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Archive for December, 2012

Top 10 Goals for 2013 – Things to Accomplish

Posted in WONDER, tagged 2013, Alone, book, Dreams, girlfriends, goals, hopes, New Year, physical activity, plans, procrastination, read, Resolutions, think before I speak, top 10, Writing on December 31, 2012| 2 Comments »

Today is the end, and tomorrow the beginning of a calendar year.

If I were to make one New Years Resolution that I need to follow through with, it would be to awaken EVERY day viewing it (that day) as a brand new start.

Last week I got a head start on resolution-type promises. I attacked areas I could improve in my marriage, as a parent, and tried really hard to put my goals on the page that I might have with regards to my walk with God. Today is the easiest list to write, but maybe the most difficult to get around to actually completing … the goals I have for my own life.

So, here they are, my goals for my own Earthly existence for 2013: images-4

Finish editing my book – Well I thought that it would be completed by the end of summer, but it is so far not done. I need to finish it this year … for me, and then I will see what I want to do with it after that.
Continue with weight loss – Last June I saw the picture and was sickened by the image staring back at me. That photo brought me to tears also brought me to an awareness of my need to lose the weight that has been hindering living fully, and I must continue in this downward direction.
Increase physical activity – This has been the most difficult part of trying to improve my overall health. I know that weight would drop faster, and more consistently if I was more active. Surely I can make time for three walks a week to start.
Read one book each month – Another goal that means I need to ‘make time’ for something.
Think before I speak – Is there any more that needs to be said about this? I think not!
Call my parents more regularly – This is one thing I need to do, for them and for me. I will aim for every two weeks …
Stop procrastinating – This one really applies to all of my goals for 2013! In all things in my life, from finishing my book to responding to phone calls, I need to just get it done.
Take more time for girlfriends – This one does not come naturally for me, but it is one that I know I benefit from when I do it, and it feeds my heart and soul so greatly.
Get away for a writing weekend – Just me, my laptop, a place to walk, and time to pray …
Dream – I need longer term goals to plan for and dream about, not just surviving, but aiming for more out of life, this I need.

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20 Instructions for Life

Posted in Guest Post, life, WONDER, tagged 20 instructions for life, Dalai Lama, goals, H. Jackson Brown Jr., life's little instruction book, Love, New Year on December 30, 2012| 3 Comments »

I first saw the following list of “20 Instructions for Life” credited to the Dalai Lama, but have since discovered that he is not the creator of the list, but that it comes from H. Jackson Brown Jr. in his Life’s Little Instruction Book. images

Whoever this list originated with, it is a brilliant list of goals, of things to aspire to each day as we live our lives. It is a great list to ponder as we prepare to turn the calendar on the end of 2012, and into the beginning of the New Year.

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.

3. Follow the three R’s:

– Respect for self,

– Respect for others and

– Responsibility for all your actions.

4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.

6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great relationship.

7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

8. Spend some time alone every day.

9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.

10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and

think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.

12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.

13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.

14. Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.

15. Be gentle with the earth.

16. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.

17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

19. If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.

20. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

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Top 10 Goals for 2013 – Walk with God

Posted in GOD, WONDER, tagged 2013, Dreams, goals, GOD, hebrews 13:5, hopes, Micah 6:8, New Year, plans, Resolutions, top 10, walk with god on December 28, 2012| Leave a Comment »

As the Christmas celebrations wind down and the New Year looms nearer and nearer I am in the midst of saying good-bye to the successes and failures of 2012, and saying hello to the goals for success in 2013.

The goals for 2013 that I have shared so far have been about my Earthly loves … my family. They are the ones who I consider to be such sweet gifts from God.

images-3 For today, though, I am considering my goals in my walk with God.

These goals are not easy to come up with, compared with my goals for my marriage and goals for my children. Maybe it is because I feel rather ‘pious’ in considering trying to improve in my walk with God … as though that is possible, not because I am so ‘good’, but because He is truly so good to me.

I could say that my list includes goals like reading my Bible everyday, witnessing to at least one person each week, or doing random acts of kindness for total strangers. All of those are good goals, but is that what God desires of from me?

The more I have tried to write goals, the less valuable them seem to be, in comparison to the grace, the freedom and the love that God offers to me (to us).

As I understand that the point of doing this in regards to my relationship with my husband or my relationship with my kids, I realize that my goals in those relationships are intended to improve my relationships with those people … they are self-improvement goals, for my benefit. I hope to improve something in their lives, thereby improving my own.

As I ponder my goals in my relationship with my Savior, and consider how I might improve my relationship with Him, I realize that there is nothing that I can do to change it, increase it, improve it. My relationship with my God is not dependent on my changes, or my actions, or my goals. My relationship with God has always been complete from the first moment that I handed the keys of my life over to my heavenly father. From that wonder-filled moment I was reunited with my Creator, and there was no altering my steps from that moment on.

Each day I awaken with Him in my first breath. He guides my every step, and when I side-step Him, He is still right beside me. He makes me aware of His presence in the wind through the trees, the joy of watching my children grow and learn, the scent of my hubby when he kisses me goodnight. He never leaves my side, whether I walk through rain or sun.

My goal for 2013, in my walk with God …

is to believe Him when He says, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5)

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Top 10 Goals for 2013 – Marriage

Posted in Marriage, The Hubby, WONDER, tagged 2013, decisions, don't let the sun go down on your anger, Dreams, Forgive, Future, goals, GOD, hopes, Hubby, husband, Love, Marriage, New Year, Past, plans, Remember, Resolutions, responsibility, Stress, top 10, Trust on December 27, 2012| 1 Comment »

So, I am now at day number two of my Top 10 Goals for 2013, and this time the focus is hubby.

He REALLY does not appreciate posts about him, that mention him, that use him as an example … so, in honor of his preference that I not write about him … heck, I’m just going to do it anyway!

P&C Cropped

He has to forgive me … comes with the whole “love, honor and … forgive” 😉

Here are my Top Ten Goals for my Marriage for 2013:

Do not go to bed angry – I mentioned this yesterday in regards to our kids and it doesn’t hurt to say it again, “do not let the sun go down while you are still angry” (Ephesians 4:26).
Get away – make time for at least one night each season to get away together, sans children, as a couple. It is so easy, with all of the demands of life, to forget that the family we created started with us, just us, and for this family to continue we need to invest in us.
Respect him – As I write it I just know that some poor, misinformed lady is going to interpret respecting your husband as some kind of response to an archaic male dominated patriarchal society or religion. That is NOT what this is about! He is a child of God, like me, and as such I need to respect him …
Make his life easier – I am sure that there is at least one thing I can do each week to make his life easier … from answering the phone (instead of letting him, because it is always for him), to doing his dinner clean up once in a while (not too often, as I do not want him to get too used to being relieved of ‘his’ chore).
Thank him – so often when we live with someone it is so easy to forget our manners. Please and thank you are words I know I need to use more often with my man.
Let him decide – … and be okay with his decision! My hubby knows that if I say “you choose” his whole future is at stake. I need to trust him to make a decision, and trust the outcome!
Surprise him – there is nothing like veering from the normal, everyday, meatloaf every Monday stagnant way of living to bore a couple to mediocrity! Start seeing excitement and refreshment in someone else. I WILL surprise him … and the details of that, well those are between the two of us 😉 .
Remember the past – I need to reflect on those days, so many years ago, when we only knew adoring love (aka, before we were married 😉 ) … not bills, crisscrossing schedules, and to do lists.
Forget the past – we have baggage, and that is a reality, but the past is the past, and needs to be left there. We cannot move forward if I keep looking back.
Plan for the future – “Where there is no dreaming for the future, the marriage relationship is dead” (that is the Carole Wheaton interpretation of Proverbs 29:18) … enough said.

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Top 10 Goals for 2013 – Children

Posted in The Kids, WONDER, tagged 2013, Blessing, Boxing Day, Children, Dreams, gifts, goals, GOD, hopes, Intentional, Love, maturing, New Year, new years resolutions, plans, Prayer, pride, Resolutions, responsibility, top 10 on December 26, 2012| Leave a Comment »

If you are reading this, then yes, you have survived the chaos that can be associated with Christmas Day.

For me, Boxing Day means two things; one is that I am ready to take down the tree, and clean up the house, and the other is that I start to think about next year.

Over the next few days, my posts will be related to my thinking about next year. Each day I will share Ten Goals that I have for myself, my children, my marriage and my relationship with God.

Today, I am starting with my ten goals for 2013, related to my three children.

Wheaton+Family-38-2-1602627366-O

God has blessed hubby and I with three healthy, productive, God-fearing/loving children. There was a time when we wondered if we would even have children with our own DNA. There was a time when we understood contentment with one, believing that our chances of carrying another to term would never be. There were dark and sorrow-filled times, times when we cried out to God, times when we grew to understood that today we only see a part (1 Corinthians 13:12) …

As parents we have taken those experiences, that pain, of the past and promised to not forget the gifts that these children are to us. Oh, we fail – daily we fail as parents, but our hearts desire is to not take them for granted, not forget our responsibility to be active in their lives, and to daily hand them back to their Creator.

My goals, as their mom, for 2013 are:

Be intentional in spending at least one time per month with each child – they are individuals, and I need to know them individual
Pray with each more often – so easy when they were young, but it is still such a beautiful thing to lay our burdens at His feet together
Be more involved in assisting them with school work (even unsolicited … mostly unsolicited) – I often am so desiring that I give them independence in their school responsibilities that I forget that they still need help, and I am able to help them!
Tell each child, every day, that I love them – I cannot just think it, for their benefit I need to give wings to my thoughts
Do not end the day, or go apart angry – this applies to so many relationships (every relationship). There is wisdom in “do not let the sun go down while you are still angry” (Ephesians 4:26)
Laugh with them – Oh how sad to spend a day living under the same roof and not sharing a laugh together … what sweet memories laughter provides!
Tell them why I love them – not just ‘I love you’ but ‘I love how you ….’, ‘I love that you ….’
Tell them that I am proud of them – I do believe that success breeds success, and if I let them know of the successes I see in their lives, I believe that it will magnify their ability to do even greater things
Praise their father, in their presence – although hubby and I do not parent exactly the same, we are one, united front when it comes to our kids, and our kids need to know that we love each other, and that we respect each other … and thinking it is not enough … I need to give words to my thoughts.
Give them wings – I cannot hold them too tightly, I need to hold them with enough flexibility that they can come and go. God’s example to us is to give us the choice to come to Him … there is no better parenting example! And there can be no greater gift than having my child choose to share their life with me.

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Holy Work

Posted in christmas, Guest Post, WONDER, tagged Ann Voskamp, calling, duties, Fatigue, gifts, Guilt, holy, holy work, jobs, one thousand gifts, Purpose, Stress, the best way to do christmas cleaning on December 23, 2012| Leave a Comment »

As we continue with all of the last minute preparations for the ‘big day’ obligation, guilt and fatigue can begin to take over our existence and moment by moment lives. Our duties, our jobs can come to feel as weights upon our lives.

The guest post today is by Ann Volskamp, who was also my guest post two week ago. It is short, and sweet and will put breath back beneath your sails as you look for purpose in your tasks.

After reading The Best Way to do Christmas Cleaning I think you might just have a new understanding of what it is to do holy work.

Oh, and you might want to purchase Ann Voskamp’s book, for someone you love (or for yourself), “One Thousand Gifts”

one-thousand-gifts

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The Sky is Falling

Posted in GOD, life, WONDER, tagged 2011, 2012, Acts 26:17-18, darkness to light, December 21, Henny Penny, Matthew 24:23-26, May 11, Mayan Calendar, no one knows the hour or the day, The Sky is Falling, The World is Ending, world ending declarations on December 20, 2012| Leave a Comment »

I’ve been thinking of the story of Henny-Penny lately. I can almost hear her words, “the sky is falling.”

Henny-Penny was a hen, who was out in the corn fields when something hit her on the head, and of course she thought, the world is ending! As a good and responsible citizen of her community, she then purposed to go tell the king. On her way she told her story to many of her neighbors, the rooster, duck, goose, turkey and fox who offered to show them the way to the king. Well Foxy-Woxy was a sly one, and led them all into his dark hole, resulting in a beheading of each of the neighbors, except for Henny-Penny, who had been warned and was able to run away … without telling the king that the world was ending.

Apparently there are Henny-Pennys in human form too, and not just in today’s society, but all the way back to the Mayans. According to the Mayan Calendar the world, as we know it will end tomorrow (for those of you who know me, NO, this is not why were are so late getting our Christmas tree!).

“The sky is falling …”

Declarations of the world ending, complete with days and times have been made time after time, and yet, we are still here, plodding along. I wrote, just a year and a half ago about the world ending on May 11, 2011 (it didn’t).

The Bible is clear about one thing regarding the end of the world, that “no one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Matthew 24:36)

Just like in the story of Henny-Penny, the Bible told us that these world-ending declarations would come and what to think about them, “if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There He is!’ do not believe it. For false Christ’s and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time. So if anyone tells you, ‘There He is, out in the desert,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here He is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.” (Matthew 24:23-26)

And just like the story of Henny-Penny, those who follow that sly fox into the darkness, might just lose their ~~heads~~ life.

“I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles.I am sending you to them
to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light,and from the power of Satan to God,
so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place
among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”
Acts 26:17-18

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Where Was God?

Posted in christmas, GOD, Nature/Creation, WONDER, tagged 1 john 3:19-20, adam and eve, Choice, conneticut, control of the evil one, Garden of Eden, Judeo-Christian values, sandy hook elementary school, senseless tragedy, Sin, Steven Curtis Chapman, vindictive, we are not home yet, where was god on December 18, 2012| Leave a Comment »

If there was ever a time when the reality that we live in a sin filled world has been so obvious, it is the tragic deaths in that elementary school in Connecticut last Friday. images-1

It would be impossible for anyone to have heard the news of the horrific events inflicted on the most innocent and pure in our society (children) and not felt the weight of tragedy and loss.

This violent act has some asking the question “where was God?”

…sigh …

I heard a commentary on the weekend expressing a response to that question. The response dealt with how we have kicked prayer and God from our schools, how we have devalued human life and the institution of marriage by redefinition, how we have ignored the teachings of the Bible and thrown out God’s laws from our society.

I disagree! Not with what we have done to eliminate Judeo-Christian values from society, but with the insinuation that the sinful human actions at Sandy Hook Elementary school were allowed as some vindictive act of Creator God.

My God is not vindictive!

Genesis makes it clear that God created our world, from the birds of the air to the fish of the deep to our own humanity. He did so in such a way that the Earth and all within it would be self sustaining. It was perfect!

But, He is not a God who forces himself on us, like a delusional attacker. No, He gave His most high level creatures (aka. humans), choice in obedience … and they (and we) failed we fell for Satan’s schemes: images

“We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.” 1 John 5:19-20

From that moment on God’s ‘pièce de résistance’ (the human race) has been failing, and failing miserably. We live with the very real consequences of being creatures who are born with a sinful nature, since Adam and Eve made the choice to sin in the Garden of Eden. Each and every part of the entirety of creation was affected, and continues to be affected by sin. Our perfect, spotless, free and easy existence has been blood, sweat and tears ever since.

We still live as the image bearers of our Creator, but we are tarnished, bruised and fragile because of it.

Because of sin:

we experience death.
we experience health problems.
we feel hurt and pain and loss.
crops are lost.
people starve.
wars are fought.
people obsess about the world’s demise.

Because of sin … our sin.

There is no band-aid for the hurts that our sinful world inflict on us, or those around us. Our world is not Eden, humanity has not been there since the time of first man and first woman … that is reserved for heaven. God is not a superhero, with a cape, and a script. But, just as thousands of years ago people wished for and anticipated the coming of the Savior, whose birth we reenact in this season with young children … like the ones who died so tragically last week, we need to remember that we are not home yet. That home is the home of eternal joy, eternal peace, and eternal safety.

So close your eyes with me And hear the Father saying, ” Welcome home”
Let us find the strength in all His promises to carry on
He said, “I’ll go prepare a place for you”
So let us not forget
We are not home yet,
Keep on looking ahead, let your heart not forget
We are not home yet,
I know there’ll be a moment,
I know there’ll be a place
Where we will see our Savior and fall in His embrace
So let us not grow weary or too content to stay
‘Cause we are not home yet

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The Christmas Miracle … Guest Post

Posted in christmas, Guest Post, WONDER, tagged a holy experience, Ann Voskamp, eucharisteo, guest post, he witholds no good thing, one thousand gifts, Pain, Scarred, Stress, Thanksgiving, the christmas miracle on December 9, 2012| Leave a Comment »

How do I introduce a guest post whose writer’s words have so fed my soul, filled my heart, made me weep and taught me that I’m still a newborn in learning to be thankful? As I lay across my bed, with dark shadows of fatigue and stress from choosing to carry the weight of the world all by myself, there are also lines of mascara from the leaking from my tear ducts just minutes ago, as I was gently massaged with words like ointment on my scarred heart.

Let me introduce you to a woman who knows about
delight,
joy,
fear,
pain,
Eucharisteo (Thanksgiving)!

I was introduced to the (Canadian) New York Times bestselling author of “One Thousand Gifts,” Ann Voskamp by two co-workers who said that I NEEDED to read it. I am cheap and thought that signing up for her blog would do just fine, thank-you … I was right … and wrong.

The blog was good, no great! And so I bought the book. I bought the book in early September, and have only read three chapters in the three months, not because it is not good … Quite the contrary, it is too good to rush through! I am savoring it like aged cheese, sweet wine, dark chocolate … No! Not even those favorites can compare. More like those moments when you held your newborn baby and looked into their eyes praying that God would imprint every detail of that moment into your memory … that is what this book is like!

And so today I am offering to you a treat that I think might send you to the bookstore too! Enjoy A Holy Experience

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Do You Hear What I Hear?

Posted in christmas, Guest Post, WONDER, tagged 1 kings 19:11-12, busyness, Charles Swindoll, christmas, do you hear what I hear, guest post, Henri J. M. Nouwen, Listen, quiet, sales, season, Shopping on December 2, 2012| 2 Comments »

images As we begin to adjust to the moving of the calendar to December, we can no longer deny that Christmas is coming.

Truly one would have to live as a hermit in the forest to have not been noticing it for weeks already. Our mailbox is stuffed with flyers, our inbox is stuffed with admail, and our grocery stores are stuffed with more than the usual amounts of food that we should only eat in moderation.

Another giveaway of the impending holiday season is that our calendars, daytimers and schedules are packed with activities, parties, concerts and celebrations.

Since way back on the hottest day in July, when shopping at a wholesale store and seeing that Christmas decorations filled one aisle, I have been aware that the Christmas that I celebrate, is not the one that is loudest at this time of year. I sighed, and began the mental preparations for the noises of the season.

My guest post today is one that I have shared before, but the video that holds the message is different.

It arrived in my inbox one day last week, almost drowned from my inbox by the dozens of Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale advertisements. As I hit delete for the twenty-ninth time, I almost didn’t open this message, but decided to check it out.

And here it is, give it a look, no …give it a LISTEN

“… but the Lord was not in the wind:
and after the wind an earthquake;
but the Lord was not in the earthquake:
And after the earthquake a fire;
but the Lord was not in the fire:
and after the fire a still small voice.”
1 Kings 19:11-12

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