The Littlest Song Book

7-17-16

Once upon a time, in a little town in Kentucky, there was a brown-haired girl with freckles. Every Sunday and Wednesday she went to church with her parents. Her great grandfather sat in the pew in front of her family. She would go up and sit with him. He would give her Juicy Fruit gum and find the songs in the little song book she liked. Singing was her favorite, and she loved singing with him. The little girl got big and moved away, but she always remembered singing with Popaw.

In His Image

7-10-16

When you meet someone, what do you think? Do you immediately notice your differences? Wonder what they think about you? It's easily done. What happens if they're not just like you? Do you start fidgeting in your shoes?

Declaring Independence

7-3-16

This weekend, our country celebrates our freedom and the people who have sacrificed to make it possible. It truly is a blessing to live in this nation with the freedoms we have. Today I’d like us to think a little about our spiritual freedom.

Three Things to Pray for Fellow Christians

6-19-16

One of the most important aspects of the Christian life is prayer. There are many things and people that we can and should pray for, one of which is brothers and sisters in Christ. After all, we're family. We should consider and help each other however we can. No matter if it's the person sitting next to you in the pew on Sundays or a preacher in New Zealand you may never meet, one thing we can do every single day for all Christians is pray. Today let's think about a few specific things we can pray for our Christian family.

Leaving a Legacy

6-12-16

It’s 12:06 AM on Sunday morning. I’m writing this post on my trusty laptop as my husband is driving us home from a baptism.  Things like this, what we’re doing right now, matter. It’s been an eventful day for several reasons, and I’ve had some things on my mind. Mostly what’s left behind when we’re gone.

Splitting the Strawberry

6-5-16

It finally happened. The first garden strawberry of the season. My favorite food is strawberries straight out of the garden, washed, and eaten while you can still taste the sun's warmth in the juicy sweetness. The first one this year came by itself, and I was beside myself with excitement.

How Big is Your Net?

5-22-16

During potluck today, we talked about the events that led a couple to be in Church with us. It began with a Bible study with someone who suggested a hospital visit for a friend who invited someone they knew who brought two of their relatives. If any of those hadn't happened, these wonderful people might not be in Church with us now.

It's the Little Things...

5-15-16

It’s funny how certain things stick with you. One of my friends in college said that people need to stop and enjoy life. She pointed out the little purple flowers we were walking by, which I hadn't paid much attention to. I think about that a lot. I Timothy 6:17 says, “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy.” We are so plugged in to electronics and driven by clocks that it’s easy to not stop and take stock of what we are sprinting by.

Looking for Growth

5-8-16

I am an impatient gardener. After I plant seeds I'm okay for about three days, and then I want to see sprouts. Earlier this spring, the crepe myrtle bushes that my grandmother gave me started to leaf out. It immediately turned cold with gusty wind. I couldn't protect my bushes, and they froze.

Let People Surprise You

4-17-16

One day this week as I was coming in from work, I walked by my little garden spot. The oregano is growing like it has ambitions to be a man eating plant and the strawberries are blooming like they can't imagine doing anything else. But something surprised me. Flowers I planted two years ago are suddenly blooming.

Who is going through the fire with you?

4-10-16

None of our lives are perfect. From the outside somebody may seem to have it all together and be friends with everyone, but we all have some form of trouble. The question isn't how to avoid problems. What we need to ask is how to get through them.

When Faith Becomes Fad

 

 4-3-16

Let’s start with a question. Okay, two. First, did you go to Church today? Why, or why not? There are plenty of motivations, reasons, and excuses people use for either choice. Let’s take a look at why we’re doing what we’re doing.

The Father, the Son, and the Cross

3-27-16

Today was a beautiful Easter Sunday. Even though we as Christians celebrate Jesus' resurrection every first day of the week, it seems especially fitting to take a few minutes this week to think about what happened on the cross. Both the Father and the Son made sacrifices for it to happen, and they did it willingly and together.

Sometimes You Need to Take a Load Off

3-20-16

For the past couple weeks, my husband and I have been under the weather. He worse than I, but neither of us have been running on all cylinders. When we first started getting sick we had similar thoughts. I worried about work and what would happen if I needed to suddenly take a couple days off. Patients would have to be rescheduled and my coworkers would be put in a bad position. Mark worried about missing Bible studies. We needed a dose of perspective.

Who did you sharpen today?

3-6-16

Who we spend time around has an impact on us. Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.” Aren’t there people that you just know when you see them it will make you feel better? On the other hand, sometimes we expect to feel down after we spend time with other people. God wants us to lift each other up.

That Quiet Place

2-28-16

So, time for a confession. If you've ever traveled with me, you know that I don't like to drive in cities. In fact, it's pretty much one of my least favorite things to do. The past two weekends I took continuing education classes in Lexington, so I got my fill of city traffic.

On My Way

2-21-16

I usually listen to music on my drive to and from work. This Friday morning as I was rolling through dawn in the mountains, a song came on the radio I had only heard once before. And because I was in that kind of mood, I got a little bleary eyed. Just like those adopt a puppy commercials, but that's a story for another day.

Love

2-14-16

Well friends, it's another snowy Sunday! I hope you are all safe and warm. By the way, Happy Valentine's Day! Today we will cover love, the last in our 2 Peter series. I didn't arrange the schedule this way, but I think it's pretty neat. In case you missed it, the last post was about brotherly kindness, and you can read it here.

Brotherly Kindness

2-7-16

We are almost to the end of our 2 Peter series! The last topic in case you missed it was godliness, and you can read it here. Today’s topic is brotherly kindness.

Godliness

1-31-16

Apologies in advance for any errors or changes in length. Our internet is down so I'm typing this up on my phone so I can still post it today. We've been talking about perseverance, right? :)

So today's topic from 2 Peter 1:5-7 is godliness. The very word intimidates me. We are being told basically to be like God. But what exactly does that mean?

Perseverance

1-24-16

Happy snowy Sunday friends! I hope you've all stayed safe and warm through the snowstorm. If you missed the last post, you can read some thoughts on self-control here. Next up on our journey through 2 Peter 1:5-7 is perseverance.

Self-Control

1-17-16

Our series from 2 Peter 1:5-7 continues with self-control, also rendered as temperance in some versions. In the previous step, we are to have grown in knowledge so that we know what we should and should not do and have some experience with navigating life's situations (you can read more about that in the last post here). We need to begin applying that to our lives so that we don't just choose what we want. That is where self-control comes in.

What it Is

The Greek word used here is defined by Strong's Concordance as self-mastery, self-restraint, and self-control. All of these words express the idea of being in command of and regulating yourself. In 1 Corinthians chapter 9, Paul compares the Christian life to a race. To be competitive in a race, you must be very disciplined and committed. He then explains in verses 26-27: "Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified."

Let me give you an example of a lack of self control. See the picture above? I really enjoy crocheting. I started that project this weekend. For those of you who don't crochet, there are various thicknesses of yarn and various sizes of crochet hooks to use. The size of a given number of stitches depends on which of those you choose. Most crochet patterns have a very helpful piece of information called the gauge; if you crochet a small swatch of the pattern, it should be a certain size. Then you can regulate your stitches before you begin making the larger project so that it turns out right.

Basically, it saves you time in the long run if you go ahead and check it. Well, on Friday night I was so excited to get started that I just estimated and went. By the time I had two rows finished, I realized the afghan would have been ginormous in width if I continued. Since I'm not trying to wrap up an elephant, I had to unravel everything I had done and start over. If I had checked the gauge in the beginning, I could have avoided that. I lacked self-control, and it slowed me down.

Self-control is related to patience in this way. It also means having the strength of character to be able to avoid excess. I thoroughly enjoy chocolate. I could easily overindulge, but I do my best to moderate this aspect of my life. Thanks to my parents encouraging me to eat the green stuff, I actually did learn to like broccoli. I like to think of self-control as being able to make yourself do what you know is right especially when you don't want to.

What it Does

Self-control in practice, in my life, means I am going to try to start crocheting the gauge swatch first. That, and continuing to eat broccoli and all the other healthy food. But it also means that even when I come home tired from work to a house that needs cleaned, a dog who needs walked, and cats who need fed, that I do spend time in study and prayer.

Is self-control easy? Absolutely not. By definition, it's not. It isn't self-control to sing hymns in the car on the way to work if that's what you like to do. It is self-control to avoid making that snarky comment to the cashier at the grocery store who doesn't seem to have it all together if that's what you are tempted to do.

How we Get It

We are in a war. Every day, we are fighting spiritual battles. "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 6:12) We are soldiers. Soldiers must be disciplined. We don't have a drill sergeant staring us down and making us do cringe worthy numbers of push ups daily to get in shape. But you know what? We still must be spiritually in top condition. We must be our own drill sergeants. We are responsible for disciplining ourselves so that we are fit to fight. It is something that we can help each other in as Christians, but nobody knows my weakness better than me.

Every day, we have choices to make. With prayer and God's help, self-control can become a way of life. It doesn't mean we have to become rigid and completely give up things unless they are inherently sinful. 1 Timothy 6:17 says, "Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy." So I am still going to eat chocolate. I just won't eat a bag of it a day.

Now my brothers and sisters, let's work on self-control. Standing on our faith with the desire to do what is right and knowing what is right, let's choose right, even when it is the hard thing.

Especially when it is the hard thing.

May the Lord bless and keep you,

Heather

Knowledge

1-10-16

Today is one of those days I really wish I could speak Greek. The language is wonderfully descriptive and precise. English, and it hurts me to say this, doesn't have the same depth. Our next installment of 2 Peter 1:5-7 is about knowledge. Today we use the word as to have the intellectual understanding of something, but there is another layer to it that English doesn't capture.

Virtue

1-3-16

Hello reader! This post is the second in our series from the characteristics of Christians in II Peter 1:5-7. The first element given in this list in faith (you can read that post here). Faith is the foundation from which we build everything. Once we have the knowledge of God and trust in it, the next logical step is to act on it. That is where virtue comes in.