He Lives

It's not about the bunnies.

It's not about the eggs.

It's not even about family.

It's about the price He paid.

And His power over death.

He lives!

Jesus Lives!

Bible in 90 Days: 1 Month Update

Today marks the beginning of Month 2 in my adventure reading the whole Bible cover to cover in 90 days. I figured it had been a few weeks, so it's time to update you on how the challenge is going.

In a word (or 2) -- it's challenging!

The realities of reading 1-1½ hours every day:
I wish I could say that by now reading the Bible for a whole hour every day was habit. But, I can't.

There are some days I do very well and other days when I seem to fall off the bandwagon. Last week I seem to have hit a wall. Thursday through Saturday I barely read at all. I did read a little every day, but it wasn't enough to keep up.Yesterday was a bit better. I started yesterday in the middle of Day 27, and when I had finished Day 27, determined that I was going to read all of Day 28 before I went to bed. At the moment, I'm several pages into Day 28 (the beginning of 1 Chronicles); I should be on Day 32. Amy at Mom's Toolbox warned us before we began the challenge that our schedules were likely to get more difficult - she was right!

A few thoughts on what I've read:
I can honestly say that reading this much in this short a time is giving me a new perspective on the whole story of God's redemption. I found reading the last half of 2 Kings to be depressing. King after king after king that rejected God, followed false gods, and led his people further astray. I reached the point that I thought, "It's amazing to me that God didn't wipe them out sooner! He's more patient than I thought." I also then wasn't at all surprised when He said, "Enough! I've had it with you all. I'm sending an army to wipe you out!" 

This also reminded me of an insight I first had from Deuteronomy 4 & 5. In those chapters God warns the people that if later generations follow false gods, they will "quickly perish from the land they are crossing the Jordan to possess" and they will be exiled to other nations. But, if from those scattered nations they seek the Lord, then God will be merciful. How amazing. Even if they reject God generation after generation, if they then repent and seek God He will be merciful and will not abandon them.

He also reminds them that he will "punish the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation ... but show love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments." (Deut 5:9-10) These passages reminded me that although God is just and jealous, He is also merciful. And He is more merciful than He is just!  Sins will only be passed to the 3rd and 4th generation, but love will be passed to 1000 generations! When I fail, as I do so often, that is a very comforting reminder that God still loves me and welcomes me back. 

Continuing on ...
My children are back at school today, the house is mine alone at the moment. So, I'm going to take a shower and continue my reading. I'm hoping to finish Day 29 and get well into Day 30 today. If I can do that for the next few days I'll be caught up again. I'll be sure to update the sidebar as to my progress each day. You can check in there to see if I'm up to date or not.

If you too, are reading the Bible in 90 Days, be sure to check in with Mom's Toolbox today. You'll want to read the encouragement of Ted Cooper, Jr, the founder of Bible in 90 Days. You'll also want to complete the brief survey -- it took me about 2 minutes.

If you are not reading the Bible in 90 Days, you can still click over to Mom's Toolbox and check in on the other bloggers who are. Each of us would request your prayers for motivation to continue and cleared schedules. I have been fascinated to read about how others are doing with their reading, their motivations, and how God is changing them through this process.

Bible in 90 Days - Week 1 (and ½)

It's been more than a week since I started this challenge and I've barely blogged at all and haven't posted any kind of update on how things are going. That's mostly been because I've been busy reading!

Reading the Bible in 90 days is definitely a challenge. It takes a good chunk of time and if you're going to be successful you have to plan for that chunk of time. Something else in life has to give - for me that's been blog & internet time.

Getting all the reading done in one day has been up and down for me, some days are great, some days are terrible. I was a full 2 ½ days behind on Sunday, but as of noon today, I only have 6 pages to finish of today's reading and I'll be completely caught up. Many thanks to my new Twitter friends for encouraging me to not give up. This has definitely made a difference in my motivation to keep going

Here are a few things I've noticed along the way (some good, some, well, - not so much)

Doing this with a community of readers has definitely helped. When I get discouraged I can send out a tweet, and the Twitter community comes back quickly with encouragement. This is definitely not something I'd want to try all alone.

Using the Bible in 90 Days has been helpful because each day's reading has a clear beginning and end. It has made keeping track of how far I need to read each day much easier.

Setting aside the time has been a struggle at times. For some it may take less than 1 hour, but for me it takes about 1¼ hours to read all 12 pages every day (I'm a slow reader). Having a set time when I will do this is helpful.

Thursday & Sunday seem to be the most difficult days for me to get all the reading done. Typically on Thursday I'm out of town most of the day, and when I get back I'm so tired I don't want to read. I'm working on a plan to either read ahead or get up earlier so I can get that day's reading done before I leave.

Sunday is a different kind of challenge. This may sound a bit oidd to some, but Sundays around here are typically quite busy and there's little down time for this momma to settle her mind and focus. (School days when kiddos are at school is easier for me.) This past Sunday I did get about ½ the reading done, but I started Monday pretty far behind.

A few observations or things I missed or topics i need to delve into further (after April 1):
From the life of Abraham: even great disciples screw up sometimes. Sometimes they screw up the same way more than once.

From Moses: Even gifted leaders need help. The needs are too many. We burn out our leaders when we expect too much of them.

Why were there so many different kinds of offerings? Why different offerings for a guilt and sin?What was the fellowship offering for?

From Numbers 14: The Isralelites, didn't have fait to enter Canaan, God rebuked them, then they tried to undo their wrong, but God was not with them and they were defeated. How does this apply to us when we don't do what God tells us, He reprimands and then we want to go back and try to undo what we didn't do correctly in the first place?

The first several days I didn't take notes at all. I just read. But, the last several days I've taken HappyHousewife's suggestion and started writing notes on sections I want to study later on. I'm hoping to track some of them here on the blog.

To find out how others are doing with their Bible in 90 Days Challenge, visit Mom's Toolbox.

Free Bible in 90 Days

Do you need some encouragement to read the whole Bible cover to cover?

If you're really motivated to complete the challenge, but the price tag is keeping you from participating, then you'll want to check out this post by Mom's Toolbox. She'll tell you how you can get a Bible in 90 Days Bible, for free. It won't arrive in time for Friday, but you can start in your own Bible and pick up with this one when it arrives.

Go. Get a Bible. Let's read together.

90 Day Challenge Accepted

We've accepted a challenge.

Hubby and I have agreed to accept the challenge and read the whole Bible in 90 days in 2010.

I will tell you up front, I am quite nervous about accepting this challenge. You see I've never read the whole Bible all at once before. I have read several whole books of the Bible at various times, some of them several times. I have attempted to read the whole Bible several times, but I've never succeeded in reading the whole thing from beginning to end.  I usually get backed up and then get frustrated and give up. But, God has been teaching me perseverance and with the help of some real-life encouragement from Hubby as well as some online encouragement I am determined to succeed this time.

Why I accepted the Challenge: 
I have been a Christian over 30 years, and yet I've never read all of God's Word. This has been a continual frustration and embarrassment for me. I believe with all my heart that God is as real today as He ever was. I believe that He continues to speak to us through the Bible. It is just as applicable today as it was when it was first written down. While I also believe that God speaks to us through many ways, these need to be checked against the perfect standard - the Bible. If I'm not reading God's word every day, then I cannot check what I am hearing from other sources against the perfect standard.

Why the 90 Day Challenge?
I think taking a full year to read the Bible has been a problem for me in the past. Too many things can interrupt and change my schedule in a year and then I get off track. Tackling it in 90 days seems to allow for fewer interruptions. I have decided to use the suggestions from Mom's Toolbox and use the Bible that's organized for the 90 Challenge. I certainly don't need another Bible but, this one is thin enough to be portable, the type is large enough to reduce eye-strain, and it's laid out in daily sections (12 pages per day). All of this seems to make sense to me and I think it will be help me achieve the goal.

If you are interested in finding out more about the challenge go here to Mom's Toolbox. The products are not mandatory, but I think the format will be helpful for me. Hubby is using his own NIV Bible to complete the challenge. I found the best price at Amazon (see my sidebar), but you can find the suggested resources at several different sites including Christian Book Distributors and at Biblein90Days.org.

I would love to know,  

• Have you ever read the Bible from cover to cover? 
• If you have, what method or strategy did you find helpful the first time you accomplished it? 
• If you haven't, what were the obstacles that prevented success?

A Different Plan - Part 2 (A New Plan)

Remember when I said I had a plan?

We had all the details worked out. A schedule for everyone.

But, God had a different plan.

Christmas Eve I was finished. All my presents were wrapped. The pie I would take for dinner was baked and ready. Hubby had someone to fill in for him for Christmas Eve service (just in case). I stayed home that evening to put Joseph to bed at 7:00.

Hubby got home about 8:30. He still had a few things to wrap. So, I puttered around on the computer for a bit while he finished up. Then, as had become our tradition for Christmas Eve, we watched "It's a Wonderful Life" and went to bed.

As we were getting ready for bed, I felt a bit uncomfortable. I thought it was indigestion. It would pass. And it did. Hubby wondered if it was something else.

Then, it happened again ... about 10 minutes later. Hmmm. This is different than any indigestion I'd had before. Hubby thought it was indigestion. I said, "I'm scheduled for a C-section in 36 hours."

It happened again. Hubby decided it was time to call.

Resigned sigh.

I called the doctor. He called his mother to stay with Joseph.

All previous plans went out the window and a whole new plan began.

The details of the trip to the hospital and the hours after we arrived are mostly a fog. We arrived almost simultaneously with 2 other couples. One delivered before me.

Cora arrived about 4 AM Christmas morning. Our Christmas baby.

The plan had changed, but oh what a beautiful present.

Mary had a plan too. She was getting married.

But God had a different plan.

There was a visit from an angel. She was going to have a baby.

A pregnancy she hadn't wanted. What would she tell her family? What would she tell Joseph? How would he react? What would he say? The questions multiplied as the days continued.

All previous plans went out the window and a whole new plan began.

Then there was a decree from Caesar. They had to go to Bethlehem. They wouldn't even be home when her baby arrived. She wouldn't have her mother to help her. Or the other local mid-wives. What if something happened while they were traveling? More questions. The plan changed again.


And while they were away, it happened. They tried to find a place to stay, but the city was crowded. A stable near an inn was all that was available. At least it was under some cover away from the elements.

The details are fuzzy. We don't know very much - and it doesn't matter.

Sometime that day, Jesus arrived. The Christmas baby.

The plan had changed, but oh what an amazing present!



Coming Soon ... Part 3 (Attitude Adjustment)

A Different Plan

Ever had a plan that didn't go exactly as planned? I had one. I had all the details worked out.

To start, my attitude stunk.

I was due on December 29. Four days after Christmas.

Uh oh.

I did not want to have a baby on Christmas Day.

Joseph was just 2 years old. This would be the first Christmas he was really aware of anything. I wanted to be there to watch him open presents. I wanted to see his face and hear his squeals. This was my son! We were starting our own family traditions. It was important for me to be there.

I did not want to have that baby on Christmas Day.

So, we made a plan and scheduled the C-section for December 26. We would go to my sister's for dinner on Christmas Day; Joseph would stay at her house that evening, so that Hubby and I could leave for the Hospital before dawn the next morning.

He would stay at my sister's that day and my father would bring him to the hospital to see his new sister. Then, my mother-in-law would stay with him at our house for several days while I was in the hospital. We had it all worked out.

God had a different plan.

Mary had plans. She was engaged to a kind man. They were going to be married.

She was making plans for their life together after the wedding. She gathered the things she would need; discussed the plans with her mother. How many bowls would she need? How many blankets?

She would take care of Joseph. She looked forward to cooking for him. Later they would have children. The families were excited. She would make a good wife and mother.

God had a different plan. A better plan.


Coming Soon... Part 2

Teach them the Word

I've recently been writing posts about what strategies we have been using to teach our children about our faith. Here's what we've discussed so far:

• Introducing songs of faith early.
• Bedtime Prayers

When I think back, the next element we added was a Family Devotional Time.

We'd already been in the habit of reading Bible stories and books of a wide variety to our children. But we were feeling the need to be more deliberate. We wanted our kids in the habit of reading the Bible every day long before it became a struggle to fit it into a busy life.

So, when our eldest was about 4 years old we started reading a devotional book together as a family. We typically read it at the beginning of dinner, before the prayer. This seemed to be the most consistent time when all of us were together and reasonably focused (Mommy is not really awake in the morning - just functional). It didn't take very many days before our son was reminding us, "Devotion! We have to do our Devotion!"

The first book we used was "The One Year Book of Devotions for Preschoolers." (You can find it in my righthand sidebar under "We recommend:"). I really liked this one because it seemed to fit our kids needs at the time very well. Each day includes a short story, Bible Verse and a short directed prayer for each day. It's easy to use and not too long for short attention spans. The stories in it are not Bible stories, but are everyday situations a preschooler would experience, but with a Godly perspective and in kid language. For us it was a great beginning.

When we finished that book we went through several different Bibles for Young Children. But, honestly for that age (2-5), we just didn't like them as well as we had the Devotions for Preschoolers, so we decided to do the same book again!

Recently, we found a similar book that's for slightly older children, "Day by Day: The One Year Devotional for Young Children" It's perfect for our 5 & 7 year olds. Each day includes a Bible Verse, short description or discussion related to the verse, a question to discuss together and a short directed prayer. I like this one for this age because our children have (slightly) longer attention spans and are more able to answer open-ended questions, like those in the book. Each day prompts a bit of discussion of applying a Godly principal to our lives.

Now that our eldest is reading on his own, we'll begin encouraging him to read the Bible independently. We're currently looking for a good child-friendly translation. Anybody have a recommendation?

We have enjoyed this gradual age-appropriate entry into the Bible with our kids. I love watching them gain new meaning from a verse I know they've heard before.

We're still trying to figure out the next step. I'd love to hear from some moms of children a bit older than ours. What do you do to encourage your child to read the Bible independently and regularly?

Teach Them to Pray

Last week I talked about our early steps at teaching our children to love God and passing on our faith. This continues to be a topic about which I am quite passionate.

As I recall, the next significant step came after they learned to talk. I think my son was about 3 years old when we began teaching him to pray a very simple prayer before bedtime. Of course, he already knew that we prayed before meals. But, this was the first step for him developing independent prayer life.

We taught him to pray, "Dear God, Make me a Godly boy, a boy who loves Jesus more and more every day."

I can remember that the prayer morphed a bit over the first several months to a year. We were trying to figure out this prayer thing and what we wanted to teach him. I think at one time the prayer was, "Make me a Godly boy, a boy who knows more and more about Jesus every day." But we realized that knowledge of Jesus wasn't what we really wanted. It was relationship with Jesus that we wanted for our son. So we changed the words to "a boy who loves Jesus".

As he grew and matured we've added different elements to the prayer. There was one really funny period of time when we had to teach our daughter to say, "Make me a Godly girl" instead of "boy".

Since then, we've taught them to thank God for various things in their life. We try to steer them away from just thanking God for toys but, instead, thanking God for significant people in their lives - first grandparents, then they voluntarily added aunts, uncles & cousins. We added the various staff memebers of our church. They added friends and classmates. Occasionally they have to be reminded to thank God for their teachers, though usually they remember on their own.

More recently, we've begun teaching our son to ask God for help. When he went through a phase of being terrified of thunderstorms and loud rain storms, we taught him to ask God to give him courage and to help him sleep. Now, when he has difficulty with a friend we teach him to ask God to help him be kind. This new aspect of his prayers changes almost daily. And it is very personal and circumstance specific.

I am thoroughly enjoying watching their growth in this area. Their bedtime prayers have become unique to each one. We go through phases of "Mommy you pray, I'm too tired." And occasionally we give in, but generally they do it themselves.

This gradual method of teaching our children to pray has worked for us (so far). But, our children are still young and we realize there is much still to learn. We are not finished by any means - it is an ongoing process.

Recently I've been listening to some other parents going through this struggle of teaching Godly habits like prayer. So, now I'm curious... How do you teach your children to pray? How did you begin? Where are they now? How did it change over time?

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Announcement: Next week's Works For Me Wednesday is themed - "Mom I'm Bored". If you've got a good summer fun idea or a good way to keep the kids busy, be sure to link up or leave a comment.

How Do You Train Up a Child?

Today, A High and Noble Calling is asking the question, "What Kind of Home do You Have?" Is it child centered or is it God Centered?

Her post got me to thinking... thinking about something I am quite passionate about.

How do you train up a child in the way he should go?

Proverbs 22:6 tells us as parents "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it."

For me the most important part of training my children is to teach them a personal faith in and relationship with God.

But how do you do that? It's easy to say it. It's not so easy to live it on a day-to-day basis.

Ever since I can remember I have loved working and teaching children. I started teaching younger children when I was in Junior High School (yes, I'm that old - it wasn't "Middle School" then). That continued in various forms until in adulthood God called me to quit a full-time job and go back to college for an Elementary Education degree. I taught public school for several years until God hit me upside the head with the realization that taking care of my family and home were far more important. I needed to focus my time and energy at home.

Through the years God developed in me a deep passion for teaching children -- especially my own -- about God and discipling them toward a personal faith in and relationship with God.

So, how do you do that? Day-to-day parenting looks a bit different for every family. Every parent has different strengths and every child has different needs. So our methods must sometimes be different as well. However, there are still some basic principles and even routines which can work for everyone.

When my first child was not yet a year old, a friend asked me "Do you always sing to him before he goes to sleep?" We were in the church nursery - she was feeding her infant, I was putting mine down for a nap.

I told her, yes. I do. I explained that eventually I would want to pray and read with my son before bedtime. I knew that teaching those higher skills was extremely important. But I needed to begin by laying a foundation. Establishing that quiet time before bed - at just a few months old - was the beginning of that foundation.

So yes, from the time my children were a few months old and their sleep patterns began to stabilize, we rocked them and sang to them before we laid them down for a nap or to sleep at night. I didn't rock them all the way to sleep, but I did rock and sing for 5-10 minutes. I wanted them to know that it was time to settle down. It wasn't play time anymore.

We chose the songs we sang carefully. There were the standard lullabies like Rock-a-bye Baby and Hush Little Baby. But there were also songs of faith. Jesus Loves Me, Amazing Grace and In the Garden quickly became family standards. And now, 7 years later, my children still request these songs before bed each night.

It brings them security and comfort to know that whatever else may be going on in their world, we still love them and more importantly, God still loves them.

Singing lullabies of faith was one of our first ways of teaching our children our faith.

What were your first practices in teaching your children to have faith in God?

Loving God Is Like Baking A Cake?

As my few regular readers (I love you guys!) will already know, I have been struggling over the last several months about what it means to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind.

I think, maybe, God has given me some of the answer.

In Matthew 22: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind."

As I have contemplated, prayed, and thought about these verses God has led me to this understanding: These commands to love God with all your heart soul and mind really cannot and should not be separated out into their parts, as I had been trying to do. They are a whole. They are a command to love God, simply, with all of who you are. Nothing more. And certainly nothing less. They are interwoven into something greater than their parts.

It's a bit like baking a cake: the flour, sugar, eggs, etc. are not nearly as tasty individually as they are when baked together into a new whole. Then, they become something wonderful. And in us, when we, -- when I -- when our hearts, soul ,and mind, combine to love God, it becomes something wonderful and miraculous. It isn't always an overwhelming emotion like when you fell in love, sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. But it is still wonderful and miraculous.

So, the next step for me is to stop trying to taste the individual ingredients. Instead, I need to put my heart, soul and mind together and let God bake them.

Hmmm. Not sure how this would go over with a theology professor, but it's where God has taken me at this point. Loving God is Like Baking a Cake -- the whole is much better than the ingredients!

What Does it Mean to Love God?

First, I must thank God.

Several weeks ago, I started praying for God to change who I am. I asked Him:

• that I will love Him with all my heart, and with all my soul, and with all my mind.
• that I will love my neighbor as myself.
• that I will become a woman of prayer
• that God will remove obstacles to me loving Him and praying daily/constantly
• that I will learn to pray through Scripture
• that I will communicate to others what God teaches me.

I am grateful and humbled. My prayer and devotional life have been more consistent and more vital in the last several weeks than they have been in years. I do believe God has removed obstacles to a daily quiet time from my life. He has certainly sent me encouragers. Some of them on-line; some of them in real life!

There is still much progress to be made. Last week was pretty miserable. I think I managed to sit down and really concentrate on God and listening to God once, maybe twice. Pitiful. I have confessed this. God has forgiven me. And, He has given me a renewed motivation to get back in the habit of spending my time with Him.

And so, I thank God. I thank Him for the renewed motivation. I thank Him for removing stumbling blocks. I thank Him for encouragement. I thank Him for being with me during those quiet times. And, I thank Him for using that time to draw me closer to Him. I am grateful and cautiosly pleased.

As the last several weeks have progressed, there is a question I've been contemplating ...

What does it mean to love God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind?

I've been contemplating that question a lot recently.

What does it look like when your love for God is total, complete, 100% of who you are? Is it different to love God with your heart than with your soul than with your mind? Why does Matthew22:34-40 include heart, soul and mind, but Mark 12:28-34 says heart, soul, mind and strength? Are these different? How so?

Heart. Hmmm. It seems to me that there are some differences. In our 2009 American culture, loving God with all your heart - that seems to be our emotions. That's an area I definitely have problems in. I'm not overwhelmed with loving emotions for God. Sometimes I am. It seems like every time I listen to Chris Tomlin's "Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)" I cry. I get so overwhelmed with God's forgiveness and grace for my rebellion, disobedience and down right stupidity. That song almost always bring me to tears.

But, honestly, I usually walk through my days without that feeling. Without any emotional outpouring toward God. Don't get me wrong. I do love God. That is one thing that the last 6 weeks of prayer and time with God have taught me. I do love God. But, like I've said before, I don't think it's with all my heart.

So, what about loving God with all your soul?

Soul. What does that mean? If we're separating ourselves into parts here -- is that my personality? That's not usually what we mean when we say "soul." We often say "God saves our soul." We refer to our soul going to heaven. If we are believers in Christ, saved by his grace -- is it possible for us to not love God with all our soul? Mmmm. Deep questions. Too deep for right now. This will take more study, more contemplation, more revelation from God.

Okay, what about loving God with all your mind?

Mind. Since I seem to be separating myself into parts here, I'm thinking God's talking about our priorities at this point. He's talking about how we think. Do we let God lead and control the way we think? Do we let God and His word guide the way we interpret the secular messages we receive? Do we let God determine what we do first? Do we let Him influence every decision we make? These are all a part of our mind.

For myself, again, I think the the answer is no. Too often, I take control. I forget to consult God in what I'm going to do for the day. I forget to consider His ways, His thoughts, His priorities when I'm making day-to-day decisions. It's easy to remember to ask God about the big decisions... "Should I take that job?", "Should I date/marry that man." "Should we have another baby?" "Should we buy that house?" Sure, I've consulted God on the big decisions in my life.

But, the little ones? Do I consult Him? Or do I just rely on the years of Godly teaching upbringing by pastors and teachers? Hmmm. Hadn't really thought of it in those terms before. I've been a Christian for many years. I do believe God has influenced the way I think about the activities I am involved in, the way I dress, the way I respond to minsunderstandings. I have learned to ignore or forgive minor (and some major) flaws in my family and friends.

Does this mean that I am in fact, letting God influence the way I think? Does this mean that God has influenced my priorities? Perhaps it does. If yes, then, does this mean that I love God with my mind?

Perhaps.

I am still struggling. And so, I ask... What does it mean to love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind? What does that look like in day-to-day 2009 American life?

Loving God

A few weeks ago I posted my confession, that I do not love God (that post has since been removed for privacy reasons). I did not publicize that post. In fact I published it on a Sunday when I thought fewer people would be likely to read it! I was much too nervous about how people would respond. I did tell my husband. And through the network of blogs several others have discovered that post. I am amazed at how encouraging folks have been. It's very comforting.

In late January I had received some information from Moms In Touch. I still haven't read all the information they sent me; but there were two pieces that impacted me tremendously. One was a prayer guide for our children. It uses several scripture verses to guide the way we pray for our children. The other was a booklet by Fern Nichols. The biggest impact for me was her personal testimony. She talked about how she began to pray that God would make her into a woman of prayer, and that she would learn to pray through the Scriptures. She made a list of what she asked God to do in her life. And she prayed. She prayed for these same things many times.

That really clicked with me. It inspired me. It made me want what she had. I think it was also part of what made me realize that I don't love God, not as I should. Not as He wants me to. I determined that at the very least, even if I didn't love God, I could at least pray for love. And so I posted my confession. And with that post, I prayed that God would make me a woman who loves him with all my heart, all my soul, and all my strength. Despite my misgivings about the whole blogosphere knowing my confession, I was quite earnest in my prayer.

Shortly after that post I determined that I would spend time with God on a regular basis. I decided that I would spend the hour after my daughter leaves for school (9:30-10:30) in reading my Bible and in prayer. I can say that I've made a little progress. Since the time of that post I have had a good quiet time of reading my Bible and praying at least 2-3 times per week. That isn't where I think it should be, but it is progress. And, I've made my own list.

Each time I sit down, to pray, I pray:

• that I will love God with all my heart, and with all my soul, and with all my mind.
• that I will love my neighbor as myself.
• that I will become a woman of prayer
• that God will remove obstacles to me loving Him and praying daily/constantly
• that I will learn to pray through Scripture
• that I will communicate to others what God teaches me.

I am warily pleased with where things are. I have meditated often on what it means; what does it look like to love God with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind? I am still exploring. I am still searching for answers. There will be more to this journey. I am hopeful and I am grateful for the discoveries I have made and the encouragement I have received.

Seeking Him

Seek ye first the Kingdom of God

and His righteousness

And all these things will be added unto you.

Allelu, Alleluia.

Still praying for God to make me into a woman who seeks him first.