Husband Encouragement Challenge

A few posts ago, I mentioned the 30-day challenges from Revive Our Hearts ministry. I mentioned that I participated in the 30-day Husband Encouragement Challenge last year but neglected to tell what it was about. The premise of the challenge is that for the next 30 days (after you start the challenge) you can't say anything negative about your husband, to your husband, or to anyone else about your husband. Ladies, I think even in the best of marriages, we could all agree, that is a challenge. The fine people at Revive Our Hearts took this challenge a step further and provided material that gives an extra challenge each day (Example: Day 1: Identify a way that your husband is serving you or your family. Let him know that you see his unique service as a great strength.) They also provide supporting ideas and Scripture readings. If you would like to check it out, click here. There is a free download available to help you get started. I highly recommend it.

Tip: I printed out the challenge and pasted it into a notebook (each day with its own page). This helped me concentrate on it, keep it all in one spot, and give it the daily attention it required.

A Day With A Niece 01/23/12

Today was a scheduled Cookie Baking Night but it was cancelled due to snow and unpredictable driving conditions.

Emily was here on Saturday helping me try out a new filled cupcake pan I received for Christmas, so I thought I'd share a picture from that experience. I wanted to try it out ahead of time with the idea that we would use it on a Cookie Baking Night. It worked pretty well, and we learned a few things in the process.

Give Me Jesus

This is a very simple song with few words. They are as follows: In the morning when I rise, give me Jesus. When I am alone, give me Jesus. When I come to die, give me Jesus. You can have all this world, but give me  Jesus. 

Just a few words, but it addresses the biggies doesn't it? The three areas that define a human being: in the morning (the time that sets the course for your whole day and determines who you will serve that day, Jesus or yourself) when I am alone (that's really when we are who we are isn't it?--when no other human is looking and only God sees us) and when I come to die (and that's when it matters because no one will escape death and everyone will be judged by God).

One more astounding phrase in this very simple song: You can have all this world, but give me Jesus (now is that true? and am I living that way?)

A simple but thought-provoking song (with a beautiful melody I might add).

Not God's Type

The first book I read in 2011 was Not God's Type by Holly Ordway. I had listened to Greg Koukl interview the author on his radio program Stand to Reason and I was intrigued by her story, so I purchased the book.

The back cover of the book gives a good explanation for the premise of the book, so I've included it here for you:

"I thought faith was, by definition, irrational, that it meant believing some assertion to be true for no reason. It had never occurred to me that there could be a path to faith through reason, that there were arguments for the existence of God, and evidence for the claims of Christianity. I thought you had to 'just have faith'--and the very idea of faith baffled and horrified me.


I was not looking for God. Make no mistake. I did not believe that He existed. I was a college professor--logical, intellectual, rational--and an atheist. 


But in the spring of my thirty-first year, 'I was drawn, against my conscious will, and against my own inclination, to be interested in matters of faith. I had an incoherent and inchoate desire to push into territory that I vaguely feared and yet found compelling.

At (some) point, I realized my naturalistic worldview was inadequate to explain the nature of reality in a coherent way: it could not explain the origin of the universe, nor could it explain morality. On the other hand, the theistic worldview was both consistent and powerfully explanatory; it offered a convincing, rationally consistent, and logical explanation for everything that the naturalistic worldview explained plus all the things that the naturalistic worldview couldn't.


The following pages are the account of how I turned from death to life..."

That summary from the author explains what you will find in this book, and that premise along is compelling. It was a quick read and interesting story.

Two things I enjoyed about this book:

1. The author is a professor of composition and literature, and she is a talented writer. The book is so well written, I flew through it (reading it in about two days). The thoughts were well put together, the sentence structure was free of extra words and unnecessary rambling, and the editing was flawless. It was truly a joy to read from that standpoint. The story was also compelling and begged you to turn the next page. 
2. The author spent most of the book retelling her conversion story but several times throughout the book inserted a section she called "interlude" where she stopped to tell an account from her life after she became a Christian. It was an interesting mix of the past and the present and allowed the reader to get a glimpse into the mind of an atheist, a new Christian, and one growing in her Christian faith all within the same book. 

I think this book is definitely worth the read. It will sharpen you and cause you to think deeply about your own worldview and tradition of faith as you process the story of this author and simply enjoy her retelling of events. 

An Evening With A Niece And Nephew

It's an off night for Cookie Baking Night, so I thought, instead, I'd share with you some pictures from Friday evening when we babysat the the youngest niece and nephew (not quite old enough to attend Cookie Baking Night).  Posted below, you'll find pictures of Allison and Rylar (and Greg makes an appearance in a few pictures as well). The kiddos are 16 months old and 1 month old. It was a fun night.

             Hmmm. Get used to this, kiddo. You have that kind of uncle. 

                                                   Awwww. 

30-Day Challenges

As mentioned in previous posts, I will be spending this month blogging about last year and looking ahead to some plans for the year to come. If I had to name one radio ministry that I gleaned the most from in 2011, it would have to be Revive our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss. This particular ministry is geared toward women and offers much in the way of tools for growing in your faith. One tool I utilized this year was "The 30-day challenge". This ministry offers several of them including "The 30-Day Husband Encouragement Challenge", "The 30-Day Choosing Gratitude Challenge", "The 30-Day TV Free Challenge", "31-Days of Praying For Your Pastor" and others. I did the "30-Day Husband Encouragement Challenge" and "30-Day Choosing Gratitude Challenge". The website provides printable downloads for each challenge. I printed off the downloads and pasted them into my journal so I had them in one place and could work through them day by day. I found them very encouraging and (as the name implies) challenging! I only made it halfway through the gratitude challenge in December so will be repeating that this year as well as checking out one of the other challenges. Ladies, I highly encourage you to check out this resource. Click here to find the information you need to participate in one of these challenges.

Cookie Baking Night 01/09/12

After a little break during the holidays, tonight we returned to Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Ethan and Carissa. Tonight was Ethan's birthday choice (Ethan turns 9 years old on January 16). He chose cheese pizza for supper, and for his cookie: sugar cookie.

We ate supper, made and frosted cookies, and then read from Leading Little Ones to God by Marian Schoolland (lesson 61, "God's Children Learn to Say No").

We also got a little creative.

We used a page from  365 Things to Make and Do (Usborne Activities) to inspire us in creating robots from pictures of household items cut from magazines. 

THEIRS

OURS

Pretty good, huh?

As usual, a fun time was had by all. 

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone! I'm going to take some time to reflect on the year that just passed and the year to come and then spend most of January blogging about it. I'll be taking a break from blogging until Monday, January 9. Be looking for new posts then.