Moving Day!

 Good morning, everyone! I know it has been a while since I posted, and I'm sorry for that. I had to finish my Master's degree (finally done!), and then I needed some time to rest and get new routines in place.

Today, I want to let you know that this blog has moved to a new wordpress account and I hope you'll follow me there.

I've been considering this for a while, and I like that Wordpress has the option for you to follow me by email (if you want) and some of the other options they have for my blog's content and presentation.

Of course, you can still follow me on Facebook and Twitter, as you have before.

Thank you all for following me here, and reading my posts these past few years!

I do hope to see all of you as well as some new faces over there, as I post new content this year.

Media Monday: How to Handle Temptation

 Good morning, friends!

Today is another media Monday recommendation. Today I want to recommend an audiobook that I really loved.

How to Handle Temptation by Joyce Meyer is a truly encouraging, funny, and helpful book. If you've been reading my posts for a while, you'll remember my post about the temptations I struggle with. We all struggle with temptation. Sometimes it grips us for years, and sometimes it's easily overcome. In this audiobook version of one of her weekend teachings, Joyce shares ways to overcome the temptations in our lives, and encourages us to keep moving forward even when it is difficult.

Whatever temptation you face, whether it is lust, greed, addiction, losing your temper, or something else, this book is a good read for everyone.

I borrowed the digital audiobook from my library, and if you can find it there, I encourage you to do so, but if you'd rather own a copy, here is the Amazon link. Only the physical audio CD is available.

I hope this audiobook encourages and teaches you as it taught me, because there are so many things in here that are relevant to everyday life.

Keep moving forward, my friends, and I look forward to hearing what you think about this book.

Media Monday: Girls LIke Me

Hello everyone! I'm sorry it has been a while since my last post. I thought for sure I'd have more time during this summer, but that hasn't been the case. I'm preparing for my final semester of grad school, but I'll be done in December - finally done - and after that my schedule should settle into a routine.

This year, since I've been so busy, I wanted to try something different with my Bible reading. Instead of figuring out which books and chapters I want to read, I have been using devotionals and reading their choice of scripture and what they have to say about it. It has been really helpful to me, and I wanted to share some of them with all of you.

The first one is Girls Like Me, by Shelbie Mae. 

The author uses stories of women from the Bible and her own personal stories to highlight issues that we, as girls or women, face, and how God was faithful in those situations and will be faithful in ours. I'm already learning a lot about these remarkable women from the Bible, and I'm learning a lot about myself too.

Now, you certainly don't have to, but if you want, you could even take a notebook and pair these devotionals with journaling. You could choose a verse that stands out to you, or just talk about what you read that day.

I have found journaling scripture, my thoughts, and prayers to be very helpful lately, although I haven't paired it with a specific devotional yet.

Here is the book link. It's a free e-book on Amazon, so if you have a Kindle, tablet, or smartphone, you'll be able to get it free. It is available as a paperback if you prefer that, but it isn't free.

I'll be sharing several devotionals over the rest of the summer. I hope you find them as useful as I have. I'd love to hear what you think of them.

Until next time!

Worship Wednesday: Victory

Today's post is about victory. I certainly haven't felt very victorious in 2020, and doubt continues to creep up on me, despite my attempts at more worship.

On Sundays, my church has been doing a live feed on the website, Facebook, and Youtube because no one could get to the church building (much like the pioneers during a blizzard) and even now some higher risk members (like myself) aren't going in-person to large gatherings. 

I wrote this post up a while ago and then school happened, and I just never posted it. So, today I want to share with you one of the songs my church's worship team sings.

I hope it encourages you to push away the doubt and to remember to walk in the victory that God has already accomplished in your life, even if you don't quite see it yet.

These are tough times right now, but the battle is the Lord's.

But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. - 1 Corinthians 15:57

For the LORD your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory. - Deuteronomy 20:4

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? - Romans 8:31

Unfinished Business

 As this year draws to a close, I have been thinking about unfinished business. Although I have mostly been thinking about unfinished book/movie series, and video games I haven't completed yet, I have also been thinking about more serious topics.

I'm graduating from grad school next December with my Masters in Library Science, and I feel marvelously under-prepared, so I've been thinking about webinars I can take this year that can help me to learn some of the things I don't know or to brush up on skills I'm not confident with.

I have also been thinking about how 2020 kept me inside for most of the year. I didn't get to go most of the places I wanted to go this year. As I'm high-risk, I have even been doing church online, so my intention of finding somewhere in the church to volunteer was a bit of a bust this year. Well, I guess it was a complete bust, although I did do some research early in the year to see where I might be useful.

So, I've been thinking a lot about unfinished business.

It doesn't have to be deathbed monumental. It doesn't have to be as silly as an unfinished game. But what is your unfinished business of 2020? Was it an exercise routine you didn't get into? That's another of mine.

Or is there something related to the eternal scheme of God's kingdom?

Someone not yet forgiven? Someone you spoke harshly to and you need to apologize? Something you didn't say this year? Maybe, like me, you chickened out and took so much time deciding where to serve in the church that you didn't get a chance when everything shut down.

I meant to post more on my blog this year, and I have several ideas. School just took over, and I felt like I didn't have time. Of course, I also spent plenty of time reading and playing video games, so that accounts for most of my lost time this year. But there's still next year.

Whatever your unfinished business, it isn't too late yet. Even though we're mostly stuck inside for a while longer, there is still much we can do. And I'm not just talking about those video games.

We can read books that advance us spiritually. That's something I need to do more of in 2021.

We can visit our church online. Or, if your church is too small to post online, there are other churches that have great messages.

Even if we aren't able to attend church in-person, we can still connect with our congregation through Facebook, texts, phone calls, or by commenting on the church's weekly videos.

We can talk to our neighbors - from six feet away, wearing a mask so they don't think us disrespectful and will be more receptive to what we are saying- and tell them about God. We can give them information on our churches' websites/sermons. They don't have to go in the building right now or even when this is over if it's too overwhelming at first. God can meet them right in their home.

I have my own unfinished business. And you have yours. They may not be the same. Some of them may be just for fun, but some may be serious. Whatever your unfinished business of 2020, it isn't too late. Pray about it. Trust God. Step out in faith. And let's look forward to a better year, more productive in many ways.

Worship Wednesday: Behold Him

 Good morning, everyone! I'm sorry it's been a while since my last post. Between working full-time and grad school (both huge blessings) it was a pretty stressful year. Not to mention everything else that's going on.

I can't promise I'll post very regularly, but I'm going to try to work on some posts before next semester starts and we'll see what happens.

So, for today's post, I really wanted to do a Worship Wednesday. I really like doing these, and yesterday I heard the most amazing song while I was driving to work. I hope it touches you the way it touched my heart yesterday. Even though things are still tough right now, remember God has it all in control. If we find ourselves starting to forget, we just have to lift our eyes up. 

Sometimes I get so stuck on what I can see in my situation that I forget to look up. I forget that if I just lift my eyes to God, my situation won't seem so dire.

"I will raise my eyes to the mountains; From where will my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth." Psalm 121:1-2

So just lift your eyes and behold Him.

Worship Wednesday: God of This City

No matter what is going on in the world, God is still God. He is still in control. Nothing has happened outside of His notice. He knows. He sees. And He cares. 

No matter where you are, God is still God of your city, even if you are the only one there who acknowledges it.

Today, I want to share one of my favorite worship songs, but not just in English. As some of you may know, I am studying Japanese, and I found this wonderful song in that beautiful language. I'm sure there are more, but these are just what I wanted to share today. How marvelous to know that we are all singing the same songs of praise to our God, no matter our language.

English:

Japanese:

So Will I - A Teaching on How Big Our God Is

 Good morning, everyone!

Have you ever sat and wondered how big God really is? Well, check out this message and see how that question is answered as the planets and stars that make up our universe are put into perspective.

It was certainly a change in perspective that I needed today.

Musings on Isolation

There's a lot going on right now that can often make me feel afraid.

Being isolated from people can also make me feel scared, or grumpy, or just lonely.

But I have learned something from our days of quarantine and isolation.

Isolation isn't all bad.

Even though I sometimes feel afraid with everything that's going on, I have learned a lot during this time, especially how to lean more on God, and to trust Him.

I've found that while I still sometimes miss people, especially my church family, that I actually like when it's just me and God. Prefer it even. Sometimes there are still distractions during this time, but there are fewer distractions with fewer social obligations.

So, I like some parts of isolation. It brought me closer to God, because I allowed myself to move closer to Him. It caused me to trust Him more, because I chose Him over my fear.

I'm still not ready to be around a lot of people, especially since our case numbers had been going up where I live (they seem to be going down finally), but I'm learning to just breathe, and to remember that God can and will handle this too.

And I'm so grateful that He is with me wherever I am, at church, or watching at home online. At work, or at home. By myself or in a room full of people. And I've learned to seek out His presence more, to feel it wherever I am, even when I am in the midst of a panic attack. Or rather, especially then.

And I'm learning to appreciate this time of social isolation, because it has brought me deeper into His presence.

I know things are a mess right now. I know we miss our friends and families and that some of us are high-risk and can't even go out to church like some can. I also know that God meets us wherever we are. Physically or spiritually. We just have to be open to meeting with Him.

Use this time of social isolation to spend more time with God. Seek Him while you are in your home, in your secret place. Use this time with fewer social obligations to get to know Him as you've gotten to know the friends and family who are so dear to you.

I pray that things settle down soon, but even if they don't, I know God's got this, and I will always be grateful for the extra time I got to spend with Him during my days of isolation.

Awake O Sleeper

And in keeping with the theme of my last post, I found this song by Jeremy Camp that I have to share.

Awaken, people of God. Wake, and seek God. Throw off the chains that bind you.