Siesta Scipture Memory

You'll never guess what I've committed to do in the year 2011. I've signed up to memorize scripture. I've ALWAYS wanted to do this and never have. Aside from the scripture that pretty much everyone knows, I've never memorized anything. Movie lines? Yes. Scripture? Nope.

So...

Beth Moore has a Scripture Memory Team  that memorizes two verses a month for an entire year and I've signed up. I bought a spiral of index cards and I'm ready to go! She suggested that we memorize verses that speak to whatever our current situation is. So much for planning out all 24 ahead of time! :) Instead, I'm going with what she's suggested.

The first verse that I picked fell under the category of "organization." I blogged recently about my house being out of control. I know that the chaos around me prevents me from doing things I'd like to be doing. Reading, writing, exercising, spending time with God. All of those things get put on the back burner because I'm not organized and I don't manage my time well.

My first verse is Ephesians 5:15-16.

"So be careful how you live. Don't live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days."

I'd love to know your favorite verses for memorization if you have any!

*** As an update to this post, this morning I got up and went to write my verse in my Scripture Memory sprial and I COULD NOT find it. I must've looked for it for 30 minutes. Where was it? Under a pile of "stuff" to be gone through. Even more reason to get the clutter in order!!! ***

Lessons...

I haven't been consistent in my Bible reading lately. It's taking a toll on me. I know that I feel SO MUCH better when I dig into it! I'm so behind - I'm working on February 21st right now - but I'm staying with it and trying to get back into it.

This is going to be a little hodge-podge today. I'm just going to share some things that really, really spoke to me from my Beth Moore study, So Long, Insecurity. I am loving this study!

* "Be careful who you covet. Be careful how you judge. Be slow to size somebody up and think you know all about her type. She's not so different from you. Nobody's unbreakable here on this planet. Only the dead don't bleed when they're cut. We all fear that we aren't who we are pretending to be. The more careful we are about what we're protecting, the more driven we tend to be by fear."

I don't know about you, but I tend to size a person up just by looking at them. I know her type. Eddie and I were invited to a couple's house for dinner not long ago and I was so anxious before I got there that she wouldn't like me because I knew how she would be. What? What right do I have to put words in someone else's mouth? Ugh! Working on that...

* "Don't ask if that's okay with them. Here's the real question: is that okay with you? You and I are going to have to come to a place where we stop handing people the kind of power only God should wield over us. Change will not come easy. Old habits die hard. But we can make the radical decision to rewire our security systems."

In the last weeks of my pregnancy, I vocalized to a friend that I was feeling overwhelmed about thinking about J's "birth day." I didn't want people to come to the hospital. I didn't know how long it would take to deliver him and I planned to nurse him immediately afterward and have some "family" time and I was worried that people would be overly anxious with how long everything was taking. I did not want people in my hospital room while I was laboring. (Ate my words on that BIG time. We had a ball hanging out in my room. The nurse anesthetist is my best friend. LOVED that epidural.) The friend, after listening to my whining, looked at me and said "You're worrying too much about what everyone else thinks. Who cares how long it will take? They'll be at the hospital because they wouldn't have it any other way. Stop worrying about them!" She's my friend that has a tendency to knock my back down to size sometimes. I wish she'd do it more often. She lives in reality a lot more than I do. And I do worry WAY TOO MUCH about other people.

* "No one solitary think on this entire planet has the power to secure everything else."

Think losing weight would fix things? Then it would be your hair. Think a hair cut/color would change the world? Then it would be your clothes. Have you ever read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie? We have the whole series in case you've missed out on that one.

So those are the BIG things that I've been thinking about this week. When I've had time to think, anyway....I have a little boy who doesn't like to sleep from about midnight to five AM. If you'd like to come up and spend the night so that you can have a turn putting his pacifier in his mouth at ten-minute intervals all through the night, be my guest! We'd be happy to have you! :)

Lessons From My Quiet Time...

It's been SO long since I've spent time reading my Bible, praying, and listening to God each day. Like...since college! I've read my Bible and I've prayed (I'm not so good at the listening part), but haven't been deliberate about a QUIET TIME in a very long time. I've started a new journal (because the blog is great, but not everything needs to be said) and have recorded scripture that's spoken to me each day. I made a list of goals on the first page and I've tried to do something toward each goal every day. For instance, one of my goals was to dig in to my Q.T. I've used my Bible in a Year (on my Kindle) and written down those scriptures. I want to lose weight so each day that I exercise (and I try every day!) I record what I did as well as my weight (bleh.). It's been SO wonderful to do this again! I hope it's helpful in getting to my goals!

Another New Testament selection this week...

Matthew 14:28-31

Then Peter called out to him, "Lord, if it's really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water." "Yes, come," Jesus said. So Peter went over to the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. "Save me, Lord!" he shouted. Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. "You have so little faith," Jesus said. "Why did you doubt me?"

Wow! This spoke to me a LOT this week. I'm so guilty of A) telling God what I want him to do ("...tell me to come to you, walking on the water") and B) not trusting him. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. No, we may not always want to hear it, but I truly believe that God has his eye on us, watches us, and protects us, even when the "worst" has come. Can we always explain it? No. But I think when we don't understand why the "worst" has come, that's when we truly have to hold on to our faith and believe that God is protecting us. That being said, I have NOT endured what some others have. I've never lost a child or gone through a divorce or been desperate for money. I've lived a pretty "drama-free" life. My prayer is that if and when I go through a hardship, I am able to keep my faith.

Lessons From My Quiet Time...

On January 1 I started reading The One Year Bible. I've really enjoyed getting back into it. While I was pregnant I read the entire New Testament. Let me tell you, I do not have a bit of a chance of becoming a Bible scholar. It was tough to say the least. But I'm back on it again. The One Year Bible gives you an Old Testament selection and a New Testament selection each day. I'm currently working through Genesis, Matthew, Psalms, and Proverbs. This week a parable REALLY got my attention in a way it hadn't before.

Matthew 13:3-8 and 19-23

"Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seeds. As he scattered them across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them. Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn't have deep roots, they died. Other seeds fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants. Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted....The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message about the Kingdom and don't understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches away the seed that was planted in their hearts. The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. But since they don't have deep roots, they don't last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God's word. The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God's word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced. The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God's word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!"

My desire, as a mother, is to raise my child in a Christian household and instill in him a heart for the Lord. I've had such a tough time balancing it all. And I'd like to say that it's just been since James has been born, but I've always had a tough time balancing it all.

I am the seed that was thrown in the thorns. I have deep roots, having been raised in the Christian faith, but I'm constantly battling life. I'd venture to say that we're all one seed or another and that we probably all cycle through being different seeds at different times. My desire is to become the seed that produces fruit. I'm working on it. Which seed are you?