I have decided to give up on adulting. I am a CHILD of God, not an adult of God.
“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” Romans 8:16 (ESV)
As I’ve been watching the news and what’s been happening in Ukraine, I’ve had such empathy for the people there and my heart has been grieving. I’ve spent time in prayer praying for protection of people, wisdom for the leaders, boldness, and courage, help from others, etc.
In church this past Sunday, we sang the song, “The Blessing”. As I sang, I had a nudge in my spirit that I could pray this for Ukraine. Then I prayed, “This is my prayer for them Lord. This is my prayer for Ukraine.” I changed the words as I sang to customize it into a prayer for Ukraine.
Lord, bless Ukraine and keep them
Make Your face shine upon them
And be gracious to them
Lord, turn Your face toward them
And give them peace
May Your favor be upon them
And a thousand generations
And their family and their children
And their children, and their children
May Your presence go before them
And behind them, and beside them
All around them, and within them
You are with them
In the morning, in the evening
In their coming, and their going
In their weeping, and rejoicing
You are for them.
Amen.
Prayer adapted from "The Blessing": Written by Steven Furtick, Chris Brown, Kari Jobe, Cody Carnes ©2020 Music by Elevation Worship Publishing, Capitol CMG Paragon / Writers Roof Publishing, Worship Together Music / Kari Jobe Carnes Music CCLI #: 7147007
Oh look! They’ve started to make teenager mannequins now!
“Sullen and angry…” 1 Kings 20:43a (NIV)
Success magazines and self-help sites are loaded with “start the day right” theories, especially at the start of a new year. I’ve gotta say though, this “start the day right” thing really works! I know…why am I so surprised that this actually works!? I’ve been teaching this for years, and I’ve even experienced it on more than one occasion. Nevertheless, I still surprise myself from time to time.
Several years ago (when I originally wrote this post) my husband Eric used to leave for work before I even got up most of the time. Sometimes, not always, he would get on these kicks where he would set his alarm for super early but then hit the snooze button. Consistently. Over. And over. I’m a pretty light sleeper, and it typically takes me a while to even get to sleep. I’m also a pretty cranky person if I don’t get enough sleep or if I’m overly tired. Oh, did I mention that the sound of his alarm often wouldn’t wake him? So many times I had to wake him and tell him that his alarm was going off…every 9 minutes…for sometimes an hour.
Needless to say, this occasional morning snooze habit that he used to have tended to make me a little angry drive me insane. I promise I really tried to stay calm and not get angry. Really I did. However, there was a particular day that was not the case. On that morning it was all I could do not to take his alarm clock and knock him over the head with it. I’m telling you, I had some choice words in my head! I became extremely angry and cranky.
I didn’t feel like getting up early to read my Bible and have my quiet time that day. I didn’t feel like playing praise and worship music. Nevertheless, I sucked it up and got up regardless of my feelings. I made a decision to start the day right, even though it went against every grain in my body that day.
I went into the kitchen to make my coffee and whole-grain bagel (even though I felt like eating the plate of leftover Christmas fudge that was still sitting on the countertop). I pulled up my YouTube praise and worship playlist and clicked “He Lifted Me” to listen to as I made my breakfast. In full disclosure, I probably used a little more force than I should have to click “play” on the music. It really only takes a light tap, not a blow to the touch screen with my index finger. 🙂 I think I even muttered out loud to myself, “I don’t WANT to listen to praise music!” like a little pouting 3-year-old. See what a baby I can be at times? After that song was over, I was still angry but clicked on another song anyway, “O Praise the Name”.
Afterward, I took my breakfast and phone and went to my usual morning chair to read my Bible. I did each of my reading plans, prayed, and journaled my thoughts. Amazingly, I even finished before the kids got up. I think I was still in a little funk but really didn’t pay much attention to it after that because I was on to get the kids up, ready, and off to school.
Some people should use a glue stick instead of Chapstick. #truth
“Watch your tongue and keep your mouth shut, and you will stay out of trouble.” Proverbs 21:23 (NLT)
After writing the previous post about reading the Bible by “spiritual cramming”, I was hoping that nobody would feel condemned or have that feeling of “yeah, yeah, I hear that all the time.” Those same thoughts and feelings are all too familiar for me so by no means do I want to impose them on others. My hope is just to encourage people to start somewhere and to make having a regular quiet time a routine. I really just want to share about it and encourage others because of the difference it’s made in my life.
When I first started reading the Bible regularly it was really out of desperation and despair. It was the summer before my sophomore year in college, and my boyfriend of 3 years had just broken up with me. I’m pretty sure he was cheating on me too because not too long after our breakup he was engaged to the girl that he swore was just his “friend”. I was devastated. It seems a little silly now, but I truly was in pain then. (Side note: Never minimize or make light of the pain somebody is feeling because their hurt is very real and very consuming to them at that moment.) Even though it seems silly and trivial now (and I’ve gone through MUCH worse since then), it really was a pivotal moment in my life.
During that time I was an emotional hot mess, and I couldn’t sleep. I started reading the Bible at night along with a devotional book, My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers to find some comfort and to help me get to sleep at night. It honestly was the only way I could get to sleep and deal with the anxiety and panic attacks.
I often fell asleep reading the Bible, and then I would later feel guilty about it. One time I had a thought come to me though. I now know it was God talking to me—though I didn’t know it at the time. The thought was, “What better way to fall asleep than by spending time with me?” It was true. I could have fallen asleep watching TV or listening to the radio, but instead, I did so by reading the Bible or praying. It really did give me peace.
Does anyone remember these days? #CardCatalog
“…The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17 (BSB)
“spiritual cramming” /’spir-i-choo-uh l kram-ing/ VERB 1. The act of attempting to pray and/or to study hastily or learn biblical information in a short period of time and at the last minute due to an impending test, trial, struggle, problem, or hard time. Cramming is often discouraged because the hurried coverage of material tends to result in poor long-term retention of material.
It seems like most Christians know that we should read our Bible. Most also probably realize that it should be done on a regular, daily basis. The problem is, most don’t do it. Maybe it’s because we think it’s hard to understand. Sometimes it’s because we think it’s boring or that we don’t have time. Maybe we think getting “Bible” on Sundays or in church is enough. Any additional study we pursue is frequently just “spiritual cramming”.
I had the same problem. Being raised in church my entire life, I heard the children’s church teachers, youth ministers, and pastors consistently say “read your Bible”. I just never did—except for when I was in church on Sundays or Wednesdays. Regular, daily Bible reading was not a habit of mine until about 15ish years ago (with the exception of a short stint in college).
Until then I was just a spiritual baby even though I was a grown adult with children of my own and even though I had a decent amount of knowledge from the Bible. I was spiritually immature and had an underdeveloped understanding of spiritual life. I expected everyone else to “feed” me, and any independent study often consisted of spiritual cramming.
“Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in the Christian life. I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready” 1 Corinthians 3:1-2 (NLT)
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