A New-To-Me Bible Study Method

S and I recently went through the 101 course at our church, which was held conveniently while N was at Awana.  It was a 'this is what our church believes' course, and most of the things we covered were basic gospel truths, with a touch of denominational distinctives.  While none of it was really new to us, we both enjoyed being in the class; S enjoyed the small group feel and getting to know people, and I really enjoyed the time to slowly go through the gospel.  It never gets old.

One thing I did learn is the SOAP method of studying Scripture.  SOAP stands for

• Scripture
• Observation
• Application
• Prayer

I am a fast reader, and I love my Bible, so I have found it relatively easy to read through the whole Bible.  Sometimes in order, sometimes jumping all over, but then when I finish, I go back and start all over.  So my reading, while important to me, has had the quality of reading as much as I can.  I start at the chapter that's first on the page, then I read to the chapter that starts on the next page.  Then I can just throw a bookmark in and know where to start again.  With this new method in mind, I read until something strikes me, then I stop and journal about it.

Here's a sample from this past week:
S - John 13:1-10
O - Jesus washing his disciples' feet.  Peter says no (because he understood his position before Jesus, but he did not fully understand Jesus' position he was choosing to take before us), then when Jesus says 'Unless I do you have no part with me,' he swings full stop and says 'Wash all!"  It was Jesus' response that made me stop:  "Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean."
A -  We are clean. Cleansed by our repentance and faith in him.  But what makes the difference this time is seeing that image of being clean with dirty feet.  Even though I continue to sin and fall, I am clean.  I jsut have to routinely clean off the 'dust on my feet.'  I like this image better than the white heart with black marks image.  But it also conveys that we have a regular time / routine to dusting off or washing our feet.  A regular confession and repentance.  Not to be forgotten in regular devotion time, but to begin with it.  Enter the house, wash your feet!
P - ... well, you don't need to see that part. :)

It's a more interactive way to read the Word, and I am enjoying it.  Sometimes I read and don't write, but I will often stop and do this.  *And one tip - I just use a little arrow sticky note, and just point it to where I left off.  Problem solved!*  I wanted to share in case any of you might like to give it a try.  Happy Studying!

Feel free to share if you have a different method that you like to use - I am always open to learning and trying new things!

The Influence of Parents: A Spiritual Treasure

Over the long weekend, M spent a night over at her Grandpa's.  She came home the next day with a treasure:  One of my old Bibles!  I guess at one point between moves we left some books there.  She had been going through the bookshelves and brought home Little Women and Jane Eyre, too; some good classics.

I took some photos of all my old Bibles with the set now complete (the one she brought was that second one) and got to thinking about what message they send... I think there's a few, but what impressed me most was about the influence parents have.  Those first three Bibles?  They all have my Mom's handwriting on the dedication page, with my name and the dates of when I was five years old, nine years old, and for my 15th birthday.  They went from the King James to the Children's Living Bible (easier to read), to the New American Standard Bible (best mix between readability and literal translation).  The fourth, the New Revised Standard Version, was new from Neil for our wedding, since the middle one saw me from 15 to 22, including four years of Bible school, and was falling apart, and the last one that I'm using now, is a TNIV (Today's New International Version), from Sean for our wedding, when we both got new ones (also because my old one was falling apart again...)

Parents and spouses - people in your life who should encourage your spiritual self; I'm so glad they did for me.  Thank you.

Madeline got a kick out of the spine that had fallen off and that was stuck as a bookmark in the text: "I will read 3 chapters and a Psalm every day and on Sunday 5 chapters and a Psalm..."  I read that Bible from when I was eight to when I was 15.  I wonder what she thought of that commitment?  I wonder if it made her think about her own commitment to read?  We try to encourage her to read first thing in the day, before she reads anything else just for fun, but you can't be legalistic about something like that.  I just hope and pray that God's Word becomes as important to her as it is to me.  As it always has been to me.

Pray with me, won't you, for our children, that they would have a love for God's Word, a desire to commit both to him and to the good habit of reading it?  I will pray for you as parents, that you would influence your children in a positive way and leave a legacy that lasts.

The Quality of the Fruit

We heard a great sermon on Sunday.  Our church is blessed to have Ken Thiessen (an author, consultant, former pastor and area minister) as a part of our congregation, and he occasionally takes the mic when the pastors are away.

He spoke about counterfeit things, and how you can tell if something's real.  Products can be fake (Riders and Jets jerseys in Mexico?), but people also can put on a false front.  The test is to look at the fruit - you can identify a tree by its fruit, and you can identify people by their actions.

I claim to be a Christian - but how is the quality of the fruit in my life?  My actions flow out of my inner character, and prove or disprove what I claim.  The 'Fruit of the Spirit' are listed in Galatians 5:22 & 23:  

  
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Against such things there is no law. 

The fruit of the Spirit - it is the Holy Spirit that produces these fruit:
* this means that the Holy Spirit must be present in me, &
* this means that it is impossible to manufacture these apart from the Holy Spirit - I can't do it on my own.

So how do I test the fruit?  There is no magic formula or checklist, but an honest self examination will reveal the quality of these characteristics in my life.  I drove my daughter out to camp yesterday, and had a great hour long drive home in silence - time to think through the list and reflect.  Honestly, there are a lot of areas I would like to see an improvement in... and since I can't make them grow, I will focus on providing a good climate for growth.  Just as plants need good soil, light and water, I need to soak myself in the word, feed on Jesus, the bread of life, worship, and be thankful and pray in all circumstances.  That's off the top of my head - I'm curious what YOU do to provide yourself with an optimal circumstances for growth.  Leave a comment for us?


So thanks, Ken, for the thought provoking message - I hope many others will take the time for reflection this week, too.  (You can hear the whole message if you go to the church website, select Worship, then Messages onDemand - it wasn't up yet this morning, but should be soon.)


And because a reminder is always a great thing, I searched 'Fruit of the Spirit' on Pinterest... might find a nice print to put up in the house on there!


I also posted along these lines on As the Bus Goes By - Prayers for my Children.

What I Have Learned About Winter

I am speaking this weekend at a Women's Wellness Day at my home church in Winnipeg.  The theme is Winter Wonderland, and I get to speak about how to deal with and get through the winter seasons of life.  Yes, there will be kleenex handy - I hope I can get through it without using a whole box.  :)

I am sitting here this morning going over my notes, and I'm looking at something I wrote and shared in church as a living sermon illustration for a message on suffering.  This was 5 years ago - 3 years after Neil passed away.  I thought I would share it with you today, and for those of you who will be at the Women's Wellness Day, this might be a bit of a sneak peek.

What Have I Learned

...About Myself?

I have learned that I can do anything.  It’s only through God who gives me the strength, but he does, and I can.

I have learned that the faith I have held onto my whole life is real, and with every testing that it faces it gets deeper.

I have learned that I am not in control of my own life, that God is, and that He knows what He’s doing.  He’s got plans that I need to fit into, and He keeps shaping me through everything I go through so that He can use me for the next thing, and the next thing.

I have learned that my job is the same as it’s always been – to keep my eyes on Him and obey.

I have learned that God has plans for me.  He has directed and shaped me, my whole life, for who I am now, and who I am going to be.  I had always thought that I would go to Bible College and get a degree, but I never had any real career goals (I still don’t!).  I took what interested me and ended up with a BA in Christian Ministry, figuring whatever I did with my life, I would be involved in a church somewhere and could use that education.  I have used it in many ways, and now I even have a real job that is directly related to that training.  I firmly believe that God gave me the interests He did because He sees the big picture, and knows where we will be and what He will want from us then.

I have learned that who I am did not end three years ago.  Tragedy shapes and changes you, but it should not define you.

I have learned that relationships matter.  I value my alone time, but God keeps telling me that I’m not allowed to be a hermit.  I have to let people in to help me and minister to me, so that God can bless them, and I need to be involved with people so that I can minister to them and show God’s love.

…About Life,

I have learned that it’s ok not to understand the reasons behind things.

I have learned that everyone dies.  That everyone will lose someone close to them.  That grief and loss are a part of living.  That death doesn’t have to be feared.

I have learned that there is always someone else who has gone through the same thing.

I have learned that you don’t have to have gone through the same thing to be able to comfort someone.

I have learned that death doesn’t define life – there will still be things to make you laugh.

I have learned that there is always balance between grief and joy, good circumstances and bad circumstances – sometimes we swing more one way or the other, but we never stay there.

And what have I learned about God?

 I have learned that that our faith is founded on something, someone, that is real and solid that can handle anything that we are asked to go through.

I have learned that He is faithful to what He has promised. He is unchanging and that means reliable.  We’ve heard His promises and they don’t always get tested until we face something hard.  But when you do, they prove to be solid.

I have learned that He comforts.

I have learned that He heals.

I have learned that He provides.  I never once wondered how we’d make it.

I have learned that although we’ve been taught that He is invisible, if we open our eyes in a new way, we can see Him very clearly in His body.  We the church are his body, and He has cared for me in very real ways using His body – the church.  Using you.  I needed help with things around the house, and He did them, looking a lot like some of the men in this room.  I needed to eat, and He fed us from your kitchens.  I needed hugs, and His arms felt a lot like yours.

I have learned that He uses times of tragedy to build community.  People are generous and sympathetic and think of something other then themselves – tragedies bring out the good in people.  He also uses them to cause people to think deeply about their own lives.

I have learned that he never gives you more than you can bear – He gives you the strength as you need it.

I have learned that he is gentle.  He gives you little bits to deal with as you are able, and doesn’t expect you to go through it all at once.  It’s aggravating in a way, because you think you’re doing so well, and then something else hits you, but it’s God’s way of spacing it out so you’re not overwhelmed.  People say time heals, but God made time, and it’s one of the tools He uses as He helps you get through the next thing.

I have learned that God is patient.  He knows that we are just human; He’s the One that made us the way we are.

Those are some of the things I have learned as I’ve experienced God’s sustaining grace.

I felt like myself.

Yesterday morning I went with a handful of other women to serve at the Chili for Children program.  We had a fun time getting to know each other over setting up and chopping veggies, walking over to the second location and finding a hobbit door...  None of these women had been to C4C before, and they were all quite impressed with the people who ran the show, the children that they were able to serve, and excited about the possibilities of doing this again.

Last night I went out on the Love Lives Here bus with 13 great people from church.  The bus hits the streets of North Central and the Core, offering warmth, food and drink and Jesus' love to anyone who needed it - there were a good number of 'divine appointments' and our crew got exposed to a whole range of what the crew sees on a regular basis.  None of these friends had been on the bus before, and by the end of the evening their eyes had been opened to a whole new side of life in our city; a side where spiritual forces do very real battle, where prayers and our availability and Jesus' name are powerful weapons.  Many of these friends are interested in going back; all were grateful for the experience.

These were two of the projects offered through our Westhill Serves weekend, and having just been to three of them (our whole small group went out to paint at the camp today), I am fully content that the reasons we put on this event is sound, and was met in a very successful way.  We do it because serving is one of the three main purposes of our church (Love God, Love Others, Serve the World), to give opportunities for people to serve, and to expose them to new ways to serve.

I was also struck by something else.  Feeding hungry inner city children is great, and I'm glad there is a group who does that; it's not my thing.  Loving on the street workers and gang members is important, and I'm so glad to know this bus is out on our streets while I'm safe in bed.  It, however, is not my thing either.  My thing - my thing - is getting other Christians to go and serve there with me - my thing is taking people to places they have not been, exposing them to what more there is in life and faith.  I want to see Christians 'get it' - to know how they can live an abundant life, fully loving and serving, fully experiencing all that God has for them.  I'm thankful for the chance I had to go on those projects yesterday; I'm trusting that the friends I took along were changed by God because of their experiences.

Sometimes I forget, in the details, that this is the part that fills me.

I'm thankful for this reminder of who I am meant to be.

One Thousand Gifts

This is the book I am reading: One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. Carla surprised me with it after I had been enjoying it in Scott's Parable in Saskatoon. I visit her blog once in a while and enjoy her style; having her message in book form is great.

Watch the video, and if you want to borrow it when I'm done, let me know!

The Commandments... In Rhyme

I was making a little progress decluttering and came across this poem I had copied out in a class while my professors sang it.  I will share it here with you, but you'll have to come up with your own tune, or track down Paul Beckingham and ask him to sing it for  you.

The Ten Commandments

Thou shalt have no God but me, 

Before no idol bow thy knee.

Take not the name of God in vain, 

Nor dare the Sabbath day profane.

Give both thy parents honor due, 

Take heed that thou no murder do.

Abstain from words and deeds unclean, 

Nor steal through thou art poor and mean.

Make no willful lie nor love it,

What is thy neighbour's, do not covet.

May some of you find this useful as a fun tool to teach your kids the Word.

PS - Spell check did not like 'decluttering' and instead, recommended cluttering, sputtering, fluttering or muttering.

I is for Investing in People

If I cocoon myself - enjoy life from the comfort of my 4 walls, doing things that I enjoy or that entertain me - and neglect making time for going out with friends, I will become less.

The interaction with others helps define who I am.

If I look at only people's faults and reason's why they are different than me and reasons why we wouldn't be the best of friends, I will miss out.

Loving people in spite of their challenges, issues or quirks makes me a deeper person.

If I tell myself that I don't need friends, I am lying to myself.

Friends are worth the effort. 

If I never help in spite of it being an inconvenience, never grieve over someone else's sorrows, never offer myself as a possible solution, I am living only a fraction of the life I was given.

Helping makes my life fuller.

If I fail to see people as valuable, made lovingly by God and in his image, then I am disrespecting him.

I love God best by loving people.

Kenyan Speed

This post was published yesterday on my other blog, the "churchy" blog.  I haven't posted much on there lately, but am starting to again, along with some of the others on our church staff.  We've got a new "staff blogs" button on the top menu bar if you want to check out the others.

I remembered something this week.  Something that's going to help me.

The weather warmed up, and I started wearing sandals again.  I haven't found any sandals that I like in the last few years that have a back-strap, so most of the ones I own now are slip-ons.  They never seem to stay on as well, but wearing them again made me remember being in Kenya.  While I was there, I wore a simple pair of flip-flops that I've had for ages (I bought them for Byron & Lori's wedding, actually) and found that I had no problem keeping them on.  The reason, I figured, was that we walked slower there.  Here, it seems I rush wherever I'm going - I have too much to get done to saunter along; don't want to waste my time.

But I also get headaches because I get tense in my shoulders and neck; I'm too focused on what I need to get done.  My rushing and busy-ness cause me stress and pain.  I need to slow down.  I need to recognize that my life is more important than the items on my to-do list.  They will wait for me.  They will get done.  And they will get done better, even if not sooner, if I am feeling better.  << sigh >>  This shouldn't be a hard lesson to learn, and yet, it's the one I'm facing again this week.  This season.  Patience.  Patience with others and with myself.  My God will be served much better when I slow down.

Every time I slip on my sandals, it will remind me.  Walk slower.  Be patient.

Memories of KBK

This is something I just published on our staff blog on our church website:

This past Saturday was a 60th Anniversary celebration for Katepwa Baptist Kamp. KBK is part of the Canadian Baptists of Western Canada (CBWC), same as we are at Westhill, which makes KBK 'our' camp.

The banquet was held at a location that was NOT the camp in order to seat the 300 people we hoped to have out, and we sold out our 300 tickets and filled the Balgonie Multiplex with people that love KBK and appreciate that rich history, including people that came from Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario just for this.

For me, (and I'm sure most others there) the camp site itself is special. I remember leading a group up Vesper to the crosses as part of a prayer exercise I led at a retreat. I remember the feel of the icy water when we went wakeboarding in October one year. I remember hours pruning back the mountain bike trails, and sleeping under the stars up on Mini Ridge. I remember sitting on the lodge balcony watching storms come up and put on a sky filling display.

While the site itself is special, most of my memories are tied up with people, too.

I remember watching my nephew try kneeboarding for the first time on the beach, and my daughter's first steps there. I remember all the female staff that I camped out with at the bivouac, and how our dog Kizzy joined us there. I remember 'becoming dates' and a first kiss and a proposal and a first home there. I remember the feeling of parental pride as I saw the same faces move from being campers to LITs to staff to directors, and knowing that that growth is the whole point of all the fun. I remember the Sunday afternoons dropping off my own daughter at camp and visiting my own camp friends who are dropping off their children.

It was a wonderful time on Saturday to see so many faces that I know and love because of that place. Wonderful to see people stand who had been part of the first camp in 1949. Wonderful to hear the dreams for the future, and see new babies that will grow up to be campers and staff and on the board... and continue on this great part of God's story.

$3 Worth of God

I read this in my textbook last night - it was about 2 pages before I started nodding off. I flipped down the corner of the page so I'd remember to share it with you.

"I would like to buy $3 worth of God - not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup or warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don't want enough of God to make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation. I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want about a pound of the eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please." (Wilbur Reece)

Wow. How many of us think that way without realizing how wrong it is?

Gifted and Called

"I am a gifted woman and I have been called by God."

A goal of the seminar I was at last night and all day today was that all the women present could stand and say that with confidence. Also, that she would know how she was gifted, and what she would do to develop her gifts.

As well as a spiritual gifts test, we did a color-survey about personality types, and put those together, doing some exercises to see how we can work well together. We also talked about change, which is an important part of a weekend like this; if you teach those ideas but not how to change and adapt to using them, it's less likely to have lasting impact.

It was a good weekend, and I'm glad I went. My gifts, by the way, according to this survey, are Service, Giving, and then 4 tied: Administration, Evangelism, Leadership and Trust (or Faith). I would lump service in at the same level as the others, looking back at the questions. Giving (or Poverty in other words!) and Faith have been the highest before. I've chosen to focus on trying to develop the gifts of Administration and Leadership in my life.

Leave me a comment - does this sound like me? What are your gifts? And if you're feeling brave, are you using them? Or do you need to begin to play the part you've been called to?

The Passions That Should Define a Christ Follower

I copied this list out of the book Unchristian and just found it in some notes:

- Worshiping God intimately & passionately.

- Engaging in spiritual friendships with other believers.

- Pursuing faith in the context of family.

- Embracing intentional forms of spiritual growth.

- Serving others.

- Investing time & resources in spiritual pursuits.

- Having faith based conversations with outsiders.

How does reading that make you feel? I did a yep, uh huh, okay, oh oh, shoot... Some yes, and some are a little lacking.

Unchristian was a great book; if you think Christians are a bunch of hypocrites, I'm sorry. The list above? That's what we're supposed to be like. I doubt many people would be able to say that all seven of those characterize them, but the thing is, a lot of us are working on it.

Breakforth

is a great weekend of learning and spiritual renewal. I think you should go. Seriously. It's always the last weekend of January in Edmonton.

The driving was great for a change, and we had a really good weekend. There were 13 of us in a van, plus some friends from another church who caravaned with us.

The weekend has 4 main sessions and 5 options sessions, which you pick out of a couple of hundred options. (There are 7000 people at this event!) I had 3 sessions with Tim Kimmel about family stuff (Grace Based Parenting, Why Christian Kids Rebel, and the Strong Willed Child), one session with Shane Claiborne (have you read his Irresistible Revolution yet? If not, do.), and one with Brett Ullman, on culture, which was really good. Sean had the same 3 parenting ones (and our requests were really different - you have to pick your top 3 options for each spot) and then had 2 drumming ones.

Here are the main points from the main sessions, just in case you want a little peek at what we heard / learned:


Erwin McManus

If your greatest dream became your life, would it make the world a better place?

“You were a dream in the mind of God before you took your first breath.” Doesn’t it make sense that your life live out the dream God had of you?

Is there a dream that you’re supposed to be living that is trapped under the rubble of your past?

Are you willing to take the risk from the life you have today to the life entrusted to and controlled by God?


John Eldredge

God SPEAKS to us. And not just through the Bible.

Do you recognize his voice? Do you ask him what he is speaking to you?

Quiet down. Ask simple questions. Surrender.


Wayne Coderio

One common denominator in all successful Christian leaders: RESILIANCE.

Learn quickly. Train your eyes to see things Godly. Never forget who you are.

People are waiting for Jesus. They need hope. We are to bring hope to the world.


Phil Calloway

Keys for effective ministry in a fast paced world:

Laugh. Slow down. Where is your treasure?

How important are small groups?

It's Wednesday night, which is 'Girl's Small Group' night, and no one showed. One I talked to; she is sick. That's legit. But it gives me the chance to write about something that I was thinking today and over the last little while. Ironic, really, because it fits right in. I was wondering about the need for small groups, and how important they really are. This one at least has had me wondering for months. I believe that Christians need spiritual connections, usually on a deeper level than you can go on a Sunday morning, in order to be growing in their faith.

What you do on your own in private - quiet time, devotions, praying - whatever you do and whatever you want to call it, is very important if you don't want your faith to be stagnant.

Going to church, and being part of the community, is also very important to growing. The being part of the community is the key, not just the showing up.

And in between those two, the individuality of faith and the corporate togetherness of faith, is what I have to program. Good grief. Here's the dilemma. Not everyone fits into the programs we do. Each person's needs are different as far as how they connect with their spiritual friends. We have a Sunday night service, geared for young adults, that meets the need for corporate worship, learning and prayer (and of course fellowship, or hanging out) in a way that young adults would relate to more than a Sunday morning. It's designed to complement, not replace Sunday mornings. And we have small groups. One for young married couples, one for guys only, one open one, and one for the ladies. Which may not exist at this point next week.

I want people to gather together once or twice a week, whatever they feel they need, and then LIVE IT the rest of the week. Spend time with friends, at work, at school, and be Christ's representative in that situation. Or instead of going to Bible Study, why don't you browse over your sermon notes for a bit so what you learned really sinks in, then either go out and be in the world, or rest up so you can be at your best when you're with people again?

Just a thought. I'm not saying Bible Studies are bad. It's just going back to the idea that often we just feed ourselves and forget about sharing that life giving food with our friends. And I'm not saying stay away just to do nothing; stay away so you can be intentional about using that time for living! If I didn't have to be here wondering if anyone was going to show up, I could be living. I would be out for coffee catching up with someone, investing in them, or on a date with my husband, investing in my marriage... If there is interest, I will be happy to go with it, but if it's just a lesser option for a Wednesday night, I'd rather call it quits.

Hard to sell a job description that is solely going out for coffee... but the reality is, each individual has different needs for their spiritual growth. We're all at a different place, doing a different pace, and aiming for the same goal, but working from different angles. So I have to know each one and help them find what they need, and I have to offer these different programs so there's something to fill those needs. Challenging, satisfying, and yeah, a lot of coffees. I'm starting to feel like my role is more that of a Spiritual Director than anything. Well, that I'd like to be that. More fulfilling than a program coordinator.

God lives in North Central

So I'm trying to be more involved in my community, you know, the whole missional thing - I don't have to drive to work at a church in the suburbs to be a Christian. I mean, really - I sometimes think I should quit my job so I can do a better job living as a Christian. (That's a fleeting thought - I know God put me there for a reason, and that He has designed me for this at this time...)

Being Christ's love in my community, being a good neighbor, has been something I've wanted for a long time. I've got great plans in my head. I'm just not that good at it yet. My brilliant husband said something the other day as I was talking about what I could do in this community, and it hit me that he's right - I don't have to start something new or add something else - what do I already do? I started walking our girl to school March 1 instead of driving (save the environment and get exercise to boot - it's just too cold here in the winter...) and instead of just walking her to the gate of the school yard and then turning around and going home, I decided to walk all the way up with her and stick around until the bell rings. That way I am present in the community - the school is a huge part of my neighborhood. Who are my neighbors? Try everyone in the school down the street! I know most of the kids in her class already, but it's good to keep up with them, and I'm getting to know the teachers on supervision. It's good just to be there. And God affirmed this decision of mine the very first day I walked all the way - the bell rang and the kids came running and Austin pushed Jamie who fell into Tatianna, who hit her head on the brick wall... I know Tatianna well, she comes to church with us most Sundays. So I wrapped my arms around her and tried to help in a mom sort of way and reassure the kids who were pointing fault that accidents happen, and then they all went in and I walked home with a grin on my face. I got to be God's arms there that morning.

Madeline came home from school that day and told me that Tatianna said, "Boy, I'm sure glad Carolyn was there - Madeline, tell your mom thank you for me!" Aww.

And today I walked home with another mom who I've seen but never talked to before. We talked all the way to my place and stood on the sidewalk talking. God opens up the community when you open your arms and heart and eyes.

Feeling like God is stirring,
Carolyn

It's so simple

The summary first:
Just love Him!

Why that is the big thought of the week:

1 - from Bible Study - my fulfillment must come from God, not my husband or my daughter. I can not expect them to fulfill me because I will be disappointed. They are only human, and their purpose in life is not solely to make me happy.

2 - from class - it's a leadership class, and the current assignment is a self analysis. Last night's "Ah ha!" was that no matter how much I change and improve, I will never be satisfied, content or FULFILLED in myself.

3 - from reading the Bible at breakfast with my kid - What is the greatest commandment? #1: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. #2: Love your neighbor as yourself.

What do I do to be fulfilled?
Love God.
What do I do to be a great wife?
Love God and love my husband.
What do I do to be a great mom?
Love God and love my daughter.
What do I do to be a better leader?
Love God, and love my young adults.
What is my purpose in life?
To love God.

Who I am
is who He made me to be.
On purpose.
(So I don't need to try to fix myself or change myself!)

And my purpose
is to love Him.

Love Him.
It's freeing.