Friday, June 26, 2009

Week One: Days 2-4

Whew! The day has flown by and I've gotten NOTHING done. I'm hurrying to finish this up before Eddie walks in the door from work and we have to leave. We're headed to Tifton again tonight to spend the weekend. We have Dinner Club tomorrow to look forward to! Eddie, Mom, and I are also going to Albany to look for baby nursery things. My grandmother asked me the other day if I had the nursery finished yet. Ummm...no? Am I supposed to? She said a lot of first time moms get them done early. WHAT? I didn't realize I was supposed to be finished with it yet! And then it dawned on me that I only have 3.5 months until he's HERE. Yikes. Not nearly as much to do as I felt this time LAST year, though!

As a side note, I got a phone call today that a student's mother lost her battle with pancreatic cancer last Saturday. Her funeral was planned for today and I found out too late to go. The student and I only spoke briefly about what his mom was going through this school year, but I was constantly updated through other adults at school, as well as his mom and dad. He's had a really rough year, with all of this going on, but he's one of the strongest people that I've ever met. He really dug in his heals at school and worked hard to show his mom that he was going to be okay when she was gone. I sent several emails home to her to tell her how proud I was of him. I know she was too. He's going to be hit hard with this, though. Keep him in your prayers if you think about it.

Day 2: Your Thought Closet

Again, these are my thoughts on the chapter, along with some things that the author said that stood out to me. Feel free to comment on anything it makes you think of as well!
- My thoughts about myself are fleeting and don't happen often, but they're often negative. I usually just have a running dialogue in my head of things that need to be done and concerns that I have. I didn't realize that the concerns could be sinful, but stick with me!
-Psalm 10:4 - "In his pride the wicked man does not seek Him; in all his thoughts, there is no room for God."
- Romans 1:21 - "Although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God, nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened."
- Jeremiah 29:11 - "I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."
- When we become obsessed with negativity, we shut God out.
- My thoughts are very connected on what I'm not and what I can't do. God is more focused on what I am and what I can do.
- The word of God will guide how my heart thinks and speaks.
- Commit your way to God and rely on His powerful Word.

Day 3: The Soundtrack in Your Thought Closet

- Psalm 19:14 - "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in they sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer."
-We all meditate, but not all of us realize it! Meditation is like our thought closets' soundtrack. We don't just heart it, we sing along. Our meditation is made up of words, words compose thoughts, and thoughts gravitate to themes that string together, making a constant stream. It's a subconscious way of keeping our thought closets well-stocked, and it's important to tune in to the lyrics, melody, and style of our meditations.
- The Hebrew word siyach appears several times translated as "meditate." It means "to ponder, to converse with onself."
- Set your minds on things above, not on early things!
- Paul told s to focus our minds on things above and God described His thoughts as above. We tend to be conversant about things beneath, while God dwells and meditates on things above. Meditation is based on things above, not on things below.
- COMMIT YOUR WAY TO GOD AND RELY ON HIS WORD.
- Meditation involves not only "storing" our thoughts but also "studying" them.
- Start paying attention to where your thoughts wander during an idle moment.

Day 4: Something Else to Think About

- Today I've been thinking about what thoughts are "good" for me and which ones aren't. I don't EVER think about my thoughts!
- Worry is fixating or meditating on what if rather than what is.
- Pondering God's goodness and past provisions is a form of godly meditation.
- Life is more important than worries.
- I'm not living when I worry.
- The standard for our words and meditation is not merely what is acceptable to us; rather, it is what is acceptable to God. Imagine God listening to you when you talk to yourself. Imagine everything you say to yourself is spoken in His sight.
- God cares about what you say to yourself because he cares about you.
- What your soul focuses on, what you set your mind on, is what will form the bulk of your meditation. When anxious thoughts start to crowd you, shift your gaze.
- Present your requests to God! (Philippians 4:6)
- Turn your worry into a prayer. That will focus your mind on things above and invite God's comfort to delight your soul.

Whew! That's a lot for one day. Hopefully I won't feel so overwhelmed now that I'm caught up. I have Day 5 left to do over the weekend and then I'll begin Week Two on either Monday or Tuesday. So far I'm REALLY liking this study! It's so much better than trying to plan a Quiet Time on my own. I'd been reading The Boy his Bible every day and then doing a daily prayer book, but it wasn't getting me. This is MUCH better!

I better run before I get in trouble for being late! Ha! Y'all have a good weekend!!!

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