Helpful Tip Tuesday: A Parent's "Never To Do" List

"Things NEVER, NEVER (well hardly ever) to do!

Don't threaten-you decimate your own authority.

Don't bribe-bargaining usually makes you the loser.

Don't lose your temper-a clear demonstration of lack of control.

Don't refuse to explain-they'll go elsewhere and you're on the outside.

Don't use sarcasm or embarrassment-the fastest way to demolish a relationship.

Don't dash their dreams-your ticket into the next generation gap."

~taken from Heaven Help The Home by Howard G. Hendricks

What else would you add to the parent's "NEVER To Do" list?

Book Review: 1000 Gifts

I read One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp and it has changed my life. It is a book about one woman's journey to being thankful to God for the little, everyday things in life. 

I feel that God has been trying to get a hold of my heart in the area of praising Him for quite some time. It seems that I struggle with thanking God not only in the good times, but in the difficult times as well. Ann's book took me out of myself and my natural tendencies of worry and stress and shifted my focus to thanking God. Her writing in the book is beautiful and poetic; I wish my thoughts would translate into words that beautiful and profound! Many times I came across various thoughts so deep and thought provoking that caused me to stop and think for the rest of the day about them.

For example:

"We only enter into the full life if our faith gives thanks."

"Thanksgiving is inherent to a true salvation experience; thanksgiving is necessary to live the well, whole, fullest life."

"…this dare to write down one thousand things I love. It really is a dare to name all the ways that God loves me."

"God gives us time. And who has time for God?"

"Hurry always empties a soul."

"Without God's Word as a lens, the world warps."

"The dark can give birth to life; suffering can deliver grace."

"Do I really smother my own joy because I believe that anger achieves more than love?"

Getting Personal:

The biggest challenge Ann's book brought to my life was to stop intending to be thankful and praise God for little and big things and start doing it. So, I did. I bought a cheap composition notebook from Target and began my list of 1000 gifts. 

Honestly, it felt a little strange at first. I felt like I was LOOKING for things to be thankful for (I felt guilty shouldn't they just be flowing from my brain onto paper??). Then they started to come to me-the view from my window, my kids in their pj's , my quiet time to journal and write my thoughts, etc.

The book has inspired me to want to look for things I can be thankful for throughout my day. I now think, "OK, I need to write some things down that I'm thankful for in my journal. I need to keep it up." When I start writing, so many thoughts begin to fill my journal. As I write them down I find myself becoming more thankful. My heart softens and changes. I begin to see with new eyes. And the truth sets me free. I HAVE BEEN BLESSED IN SO MANY WAYS. There are countless little ways that I feel loved by God or others. Every little thing that I write down that I'm thankful for comes from God; HE loves me! For it says in James 1:17, "Every good and perfect gift comes from above." All these little things I am thankful for came from God. Joy fills my heart, and I see now the goodness and blessing in my life, rather than the emptiness or areas that I haven't seen God do something that I want Him to. It has built my faith-if God can bless me with so many little things in my day and life, can't He still do it again and do abundantly more and in ways I don't expect?

Please read it for yourself and start writing your list of 1000 gifts today. It has definitely been a gift in my life. God has used it to change my life, my heart, my attitude, my joy, my faith, my love for God and others.

A Christian Defined

"A Christian is
     a mind through which Christ thinks
          a voice through which Christ speaks
               a heart through which Christ loves
                    a hand through which Christ helps."

~as quoted in A Woman's High Calling

Book Review: The Circle Maker

I was given The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson as a Christmas present from my husband. He knew it was a book that I would want to read because his dad read it…and I always want to read what he is reading. He loves to read too, and I like to keep up with his book recommendations  This particular book is about prayer-how important it is, how powerful it is, and how necessary it is for believers to go to God with our prayer requests...HE HEARS US!

Some excellent quotes in the book:

"Bold prayers honor God, and God honors bold prayers. God isn't offended by your biggest dreams or boldest prayers. He is offended by anything less. If your prayers aren't impossible to you, they are insulting to God. Why? because they don't require divine intervention."

"Who you become is determined by how you pray."

"The author, pastor of one of the largest churches in Seoul, Korea, wrote, 'God does not answer vague prayers.' When I read that statement,  I was immediately convicted by how vague my prayers were. Some of them were so vague that there was no way of knowing whether God had answered them or not."

"When you pray regularly, you never know when God will show up or speak up. Today could be the day. When you live in prayer mode, you live with holy anticipation. you know that coincidences are Providences."

"Praying hard is hard because you can't just pray like it depends on God; you also have to work like it depends on you. You can't just be willing to pray about it; you also have to be willing to do something about it. And this is where many of us get stuck spiritually. We're willing to pray right up to the point of discomfort, but no further. We're willing to pray right up to the point of inconvenience, but no further. Praying hard is uncomfortable and inconvenient, but that is when you know you're getting close to a miracle!"

My Thoughts:

After reading this I am not the same Christian. It has challenged me to pray specifically for things. I don't need to be general in what I ask of God, I must be specific. God answers specific prayers. I think I'm all too often afraid to ask God for specific things because I'm afraid He won't answer me or do them for me. I have thought, "Maybe I'm not worthy enough of that specific request."  Or maybe He'll think I'm stupid or ungrateful or asking too much. But that is simply not true. I have had a distorted perspective of God as my Father. He wants to bless my life. He wants and needs me to be open and honest with him. He wants me to have a vision for things and ask specifically for them. He wants to use me and move through me. I have had to grow in my faith and believe these things of God. It has challenged me to get a bigger perspective of who God is.  By the way, I've learned He's much bigger than I've made Him out to be. I have been stirred to seek God. I'm seeking His vision and purpose for my life at this time and specifically praying for those things to come to pass. 

The Circle Maker is filled with encouraging stories and testimonies of how God has answered prayer in Matt's life and those he knows. I needed to read this book. It has fanned the flame of prayer in my life in a powerful way. I pray it does the same for you!