I Need My Strength ~ Meditation Mondays

In a recent sermon our Pastor read this:

"Martin Luther is quoted as saying that if he felt too busy to spend an hour in prayer and devotion he immediately stopped everything and took two hours. Not because he was so pious or punishing himself but because he realized in the temptation to not spend that devotional time, the devil was wrestling the strength of the faith away from him, hindering his ability to do anything for his Lord."

The idea that the devil can wrestle strength of the faith away from believers by making them too busy for the Word really stuck with me. Probably because I know that it's true. I have felt the weakness, I just had never thought of it as the devil stealing my strength. If I get too busy with life and get out of my routine of reading God's word, I feel different. I feel out of touch. I feel weakened - a lack of passion for my faith. And I so easily forget the life-giving feeling of just reading God's words. Without me even realizing it, the dumb devil has sucked my life and light right out of me.

When I realize what's happening as a result of my "busyness" I start back up and have to reacquaint myself with God. It takes a while to get that closeness back, that strength. And then when I have it, I think "how could I ever let this go?"

And then I do.

Sometimes I think our fellow believers are so easy to let us off the hook about not spending a good amount of time in the Word. Yes, I'm a busy mom, I don't get much time to myself. Yes, I have to keep a household running.  Yes, I need my sleep or I am a nightmare to live with. But, if I can make time for a work out, I can make time for God. If I can make time for Sarah Palin's Alaska, I can make time for God. If I can find time to write this, I can find time for God. So, don't let me off the hook friends and Mom Books!  I need to have my Strength!

O My Strength, I sing praise to you; you, O God, are my fortress, my loving God.

Psalm 59:17

Why My Mom is the Coolest

This is a picture of my mom (center) with her two sisters.  Isn't this cool?  They are all still involved in rodeo. My Aunt Linda (right) team pens and my mom and Aunt Patty barrel race with the best of 'em. They're all in their 50's but you'd never know it.  They all have such life, adventure, and toughness in them - love it!

My siblings and I often joke with mom about her loving her horse more than she loves us.  While I sometimes wonder if it's not the truth, I am super proud of her and glad she has something she's passionate about.  :)

So, for January, this is Why My Mom is the Coolest.



A New Addition

Meet Shelby

We got a new puppy!  The excitement level is at an all time high around here. As you can see Rylie has not left her side since we got her.  Shelby's been introduced to many friends...

Eric named her after Josh Selby (KU basketball player) I thought Selby sounded weird so we compromised on Shelby.  Our cat is named Wayne after Wayne Simeon (former KU player) so we thought it only fitting. (We found out later our cat was a girl but it was too late, the name stuck.)

She is a Shiba Inu.  I know.....you've never heard of it.  I did a lot of research on the Internet about what kind of dog we wanted. My criteria was:


has to be an outside dog
not a big dog but not a tiny dog
must not be a barker!
must be great with kids
a dog that I can start a small family breeding business with


and after months of research I kept coming back to the Shibas.  A few days out and I feel like we've made a great choice. I did have a little cry after we got her because based on pictures I thought she was going to be fluffier, but I have moved on to "big girl world" and I can see past my vanity. 

Technically we now have two new additions to the family as I saw a mouse scurry across my kitchen floor this morning. The latter will hopefully go to a better place soon. It's either me or him I guess.

Resolutions

I am not normally one to torture myself with New Year's resolutions but I drew some inspiration from my friend Natalie and made a couple this year. Nat does resolutions every year without fail and actually sticks with them. In the past her resolutions have involved giving up pop (I would classify this one as torture), exercising, recycling, giving up chocolate, etc. The only one she's ever broken is the chocolate one, which I think we can all understand.

I figure I may have a better chance of keeping my resolutions if I tell people about them, so here are my two for the year: (drum roll please)


1. Recycle my cardboard

2. Get on a Budget


I have been recycling for a few years now but have never done my cardboard trash. The main reason is that I have no more room in my garage for recycles!  Other reasons include the inconvenience of our recycling center and pure laziness.

The Budget one will be harder. I think our longest running record for being on a budget lasted about 3 months. Don't get me wrong, we are great at starting them and have done so too many times to count. It's the sticking with it that's the hard part. Something always blows the budget...Christmas, a trip, stupidity - you name it. So, for 2011 I will try to stick on the budget for an entire year (Yikes! Do I have to?).

While this isn't really a measured goal, I also would like to concentrate on being more chill about things. I get way to stressed about certain things so I'm going to work on giving my stress to the Lord.  Pray before freaking - my new motto for 2011.

Would love to hear about your resolutions for the New Year!

"Know Me" ~ Meditation Mondays

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts, see if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 139:23-24

Do you ever feel troubled and can't quite put a finger on why? I feel like this happens to me a lot. I find that often times it's the Holy Spirit trying to get my attention about something I thought, said, or did that wasn't honoring to God. (Sometimes I realize I just forgot to pay a bill or return a phone call, but most times this feeling involves repentance.)

Today I woke up feeling this way and I haven't quite figured out what's troubling my soul yet.  I always get a little scared because I wonder who I've offended and how many apologies I have to make.  So today I find myself praying the above Psalm. Well, it usually doesn't take long after praying and reflecting that the Lord reveals to me a wrong I need to make right.

I sometimes pray this prayer a little reluctantly because I just don't want to face a backlash for my behavior. Part of me also feels like if I don't ask the Lord to point out my sin He somehow won't be able to pinpoint it Himself. While I would much rather just try to ignore the feeling and hope it goes away, it will not go away today, so here goes:

Lord will you please:

Search me

Test me

See me

Lead me

and

KNOW ME

And please, may it just be a late bill today.