Week 5--Scripture Memorization

Contemplations

I am exhausted. There's just no other way to say it. It's been a busy, chaotic week, though I feel like I didn't accomplish very much. The truth is that I accomplished much: my kids received three meals each day, I hugged owies away, I washed a TON of laundry (not put away), worked on some new Near to Nothing recipes, and potty-trained. Oh yeah, and I cleaned up a lot of pee. Yes, I am potty-training April at 18 months. It's going very well, but it is draining. But that's another story. All this to say, I am tired. To top it off, Robbie is gone this weekend on men's retreat. He's going to receive my most enthusiastic greeting yet when he gets home!

Anyway, as I was in the middle of this crazy week, I was struck by how blessed I am to be a wife and mother and be called to this life. I was brushing someone's teeth when I just had to silently thank God that, though much of my life would be considered "mundane," I am able to glorify God through ALL that I do. "So, whether you eat or drink [or clean up pee], or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31

Habits in Progress

1. Scripture Saturation: I'm still only about 2 1/2 days behind! Hoping to get a head start on February before Wednesday.
2. Toy Pick-Up Time: Going well! Even when Robbie was gone, I was mostly able to keep all the toys picked up.
3. A Hug and a Kiss: Loving it! And can't wait for him to come home (any minute now!)!
4. Water: This habit has been extremely easy to incorporate into my daily routine. Since I attached it with something I regularly do (eating) it does not get neglected. I have surprisingly found that, by drinking more water, I want to drink more. I often find myself going back for a partial glass between meals or before bed.

This Week's One New Habit

As I mentioned in my first post about spending more time in God's Word, I am taking Women's DTP at church. One of our assignments for each class is to memorize Scripture. My goal for the remainder of DTP is to start my memorization right away so I have two weeks to let it marinate in my mind. I want to not only be able to regurgitate, but to understand and live the verses I am learning. I want my mind to be so familiar with Scripture that it spills out of my mouth (especially when talking to my children).

My method for this I got from my friend Stephanie who is also taking DTP. She told me that she puts her verses in zip-top bags and sticks them to the shower wall. I started doing this last quarter, but not as faithfully as I should have. One unexpected benefit of doing this is that Keanna has started to learn some of my verses! One day she recited Romans 5:1 to me: "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." I didn't realize she was reading them!

So, I hereby resolve to start my Scripture memorization immediately after each DTP class, that the Word of God would saturate my mind, transform my heart, and overflow out of my lips.

Week 4--Water

Contemplations

In this week's Bible reading, I spent a lot of time in Genesis, specifically reading about the patriarchs and their families. These men are often considered "Bible heroes" and are revered for their faith and obedience. But what struck me as I read through this time, was how messed up they were. If it's been a while, go back and read over the lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob's sons.

Two thoughts run through my head as I think about these men: 1) God's faithfulness and 2) my sinful heart.

It is clear from the Genesis account that these men were far from perfect. They were human just like any of us and sinned as is the way of humanity. But God chose them despite their failures because of His great love, mercy, and grace. They became great not because of their own efforts, but because the one true God who chose them made them great. Even when they were in sin, God was there repeating the covenant to them, protecting and prospering them. Does this mean God was rewarding their sin? Absolutely not! For they suffered greatly for their sins. Abraham's house was full of strife between Sarah and Hagar and his two sons, Isaac's wife and son deceived him in his old age, and Jacob had to flee from his father's house and was deceived by his uncle. And these are just some of the consequences they faced. Yet through it all, God was with them.

These very sad accounts also point out the darkness of my own heart. Unfortunately, I am all to often the Pharisee of Luke 18, "God, I thank you that I am not like other men..." I give in to the sin of self-righteousness and think of myself as better than they were. But the honest truth is that all of our hearts are "deceitful above all things" (Jer. 17:9). Without the work of the Holy Spirit in my life, made possible by the justifying work of Christ, I would be held captive by sin heading for eternal condemnation. I must daily remind myself the depths from which God saved me that I might not fall into temptation.

Habits in Progress

1. Scripture Saturation: Now that I have fully given over to the idea of breaking up my reading time into small little segments, it is a lot easier to get my Bible reading done. This week was really busy and I fell a bit behind. But last night I was able to get a lot done after the kids went to bed! I am still only two-and-a-half days behind! I'm really enjoying the Bible reading plan I chose. It's interesting how the passages sometimes seem to complement each other so well.
2. Toy Pick-Up Time: Robbie and I have both felt the relief of this one new habit! Our house has so much more order and the kids can usually find the toys they want.
3. A Hug and a Kiss: I really made an effort this week to stop what I was doing and greet Robbie with a proper hug and kiss when he came home at the end of the day. Except for one day when I was in the middle of nursing April when he arrived, I put aside my busyness to let him know how happy I was to have him home!

This Week's One New Habit

Most of my time is spent caring for my husband, my children, and my house. And that's the way it should be. I love the role God has given me and wouldn't trade it for anything! But sometimes I neglect myself. I've noticed a few areas where I need to care for myself more diligently. And I'm not talking about the world's "take time for yourself, you deserve it" care for myself. I'm talking about God's "your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you" care for myself. In order to most fully glorify Him through the roles and responsibilities he has given me, I need to make sure I take adequate care of the body He created and gave me.

Lately I've noticed that I've been letting myself get really dehydrated. This has actually been a problem my whole life--I never really did like water. But with caring for Robbie and the four kids, my housekeeping responsibilities, writing, cake decorating, church events, and everything else that consumes my time, I've really been neglecting to consume enough fluids. Even at meal times, I'm often too busy getting food for everyone, cleaning up messes, feeding April, and cutting food for little mouths that I either don't even get myself a drink or don't drink the one that's in front of me.

The result of this seemingly small thing is that I don't always feel my physical best. Dehydration can cause fatigue, headaches, dry skin and lips, lactation problems (I'm still nursing April), as well as a host of internal organ issues.

My goal from this point out is to drink more fluids. But, going back to the reason behind my dehydration, I often get so busy that I don't think about it or forget. So, I will attach fluid intake to something I do regularly each day--eating. Before I can eat my breakfast, lunch, or dinner, I will drink a whole glass of water. The average size of the glasses in our house is about 16 oz. This will get me at least 6 cups of water each day. Add in a cup of tea or two and milk in my cereal and with dinner, and I've got my recommended 8 cups of fluids each day.

So, I hereby resolve to drink an entire glass of water before each meal every day in order to help maintain my body in a way that is honoring to its Creator.

Week 3--A Hug and a Kiss

As I sit here, trying to figure out what to write, I am filled with many different emotions as I reflect on the past week. Overall, it was a great week! But this evening I allowed my heart to be ruled by my flesh. The boys didn't get a nap and were extra difficult. I let their sinfulness draw out the sinfulness of my own heart. Just as my children repeatedly disobeyed and rebelled today, so I repeatedly disobeyed and rebelled against God in my heart. I think one reason God created the parent/child relationship was to show us parents how sinful we are. I am thankful for this in that sin exposed is sin that can be dealt with. I am so glad that the Lord laid on my heart to start this year off by spending more time in His Word! It is only through Scripture and the Holy Spirit's work in our hearts that we can see and lament our wickedness before the Holy God while at the same time rejoice in His atoning work and imputed righteousness.

The Scripture that had the most impact on me this week came not from my own reading, however, but from Keanna's Bible story book. Today we read about God's judgement on Cain for killing Abel. As I read, surrounded by my children, my heart was just heavy with the fact that I am no more righteous than Cain. Had Christ not shed His blood for my sins and covered me with His perfection, I would be no better off than the first murderer. Praise God for His plan of salvation!

As for my Bible reading plan, I am doing well. I am about two-and-a-half days behind, which is perfectly fine since there are six extra days (25 readings per month; 31 days in January). As long as I stay at this pace, I should be able to start February on schedule.

Toy pick-up time was a success this week!! All the toys, couch cushions, articles of clothing, blankets, etc. got picked up and put away before the kids went to bed. My goal was to have them do it before dessert time, but sometimes we forgot and realized it afterward. Nevertheless, we had them pick everything up afterward and the house stayed really clean!! And as the week went on, they needed less and less prodding from Robbie and I. They still need verbal help, but they are getting the hang of it. I can honestly say that the little extra effort every evening is making for a more relaxed house overall!

This week's new habit stems out of a DTP assignment that Robbie had to do. He was given 11 questions that we had to sit down and seriously discuss. Things like, "In what ways can I [Robbie] be more Christ-like?," "What things do I do annoy you?," "How can I listen to you better?," etc. While the goal of the assignment was to help him take a close look at himself and become a better husband and father, I definitely saw areas where I need to work.

One thing that came up that I want to change is how I respond to him when he gets home from work every day. Often he comes home when I am in the middle of preparing dinner, changing a diaper, cleaning up a mess, or switching laundry around. I usually just say, "Hi!" to him and finish what I am doing before washing my hands and giving him a hug and a kiss. To show him that he is my domestic priority, I want to stop what I am doing, wash my hands if necessary, and give him a huge welcome-home hug. The chicken can wait a few minutes to be chopped, half the laundry can sit in the washer until he knows he is loved an appreciated at home, the spilled milk on the floor will still be there in five minutes. Of course, there will be some times I will have to complete the task at hand before physically greeting him--a half-changed April will still be there after a hug, but those few minutes of naked baby running free in the house could be disastrous!

So, I hereby resolve to lay aside all tasks within reason to great my husband with a hug and a kiss when he comes home from work so he knows that he is loved, appreciated, and cherished at home.

Week 2--Toy Pick-Up Time

Week one of 2012 is over and so far so good. I’m slightly behind on some of my reading, but that’s okay as my reading plan has catch-up time built in at the end of the month. I did not have time to do any reading last Sunday because we hosted a huge New Year’s open house. Throughout the day, about 50 people and a handful of dogs came through.

The truth is that we didn’t even go to church that morning because we were preparing. When Keanna found out we weren’t going to church, she said, “We’re trading God’s Word for a party?!?” Robbie and I are so thankful that Keanna’s heart is sensitive toward spiritual things! Fortunately, our church streams the service on Sunday mornings so we were able watch it while dusting, sweeping, and rearranging the furniture. (You can find it here, but not next week--1/15.)

Anyway, I have about nine chapters of Genesis to read to be caught up. We’ll see if I get all caught up this week.

One verse that jumped out at me in my reading for this week is Psalm 4:4, “Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your hearts on your beds, and be silent.” We’ve been dealing with angry outbursts from the boys, especially Lukas. I definitely want to commit this one to memory so I can use it to admonish him.

This week’s new habit has to do with running an organized house. With four kids, it doesn’t take long for a clean house to go to shambles. And once it’s a disaster, it’s harder to get back in order and more overwhelming of a task to tackle. So the new habit we want to establish is having the kids clean up all their toys, projects, and forts before getting dessert. We used to try to have them clean up right before bed, but too often we’d skip the clean-up because it was getting late and we just wanted to get them into bed. By moving up clean-up time to right after dinner, we won’t be tempted to let it go because of the time. And by having the kids clean up before dessert, it gives them an incentive to get it done quickly.

Before our New Year’s party, we got the family room in good order, so we have a good start. And my wonderful husband hauled the mess out of Keanna’s craft area and completely organized it for her! She will be required to clean up this area every day as well.

This is going to require some planning ahead on days when we won’t be eating dinner at home or will be leaving the house right after dinner. In those cases, we’ll have to leave time for clean-up before we need to step out the door.

My desired outcomes for this habit extend much further than having the toys cleaned up. My goal is that I will sweep and vacuum more often because the floor will already be toy-free. Also, I’m hoping that the kids will learn that, if they clean up a little all day long, they will have less to clean up at the end of the day.

So, I hereby resolve to have the kids clean up their toys every night after dinner and before dessert in order to maintain a more orderly house.

What Is One New Habit?

It's the beginning of January, which mean resolutions and a metaphorical clean slate. But I don't think I've ever really made a New Year's resolution. All year long I am thinking about ways I need to grow as a child of God, be a better wife, love my children more, manage my household more efficiently, take care of my own physical needs, be a better steward of what God's given me.

In the past I've come up with big picture goals, plans, and schedules, only to become overwhelmed after the first few days. I've decided to give up on making a lot of changes all at the same time, because I always end up making little or no change. Instead, I will attempt to make small changes, one at a time. Each week in 2012, I will add a new habit to my routine, hoping that the gradual introduction to change will be less overwhelming and more doable. Not only will I be making changes, but I will be publicly writing about them so as to have accountability and motivation to keep up those changes.

As I am already a very busy women, I will keep the posts to one or two per week. I don't want this endeavor, which is meant to grow me and bring organization to my life, to consume my time such that I am undoing any of the good it is accomplishing. And I most likely will not be proofreading any of this. Ah!! The horror! Those of you who know me well, know that that is way out of my character.

Seeing as this is the first week of the year, I think a good place to start would be with a spiritual habit. Given my busy life with a husband, four children ages seven and younger, a house, church activities, my other blog, my cake business, and everything else life throws at me, my time in God's Word has been on a roller coaster over the last few years. I want that to change because "all Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16). I actually resolved to do this a few months ago while reading out of Donald S. Whitney's Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. If you have not read this book, I highly recommend it. But be forewarned, it is very convicting.

On a side note, I was reading Whitney as an assignment for my Women's Discipleship Training Program (Women's DTP) at church, Grace Bible Church of Pleasant Hill. For those of you who attend Grace, I cannot urge you enough to take this class!!

To bring some order to my Bible reading, I stopped by the church library and picked up a reading plan (they're free!). You can find reading plans online and even in the front or back of some Bibles. The Grace bookstore carries two: M'Cheyne's Calendar for Daily Bible Reading and The Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan. They both have readings from four different passages each day. I decided on the latter because there are 25 readings each month rather than 30 or 31.

"But that encourages you to be lazy!" Possibly, but for this point in my life, it's a more realistic expectation. There are those days when all the kids are extra needy, one of the appliances gives out, we have doctor appointments, and Robbie gets hung up at work late. Life with young children does not get lived by a calendar, but by lovingly, graciously, and sacrificially loving each one of them every moment of the day.

I think part of the reason (other than sin) I go through periods when my time in the Word is neglected or minimal is that I am a perfectionist. Looking at my house, you'd never think so, but that's the problem. If I can't do a job completely, I tend not to do it. For some reason I've had this idea in my mind that my time with God's Word needs to be completely focused and completed in one quality sitting. While that is desirable, it's an unrealistic expectation for this time in my life. I finally realized that a few shorter times in the Bible were much better than attempting to get in one long time. So I read a little while the kids are eating their breakfast. I read a Psalm while I'm on hold on the phone. I read a passage while I'm waiting for the pasta water to boil. And that seems to be making all the difference.

So, I hereby resolve to saturate my heart and my mind with the Word of God by consistently spending time in it, understanding that life will throw in some interruptions, but never using those interruptions as an excuse.