Daily Dose

The post is going up late...but better late than never! lol

Today's title: Lonely In Families
Today's Verse: Psalm 68:6

Most of the devo today is about the very key word of 'lonely' in this verse. Marybeth points out that her footnote, well a lot of footnotes actually, say that 'lonely' in the Bible actually means 'solitary'. She goes on to reveal the new meaning that she has found in this verse: God puts us in areas that we are not comfortable in sometimes to grow us into something He thinks is infinitely more beautiful. (my words, not hers) She talks about how you may prefer to be solitary, but God's plan may thrust you into anything but. Marybeth has 6 kids and a husband! That is a lot of people all the time!

When reading this entry I find myself knowing exactly what she means. I feel like I'm always saying that the daily devotion convicts me or speaks to me...but I think that may be why God has answered my cry of, 'how do I become like the woman in Proverbs 31?!?!?' with the devotion from the site.

I know what it's like to want to just turn up the music and plow ahead. Just let me control it all from here in my little box and I'll be fine. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't so Type A it hurts sometimes. B has been amazing in getting me to really let go of needing to control so much. In my business life it can be a double edged sword. How much control is too much? It's very hard to want so much to be alone and working and really not have a choice but to do otherwise.

Am I even making sense? I think a lot of women (especially those with kids!) crave just to crawl away to a solitary place for a while and just get stuff done. I'm not a mom yet and I know the feeling! lol Seriously though, no matter how much we love our families and friends, I think every woman would like to juggle her life in a place of peace and quiet. God has different plans for us though.

This devotion really just brings an answer to a question I've heard myself say twice in the past three days. 'What am I supposed to be doing right now that I have been answered with 'read read read'? Well, I need to get back into my quiet place and really make it count...my quiet place doesn't need to be about getting my list of things done though...it needs to be just like Jesus...and this is going to really tie back to what I've said in two different Daily Doses...PRAY! Go to a solitary place (a lonely place) and talk to God. I think I'm getting the message a little clearer. And wouldn't you know, when I hold up all the reading and devotion commitments that I've made, I get A LOT more done? When I don't fill my day with useless internet browsing but actually work on the things that I have on my plate...I get them all done and have time left over! Wow!

So, I needed more solitary time that didn't revolve around my juggling but around my quality time with my Father! And He made time in the rest of my day. I hear a lot of people say that when they made time for God, He made time for them to get stuff done...yeah...now I've done it!

It's freeing and also makes me feel a bit sheepish. I mean, the excuse that I just don't have time...really doesn't cut it for beans anymore ;)

So...when do you take your solitary time? How much time have you given to actually spending with your Father and His Word?

Hugs!
M

Another fun filled day!

So, I'm sitting here, on the bed...thinking of what I have to do tomorrow and realizing that I still have not crochet since the last time I wrote here that I was going to.  Go me! LOL

I think putting my schedule in place will help, knowing B's schedule will really help...things to get done tomorrow and other things to schedule for another time:

Pictures with children and the Dino Pals
Measurements for Dino Pals
At least two more bows
List bows and flowers
Create pattern for T the Rex, Trix and Stag
Enter the rest of the Connection Group Reading to my calendar
Enter the rest of the New Testament Quest reading to my calendar
Read up on Real Estate
Organize my passwords for work
Label the box for Norma
Ship wedding dress and box for Norma
Crochet more...lol

So, we'll see how all that goes in the next few days.

I'll see you guys on the next post with tomorrow's Daily Dose. Today I've quieted my mind and really read a lot of the Word. I think I'm starting to get a lot more perspective and get a lot more done :) Thanks God!

Now...the plan is for March...what do y'all think? LOL

M

Daily Dose

Good morning!

This is going to be a quick one as I have already gotten ready and to work today.

Today's devotion is titled : Keeping My New Year Resolution to Myself
Verse: 1 Kings 20:11

In the devotion Glynnis talks of how sometimes, by telling other people that we have a resolution, we take pleasure and have pride in that...instead of actually doing the work to complete it!

This speaks to me in such a different way. Last year, I resolved to drop a few pounds (I'll explain why I don't say 'lose weight' in a later blog sometime), I told my then fiance and probably my sister. Other than that, I didn't say anything to anyone. I just started eating better and getting up at the crack of dawn to get some physical stuff in. God was so good to me. I did well. I ate better and though I needed encouragement, I did get up every morning. I started to see results...and then I started to tell people. And that was when I started to struggle. I was trying to keep from eating any sort of sweets for at least 3 months...FAT CHANCE! I ended up making excuses.

I think we do the same thing with God sometimes. I'm reading in the New Testament with B (it's a church wide activity) I think I talked about this already, but in Mark 1, we see that Jesus goes and prays by himself. He doesn't tell anyone that he's going to go talk to God or anything like that. In fact, the verse talks about how Jesus did it while it was still dark! Man! And he was the SON OF GOD! If anyone should get a by for something...it's HIM!

So, I want to be the woman God is calling me to be. Seek Him first, work diligently so that others see His glory and be so full of His love that others can't help but feel it.

Father, help me be like Christ. Help me to seek you quietly because it doesn't really matter how many people know, if I'm not doing it, that's between you and me. Help me to keep me accountable. Amen.

Work? Work!

M

And the beat goes on!

Exciting things happening right now :)

I'm on my break here at Yager. Getting a lot done today though so I think it's been productive :)

Posting more of my items to Etsy, hopefully they'll start doing the slideshow thing on that little gadget down there :)

I'm getting really excited as I start to get things posted to the shop. I already have an ad with 3 new toys coming soon, lol. I did NOT; however, crochet this morning...what did I do? I went to sleep while reading my Bible! LOL yeah. Not going to get it done that way! I think I'll do some different holiday specific stuff. If I can figure out a heart design for a hat...maybe just a heart to stitch on. Some heart pot holders...little heart decorations. I'll figure something out. This will be the first year of actually having things up and going. I know I'll learn a lot. I need to scale down my pictures though. Etsy does not like them. LOL

So...what would you like to see me make? Any ideas just jumping out at you? Anything that you couldn't live without?

Let me know!

M

Daily Dose

Good morning! Yes, it is in fact 4:40 in the morning! :)

Though I haven't gotten the email with the devo for today, I do know what the subject is. (Thank you KLove for having Lisa as your fill in host for Lisa while she's gone :) )

Today the whole devotion is about craving. Do you crave Christ? I think as a Christian, we all know this feeling...we may not even know it!

How many times have I been doing something and reached for food when I wasn't really hungry? When I didn't really need to eat? Or how many times have I reached for the cinnamon gummies instead of the apple? It's a struggle. A lot of Lisa's talks are about losing weight, she's written a book and it's all about the right reasons behind weigh loss and setting your mind and soul right before deciding why you're doing something.

I think those principles speak volumes to those of us that have made a commitment to read more of the Bible, to spend more time in the Word or praying...and then fail. You're craving Christ, you're craving and then making excuses when life gets in the way instead of really setting Him first. Look at my days! We've seen me miss almost an entire week of blogging my Daily Dose b/c life got in the way. I still read it...but did I meditate on the things that God was speaking to me? Did I read through it and not take in a word b/c I was also going through the other 20 things I was going to be doing that day? I'm ashamed to admit that last one really...but I have to, because it's truth and God knows it already anyway.

I know I'm human...I just strive to be like Christ. I was doing the reading for church last night in Mark 1 (btw when I reference this now, it's that my church, The Quest, is trying to, as a church, read through just the New Testament in a year) and I came across the verse Mark 1:35, " Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed." (NIV) Jesus spent time with the Father...Christ talked to God alone. If I'm trying to be like Christ, isn't this thing one of the most important. Christ was fully God ...He was also fully man and in that, he prayed...early in the morning, alone.

So, the next time I reach for comfort, it'll be the Bible, I have plenty of reading to do :)

What's your crutch?

M

The store is active!

Yes, it has been a while! I have my first item up, to be followed by the dinos and finger puppets. I think I need to create areas of the store. I'm working on smelly stuffs to go along with the comfy stuff :)

Areas to work on:

Pandamonium - kids and colors
Serendipity - adult comfies
Sweet Maize - smelly fun

We'll see.

I need to put together my schedule for my day, especially at work....oh! What's that? I didn't really explain here that I have a new job and I love it? I see! Well, that is one of my new ventures! I am now an admin for a real estate company! Yes, I hear you. I know what you're thinking,

"M!! Real Estate?!!? In this economy?! You MUST be crazy! And...don't we remember what happened at WWA!? You were turned into the admin person and then POOF!"

Well, rest assured I went into this telling them that I wanted something TOTALLY stable. That I needed to have proof that they were going to be around for a long while. Well, my proof was that they are listing people and selling houses. They have buyers coming in left and right and are getting more and more properties going up daily. The business model is amazing and...AND...he's willing to pay for me to get my license. Which, really, only makes sense with the stuff that I handle in this job. It's really fun and interesting and it really is a perfect fit. God is good at that whole plan thing...much better than I! LOL

My day tomorrow should go something like this:

Get up and fix B lunch
Drive B to work (he has to be there by 4am)
Daily Dose
Daily reading (for connection group and church reading)
Breakfast
Work on lesson
Crochet something
Pack my lunch
Head to work (I'd list my day at work, but that could get lengthy!)
Home at 5ish
Dinner
Work on lesson more
Crochet more
Cuddle my husband and go to SLEEP!

Sounds like a good day of getting stuff done to me! Lord, be in my day tomorrow and help me to use my time wisely! :)

Now, I am being beckoned to bed by a wonderful man...and I CAN NOT resist him! :)

I will see you tomorrow friends!

M

Daily Dose

It's a bit late in the day..but I'm here. I've eaten dinner, worked...and now to share some time on the subject of my devotion today.

The title was Honestly

Key verse: 1 Timothy 4:15

Most of this devotional is about food...eating. But it's also about seeking God and His will first. Instead of grabbing for that bag of M&Ms or the container of Jelly Beans...reach for your Bible, open up the pages that will really set you free. I've found that when I do this, I eat better. I'm filling myself up spiritually before even thinking about food. I think I need to schedule myself a little better. I've got so much that I want to do and I can get it done...I just need to spend my time on things that glorify Him...not me. I need to seek Him first and let the rest just fall into place like He wants them to.

If I were only better about doing this EVERY day. LOL As you've seen, I've gotten backed up on other things and not done this every day as I should...and I've had time. I know I have...when I sit down and look at what I've accomplished it's not much...it's certainly not as much as I should have...and then I remember that I do need to rest...but in the right proportions.

Father, I need help. I need to set my schedule and life straighter than it's ever been. I need to stretch and grow in ways that I have neglected thus far. Make me strong in you...not just to beat the things that are holding me back, but to also provide the support you've called me to give. Amen

I'm also contemplating starting "Power of a Praying Wife" which is something that will happen a few pay checks down the road :)

On to talk about other excitements...this is not the place ;)

M