I started getting uneasy about them because of the debt looming over my head. I began praying for wisdom, and the will power to apply whatever wisdom God gave me. He answered by showing me three very important questions:

1. Do I really want it? I realized while shopping it’s easy to be swayed by the almighty sale. It’s in our self nature to want things. It’s fun to get a new toy, dress, or book. I looked down at the shoes in my hands. I’m not sure if I really want these shoes; they’re not that amazing. I settled with the thought that if I didn’t absolutely LOVE the item, I wasn’t even going to consider it.
2. Do I need it? I thought about the shoes I was planning on replacing, which were the whole reason I was in the store in the first place. If I was honest with myself and swallowed my pride a little bit, I knew I could simply add a little shoe polish to them, and I’d have a lot more life out of them. At this point I started moving from the fun-to-make-a-new-purchase-vortex to only buying the item if I really needed it.
3. Can I live without it? Right about the time I was about to make a firm decision to leave the shoe aisles and hightail it to my car, I saw another pair of shoes. They are my size! They are perfect! They are on sale! And they fit great! I tucked the box under my arm, and started walking quickly toward the cash registers as if the sound of my own steps would drown out His still small voice. It was as if He was saying, “You can make this purchase, but remember you asked for My help. Can you live without them?” I had stopped in the middle of the walkway, and was staring down at the box in my hands for so long that people were beginning to mistake me for a display. Finally, the box went back on the shelf; I realized I was going to have to make some sacrifices if I was going to get out of debt soon.

The process wasn’t easy. I caved from time to time. I learned to crucify my flesh a lot. But I was out of debt before the car company’s designated time for it to be paid off. To this day, I am a more frugal person from this experience.

What do you do to be wise with your money?

You haven’t yet noticed that some bars that have formed between you and the shiny thing. When you look up at it again, you feel the bars more than see them. You feel somewhat trapped.

Since you’ve stopped, and are feeling trapped, you now gaze to the right in hope to find a more comforting view. Suddenly another sparkling object captures your attention, and your eyes are longingly locked on the marvelous wonder. The wish that your item could be like this is tugging at your heart. The tugging becomes more of a pull, which brings you down to your knees.

Your head hanging, again you haven’t yet noticed the bars that have formed between you and this new work of wonder. You look up slowly and your hand takes hold of one of the bars for a moment.

Somehow you remember that you need to keep moving forward. You had been decidedly adamant before that you wouldn’t go backward. A slow anger begins to build, and you stand up, ready to take that first step, but you’re stuck. A mixture of confused and hopeless thoughts flood your mind, when the deluge is interrupted by the view in front of you. The desirable view is of prestigious status and immensely good. The bars appear in front of you, you wrap your fingers tightly around the bars, and press your nose in between them in hope of a closer view.

You are locked in a cage of comparison.

You’ve probably heard a sermon on not comparing yourselves to others, but I’ve learned a lesson this week. When a seemingly good thing is cut from your life, you can respond with pessimism or you can use it for a reason to make positive changes.

Instead of focusing on, “I shouldn’t compare, I shouldn’t compare,” (which is true), realize that while you’re trapped in the cage of comparison you are unable to get out and fulfill your own destiny.

Confidence is the key to unlock the cage.

Confidence is going to unlock the doors and give you a song that says:

come on, come on, come on

you gotta move

pick up your wings and fly

there’s a whole new world outside

Confidence is going to give you the power to possess your own God-given vision, and fulfill it. What God wants you to make with the work of your hands, is going to be shiny, beautiful, sparkly, glorious, marvelous, wonderful, desirable, of prestigious status, AND immensely good!

“But, I lack enough confidence!”

Dear friend, if you have the fear of the Lord, you will have strong confidence (Proverbs 14:26). The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom (Proverbs 15:33), and He liberally gives wisdom to those who ask it of Him (James 1:5).

So, come on, take the key…fly…there’s a whole new world outside. (no, this post is in no way sponsored by Disney)

I haven’t yet obtained the means to bring to you a recording, and it’s actually something I’m having to walk in faith while remaining balanced with the thought that even Jesus’ time had to come. In the meantime, I don’t pretend to be a phenomenal writer, but I hope to inspire you regularly to come to Him.

I don’t just mean come to Him, I mean come away with Him.

Coming away with Him happens after you’ve come to Him. See, you come to Him by acknowledging Him at some point during your day: praying, reading and studying the Bible, or praising and worshipping Him. You can certainly come to Him, but when you’re there, do you also come away with Him?

I’m not talking about reading a few verses in my Bible, and saying a prayer. I’m not talking about cracking open a devotional for five minutes, saying a neat, “God, You’re swell,” and calling it a day. I’m not even talking about reading several chapters in my Bible and mentally checking it off until tomorrow.

I’m talking about experiencing God.

I’m talking about letting His words become life to you. While you read or study them, let them prick your heart, let them comfort your soul, let them fill you with immeasurable satisfaction. But it doesn’t stop there.

I’m talking about pouring out your heart in love to Him and lifting your voice to Him! I’m talking about taking time to worship the Father as you have come to know Him thus far. I’m talking about listening to your Teacher as He impresses things on your heart.

No doubt the Father was continually with Jesus while He was on the earth. Jesus came to the Father by going up to the mountain alone (Matthew 14:23). He left the crowds. He left His disciples. He left His earthly needs. He had one motive: To come away with the Father.

Come to Him alone like Jesus did. While you are there, follow His leading. Then come away with Him.

Be open to follow Him.

If you are open to His leading…He starts to woo you away from all surrounding distractions into His presence. If you are open to His leading…you go deeper into His tangible presence. If you are open to His leading…you hear His voice, and obey it. If you are open to His leading…you may even find yourself in the Holy of Holies.

Come away…so you can know the Father more intimately.

Will you make a choice to mirror Jesus’ actions and come away with the Father?

We go in seasons with God, and the turn of the new year often marks an intentional beginning for us. We try to make resolutions or goals, and they often fall by the wayside. Instead of focusing on a list, I’m joining others to focus on one word all year long.

What word? The word that God drops in your spirit. Others have chosen words such as consistency, diligence, focus, photography, simplicity. I love that God is specific with us, and my heart becomes excited when I see us reciprocate details in our relationship with Him.

My One Word for 2012 is FAITH.

With the prodding of the Lord, I’m choosing to be more intentional in walking in faith. 2011 was a year where a lot seemed to go wrong. Honestly, after awhile of that you can start to doubt God’s promises. God uses trials to build our faith, but I didn’t always respond with that mindset.

After selecting several verses that will lay a foundation of faith, I see pertinent truths:

• God has given every man a measure of faith. (Romans 12:3) I’m choosing to exercise mine, and see it grow.
• Living by faith pleases God. (Hebrews 11:6; Romans 1:17) The just shall live by faith. Romans 1:17b 
• Faith increases by hearing the Word of God. (Romans 10:17) If I need faith in any area, I simply need to pray, speak and meditate on God’s promises on that area. If I need faith for boldness, then I’m going to build my faith by immersing my spirit man with scriptures on confidence.
• If I believe, I will receive. And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive. Matthew 21:22 NJK There are certainly some things I want to receive in 2012, and faith is the vehicle by which they will be brought.

I agree with my friends at Do Not Depart, that we need purposeful plans to spend time with God in 2012. Part of my plan will be to study how those in the Bible walked in faith, and how God moved as a result.

Your Turn

I hope you will think and pray about what your One Word for 2012 will be. God wants to do an amazing work in you this coming year.

Leave a comment telling others your One Word, or feel free to leave your link in the comments if you’ve written a post about it. Would you share your word to inspire and encourage others?

Do you have five minutes every day to pray for your spouse? I’ve read the 31 Days to Build a Better Spouse eBook, which the challenge is based of off, and it is a wonderful resource. I try to make a habit of praying for my husband daily, but love the accountability of a community set aside for that specific purpose.

If you want to be encouraged to pray fruitfully for your husband or wife, then this challenge is for you. We will be praying God’s Word and His promises and will see the fruit of it!

And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive. Matthew 21:22 NKJ

Here’s how to Join:

1. Get a copy of 31 Days to Build a Better Spouse.

2. Join the Challenge.

3. Let me know you joined, so I can agree in prayer with you!

As the clock continues its perpetual swing, and January 1 races closer, an anxiety can begin to surface. The millions of miscellaneous tasks that need to be completed after Christmas and before New Years Day make for a very busy six days.

We have less than four of those days now, and one thought is reeling through my brain:

The above is a sad story. Yes, it’s unfortunate that the driver of the mini van hit the cart rack, but that portion of the story is not what is saddening. It’s obvious that the mother of the teenager failed to teach conscious character to her child, and seemingly lacked it herself.

 “The character of our children is the leading indicator of the future of our country.” ― Senator Dan Coats

God expects us to train our children in the way they should go, and a wise parent will include character development in that training. A wise person will give attention to it in their own lives.

We all influence others. An example of one exhibiting honorable traits on a regular basis is a beneficial influence.

Character First

Character First is a marvelous resource. We currently use Series 1 of the Elementary Teacher’s Guide Kit as one of our homeschool classes. (They also have an secondary level for older children.) It covers attentiveness, obedience, truthfulness, gratefulness, generosity, orderliness, forgiveness, sincerity, and virtue. We are covering one trait per month. Additional traits are highlighted in the other three series.

My sister-in-law is my homeschooling mentor, and when I first began teaching my children she shared a gem of truth with me. She said if you teach your children to obey first, then they will be much more receptive to learning academics. I started teaching them from the Obedience Guide when they were preschoolers and simplified the material, since it’s intended for ages 6-12. My kids love the stories, games and crafts. As you can see, this kit is lasting us several years. That’s money well spent!

My children aren’t the only ones benefiting from this material; I’m soaking it in, too. For example, when we were focusing on attentiveness, the lesson taught that to be attentive one should look the person speaking in the eye. Being a multi-tasker, I noticed that I didn’t always do that. We are by no means perfect, but one day I hope that my sons will look at a women’s character before choosing a spouse and that they will be men of admirable character as well.

How do you implement character traits in your life? What do you use to teach character to your family?

I started getting grouchy. I heard another piece of news that was negative and thought,

I’m sorry. I can’t fix it. I can’t fix everyone’s problems all the time and someone is always unhappy about something.

Needless to say, that was the wrong response, and I walked away asking myself, What is wrong with me?

I realized that I was letting the influx of negativity affect me in the wrong way.

But sometimes, we just need a balance. We need to hear positive, encouraging news. It lifts us up.

Maybe there’s a reason the Bible says to talk about His wondrous works.

Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples! Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; Talk of all His wondrous works! Psalm 105:1-2 NKJ

I want to hear good news! Will you leave a positive comment? I want to hear if your sister-in-law just received Jesus, if your doctor gave you a good report, or if your dog just came home!

I’ll start by leaving a comment about some good news. Your comments will benefit others who may be discouraged, and need to hear some encouragement.

If you can’t think of anything good, find the good in that situation!

Ready? Go!

Images via Creative Commons: plasticrevolver

Lazy stretch, a yawn, a smile, time to sip coffee awhile

Pitter patter of little feet, heartfelt hugs, the greeting is sweet

Breakfast made, children fed, put on the roast, make the bed

Dryer buzzes, doorbell rings, vacuum roars, phone rings

Hair brushed, slippers to shoes, in the car, turn on the news

Bags unloaded, dishes done, now’s the setting of the sun

Baths finished, laundry folded, “Time for bed, kids,” Mama scolded

Teeth brushed, sheets changed, today was quite a long day

Tired sigh, climb into bed, a kiss and “Good night,” they said

In the hustle and bustle that comes near the end of the year, are you forgetting anyone?