How Low Can You Go

Several weeks ago my mom gave me a Bible study book called the The Mind of Christ by T.W. Hunt and Claude v. King.

It had been my dad's, so I was really excited to get started.

But.. I was nervous. I am notorious for starting things and not finishing them. (just check the last date on my post) I knew this was one I wanted to complete.

So a few days ago I began..not exactly at the first of the year, but pretty close. As the title indicates, this study is to help you to be like and to think like Jesus as much as possible while on this earth.

The first few pages began by giving the characteristics of Christ. One mentioned was "lowly" with a scripture reference of 
Philippians 2:3 which states "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves."

Esteeming others??

Here all this time I thought I had "humility" down..which is kind of funny because do humble people really know they are humble? I mean you can't brag about being humble, right?

I learned that being lowly or humility is not about belittling ourselves. ( I am pretty good at talking down to myself, so if that was the case...I would have been ok)

It is not even about us.

It is about others. 

Encouraging and esteeming (which means to respect and admire) others. Being humble is servanthood. Christ is the perfect example of this.

I was so far off the course of lowliness that it actually embarrasses me. 

As I look over the past year and think of all the opportunities I had to encourage or esteem a brother or sister in Christ..and didn't and usually because of my pride, it saddens me. Sometimes I would find it hard to give praise or admiration where it was due, because I felt that in someway it highlighted my own failure. 

Strange, yes. Self-esteem issues..um probably. I don't understand it and I can't explain it, but I have asked forgiveness for it and hope that this year I will do better

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By the way....Happy New Year....Six days late!!!

The Ugly Truth

I am a little nervous about posting this on my blog..sharing my struggles, seeking advice for myself. So reader beware...I need your help....



For years I have been told lovingly by my family that I have ADD. Recently my husband has come to  agree with them...lovingly.

I asked my doctor about it a few years ago, but he reassured me there was nothing wrong with me. It was the result of working full time, raising four kiddos and running a household. Too much on my plate. He told me that his wife has to help out his own married daughters from time to time. So I either needed to hire help (while both my mom and mother-in-law are awesome, they both work a 40+ week and hubby works 12 hour shifts and does what he can) or give up something.

So I mulled through this..ok hired help was not even considered. I could not just pick one kid to get rid of, I mean what kind of mother would I be??? So after talking, praying, etc. it was the job that had to go. I think I shared all of this before.

I honestly believed that once I became a stay at home mom  everything would change and that it would happen magically.

Suffice it to say I no longer believe in magic.

I still struggle with staying focused. I can be working on one project, stop to get something, become distracted and start working on something completely different, only to realize later that I did not complete the first task. This causes a lot of unfinished projects, half cleaned rooms, etc.

To say I get frustrated and overwhelmed at times is an understatement.

So today I am just wondering if there are others that struggle with this or have in the past? If in the past, how did you overcome it? I would love suggestions?

Linking to Homemaker By Choice

I Am Back

So I ventured out and started a new blog Saving With Purpose. The idea behind it was to be a money saving blog where I shared our purpose behind saving money, which was not only to be a good steward, but to eventually realize our dream of moving into a larger home, with land and essentially having our own homestead.

Basically I did not find as much joy in writing or posting about deals and money saving tips. It was fun some of the time, but not all. the. time. I missed sharing stories of my life as a wife, mom, child of God, etc. While I did own the blog and could have written whatever I like, it just didn't feel right..ya know.

So anyway, long story short, I am back!!

For the record though, the dream is still alive more than ever and I do still love saving money!!

 

I Am A What???

Ok, he is kind of cute...but really?

Let me explain...our Pastor at church has been teaching us on Wednesday evenings how to know what your spiritual gift is.

This past Wednesday he had us take a personality test.

I know, right?

My scores clearly said that I am a sanguine. According to Google...an otter.

The dictionary tells me this:

san·guine   [sang-gwin] adjective
1.cheerfully optimistic, hopeful, or confident:

Sounds good to me but the reality is there are also negatives or weaknesses to being a sanguine. Honestly, the weaknesses probably describe me better than the positive.

The negative qualities include..disorganization...

Ok, ok please stop laughing, you are hurting my feelings.

Lack of follow through was another (see the date on my last post if you are wondering about that. However, in my defense I have been blogging over at Saving With Purpose.)

Sanguine personalities also tend to be daydreamers.

I am fitting the mold more and more.

I daydream. ALOT.

I daydream about owning a beach house that we rent out throughout the year, but have to ourselves whenever we want.
I dream about owning my own business....and it being successful.
Doing what you ask? I have no idea.
I dream about making a lot of money blogging...however, the negative trait weakness of follow through seriously prohibits this.

So what's a girl to do with this information...

Not too much.

II Corinthians 12:9 says "But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me."

and thankfully Philippians 4:13 tells me "I can do all this through him who gives me strength."

I can't let it define me and certainly not limit me. I am only defined by who I am in Christ.

In the end we all have weaknesses, but through Christ we can rise above the weaknesses or negative traits to bring honor and glory to the one who has saved us.

I found a similar test that our Pastor gave to us here, if you would like to see what your personality is check it out

By the way, it looks like I could be a beaver too.....just sayin'

Lord I Want to Know You

This was my prayer over the summer.

It is also a title of a book by Kay Arthur.

Sometime after the birth of our third child, but before the birth of our youngest, the wife of our Pastor at the time taught a Bible study on the Names of God...the actual title was "Lord, I Want to Know You More", but what I remember was being taught the names of God and how much comfort and peace there seem to be in His names.

However, I was in a different season of my life, husband worked nights, three little ones, working..you get the picture. Sometimes Wednesday nights did not seem to fit into "my" schedule, which is when this Bible study took place.

When I look back at that time of my life I am reminded of how in Malachi the Lord says that we "rob Him and we rob ourselves of blessings", of course this passage is speaking of offerings and tithes, but I often wonder how many blessings I robbed myself of on those evenings when I robbed God of my time and did not make it to church.

Fast forward to Summer 2011, I was at a yard sale (shock, shock) that was actually packing up for the day when I noticed their books.

I spotted one that I wanted.

I asked how much and to my surprise they told me "free!"....I so love that word!

The book? A devotion study...

"Lord, I Want to Know You" by Kay Arthur

God's timing is perfect..remember my prayer?

I connected via Facebook with our former Pastor's wife (she's my friend too!) and she sent me the outline she had made for the study.

I am anxious to learn the ones I missed, but also be reminded of those I heard.

God is good......

But He is so much more than that!!!

Check back as I share what I learn over the next several weeks.

Linking up to Finer Things Friday at Amy's Finer Things