90 Day Challenge

When you get to the end of your life, what do you hope to have done with it? Will it be a life you can look back on with fond memories? Something that leaves a legacy for your kids and grandkids to follow that will truly help them live life well? Or will it be a life lived for the moment, for the pleasure of right now... and not for the future, both in this life and thereafter? What do you hope to have done with your time?

The day I turned 24 I wrote a post about some of my goals for this year. Since that time I have ran 175 miles, started reading some things for the website (although I'm still unsure of the details for it), am planning on starting the 90 day challenge on April 1, and made approximately zero progress on the husband. (haha please know the husband one is/was in jest... while I'm not opposed to finding him... sometimes God's timing is different than my own, and instead of moping for him to get here, I would rather enjoy both now without him and then when he gets here.)

The one I want to focus on though is the 90 day challenge where I'm going to try to read the Bible from cover to cover in 90 days. If any of you would like to join I would love for you to! There are links at the bottom if you do.

I look back over my life and I see so many different factors in my life leading me to where I am. Granted it may not be the coolest life ever and I am still not anywhere near where I need to be, but life has been enjoyable. I think one of the main reasons is because of the direction of God's Word. His instruction truly does lead to the good in life even if sometimes He requires leaving the temporary pleasures alone... He does it for long term blessings. I'm convinced the more Christians dig into the Word the better off the world will be. It's hard to explain the peace that comes from following His commands. It truly is something that has to be experienced to truly understand. I hope you will join me for this challenge. Even if you can't do it in 90 days, set a goal to read it cover to cover. Through His word He will bless you, challenge you, sometimes make you uncomfortable because He wants to transform our lives. But the life transformed by Christ is the one legacies are made from. The ones that we can leave our baggage behind and move forward to what we were called to be.

"Turn my heart toward Your statutes and not toward selfish gain." Psalm 119:36

http://www.youversion.com/reading-plans/13-bible-in-90-days this link will take you to a website that will allow you to read it on your computer, send it to your iphone or http://www.thebrooknetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/BibleIn90Days.pdf is the schedule if you want to read it from your own Bible.

Longing for home

I was studying this week for a lesson about the last of the beatitudes in Matthew which says, "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Casandra Martin, who wrote the book we are using for our outline, was talking about the conflict between enemies of the cross of Christ and those who are striving to live for Him. She talked about how Jesus reminds us of home during these struggles and makes the comparison of a soldier longing for home to how we should long for heaven.

I have recently been in touch with Josh Boos, an old classmate of mine who is about to be deployed to Afghanistan, and asked him what it was like for the soldier missing home. He wrote back:
     "As a soldier you go through tough times that change you; trials and tribulation on a daily basis. Depending on your job you face the ultimate sacrifice, which nobody wants to really give up but if it's necessary it happens. I have been close to death several times in the military, and it's something that is never easy. When times come like that you focus on what's going on at the time, but shortly afterwards you think of home and all the loved ones you miss greatly and usually it helps a person get through. A lot of people rely on different things to get them through but no matter what anyone says, its the memories and people from where the soldier calls home that makes him grit his teeth and keep going. As an infantryman, this is just words of hardship that one goes through. We all go away from home and long just to go back to feel the happiness and love of what we miss."

There is so much in that for application, and I'll leave most of it for you to glean from for yourself. That last sentence though sums up this thought. We are away from home, our heavenly one, and we can look around and see all the bad going on, and sometimes it is disheartening, because we are longing to feel that happiness and love that we miss. But just like the military man has the hope of one day returning home to loved ones, so we have the hope of going home one day to be with our Savior if we will fight the good fight. It's a beautiful thing.

Please remember to keep our military men and women in your prayers. I know from personal experience it is easy to let them slip out of mind, but they are fighting for our freedom and have done more for our lives than we will ever know. Thank you to those who have served.

"Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus." ~ 2 Timothy 2:3 (NIV)

don't quit

A couple weeks ago my family and I went to Austin for the Boy's State Basketball Tournament. One morning my mom, sister, and I skipped out on the morning session and went to visit a friend of our cousin. Her current interest is in photography, but she used to be a master seamstress I believe is how they referred to her. She has written several books and done some really incredible things. I was telling her about this quilt I am working on and how some of the edges didn't match up, slightly embarrassed because I knew she is good at what she does, and I know how some of my projects don't go quite according to plan. As I described some of the things that were going wrong she said something to the effect of "Oh yeah, I've done that too." Then she gave me a tip on how to fix it.

It's crazy how some of the simplest moments can have a profound effect on your life. There is a poem that says, "The great were once as you." I can't help but think that maybe the "greats" in this life are not the ones necessarily with the most talent, but rather the ones who persevered when things didn't go their way. The ones who keep learning and striving to improve. It's not that they never fail... it's that they don't quit.

I think the same can be true in our spiritual lives as well. It's important to keep in mind that while we are striving for perfection we can't obtain it on our own. We'll fail. And maybe we fail because we haven't been trying at all. The beauty is that God is on our side, and He wants us. He knows our past. He knows that we haven't been perfect or maybe that we haven't even cared to begin with, but He still wants us to turn to Him. His love is incredible and He wants us to keep going. To not quit... Maybe even to start. The question is will we?

"So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised." Hebrew 10:35-36 (NIV)

Precious in the sight of the Lord

"Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints." 

Psalm 116:15

Mom was talking about this verse the other day. She was thinking back on all the babies being born recently, and how the parents were anxiously awaiting their arrivals. She talked about the planning and the preparations, how they prepared a room for their new baby, and couldn't wait for them to get there. Then she drew the comparison to the verse mentioned above. The saint's death is their birth into heaven, and Christ is up there preparing a place and awaiting our arrival. What a thought!

It's easy to get caught up in life. Right now I am making a quilt for my nephew's room, dabbling in signs, trying to stay focused on a few projects instead of letting my mind (and money) wander into the many, many fun things there are to create, my sister's senior track season has started... haha the list can go on and on and on and it's easy to forget what I am here for or rather Who I am here for. God has blessed me with so many things, but His main desire is that  I live for Him for a lifetime... that I be with Him for an eternity. He's preparing a place. He wants us all there. Where is my focus?

 For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love  He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will— Ephesians 1:4,5