Valuing the Familiar

I love Psalm 23. Micah can already quote it and when Kevin can talk a little better I know he'll be able to as well. I want these boys to hide God's Word in their hearts while they are little. It's so easy to memorize and learn when you are that young and I want to take advantage of that with things that will have an eternal influence. Psalm 23 is chock-full of goodness and inspiration and comfort and a kick-in-the-pants. And yet, I often consider it overused. There is nothing wrong with the familiar. 

Psalm 23 brings comfort to my heart. God is my shepherd; He provides for what I need. God goes with me so I don't need to fear. God prepares places of rest and stillness for me. 

Philippians 4:13 is another great verse. God will give me the strength and ability for whatever He calls me to. This verse even gets used by non-believers as a positive thinking mantra. That's not how it's intended. Paul was speaking about living with contentment in whatever path of life God placed him. Some of Paul's places were hard places and God gave him the strength he needed.   

It's easy to overlook the familiar: to not see the rich truth in familiar verses because we know them. We just skim over them instead of letting them seep into our hearts. We don't see the value of the work we do daily because it is so normal- so routine- in our minds. We see only the potty-training accidents and sibling fights instead of the training ground of our children's minds and souls. We don't see the wisdom of the people that God has placed in our lives because they are familiar. We know what they ate for breakfast and the last time they apologized for saying something they shouldn't have. 

My husband always reminds me that an expert is someone who does the same thing somewhere else. It's the element of mystery, the lack of familiarity, that makes that person an expert. We don't see them day after day. We read a resume and hear of their greatest accomplishment and see those near us taking out the trash and losing their temper. People are just people. No matter how accomplished or talented or wise we are all flawed. 

1. Realize the value of those near to you. They know you. They know your life and they can speak truth into it. No, they aren't perfect and no one else is either. 

2. Set your sights on the familiar. Those Bible verses that comfort you. The work that's before you every day. The floor that needs swept again. Glory in that routine and the work God is doing in your heart through it. 

3. Live where you are. Serve Jesus where you are and you'll serve Jesus wherever you are. A new place or situation only seems new in your mind.  Once you are there it becomes your routine, your normal, and you lose that motivation of a "dream" place or job. It's still work. It's still hard. 

We are a society ever chasing the new, the thrilling. We pursue work that fulfills us instead of doing what's before us with gusto. We leave marriages for someone more exciting and rip our families apart in the process. We church hop, job hop, city hop so that life is always exciting and new instead of knuckling down and growing in the places God has for us. Is it thrilling? Not always. Birth is the big moment of having a baby; after that it's just day after day of love and training and care. But that's where your character is forged. That's where the results are accomplished. That's where the work is done. 

On the days when it seems like nothing is changing, when weeks drag on through the same problems and issues, don't be discouraged. You'll look back in a year and see how far God has brought you and be amazed. 

What We Need Instead of Girl Power

Even though we're mostly ignoring the myriad of other issues I have with girl power songs, I'm going to state a few of them here. Number one, why on earth are we always almost naked in the music videos? Are we really still presenting ourselves as sex objects? Feminists, we're moving backward here. And number two, what about boy power? I have a husband and three boys and they are all pretty rad. Ok, moving on. 

Of course there are people with a prejudice toward women. I've met them. You've met them. But I've also met people with a prejudice toward boys, white people, black people, skinny people, fat people, short people, and tall people. Get the idea? You can't live by these people. You aren't defined by them. You don't have to prove anything to them. 

If we know what God thinks we don't have to care about what anyone else thinks. God thinks enough of me to send His Son to die for me. (John 3:16) So I don't really care if you don't like me. Or if you think I'm "just a girl." The ground at the cross is level. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." Galatians 3:28

Girl power is only a shadow of confidence when we could build our lives on what God thinks about us. Here are two things we need instead. 

1. We need to know Jesus. 

I hate to break the news to our generation of special butterflies, but we're not special. There's over 7 billion people alive on the earth right now and you're probably not that awesome. I have nothing to offer on my own. John 15:5 says, "for without me (Jesus) ye can do nothing." 

I don't have anything awesome to offer my husband, children, friends, or neighbors just in myself. I can't even consistently get out of bed with a good attitude on my own. But the Bible tells me that I have the same Spirit in me that raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11). 

It's not me; it's Jesus. Ephesians 3:20, "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us," If I want to have something to offer anyone, it's won't be in my own specialness. It will be Jesus. Because I'm not smart or wise or spectacular. 

I can understand why girl power songs appeal to unsaved women. We all need something to believe in, a confidence to build our lives on.  But I'd rather believe in Jesus than in myself. 

2. We need to do the work. 

A lioness doesn't announce to the jungle that she's going to roar and wait until everyone is paying attention. She just roars, and trust me, everyone else notices. If you know Jesus and you do the work, people will notice. You will stand out because that's not average. 

Am I saying there's not a place for societal change? Of course not- Rosa Parks, for example But we would accomplish more collectively if we each did the work in front of us. Forget platforms and names and do the best work you possibly can where ever God has put you. Single or married. Kids or no kids. Working, stay-at-home, work-at-home. 

There's a great story about a man who bought a field and it was covered with rocks and brambles. The man spent years clearing it out in spare hours around work. When he had  a flourishing garden, a neighbor stopped by and complimented him on the work that he and God had done. The man replied, "You should have seen it when only God had it." 

Of course that's tongue-in-cheek but it proves the point. You have to work. You want to be recognized for special contributions? Make special contributions. And parading around in your underwear is not a special contribution. It's not enough to proclaim you are a champion. 

See a need? Fill it. Find work that needs done? Do it. Offer up yourself to better your neighbor. Give when you aren't getting anything. Serve the unlovely. 1 Timothy 5:10 says this about the type of woman we want to be: "Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints' feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work." 

This is America. If you want to succeed, you can. Even if you're a woman. Even if you meet someone who tells you otherwise. You are not less because someone else says so. We should spend less time talking about how awesome we (think we) are and more time doing the work God has given us. 

Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find? Proverbs 20:6

Follow our Savior's example. We become great through service. "And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:27-28) We don't need girl power; we need God's power. 

Stop worrying about roaring or running the world. And find some better music. 

“Do all the good you can by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”

When to Work: What to Work On

I have some well-laid times to work on the blog. I have three small boys and don't want to work on it when they are awake. I want to spend that time with them, training, loving, laughing, and gritting my teeth occasionally (#reallife). 

I know when to work if the work is doing to be done. I try to keep it to two blocks of time: quiet time and before the boys gets up. The morning work fluctuates depending on what time I go to bed and when the boys get up. But quiet time? It's like gold. I look forward to that hour of mostly quiet (one boy doesn't nap) when I can write and draw and blog. 

Having the work times isn't enough though. I have to have a plan for my work. Otherwise I waste the time deciding what to do first or surfing social media. 

I have a list of tasks to accomplish during quiet time. These include writing 500 words, drawing my daily sketch, posting to Instagram, responding to social media comments, and updating our budget. If I work in the morning I have more flexibility; I'm working on making that a habit. I also need to edit blog posts and plan for the podcast but neither of those are done every day. 

That's not a short list of work for around an hour and half every day. But it is a specific list. 

This is also true in homeschooling. We are just barely getting started but I need a plan (even if we don't always follow it). I get frustrated trying to think of ideas while the boys are doing who-knows-what waiting. That doesn't work. I have to know what I need to do. 

That's why I meal plan. I can cook and I enjoy it. But if I don't know what I'm making or at least have a list of meals to choose from (which is really what my meal plan turns into) then I just stare into the cabinets and the refrigerator and think "there's nothing here to cook." It doesn't work for me. 

That's why I have a cleaning schedule. So that I know what needs to be done every day to keep the house in order. I know we need to make beds, start laundry, and empty the dishwasher before breakfast. I know that we need to pick up toys before we move on to the next thing. I couldn't work here in the living room at quiet time if we left the toys everywhere. The clutter and chaos would drive me crazy. 

Having a time to work is only half the battle. You have to know what you need to do. 

Know what to do. Know when to do it. Then do the work. 

Do you have settled times to work on different tasks? How do you keep yourself on track? 

How to Have a Life That Matters

I read quite a bit about work, creativity, and business. Over and over consistency and habit are touted as the secret weapons. It's not that you do amazing work every day. It's that you show up to do the work every day. 

You show up and write even if it's bad. You show up every morning to teach your kids even if you feel like pulling your hair out. You show up every day because you committed to the life God has given you. 

I know duty isn't a sexy word. It's not a buzz word everyone is throwing around. Adventure is. Fame is. But duty? Habit? Routine?  Nobody wants to talk about those. Those are the words, however boring they may sound, that build a solid life. 

This attitude carries over to all of life. Duty is what makes me clean up an accident again. Grace is what helps me do it with a good attitude.  Routine is what allows me to move seamlessly from one activity to another so that we accomplish our work and have fun. Habit is what makes me do the hard things; it's simply time to do them. 

Maybe duty means you show up on time or empty those trashcans even if it's "not your job." Habit allows you to move quickly through your email or finish a set of tasks. Routine enables you to get more done because you aren't spending your time deciding what to do next. 

Duty is what keeps me disciplining my children and lovingly teaching them when it seems to have no effect. Maybe I'm not sure it will ever help but I know that I've been called by God Himself. It's not a job I can pass off. It's not a job I can ignore. However unlovely it may seem at the time- and diapers, accidents, and still more dishes are often unlovely- the job is mine to do and do well. 

It's not how worthy we consider the activity. It's how worthy God is of our best effort. He didn't call us to a life of excitement, although life is often exciting. He didn't call us to a life of adventure, although the Christian life shines with adventure. God calls us to be faithful, to do our duty, just as Jesus did even when His duty led Him to the cross. 

Suddenly our work seems like no big deal, doesn't it? Perspective is always the issue. Do your duty. Show up every day. Show up to change the diapers, sweep the floor, empty the trashcans. Show up to input the data, answer the phone, count the money. 

Live out the less exciting words and you'll have a life that matters. 

Back to the Basics: Bible Study

The best way for me to pay attention to what I'm reading in the Bible is to sit with pen in hand and pray my way through the verses. I can mark words, write in other references, and even jot down notes on paper or my phone to remember things. It's really easy to tell when I'm not doing these things. Reading tends to get a little stale. Or I start to fall back asleep while I'm reading.  

It's better to read one chapter and spend time with Jesus than to doze through four chapters.  I want to read to learn more about Jesus. I want to read to know the Bible inside out. And I have to be awake to do that. Unfortunately I can't learn through osmosis. 

I need the Bible. How else am I going to know who God is or what He wants me to do? I'm going back to the basics when it comes to my Bible study. I seem to have to do that every few months. Focus on the Word. Pray throughout my day. I want to be talking to Jesus in the little moments instead of carrying on those conversations in my head. You know the ones; you have them too. 

Here's what I'm changing. 

1. Quality over quantity. I'd rather read one chapter (or even one verse!) and learn something from it than to read four or ten chapters just to say I did it. I'll sit up with my pen and pray through my Bible. 

2. Motivation. I want to spend time with God. I know this life is too big for me to do on my own. My  motivation isn't to check quiet time off my list. My motivation isn't to seem like a super Christian. My  motivation isn't even to get things from God. My motivation is to spend time with my Savior. 

3. Mental energy. I want to use my mental energy well. I don't want to waste it rehearsing conversations I think I'm going to have; I want to pray about them instead. I don't want to go throughout my day thinking about how impressive the way I do my work is or is not. I want to pray over my work and over my family and for others too. 

4. Write it down. I need to write it down. If I'm learning I'm writing. Even if it's just scribbling down ideas and references in my Bible margins. (I'm not holding everyone to that. It's just something I know to be true for myself.)

So here's to the basics. Today. Tomorrow. The rest of my life. 

What helps you in Bible study? 

How Social Media Affects Work

I love social media. Instagram is my favorite (@delighting_days) and I'm really enjoying the facebook page that I recently started for the blog. But I've learned something valuable. Social media has to be my last priority when I sit down to work. 

Social media has the potential to kill my blog. And not only my blog. Social media could kill all my dreams for all my projects, current and future. How, you ask?  Could a sociopath find us on the internet and murder us in our sleep? Ok, it's a possibility, but probably not. 

If I spend time on social media that I need to spend on other things, I'm killing something. Social media could kill my blog if I spend my time scrolling instead of writing or editing blog posts. If I don't spend my writing time, well, writing, then I'm wasting that time. Social media is constantly updated. But you have to live life not just look at everyone else's. 

If I spend my time scrolling you know what I'm not doing? I'm not writing. I'm not drawing. I'm not practicing the piano. I'm not editing blog posts or collaborating on projects. That means I'm not blogging. I'm not adding words to what I've written this year (from January-June I've written over 96,000 words). I'm not actually living; I'm just watching other people live. 

If I spend my time scrolling instead of working on my skills, then I've killed my dreams for future work because I won't be any better than I am now. I am handing over my options for the future. 

To step outside of work, if I'm scrolling I'm not kissing my husband, playing ball with my boys, or kissing my baby's face. I'm not making dinner, talking to friends, or cleaning the bathroom counter. There are very few things you can do while you are scrolling through social media and even fewer that you can do well at the same time. 

Am I against social media? Of course not! But they can take over. How often do you look at social media during the day? Are you checking out everyone else's lives when you should be checked into your own life? That's when you have a problem. 

There's a give and take with everything. I want to know what I'm giving up when I take up social media one more time. I'm having to draw lines again. When you start new things it's easy to be a little infatuated. Who's looking at that facebook post? What was that message about? But I have times to check social media and I need to stick with them. They are best for our family. 

Maybe you wonder how I blog or draw with three young kids? I'm very careful with my time. I'll go into that more next week. If I waste all my time on social media, it's gone. I don't have all day to do these things. 

Time is precious. How do you safeguard yours? 

Two Sides of a Balanced Faith

The best books are the ones you think about when you're washing the dishes. Reading Own Your Life by Sally Clarkson (who is one of my favorite authors) prompted me to state on Instagram that I wanted to live a life of passionate obedience: pursuing the work God has put before me with enthusiasm and faithfulness. 

I don't want to give grudging obedience. 1 John 5:3 says, "and his commandments are not grievous."  I don't want to live with a "I have to do this or God will strike me down" attitude. I know people that do and it's not an attractive lifestyle. Nothing about that draws others to Jesus. 

Neither do I want enthusiasm but no substance: a hearer but not a doer. James 1:23-24 says, "For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a  glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was." It's not the thought that counts; it's what you do. 

They need to both go together- the faithfulness with the enthusiasm, the passion with the obedience. The part that shows up every single morning to fulfill my assignment from God. The part that does it out of love for my Savior. 

That's the kind of Christian I want to be. That's the kind of woman I want to be, the kind of wife I want to be, the kind of mother I want to be. 

I want to be a woman of passionate obedience. I want to love God and love others. I want to be thrilled with the work He is doing in my life. But I want to have substance too; I don't want to be fluff. I want to obey. I want to continue through the hard things. I want to stand on the Word and not my emotions. 

I want to be the enthusiastic wife.  You know, the girlfriend-that's-obsessed-with-you kind. The wife that lingers with passionate kisses and dreams for the future. One that rejoices in life and family. But also a wife with substance. A woman that's a true partner in life: faithful in marriage, with money, to the responsibilities of living. A wife that reflects well on Christ and her husband. 

I want to be that kind of mom. The fun "yes" mom. A mom that plays in the sprinkler, goes to the park, has tickle wars on the couch, and reads books over and over. But also a mom that expects obedience and excellence. A mom that keeps praying and working when she's not really sure what to do or how to do it. 

I want that passionate obedience to spill over into every area of my life.Whether I'm blogging, working at church, or waiting at the doctor's office my attitude will be apparent (and so will my work ethic). 

Passionate obedience even at three in the afternoon when I really just want to nap. 

Passionate obedience. Not just obedience. Not just passion. But both together. 

Why Life Doesn't Look Like What You Expect

Occasionally I get discouraged because I don't think we are living out our days the way I would like. I picture reading books on blankets under the clouds and leisurely walks watering the garden and baking bread together. So I started thinking about what kind of day I do want to have. As I put together a picture of it I realized that we DO have the type of days I want to have. I'm just envisioning the edited, Instagram-filtered version of it and what I get is a blurry shot with an old camera. 

I don't mean that life's not good. Life is good. Hard occasionally, but good. What I do mean is that expectations and reality are never the same thing. I don't care if you're a stay-at-home mom or you just landed your dream job. I don't care if you just got married to the love of your life or had your first baby or moved to a tropical island. Expectations and reality are never the same. 

See I envision reading aloud outside laying together on a blanket, pausing occasionally to eat grapes and look for shapes in the clouds. That's not what happens. No one wants to read outside for one thing. Outside the boys want to run and fight with sticks. We read inside on the couch when I'm feeding the baby and I have to tell people not to jump on the couch and not to cry when we're not reading their book first. Expectation killed the reality. (Of course we also have  times of reading where my boys snuggle up against me and it almost kills me with perfect.) 

What I envision as a leisurely walk wearing the baby and letting chubby hands water small plants turns into "please don't step on all the vegetables," "how did you get mud in your hair?" and a wiggling baby who doesn't want to nap even if it's naptime. Expectations kill reality. 

It's not that we aren't doing the good things. We are. My kids will look back and know that we read books and took walks and watered gardens and made bread and went to the park. But if I'm not careful I can kill my contentment by focusing on what I expect life to look like instead of what it actually is. If I kill my contentment it will be easy for me to forget what I'm supposed to be doing. Instead of doing the work in front of me I'll be looking for a work that matches my expectations better. Except it's not there. I could spend my whole life jumping from one thing to another because I don't realize that reality never matches the visions in my head. 

Whenever I find that I'm disgruntled with the type of life we are living it's usually an expectations problem meshed with wow, we've had a rash of tough days. Not that life itself needs to be revamped. It's not time to jump ship and reverse everything we've been doing. Do things for a reason and keep doing them. One of my favorite quotes says, "Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm." 

We are doing the important things. We are nurturing our walks with Christ. Is it effortless? Absolutely not. I'm waking myself up to read my Bible and then apologizing when I don't obey it and asking the boys to be quiet while we read it together. We are growing in our marriage. Easy? No. It takes time and effort and conversations and forgiveness.  We are serving at church. Is it without problems? No, there are people there; people always bring problems. We are training our kids. Easy? Definitely not. But it's worth the work that we have to pour into it. 

This life before me doesn't live to my expectations. I can either stop there and look for something that does- something that doesn't exist. Or I can accept reality and embrace this path before me. 

Books I've Read This Year

Before I move on to the actual books you should know (drumroll please!) that this weekend I made a facebook page for the blog. Finally...after four years of blogging. If you're on facebook, connect with me there! https://www.facebook.com/delightingdays  Now back to the books.

Reading is how you learn- to write, to listen, to see the world from someone else's view. Because of that I've been prioritizing a little reading time this year. Mamas, I've done almost all of this reading while I've fed the baby before bed. Minutes add up!

-Beautiful in God's Eyes- Elizabeth George
-Pride and Prejudice- Jane Austen
-Make It Happen- Lara Casey
-Sense and Sensibility- Jane Austen
-Great Expectations- Charles Dickens
-Growing Great Kids- Kate Battistelli
-Wuthering Heights- Emily Bronte
-A Wrinkle in Time- Madeleine L'Engle
-A Wind in the Door- Madeleine L'Engle
-Out of the Silent Planet- C.S. Lewis
-Perelandra- C.S. Lewis
-A Swiftly Tilting Planet- Madeleine L'Engle
-Many Waters- Madeleine L'Engle
-Troubling a Star- Madeleine L'Engle
-Own Your Life- Sally Clarkson
-The Art of Work- Jeff Goins
-The Alchemist- Paul Coehlo

I'm reading now
-The Creative Habit- Twyla Tharp
-On Writing Well- Williams Zinsser
-A Tale of Two Cities- Charles Dickens

Obviously I got off on a L'engle kick there. I haven't read any of her work in years and those are all juvenile fiction so they were fast reads.  I still have a couple others of hers that I borrowed that I want to read pretty soon.

Also my Amazon wish list has over 50 books on it. My husband may make fun of me for that.

What are you reading?

Where Do You Get Advice?

When we were rescreening our back porch Justin commented on how easy it is to learn how to do something in 2015. Before the internet you had to find a skilled person and have them teach you. Now you can just watch a video on YouTube; he's done that for a lot of home repair projects. 

When it comes to skills I'm not picky about who I learn from. A person with a life I don't want can teach me how to code or cook or design airplanes. I can learn chord theory, computer programming, and grant research from someone who has a fundamentally different approach to life. It doesn't make one bit of difference. 

However when it comes to life advice I am very picky about who I listen to. I don't take advice on marriage, child-rearing, or priority setting from just anyone. 

For example (and this really happened to me) if a woman tells me she's pregnant for the second time and her boyfriend isn't talking to her I don't want relationship advice from her. I don't think I'm better than her but I don't want to follow that path.  Make sense? I'm not going to take advice about my kids from someone with no children. I'm not going to take advice about managing my time or prioritizing from someone who watches tv all day. What would be the point?

My husband taught at church about having a cabinet. Just like the President we should have a cabinet of advisers for different situations. Do you have a cabinet? Do you know who to go to when you need advice? 

I have a few guidelines for my life advisers. I want to know a few things about them. 

1. Do they believe the Bible? I approach life from a Biblical worldview. That means I don't want advice from someone who doesn't believe the Bible. 

2. Does their walk back up their talk? Don't give me marriage advice that you aren't following. I won't ask you about raising kids if you don't enjoy being a parent. 

3. Are they discreet? I don't want my problems or concerns told to the world. I'm going to seek advice from people who will hold my words close and not share them. 

4. Will they tell me the truth? The last thing I need is someone who will agree with me. I need someone to call me out on my sin and point out problems in my life. Some people are unwilling to do that. 

Pick the people that you allow to speak into your life carefully. Choose people who speak words of truth and substance. Choose people who care about you and your family. Life is too important to take advice from the wrong people. 

What about you? Where do you seek advice? 

The Beauty of Today

Yesterday I sat on the floor with my boys and played tickle games. My oldest giggles hysterically when he's tickled; it's one of my favorite sounds. I made up a silly song and sang it over and over because that's how small children are. 

Motherhood isn't all giggling. Quite a bit of time is spent cleaning up messes and correcting misbehavior. But that time I sat there with them and knew it would all be a memory one day. 

This is the time of my life. 

For some time I've been afraid that this is the best time of my life and that once it's over I'll be in despair for the rest of my life because I can't go back to it. That life will be all downhill after this.

I can't believe that's true. Even though I've looked forward to this all my life there are other things that I dream about doing one day. Now's the time to be tying shoes, folding laundry, and reading books. I'm one person and I have to do what's important with today's time. 

When this stage is over, there will be another one. Yes, I'll feel twinges of envy for people in this stage. Just like I did for some carefree college students who showed up to play volleyball while we were letting the boys play in the sand. But I'm thrilled with where I am in life and I want that at each stage. 

Life will change and it might be filled with something I don't have the time to do now. I might get to write more or draw more. I might get to coach volleyball or work with teen moms. I might get to pursue some type of creative work or serve on a mission field. I might get to play the piano more. 

Today is useful in two ways.  God is using my daily obedience for His glory right now. Today is not wasted. I am doing God's work right here in my living room and it's a glorious work.

He is also preparing me for tomorrow by the things I'm putting my time into today. I can use the little minutes to write and practice piano or I can scroll through facebook and watch Netflix. That's why I'm blogging, taking piano lessons, doing #52for2015.  That's why I'm reading as much as I can. Because this isn't just now- although now's important- it's also preparation for tomorrow. 

I will make the next stages of life wonderful or miserable by what I do now. 

God knows where my path will lead. I can dream but I can't know. I can prepare. I can hone skills and learn discipline. I can nurture relationships and grow in Christ. I can obey in this stage of life accepting it as the best time because it's where God put me. I can do everything to prepare myself to be ready for the work God has for me today and next year. I can live today in a way that I won't regret tomorrow. 

Your today counts twice. Use it well. 

July Goals

Art is a captivating thing. We'd say it's not necessary- like beauty or books- for survival. And maybe, just maybe, it's not. But it is certainly necessary for thriving. You can be alive without art and music and books but you can't really live. 

My first spring semester of college I took a drawing class. It was my only art class because they are long classes and moved into afternoon volleyball practice. Once I quit playing volleyball I was trying to finish a semester early (and I did) and didn't have as much time for the "fun" classes. 

My college professor suggested that I at least minor in art. I loved the idea but I already had a double major and didn't do it. I would probably redo that if I could. (Of course every time I think I would redo something I realize that God has always been at work in  my life and He's woven choices and decisions together in ways I could never imagine.) Thankfully learning is not exclusive to college. 

Learning doesn't stop when school ends. That's really where it begins. Where you can delve deep in topics that interest you and pay much less than what college costs. That's why I advocate personal grad school. It's a pursuing of skills and talents beyond the classroom into everyday life. Options abound; read books and blogs, listen to podcasts, experiment with projects. Part of this for me includes my goal-setting. 

June Goals: 

1. Two reading lessons a week with Micah. Check and check. 

2. Finish memorizing Psalm 19 with boys. It needs a little smoothing but it's done! 

3. Go on one out-of-the-house date with Justin. 

4. Lay groundwork for new project.  That should be launching toward the end of this month! 

5. Daily sketches (except Sundays and our vacation days). Check! 

I've been doing my June creativity project and I have loved messing around in a sketchbook every day. I've loved finding ideas and drawing. Most of the time I've been surprised at how well they've turned out. Not that they are great, but they are better than I expected. I look forward to drawing every day so I'm going to continue next month. 

However I don't want to get used to doing the same old thing. So I'm going to do my #52for2015 sketches in pen and colored pencils. 

July: 

1. One outside date

2. #52for2015 in pen and colored pencil (4)

3. Blog series on work on Mondays

4. Two reading lessons a week with Micah.

5. Memorize Psalm 100 with boys

Again I'm not listing things I'm already doing- like piano lessons, writing and drawing every day, cleaning, schoolwork with boys, etc. You get the idea. This is to focus on things that might not get done otherwise. 

Here's to July, people. What are you working on this month? 

The Bible Is Not Just Words of Encouragement

I saw a rather alarming claim on Facebook this week. Someone said that "the Bible was supposed to be words of encouragement." What they went on to say was that people shouldn't tell them what the Bible said was right and wrong because GOD LOVES EVERYBODY. Because we can't know what God wants from us. 

Do these people read the Bible? 

Of course God loves everyone. God doesn't approve of everything those people do. Actually God hates quite a few things. And He tells us what they are; He's not trying to be a mystery.

What part of the Bible do they read to be words of encouragement? The part where Jesus says we need to deny ourselves and take up our cross daily? (Luke 9:23) The part where it states we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God? (Rom. 3:23) There is nothing in the Bible to make us feel good about ourselves because it's not there to exalt us, it's there to exalt Christ. We aren't supposed to feel good about ourselves when we read the Bible.

Of course the promises of the Bible are comforting; but they are based on God's character, not our own. And there are some powerful verses that you can grab a hold of to encourage yourself in life but usually the mantras are used out of context (think Philippians 4:13).

The Bible tell us what its purpose is. 2 Timothy 3:16 says, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." 

It does not say that all scripture is designed to make us feel good about ourselves and validate whatever choices we feel like making. It never says that. 

Of course God loves us (John 3:16). There is forgiveness for our sins (1 John 1:9). But there is sin; everything is not ok. It tells that our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked. (Jeremiah 17:9). Don't even get me started on the Christians who say to follow your heart; that's the stupidest advice I've ever heard. We are to keep our heart (Proverb 4:23). We are to rule our spirits (Proverbs 25:28). 

The Bible is not a feel-good book. That's not the purpose of the Bible. 

-doctrine- what we believe. We are supposed to determine what we believe based on what the Bible says.

-reproof- censure for a fault. The Bible tells us when we mess up. 

-correction- like a course correction. The Bible brings us back in line with the truth.

-instruction in righteousness- personal instructor. The Bible teaches us the right way.

None of that particularly sounds encouraging to me. Instead I see a lot of "the Bible is going to tell me where I'm wrong." My ways aren't God's ways so it stands to reason that I'm going to need corrected a lot. That's not inspiring to me but it is necessary. If I go my own way I make a mockery of what Christianity is supposed to be. If I go my own way I represent Christ poorly to the world. 

We need to get rid of this notion that the Bible is a happy book designed to make us think happy thoughts about ourselves and others. Hebrews 4:12 has this to say about the Bible, "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asuder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

The Bible is supposed to pierce us and show us our sin. So yes, it's fine to state that sins are sins. It should be done in love but it should still be done. Don't use the Bible as an excuse to allow anything you want. Read it and see what it actually says.