What Am I Reading: Devotional Edition

This week, I wanted to focus on a few devotional books that I will be reading and working through this year.

I like devotionals because even when you are rushed for time or about to fall down exhausted, they are short enough to allow you that little extra time with God.  I don't use devotionals as a substitute for my actual Bible study and prayer time but just as an easy way to begin the day on the right foot and to end the day with the Lord on my mind and heart.

The devotional I've been starting my day with  is Too Blessed to be Stressed: 3 Minute Devotionals for Women. I was lucky to be provided with an advanced copy of this book prior to the year and have been using it since January 1st.

Not to be confused with the book Too Blessed to be Stressed by the same author, this three minute devotional is a collection of 180 uplifting readings from author Debora M Coty that provide enouragement, humor, inspiration and comfort to start your day.  These devotions start with focusing 1 minute on the provided scripture, 1 minute on the devotional reading for the day and then 1 minute in prayer with the Lord.

I really like that this particular devotional is very lighthearted.  The author is very uplifting and the writing is cheerful but very poignant at the same time.  For example: " Living life, after all, is a series of conscious decisions, an act of the will. So it's up to us to choose to slow down enough to enjoy snapshots of the beauty - like improptu violin concerts, spiderwebs, sunbeams, and puppies - that bring rest and peace to our weary souls".     This particular writing made me realize that one of my son's autistic quirks allows him to do exactly that - he appreciates the beauty in things I totally ignore, like spiderwebs and rainbows cast on the floor from light refracted by our aquarium in the afternoon.  He takes such joy in these little things and I realized reading that God probably smiles down on him for appreciating his creations.    


The second devotional I have been enjoying this year is  Daily Wisdom for Women 2016 Devotional Collection.  This is a collection of 365 devotionals for each day of the year that are encouraging and inspirational.

This particular devotional, which is compiled from various writings by the Barbour Staff, is a bit more serious in tone then the previous devotional but just as uplifting.    It begins each of the daily readings with a scripture selection, followed by a really nice writing and then closes with a short prayer.  The writings include personal stories, scripture interpretation and reflection, and encouragement for both spiritual and personal growth.   Whether it's challenging you to ignore the images on the cover of magazines and appreciate the beauty God has given you or encouraging you not to give up when you fail, each of these writings offers something any woman can relate too.

I look forward to utilizing this book throughout the entire 2016 and I'm sure the 2017 edition will be beside my bed as well.

My night time devotionals are much different from my day time devotionals. Since I tend to read these devotionals after completing my Bible study, I tend to prefer a much more Scripture/Bible centered devotional at night.  One particular devotional that I am working with for night time reflections would be God So Loved You: A 40 Day Devotional by Max Lucado.

You should already know that I am a huge fan of Max Lucado's teaching and many might thing I am a bit too predictable when it comes to always grabbing a new Lucado book.  This is true and I am working on expanding my horizons, so to speak, with others such as Mark Batterson, Francis Chan, John Maxwell, Pete Briscoe and Andy Stanley. However, I haven't found anyone who explains actual scripture in such a way that I understand it clearly as Max Lucado does and that's why I continue to be drawn to him.


This particular gem is a collection of 40 short devotionals that help you to reflect on the different aspects of God's love for us.  Max has such a knack for putting his teachings into such personal examples that really relate to the reader and puts things in perspective and this book is no exception.  I ended up choosing this particular book, however, as a nighttime devotional because I'm reading it out loud to my husband who is on the precipice of becoming a follower of Christ himself and Max is a great teacher to help my husband make an informed decision.

While not a devotional, another great book on my Kindle that I have been reading at night is Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus by Kyle Idleman.

 This particular gem was brought to my attention by what I can only feel was a bit of divine intervention, to be honest.  I found this absolutely marvelous six part production entitled The Christmas Experience on RightNow Media.  (Have I mentioned how much I absolutely LOVE RightNow Media??)  We watched this together and all enjoyed Kyle Idleman's laid back approach to spiritual teaching. When I find a teaching style I enjoy, I end up researching other works that person has done - in this case I found another 6 part presentation with Idleman on RightNow entitled Not A Fan.  The synopsis caught my attention and so I watched it over the course of a few days.  I found it VERY informative, especially coming from someone who (as mentioned in a previous post) basically was told you say a quick prayer and you're saved and that's it.  When I found out that the 6 part series was actually an accompaniment to the book by the same name, I purchased it for my Kindle and have been enjoying it very much.  I tend to read a chapter before I hit the sack.

Now, here's why I believe there is some divine intervention involved here. As I read through it, I knew that my husband would be able to relate to Idleman's style of teaching as well but not this particular book.  I mean, he needs to be convinced to be a follower of Jesus in the first place. So another title of Idleman's caught my eye based on the description.  I went looking for information and found where Family Christian was having a contest ending within the hour for a copy of that particular book. I entered and GUESS WHAT?  I won.. So now, I have a copy of AHA 40 Day Challenge Devotional on my nightstand that I'm about to start with Charlie as soon as we're done with the Max Lucado.  GOD IS GOOD!!!!

Alright, one more book...

The final book I've recently added to my nightstand (Okay, I don't have a nightstand. I have a bookshelf beside my bed that has ALL my spiritual books so I have no excuse when I'm in bed).  This was another book that I received a copy of from the publisher but will be forever grateful to add to my bookshelf.

Prayer Points: Praying God's Promises at Your Point of Need

What a beautiful book, from the soft immitation leather cover with trees and Psalm 145:18 ("The Lord is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth.") embossed into it down to the silken book mark, this is such a lovely book. It is very small and could easily be tucked into your purse. But the real draw of this book is the topics of prayer enclosed in the pages.

Say for example, life is starting to bear down on you and you are feeling overwhelmed but you are at a loss for words as to what exactly to pray for.   An index in the back will point you to a page in the book with a prayer written especially for how you are feeling. Whether you're dealing with emotional abuse, addiction, depression, church problems, conflicts in your marriage or your kids are driving you nuts, there's a suggested prayer as well as scripture suggestions to provide encouragement.

This is a book perfect for a newish believer like myself who finds prayer both difficult and somewhat awkward.  While I'm working on my communication with God, I feel grateful to have this tool when I know I need some guidance and suggestions when praying for the really important issues in my life.

K is for Kiara

Last year, I saw that some friends of mine were doing a "Blogging Through the Alphabet" each week and at that time, they were quite a ways through it. Somehow, I totally missed when it started back up.  However, I'm jumping into it with week 11 and the letter K and hopefully will remember to blog for this linkup each week.  Be sure to check out the blogs Through the Calm and Through the Storm and  Adventures with Jude who are hosting this particular linkup.


K is for Kiara

When my oldest daughter who is now 16 turned 4, she asked for a kitten for her birthday.  A friend of ours had recently adopted two kittens from a local shelter in Houston and suggested that I might wan to check them out as well as for a very reasonable price we could get a kitten who already had all their shots and was also fixed.  So one weekend in June, Alyssa and I drove down to Citizens for Animal Protection (CAP) on the Katy Freeway in Houston, Texas to pick out her new pet.   As we browsed the multiple cages of available kittens, one particular tortoiseshell fluffball caught my eye. She was the absolute cutest thing I had ever seen.  I pointed her out to Alyssa but Lyss had her eyes on another kitten and wouldn't be swayed.  Heartbroken, I honestly thought I would have to leave the Torti behind.

My girlie.. Cloudy Eyes and All

However, as luck would have it, CAP was having an adoption special that weekend.  You could get two kittens for the 60 dollar adoption fee.   We walked out of there with Alyssa's selected kitten as well as my own fluffy kitten to add into our home.  We named the kittens Nala and Kiara, after the two female lionesses from the Lion King.

Unfortunately, Nala is no longer with us, however, Kiara is still a member of our household. We usually just call her Keekee for short.  She is no longer the tiny ball of fluff she was on that summer day in 2003 but is instead a very large and lazy furry butt who can usually be found on the foot of my bed relaxing in her senior years.  She's mostly blind now due to cataracts but still gets around plenty.  With exception of her eyesight and some arthritis making it hard for her to jump, she's in very good health for being an almost 13 year old cat.

Kiara About 7 Years Ago

Kiara has been my baby since the day we brought her home.  Until she started having trouble jumping, she was often found sitting on my lap every night while I watched TV. Now she is happy on the floor near me.  Ever night when I'm falling asleep, she wakes me up as she's climbing into bed and I feel the weight of her settling on my feet. She likes to sleep with at least part of her body on top of mine and I often have to move her off my legs/feet.

I know one day she will leave us to join Stormy at the Rainbow Bridge.  Stormy was my very first cat whom lived to be 20 and was Keekee's companion for her first 7 years.  While I would love for Keekee to live as long as Storm did, I don't know if it will be in her cards or not. But I know that every day she is with us, she is loved and she has reciprocated that love and brought so much joy into our lives.

Passion: Salvation's Tide is Rising Review {GIVEAWAY}

Lately, I find myself listening to more worship music in my home.  So when I had the opportunity to listen to an advance copy of Passion: Salvation's Tide Is Rising featuring artists such as Crowder, Kristian Stanfill and Chris Tomlin, I was quick to volunteer.  I'm so glad I did too because it is a pretty amazing item.   Be sure you enter for a chance to win a copy of your own at the end of this review.

This brand new Passion album contains ten never before heard studio recordings written for Passion 2016.  Since it's first release in 1998, Passion albums have sold over 1.3 million copies while introducing many now familiar worship songs like "Our God", "How Great Is our God" and "Holy is the Lord".

If you are unfamiliar with the Passion movement (I myself just become familiar with it a few months ago), it was started by Pastor Louie Giglio from Atlanta's Passion City Church. Louie Giglio is also the best selling author of the two books The Air I Breathe: Worship as a Way of Life and I Am Not But I Know I Am: Welcome to the Story of God.  Giglio hosted the first Passion Conference in 1995 in Austin, Texas and since then it has become a multi city event with over 60,000 university students from the United States and from around the world in attendance. And additional 170,000 from more than 130 countries who are unable to attend in person instead watch parts of the conference online.

The worship music on this album is amazing, from beginning to end.  There are ten different tracks from very talented (and well known) artists from the sixstepsrecords label.  All together, the album is almost 51 minutes long. Tracks include the following:

1.  Salvation’s Tide is Rising – Passion featuring Kristian Stanfill

2.  My Victory – Passion featuring Crowder

3.  Remember – Passion featuring Brett Younker & Melodie Malone

4.  God & God Alone – Passion featuring Chris Tomlin

5.  Simple Pursuit – Passion featuring Melodie Malone

6.  I Turn to Christ – Passion featuring Matt Redman

7.  Your Grace Amazes Me – Passion featuring Christy Nockels

8.  All We Sinners – Passion featuring Crowder

9.  Surrender – Passion featuring Jimi Cravity

10. Good Good Father – Passion featuring Kristian Stanfill

It's very hard to pick a favorite from this album as they are all AMAZING!   These songs have great energy and such a positive message.  If I  absolutely had to pick one, however, it would be the title track featuring Kristian Stanfill.  If you like Contemporary Christian Worship music, you will enjoy this album.

Passion: Salvation's Tide is Rising will be released later this month. When it's released on January 29th, many of you will want to head over to your local Christian store and pick up a copy of it.  However, one lucky reader of my blog will be able to win a CD copy of the album to add to their library.   Instructions are at the bottom of this posting.

iTunes: http://smarturl.it/PassionSTIR?IQid=pbn 

Facebook: http://smarturl.it/PassionFB 

Twitter: http://smarturl.it/PassionTW 

Instagram: http://smarturl.it/PassionIG 

Now for the Giveaway:

"Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.

Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway.  If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win.  Or if you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.”

Entry-Form

Goals

Did you make a resolution for 2016??  Nearly everyone does, whether it's to lose weight, workout more, drink less.  Everyone has such good intentions on December 31st.  When January 1st rolls around, they hit the ground running to meet that resolution.  The first day goes by well, maybe even the 2nd day.. On January 3rd, they might slip up to their old ways and they get a bit discouraged. By January 5th, all resolute has gone out the window and things are back to the way they were and you're left feeling like a true failure, telling yourself you can't do anything and that you will always be fat/flabby/weak/ect.   Then, when December 31st rolls around, we make those same resolutions again, swearing THIS will be the year it happens, only to have the same thing happen.

I don't make Resolutions.  I find them to be almost as destructive to our psyche as the actual behavior, maybe even more so, because you're left feeling much more defeated for having not met those restrictions we've placed on ourselves then we felt not trying.

Resolution derived from the word resolute, which by it's definition is part of the problem right there.

res·o·lute

ˈrezəˌlo͞ot/

adjective

1. admirably purposeful, determined, and unwavering.

We cannot expect to be "unwavering" and "determined" all the time.  We are human, we make mistakes and we shouldn't beat ourselves up when we do.  But for some reason, we do that when it comes to resolutions. We often time feel like a failure, like we can't accomplish what we set out to do so what is the point.   And so, I stopped making them altogether.

Instead, I make goals. 

Goals are an end result that is obtainable. It doesn't make a difference how you get there or even how long it took you to get there. The point is you work towards meeting that goal and eventually you cross that finish line.  You might fall down a few times, you might skin your knees and your palms when you do, but you pic yourself back up and you keep going.  You don't focus on the setbacks and the mistakes, you focus on what is at the end waiting.    

Yeah, sure, it's the same thing as a resolution when you get down to it, but it's a much more positive way of accomplishing it, allowing for the mistakes without the self guilty and self defeat that one feels for not adhering to the resolution.

For 2016, I decided to set seven goals for myself, each with the hopes that by changing my behavior I can become a much more positive person.

The sad thing is when you realize that person is you.

I am going to be honest, I am a Negative Nellie.  There, I admit it.  Believe me when I tell you, that is a very hard thing for me to admit. I like to say that I am a happy person, that I am friendly to everyone and I try to avoid drama. Truth is, I am lying to myself.

I am a miserable person. I don't know if it's because of living 5 years in this desert, out in the middle of no where, around people who are just as miserable as I am but I find that I have become a very negative, depressed, miserable person.  I have very little energy or want to do much of anything.  All friends that I had on this base have moved away and I don't have any desire to make new ones. Not that anyone would want to be friends with someone who is as negative as I am.  As a result, the only other adult I see each week besides my husband is the UPS man.

I want to change that.  So here are my goals for 2016 to work toward in order to change that.

1.)  Cut Down on my Spending -  One might not think this would impact my negativity. But even thought I get a temporary satisfaction in getting a box from Amazon, we are almost always living paycheck to paycheck.  By curbing my spending, that will allow for more money to do other things with, especially family outings.

2.  Clean Up My Language - I'm going to make another confession, although this one isn't as hard for

me to admit as the one prior.  I have a potty mouth. I have always had a potty mouth.  I'm good at watching my language around people whom I know such foul language would make uncomfortable but the truth is I curse like a sailor.  Gordon Ramsey and I could have one heck of a conversation, to be sure.  I've always had a foul mouth, stemming from a father who was a Marine and had just as colorful of a vocabulary as I have now.     My goal for this year is to STOP using such foul language. I want to live a life that is pleasing to God and  I know that the words that come out of my mouth are NOT praising him in any way and only contributes to my ugly attitude in general.   Plus, my kids are quickly developing a colorful vocabulary and honestly, I would like to break the cycle.   While I'm not about to let anyone wash my mouth out with soap, I have instructed my kiddos to tell me to watch my language when they hear me using bad words.

3. Spend More Time With God -  I know that much of what I want to correct with myself, I am not going to be able to do alone. I also know that I want to live a life that reflects what Christ taught us to

live. However, I cannot do either of these things without the help and guidance of our Lord.  This seems very cliche', I know, however, I know it's the truth.  Here's the deal - I went to Church all my childhood and teenage years. I was involved with the choir (the real one, not a children's choir), I was baptized, I was a member of youth leadership.  But the truth is, I haven't the first clue about being a Christian.  We were always told if you accepted Christ as your savior, then you were saved and that was that.  Nothing else.  Obviously, this isn't true and there's much more required from me than just a simple prayer said one day at a youth conference. This is new territory for me. But I know enough to know that I have to approach the Lord with a humbled heart and ask for his help to make the changes in me that I know he wants to see.  This means more reading my Bible, more prayer, more Worship music: all which will help to influence my mind and my heart to make the changes I need to make. Eventually, I would like to find a Church and build my spiritual family but for now I'm enjoying reading/listening to lessons on iDisciple and other websites as well as listening to Bible Studies and Sermons from Mark Gungor as well as other worship leaders that I enjoy.

4.  Get Organized - How would getting organized help my negative attitude?  Well, clutter and messiness makes you miserable.  While my home is not a pigsty with rotten food and garbage everywhere, it is cluttered.  We're a family of 5 living in a house built for 4 and as such, there's really no room for everything.  It's time for us to start decluttering, deep cleaning and working towards keeping it that way once it's done.   A clean, bright environment helps towards having a bright and clean outlook.  I want to add more ways to store and organize stuff (beyond just throwing it on bookshelves or on the couch) as well as add houseplants and pretty curtains so I can keep the windows open on sunny days. (I have lived here 5 years and still don't have curtains on the windows!)..

5. Spend More Time With My Family -  It's time for me to disconnect.  Facebook have become too

much of a distraction for all of us.  We're all buried in our Kindles, computers and phones.  Ten years from now, not a single one of us will remember what happened on Facebook, but we will remember the trip we took to the farm or the camping trip to the Sequoias.   This year, I want to do much more things with the family, making memories that will last a lifetime.   Camping at Yosemite, the tidepools at Leo Carrillo state park, hiking at the Vasquez rocks and more letterboxing adventures.  There really is so much to see and do here in Cali and in 5 years, we've done very little of it. I want to change that.  I want to get out of the house more for 2016 and make memories. I want to fill this blog weekly with beautiful pictures of the amazing adventures that we go on as a family so that you can see all of our smiling faces.  And all that money I save in step 1 will help to allow that.   I also want to spend more time playing at the park, playing board games, reading and just spending quality time in the home with my family as well.

6.  Communicate More With My Husband More - I addressed this want/need in my Word for 2016 post and it's still a major goal for 2016.  But I want this to be positive conversation.

Which leads into goal #7

7. Stop Being So Negative - I tend to use my husband as a sounding board for all the reasons I'm miserable here, telling him about the latest drama going on in the Base facebook groups,  or complaining about politics.  I want to stop complaining - I want my words to be uplifting and positive. I want my husband to look forward to conversing with me when he gets home from a long day of work, not dread what I'm going to be complaining about as soon as he walks in the door.   I want my personality to be bright and cherry, so that people will enjoy my company and seek it out rather than avoid it because I bring them down.

There you have it. My goals for 2016.  Sure, I want to lose weight and work out more but you know what? If I can meet the 7 goals that are above, I have a feeling all the other things I wish to do will follow suit in their own time.  And I hope that as God helps to make these changes in my life, that that new positive outlook will reflect to this blog as well .

The Time Garden (Review)

Adult coloring is all the rage right now.   Why it took this long for someone to figure out that there was a huge market to manufacture coloring books for oldest "kids" I don't know, but they finally did. Gone are the days of mom's having to steal their kids coloring books.

Gone are having to color My Little Pony and Disney Princesses.  Adult coloring books are everywhere - Wal-mart, Bookamillion, even Michael's craft store.  All one has to do to participate is grab a book and crayons or colored pencils, pick a page and get to work.  Coloring is a cheap and de-stressing activity that anyone can do.  Needless to say, I have a nice collection of books.

I was given the opportunity to review The Time Garden: A Magical Journey and Coloring Book by Daria Song.  This book is a bit different compared to my other books as this one actually tells a story rather than just random images put together.  The Time Garden tells the story of a young girl who follows a fairy through a magical cuckoo clock and her journey to return to her living room.

This coloring book is very nice.  Images are very detailed and are printed through full spreads between pages.  The paper is thick and allows for coloring with different media such as gel pens or markers without bleed through.

The book has a duct cover with gold leaf accents. With over 40 images, this book is packed full of hours of coloring to create a beautiful work of act.

Without a doubt, this would probably easily be one of the most beautiful coloring books of my collection, from cover to cover.   I'll look forward to adding more of Daria Song's books to my coloring collection.

One of my unfinished works of "art"

2016 Grapevine Studies Calendar (Review)

Just before Thanksgiving, I had the opportunity to review  the Birth of Jesus study from Grapevine Studies.  We fell in love with the concept of using stick figures as a way to visualize the story and cement it in our minds.  Honestly, I found it to be one of the cutest concepts every and even my 16 year old daughter thought the drawings were absolutely adorable.  So when I was given an opportunity to also do a review for the 2016 Grapevine Studies Biblical Calendar, there was no way I was going to say no!!

Just as cute as expected!!

Boy did I get more than I was expecting.  What was I expecting?  I expected a basic calendar with

those adorable stick figure drawings. I figured major holidays such as Easter and Christmas would have a cute graphic on the corresponding block. I figured there would be 12 months listed as January, Feb, on through December.  Well, I wasn't wrong in that sense.  All of those things are indeed there.  So I guess the calendar did meet my expectations.  What I didn't expect is just how beyond my expectations this lil calendar was going to go.

Most calendars consist of 6-8 pieces of paper, folded in half and stapled in the middle. One side of the fold has a pretty picture - maybe a cute kitten or a car. The other side of the fold has the typical grid of the month. Some might have an extra page where it shows you the entire year at a glance, along with the year before and the year after.   Major holidays are marked, maybe the start of the seasons and that's it.  You're typical calendar.

This calendar goes way beyond that.

The Grapevine Studies Calendar takes the standard Gregorian calendar which we are all familiar with with and pairs it along with the Biblical (Hebrew) calendar that will be very unfamiliar and strange to most of us unless maybe you're Jewish.  The Hebrew dates (such as Shevat 5 and Adar II 16) are on each date, letting you know where in the Hebrew calendar you are and those ooh so cute Grapevine stick figures mark important dates in Christian history.  This calendar does not non-religious holidays such as Valentines, Presidents day, ect as it's focus is on learning about the Biblical history. It does, however, show the new moon for each month.

Very rarely do you see a calendar that is so packed with information that an optional 39 page Companion booklet of notes to help you understand all the wonderful information found in the calendar.  The booklet is thicker than the calendar itself!!  And it is packed full with AMAZING information that you probably don't already know.

Check out the Sample Pages Here:  2016 Wall Calendar Sample  |  2016 Calendar Notes Sample

First off, it's filled with tons of those cute stick figures that Grapevine Studies is known for.  But it serves a very important purpose, one that you will not find with any other calendar.

The calendar itself marks all these important dates in Biblical history, however, it does not have text that accompanies the graphic.  So, for example, in the month of January, there's a cute lil graphic of a baptism on the 10th and on the 11th there's a cute little guy sitting at a desk writing.   Without prior knowledge of the importance of these days, one would have no clue as to what either of these cute graphics represent.  One can, however, google Tevet 29 and Shevat 1 and hope to find out what of historical importance occurred on these dates.  If you have the companion booklet, this information is quickly at your fingertips.

A glance in that wonderful booklet tells you that January 10th represents the day Christians traditionally commemorate the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist and that January 11th is to represent Moses making the 13 copies of the Pentateuch.  Because all this extra information would not fit into the calendar boxes without being too small to read, the Calendar Notes book is a WONDERFUL addition. The author, Dianna Wiebe, does an excellent job of explaining the history and evolution of both calendars as well as explaining the Holy Days and the traditions represented on the calendar in a way simple enough for all members of the family to understand..

And of course, it's got 12 large and super cute Stick Figure drawings representing each month..

If your like me, you probably didn't know Grapevine Studies had a calendar and even if you did, you probably wouldn't have thought to give it a second glance compared to the cheapo 5 dollar kitty calendars at Wal-mart. You probably think "A calendar is a calendar". But in all honestly, these calendars are so much more than just the typical and I would consider it more a Christian teaching tool than a wall calendar. Even my husband was enthralled reading through the Notes book and found it entertaining and highly educational.  I especially like that each note is accompanied with Bible scriptures to look up that explain or support where these dates are derived from as well as websites to visit and do more learning.

It's going to be lots of fun looking at the calendar throughout the year and then looking up the special graphics in our book and learning about all these Biblical dates and facts (such as in all my years of Church, I never knew there was a Second Passover).  It will also be a great way to jump into our daily Bible studies each morning.

 I highly recommend this calendar and I know that I will forgoing the cute Kitty and Cars calendars and buying these from here on out.

Verse of the Week

I don't know about you, but on January 2nd, I took a deep breath and I said a prayer for thanks that the holidays are finally over.   It's  been a whirlwind of craziness since right before Thanksgiving and has been almost non stop since.  Granted, it was a good type of craziness (outside of battling with LAX airport) with Christmas lights, firetrucks, decorating the tree, unwrapping presents and such, but it was still craziness.   It's very nice to realize that today it is back to normal, with the only thing left to do is to take down the tree.

But right now, I am bone tired.  I am completely drained!!   So I had to laugh when, while doing my Bible study, I came across this little gem from Psalms.

Oh that I had wings like a dove for then would I fly away, and rest. I would fly far away to the quiet of the wilderness.   

Psalm 55:6-7

King David must have really known what it was like to be bone tired.  I can imagine having that crown on your head (figurative and literal) must have been a burden that left one so drained that each morning when he woke up, he wanted to pull the covers back over his head and sleep yet another 12 hours.    I know how he feels!

I think I'm going to take a Post-it pad and write that verse on a few Notes and put them in places where I will see them - my bathroom for when I first wake up and can barely keep my eyes open, the kitchen next to the to the sink for while I'm washing the dishes, in the laundry room for while I'm doing laundry..  Each of those places where in the course of everyday running of the household, I can see it and sigh and know exactly what King David meant when he wrote that wonderful lil pearl. 

And underneath it, I will write this verse - to remind myself where true rest comes from.

Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him.

Psalm 62:5

I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and I hope you find your rest :)

Weekly Linkup

Do you blog about a particular scripture or just about Christian Fellowship each week? If so, I would love to have you join me and my friend Tasha at ABC's and Sweet Tea and link up to help spread His word.

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An InLinkz Link-up