Deliberate
Every year as the new one is ushered in, I ask the Lord for a "word" for my year....for 2015 I was given the word, "determination." I took that one and ran with it. Working out, losing weight, eating right, prayer life, worship, community involvement, the whole gambit has come under some tightening up. In my personal life, as a result of this determination to do things differently and well, I have seen a lot of change already.
As I shared in my last post, Joshua always issues a challenge for the new year. This year he actually divided his challenge into 4 quarters, which is a new thing for me. When the quarter switched the challenge adjusted slightly and so did my "word" from God. Part of our challenge was to read a Christian book and I had picked up the book, Fringe Hours. It is an amazing read, by the way. Anyways, within its pages I found the challenge to look for deliberate moments with God. "Oh that's cool..." I thought to myself and shelved it for later thought. However, God began whispering it to me every chance I would give Him and I soon realized that determination had morphed into deliberation.
You see, in all of my other relationships, its not enough to just catch stolen moments with someone. A strong relationship is not built haphazardly. I have to deliberately walk up to my kids and put my arms around them. I set time aside to help with homework and talk over dishes and snuggle on the couch while watching a movie or reading a book together. It is not cool to be catching up on my Facebook while my kiddo is relaying the news of their day. Why do I think that my relationship with God could be any different? Sure, its cool to pray while driving to work, or folding clothes, but what about getting up early to talk to Him, just me and God?
To do this I must be deliberate. I have to set my mind to it, with Determination, and Deliberately spend time in His presence. The cool thing is that I can only be improved by doing so. I stand to lose absolutely nothing.
Deliberate spills over to everything else in my life as well. I must deliberately seek to help others, not wait to stumble across an opportunity. Deliberately choose to be a loving and understanding mommy, wife, sister, friend. No more happenstance, no more wait to see what someone else does about the situation. Step in, step up, make the effort to be the instigator in my own life.
As I shared in my last post, Joshua always issues a challenge for the new year. This year he actually divided his challenge into 4 quarters, which is a new thing for me. When the quarter switched the challenge adjusted slightly and so did my "word" from God. Part of our challenge was to read a Christian book and I had picked up the book, Fringe Hours. It is an amazing read, by the way. Anyways, within its pages I found the challenge to look for deliberate moments with God. "Oh that's cool..." I thought to myself and shelved it for later thought. However, God began whispering it to me every chance I would give Him and I soon realized that determination had morphed into deliberation.
You see, in all of my other relationships, its not enough to just catch stolen moments with someone. A strong relationship is not built haphazardly. I have to deliberately walk up to my kids and put my arms around them. I set time aside to help with homework and talk over dishes and snuggle on the couch while watching a movie or reading a book together. It is not cool to be catching up on my Facebook while my kiddo is relaying the news of their day. Why do I think that my relationship with God could be any different? Sure, its cool to pray while driving to work, or folding clothes, but what about getting up early to talk to Him, just me and God?
To do this I must be deliberate. I have to set my mind to it, with Determination, and Deliberately spend time in His presence. The cool thing is that I can only be improved by doing so. I stand to lose absolutely nothing.
Deliberate spills over to everything else in my life as well. I must deliberately seek to help others, not wait to stumble across an opportunity. Deliberately choose to be a loving and understanding mommy, wife, sister, friend. No more happenstance, no more wait to see what someone else does about the situation. Step in, step up, make the effort to be the instigator in my own life.
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