2014 - Breaking Down My Goals - Time With God

*Remembering a MOST lovely view in Carmel from our 2nd honeymoon.



So for 2014, I really want to make a stronger effort in my relationship with the Lord.  I know that I need time with Him.  I see the results when I am kind of floating about on my own.  It can start off okay, but then a storm of some sort hits and BLAMMO!!!!!  I'm knocked on my tushy.  

The thing is I know that spending time with God isn't going to keep the storms away.  They will still come, but I will see them for what they really are...TEMPORARY.  I will also see myself for who I am...A LOVED CHILD OF GOD.  

Now...before I get with the planning, I do want to celebrate the victory I have had with my time with God.

This year I joined two online Bible studies with Proverbs 31 Ministries.  The first was with Lysa Terkeurst's book "What Happens When Women Say Yes To God."  It was so eye opening for me!  I really do feel that I received so much direction from God through that study.  I definitely drew closer to God, developed a stronger prayer life, and I learned new ways to study God's word via verse mapping (pretty awesome!!!!).  

I also joined the online Bible study with Proverbs 31 Ministries that used the book "A Confident Heart."  This was such a big one for me.  On the outside, I look like I have it all together.  On the inside...YIKES.  I really had a hard time with my place in His world.  I am still a work in progress here, but what a blessing this study was to me as well.  I learned so many things and the most important was with how I compare myself to others.  Renee shared how a friend told her that when we compare ourselves to someone else, we compare out insides to someone's outsides.  Talk about a losing battle!  This was my first time also being involved in the online study with special Facebook groups too.  What a great way to study!  It was nice getting a chance to open up to one another on an even deeper level.  

I was also getting up extra early in the morning to spend time with God in prayer and study.  That kind of slowed down, but I am going to recommit.  For now, I am going to get up 20 minutes early and stick with that and increase my way up to an hour early.  I love my sleep so this has been a challenge.  That is why I decided to go for 20 minutes.  It is a small start, but I am looking forward to making it.  :)

Do you spend time reading and studying the Bible?  Do you follow a routine?  What works for you?

PS --- I am starting another study soon.  The book for this one is "Made To Crave" by Lysa Terkeurst.  I am really looking forward to it!

Blog Hop - At The Well

So this week I began another highly anticipated online Bible study through Proverbs 31 Ministries.  This study is with Renee Swope's book "A Confident Heart."  To know me from the outside would probably cause you to wonder why on earth would I feel the need for this study, but when you peel back my layers, it all becomes pretty clear.  I have a myriad of issues that I am still working through, but thankfully I am not working through them alone.  

In Chapter 2, Renee brings us back to the day at the well when Jesus spoke to a Samaritan woman who approached the well alone at noon to draw water.  I can so fully relate to this woman at the well.  So many times in my life I approached Jesus alone, unsure and with little more than an empty vessel hoping somehow I could fill it on my own and not daring to ask Jesus for help because of my own shame.  My past is also not terribly pretty. 

What struck me as I read the Biblical account this time was how Jesus shared with Sam in such a way that she knew that He knew everything about her already.  He spoke with her knowing full well that her past was far from pretty and in fact that her present was pretty rough as well.  He was accepting of her as she was at that very moment and willing to spend time with her and offer her so much more than she had ever imagined.  Her emptiness would be filled with what she needed.  For the first time, true love and true acceptance from the living God were going to take place of the loneliness and the unloveliness that had seized Sam's heart and brought her to so many bad and sad choices.  

Sam was struck by Jesus knowing all about her.  It changed her perspective.  It changed her so much that really she simply HAD to share about him with the people in her village.  Because of that, Jesus stayed on for two more days, and many more became believers.  It all started with Sam.  

Who knows what will start with me?