Quiet in His Love

Life is a series of moments…   They vary from day to day, week to week, year to year.   There are the moments that take your breath away, the moments that fill your eyes with tears, the moments that draw you closer to your Father, the moments that make you want to stay in bed forever, the moments that bring a smile to your face…   Each of these little bits of time weave together into an amazing tapestry that makes up who we are.   A smell can bring us back to that day we first had fresh baked cookies at Grandma’s house, a song can bring us back to the time he asked for a date, a sound can remind us of little feet running through the house.   These moments, these glimpses of life that happen in a flash are part of an ever growing mosaic that is your life.   They fit together into the perfect puzzle of you.   Some moments you want to wish away, you want them to always remain boxed up never to be looked at or touched again.   You struggle to understand why those moments had to be part

Here's another quick update.  I've exercised 20 days in a row now!  I have ridden over 72 miles in less than 5.5 hours.  My husband is still joining me every night for our ride time.  It's not my favorite thing in the world, but I am now in the habit of doing this exercise and look forward to adding walking or some other activity to my exercise plan.  Now to strike some foods from my eating habits and replace them with healthier alternatives.  God is at work in me, even through the exercise!  Keep checking back, friends!  :)

Just a quick note to say that I have now exercised 11 days in a row!  Yay!  So excited!  I rode nearly 3 3/4 miles in 16.5 minutes today.  I am looking forward to seeing where God is taking me through all of this!  He is so good!  Blessings, friends!

I have now exercised 7 days in a row.  To some what I'm about to say may seem unimpressive, but for me, this is a big step in the right direction.  I have ridden my recumbent bike a total of 13.76 miles in a little over 65 minutes.  I know it's a sad place to be when it takes over an hour to go 13.5 miles, but I am thankful for the routine of regular exercise and the discipline of it too.  What a joy it is to know that I am taking steps in the direction of better health and physical fitness!  I'm working toward taking better care of the physical body God blessed me with/entrusted to me. I have started reading Every Body Matters by Gary Thomas to go along with my exercise/physical fitness month.  I am very intrigued by what he is discussing in this book and find it to be an easy read.  I now strongly desire to find an activity that I can do to increase my physical fitness!  I knew before that I wanted to improve my eating habits and those of my family, but now I want more

I finished my 4 weeks of study yesterday!  I am so glad that I started with the foundation of God's word.  Every morning I was able to spend time doing my study, reading God's word, and praying.  It was good to get into the routine (I know some may not appreciate that) of having time every morning with God and His word.  I would love to be able to continue my "study" time, but I hope to make a few changes.  I want to get to bed earlier at night so that I can get up earlier in the morning.  It would be nice to have an hour, give or take, every morning to just connect with God.  I also want to find a book or method to bring me deeper into His word.  Sometimes although study books are a good jumping off point, they can be a bit limiting.  I want to study the things that are on my heart, that I face every day, that nag at me, etc.  I also want to make Scripture memory part of my study time.  I feel very strongly that I (and others) need to hide God's word away in my h

More from A Renewed Heart ! Page 46: "God has a different definition of excellence, and the only thing required is love. It is not enough to merely say that you love or to have the emotion of love; you must actively live out love as Christ has shown us. That is the 'most excellent way' and a foundation to renewal. This may require as much patience and hard work as training for an Olympic medal. It exacts a payment of our emotions and time." Page 47: "'If we love, we can never observe the other person with detachment, for he is always and at every moment a living claim to our love and service.' -Dietrich Bonhoeffer" Powerful thoughts about love!  Do you find it difficult to love at times?  I know I do.  But God gives us a great resource in I Corinthians 13:1-13 that describes love.  We learn in this famous passage what love is and what it is not.  I suggest that you use it as your guide, your blueprint for loving others.  Read through the verses

We should have a "glow" about us because we are God's children.  His light should shine through us and compel others to want to know more.  Shouldn't the world be able to see a difference in us?  The difference should be so apparent that there is no mistake that it's real.  We should have joy overflowing out of us.  Our joy should drench others - raining down on them and making them want what we have.  Have you been "glowing" lately?  Or have you fallen into the world's trap of materialism, consumerism, selfishness, envy, jealousy, etc.?  Why not get on your knees, repent, and ask God to bring back your joy, to refresh it, to renew it?  Then you will be able to smile at everyone you meet, open doors for others, leave a bigger tip than normal, hear God's voice directing you to what He wants for you, take out the trash when your spouse forgets to, edify others when they are down, and the list goes on.  Wouldn't living with a joyful, renewed hea

This A Renewed Heart study is perfect for where I'm at right now!  I love when things fall into place, and God uses what I have at hand to speak to me!  I have quotes for you and a passage that I highly recommend reading soon.  Isn't it a delight to read God's word?  It's living!  You can read the same verses for the sixteenth time and still receive a fresh, timely insight!  I love that!  Check out the quotes below. Page 30: "Christ does not expect us to come to him healthy, happy, and whole. He wants us to come to Him with our sickness, our sadness, and our pain so that He can heal us as no one else can. But beyond our physical or emotional ailments, the greatest area in which we need healing is in our spirits. Our sin is a sickness that only Christ can heal, from the inside out." This hits the mark for me.  I have been dealing with so many things in my life for a long time.  Pain over lost/damaged friendships, the loss of two children, connecting since mo

I'm really enjoying taking time to do a study!  I thank God that He's showing me things.  I pray I will not just see them but act on them to.  I want a renewed heart - a clean canvas to create on.  My reading today, in A Renewed Heart , was full of some good quotes that I want to share with you! Page 24: "We don't come to Christ as perfect creatures; we simply come to Him as we are. It is through His Spirit working in our lives that we are able to walk through our circumstances and rise above our problems. Without Him, our sin and our human limitations would defeat us." Wow!  What an important reminder!  As Christians, sometimes I think we come to Christ but continue to hang on to the reins.  We cannot keep hold of the reins.  Do not confuse the issue - when we receive the amazing gift of salvation we are not somehow given decision-making authority.  God is the One we take direction from; He is our guide on the path of life we walk.  He is the One that gives us

I wanted to share some things that jumped out in my reading today!  These passages are all from A Renewed Heart . Page 11: "As you consider the life of Ruth, think about your relationship to Jesus Christ and the beautiful love that He not only demonstrated in giving His life for you, but that He shows with His presence in your life today.  He will not disappoint you. He will provide renewal for every area of your life. "  I underlined the part that REALLY spoke to me.  I am in need of renewal! Page 15: "What good would it do to be only partially renewed? How effective will we be if we try to put a 'patch' on our old way of doing things? God wants us to be renewed from the inside out- our thoughts, our emotions, our bodies, our actions. The process of renewal is called sanctification, and it should be our continual focus until we leave this earth for eternity in heaven. Without sanctification, we cannot attain the maturity God has planned for us. Our spiritual

Today, I read the first few pages of My Heart in His Hands Bible Study: A Renewed Heart by Vonette Zachary Bright.  I found this Bible study book on my shelf last night and knew as soon as I saw "A Renewed Heart" that this book was the one to start me on my way to immersion and to a better place than where I'm at right now.  I am excited to jump into this study and see where it takes me.  I also read a chapter of Genesis.  I'm reading my way through the Bible again this year as part of my desire to study God's word and see it afresh.  I was able to spend about 15 minutes reading, studying, praying this morning while the kiddos played.  My goal is to get to bed earlier so that I can get up earlier in the morning to have a good 30 minutes+ of "study" time.  Thanks for following along, friends!  Blessings to you!

I just finished 7 by Jen Hatmaker the other day.  Great book!  Everyone should read it.  I have decided to do my own version.  My version will be quirky and unique to me.  If you like what you see below, then please consider joining me for any or all of my Eleven.  The details follow! January 14-February 10, 2015: Study -This will be a time to immerse myself in God's word on a regular basis in a deeper way than I normally do. February 11 & 12, 2015: BREAK -All BREAKS will be for preparing for the next 4 weeks and for a day of reflection or a designated time of fasting. February 13-March 12, 2015: Exercise -This will be a time to get an exercise plan in motion and stick to it. March 13 & 14, 2015: BREAK March 15-April 11, 2015: Connect -This will be a time to purposefully connect with my husband and with my children regularly. April 12 & 13, 2015: BREAK April 14-May 11, 2015: Organize -This will be a time to systematically go through my house room-by-room a