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Week 1 & 2 Update: I’ve done much better this week with the challenges. Though I haven’t gotten up in the morning to go running as part of Week 1′s challenge, I’ve still done well at exercising. It’s crazy how much better I feel as soon as I increase my activity! And to boot – I’ve managed to lose 3 pounds! Ye-haw! Week 2′s challenge was to spend the first 10 minutes of each day in devotion. I have loved this time each morning. Though a relatively short amount of time, God has spoken to me in these simple times of focus. And how about you?

Remember the verse that started this 5 week journey?

1 Thessalonians 4:7b – God hasn’t invited us into a disorderly, unkempt life but into something holy and beautiful—as beautiful on the inside as the outside.

These challenges are about recognizing areas in our lives that are “disorderly and unkempt” and doing something about them. As Pastor’s wives and women in ministry we are not exempt from struggles and shortcomings. But the good news is given to us in Romans 8:26 where we are reminded that the Spirit helps us in our weakness.

So on that note we move on to Week 3: Words.

Our words can bless, gripe, complain, and communicate the gospel—all within a matter of minutes! Tongues can inspire the hardest heart or crush a tender spirit. Proverbs 21:23 warns us to “guard the tongue” in order to stay out of trouble.

But how?

James warns us that we cannot share our faith if we’re not actively working to “bridle our tongues.” Just as a horse needs a bridle to direct his course, we need to put “bridles” or disciplines {there’s that word again! oy…} in place that will help in taming our tongues.

While James states that no one (in their own power) can “tame the tongue,” thankfully, God provides all you need to discipline this unruly critter.

2 Peter 1:3-8 - His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Week 3 Challenge:

Post scriptures which apply to the tongue and begin memorizing them. Each time you step to the mirror (or wherever you post them), read the verses, recite them, and ask the Holy Spirit to show you when your words do not glorify Christ.

As you begin this difficult challenge, here are some practical tips to continue the journey of taming that unruly tongue:

• Ask the Holy Spirit to show you when your words do not glorify Christ. And when He does, ask for grace to speak life-giving words (Ephesians 4:29).
• Ask for input from family members and friends. This can be so hard, maybe even humiliating, but it allows those who know us best to uncover “blind spots.” Please be prepared with a receptive heart! (Proverbs 27:5-6)
• Ask a friend to hold you accountable. Again, so hard, but a true friend will pray together with you for victory and grace.
• Practice the principle of crying out for HELP! When tempted to tear down rather than build up: Stop. Close your mouth. Take a deep breath and cry out for God’s grace to overcome the temptation!
• Use fewer words. Practice the spiritual discipline of “quiet.”

We’re halfway through our 5 Week Challenge. I hope you’re feeling challenged (in a good way!). Leave a comment and let us know!

Related Post:

Introducing 5 Weeks, 5 Challenges – Week 1: Health
5 Weeks, 5 Challenges – Week 2: Devotion

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Week 1 Update: Well, I failed. Yup. I did. {sigh} I didn’t realize last week would turn into such a crazy week. It definitely did not lend itself to starting a new habit. Particularly  the habit of running. But luckily for me, this is a new week and another opportunity to hit the reset button. How did you do? Let me know in the comment section. Again, this is a chance for you to join the community and help keep each other accountable!

Let’s get moving on to Week 2 – Devotion.

Wow – it’s hard in this fast paced, technology-dependent culture to just stop and sit at the feet of Jesus.  Obviously, we have 10 times more distractions than our grandparents ever had.  Consequently, this means we’re going to have to be 10 times more tenacious to maintain our walk with God. And just because we’re women in the ministry does not mean we’re exempt from struggling in this area. In reality, we might actually have a harder time. We might say things like, “I spent time prepping my lesson or sermon series for this weekend – that counts for time in the God’s WORD!” or “I prayed with my kids when I was tucking them in to bed. I have three kids so that’s three prayers every single night!!!” (Hehehe…ok, that might be extreme.)

“Life Management is really spiritual life management”. ~ Elizabeth George

I know that we may be tempted to say we don’t have time to read God’s word but let me suggest that reading God’s word does not have to be time-consuming!  Let’s clarify ~ If you want to do an in-depth study or read through the Bible in a year or journal long passages – it’s going to take time… lots of time. And truthfully it’s going to be the best time of your life!!!  But grace reminds us that in some seasons of life we truly are up to our ears in bottles, binkies, babies and blankies. Others of us have plates so full of ministry obligations they look like platters!

Just look at David in the Bible! If ever someone went through “seasons” it was him! He lingered in the presence of God in all seasons of life – morning, noon, night, in times of fear, weakness, sadness, joy and delight. And he wrote about it:

Psalm 63:

1 You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,

⁶ On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.
⁷ Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
⁸ I cling to you;
your right hand upholds me.

If you’re like me, your phone is also your alarm clock. And your social media source. But I also have a Bible app. I am making it a point to open it as soon as I reach for my phone. My app has reading plans that only take about 5 minutes to read. After I read and pray, I get out of my bed and feel ready to start my day.

So here’s my challenge to you this week:

Week 2 Challenge:

Before you do anything else, start your day by opening your Bible to read God’s Word and pray! Read it on your phone, or keep your Bible next to your bed and read it for 5 minutes before you get out of bed. And then take 5 minutes to respond to what you read through prayer. That’s it – we’re looking at taking 10 minutes to begin your day. This may seem like an unacceptably small amount of time for women in ministry, but let me remind you that this series about taking the small steps that lead you to growth in the Lord. And it’s about accepting the fact that we all need seasons of grace. Maybe now is a season when you need to accept the free gift of grace and hit the reset button in your devotion life.

The iPhone app I regularly use is YouVersion. But there are versions for nearly every platform. Even you Android users (ahem… )

Alright, my dear friends in ministry, who is willing to commit the first 10 minutes of their day in devotion time? Leave a comment below and let us know!

Related Post:

Introducing 5 Weeks, 5 Challenges – Week 1: Health

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I introduced our 5 Weeks, 5 Challenges series at the beginning of this week, so I thought I should check in to see how it has gone so far.

I have struggled to complete the task myself. In fact, I felt a little thwarted because as soon as I posted the challenge Hubs informed me that he would have to leave for work the rest of the week around 6 a.m. With little kids in the house I couldn’t be gone running if he was already gone. So…I haven’t accomplished the task myself. It’s frustrating, to be sure.

This is the very reason I posted this challenge. Life has a way of taking control no matter how hard I try to be in control. The question then becomes, “What are you going to do about it?” I, uh, don’t have an answer for that. Except that there are a few more days left to this week so I’ll try to get out and run one of these two days. That’s why this is such a challenge. But that is also why we’re taking 5 weeks to work on these areas of our lives. I had hoped to make more progress than this, but I didn’t expect to be a ninja in 4 days’ time.

So how about you? What has your week been like?

Next week’s challenge has to do with our devotion time. This is also an area that can be easily thwarted (particularly if you have littles!). So until Monday, have a great weekend!

I’ve done several different series lately. I talked about Mentoring, about Planning a Reception, and even some Frugal Living Tips.  But now I’ve got a series that’s all about US.

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A few weeks ago as I was spending some time with God, I read this verse:

1 Thessalonians 4:7b – God hasn’t invited us into a disorderly, unkempt life but into something holy and beautiful—as beautiful on the inside as the outside.

Something about that verse struck me and I’ve been mulling it ever since. It’s as if it is saying that a “disorderly, unkempt life” – or, a disorganized undisciplined life – is not holy and pleasing to God.  Ouch! I couldn’t help but sit and examine my own life. Were there areas in my life that were “disorderly and unkempt” and keeping me from honoring God? My response was yes. Yes there was. And I needed to do something about it.

So for the next 5 weeks I want to invite you to join me on Do More of What Makes You Holy: 5 Weeks and 5 Challenges.

The 5 Areas of Personal Discipline We’ll Focus On Are:

Health, Devotion, Words, Appearance, & Time.

Elizabeth Elliot writes: “Discipline, for a Christian, begins with the body.  We have only one.  It is this body that is the primary material given to us for sacrifice.  If we didn’t have this, we wouldn’t have anything.  We are meant to present it, offer it up, give it unconditionally to God for His purposes. This we are told is a “spiritual act of worship.” (Romans 12:1)

About 4 years ago I started a personal weight loss journey. After the birth of my 3rd child, I realized I could no longer excuse my weight-gain away. I had reached a top weight of 209 pounds, and I was not happy with how I looked and was even more unhappy with how I felt.

Now, 4 years later I have lost 60 pounds and have been able to maintain it. Changing my eating habits was tough but it’s the exercise discipline that still gets me in trouble! Sometimes I blame it on the blogging – it takes a lot of my free time.  Sometimes I blame it on homeschooling – I think, “if my kids went to school outside the home, I could go for an hour-long run every morning after they left the house!”  Sometimes I blame it on my husband! He’s not overly fond of salads and always prefers something other than fresh veggies with just lean meat for dinner.

Wowsers…listen to those excuses!

The truth? I struggle with self-discipline.

If I got out of bed an hour earlier, I could exercise. My husband may not love all fresh vegetables, but he does like some. And we all love fresh fruit.

Elizabeth Elliot goes on to write:

“The Christian’s body houses not only the Holy Spirit Himself, but the Christian’s heart, will, mind and emotions – all that plays a part in our knowing God and living for Him…the body was a gift to me.  Whether I will thank God for it and offer it as a holy sacrifice is for me to decide.”

Holiness has never before been a driving force for “getting fit,” but I must admit that her writing challenges me. And so that brings us to our first challenge on the list of disciplines!

Week 1 Challenge:

Name 1 healthy habit that you would like to begin to work on establishing in your life over the next 5 weeks.  Maybe it is cutting back on junk food, fast food, or soda.  It could be to exercise more, drink more water, or get more sleep.  Leave a comment and tell us what you’re going to work on…often times we are more apt to follow through on commitments when we make them known!

My personal goal is to begin getting up 1 hour earlier to go running.

If you don’t know where to start with this challenge, I’m going to use The Project Girl’s free Workout Worksheet to track my exercise and her free Printable Food Journal to track my food intake. I use the MapMyRun app on my iPhone and have several exercise ideas pinned on my Pinterest board.

So what healthy habit are you going to work on? Leave a comment so we can encourage each other. Don’t forget we’re in this together!

My life is so busy right now. You too? I wonder what it is about Spring that makes us feel like we’ve got a few too many wires disconnected? While I’m trying to get my head screwed back on straight I thought I’d just share with you a couple of my musings from the weekend. I’m aware of the fact that it’s not Monday. I’m not sure where Monday went, so in my mind this counts! Right?

My 5 Favorite Things from our Easter Weekend

1. I got to wear white pants! Tehehe…I know, I know. The first day of Spring is when I can start wearing them. Right? Is that the rule? I don’t like rules. Have I ever told you that?

2. Seeing a family come to our church that I’ve been getting to know for a few months! They are a great family who have been seeking change in their life. I’m hoping they make our church their new home.

3. Spending Easter weekend together as a family. This is probably the first year we weren’t up to our eyeballs in Easter activities since we’re not in a local church leadership position. It’s weird. And very nice.

4. That lump in my throat I get every year during the church production when Jesus appears out of the tomb. I can’t believe He loves me that much.

5. The reality of our mortality was in my face again as my darling mother-in-law was rushed to the hospital. Yes, the one we just had a large hoopla for last weekend. She is fine, thank you, but my husband and I found ourselves contemplating, yet again, the brevity of our life and the purpose of our existence:

^{Psalm: 39:4} “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered—how fleeting my life is. ⁵ You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath.”

^{Matthew 28:19} Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. ²⁰ Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Related Posts:

Monday Musings: People Watching
Planning a Reception: the food. The FOOD!
Preach the Gospel to…Yourself

I love this old hymn of the church! Have a blessed Easter weekend as we celebrate the forgiveness of our risen Savior!

O sacred Head, now wounded,
with grief and shame weighed down,
now scornfully surrounded
with thorns, thine only crown:
how pale thou art with anguish,
with sore abuse and scorn!
How does that visage languish
which once was bright as morn!

What thou, my Lord, has suffered
was all for sinners’ gain;
mine, mine was the transgression,
but thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Savior!
‘Tis I deserve thy place;
look on me with thy favor,
vouchsafe to me thy grace.

What language shall I borrow
to thank thee, dearest friend,
for this thy dying sorrow,
thy pity without end?
make me thine forever;
and should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never
outlive my love for thee.