Praying for 30 days- day 2

Today's scripture from my book Today I pray by Stonecroft ministries is found in Luke 22:42 but I included verses 39-46

 ^"Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. When He came to the place, He said to them, 'Pray that you may not enter into temptation.'
And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, 'Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.' Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.  And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow. Then He said to them, 'Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.' ”

Father, I pray not my will, but your will be done in ______'s life.

Jesus is our perfect example of following God's will. It was His obsession. He was driven by it. God's great love for us was what drove Him to send Jesus to die for us even if it meant separation from His Son. The verse that came to mind was Ephesians 2:4-5, 

"But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)"

As a kid, I always thought that Jesus was in agony because of the pain He was going to experience. The nails being driven in His hands. The suffocation. But I learned it was that He was going to be separated from God that brought such intense agony. But it was about doing God's will. 

Another point I thought about was what Jesus told His disciples before and after He prayed. Pray so that you will not fall into temptation. That is the same for us as Christians and as the church. Our nation has fallen apart because we as the church do not pray often and we have fallen into temptation. We no longer seek God's will. It is not what drives us. As for me, I am driven sometimes by people's opinions of me and not the opinion of God's will for my life. Imagine if we can pray that prayer above, "Not my will but yours God", what would our lives look like? How would that change our nation? Jesus is our example. He gave His life up for it and it changed the world.

Praying for 30 days- day 1

Last month I went to a lady's retreat with my church. It was such a blessing to be around the women who were so real about their faith and who really want to glorify God. One of the women led prayer by always using scripture as she prayed. On the last day she handed out these books called Today I Pray by Stonecroft ministries. I believe God has been showing me that I need to show truth to others by loving them especially when it comes to our country and my love ones who don't have a relationship with God. I believe that going before God in prayer and releasing it to Him is a step I need to proceed on. So here is the first day of praying for 30 days.

The scripture that the book gives first is Psalm 139:13-16.

For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;^[a]
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
 My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.

Here is the prayer that they gave:
God, thank You for _____, who was fearfully and wonderfully made by You. Thank you, Father, that you knit _____ together in his/her mother's womb and his/her frame was not hidden from You. Thank You, Lord, that all the days ordained for _____ have been written in Your book before one of them had come to be.

I find it amazing that the book started out with this verse. This is always a constant reminder for me as I pray that God is the God of Psalm 139. That He is the God is ultimately in control of my life and the lives of others. Every single one of my days are written down and He knows every single one. My heart is still beating because He is in control. My lungs keep taking in oxygen and letting out carbon dioxide because He is in control. Knowing this and trusting in this and praying this helps me to acknowledge that He is in control of the person that I am praying for. That I don't have to fret or worry but realize they are still alive breathing because God has allowed it. I am so encouraged by this verse and it is my prayer this month to hold onto this verse as I continue to pray for other people with other scripture. This verse will be a foundation for all the others. If I can simply let go because of what this verse says, I can trust God with the people in my life.

Putting love into action

My time with my family is coming to an end and it has been a rewarding trip which I am thankful for. Well as I stated before, my Grandpa Cook died on October 12th early in the morning. Goober and I got on the airplane that morning to come for my dad and his family. I will admit that I was not planning to come because I wasn't really close to him. But after talking with Cyrus, my hubbie, who is very close to his grandparents, I decided to take the trip. I dedicated the trip to be there for all my relatives.
The first week was so busy spending time with my dad's side of the family. All the brothers were there except one. That doesn't happen often. My dad's side of the family are private people so there was no service for my grandpa except for a dinner with all relatives that could come to share stories about him. It was comforting as my huge family crowded together in my mom and dad's house telling stories from different points of view about grandpa. I even got to see my dad cry a little bit for the first time. It was a blessing for me to be there for my dad's family.

Every Thursday, my mom goes over to her parents house to take my grandma who is suffering from dementia out to coffee. My grandma always looks forward to it and it gives grandpa mcnabb time away from everything. But this time, grandma had a surprise because we decided to keep from her that goober and I were in town. Grandma and grandpa were so happy to see us. I even got greeted the following Thursday with a hug from grandpa who is not a hugger. Mom and I were intentional to stay over longer so that they could see goober more. It was so rewarding to be able to spend intentional time with them to bless them.

I also made the initiative to try to spend time with my cousins who have kids the same age as goober. The thing though about these cousins was that I never tried to get to know them when I was younger because I always thought they thought they were better than me. Now as an adult I know I was wrong and wanted to make it right. In result I got to spend time with one of them twice and it was such a blessing to have some conversations with her to get to know her more.

See the point is when I got out to visit my family I don't make it about them but all about me. I am so thankful that God has been working on my heart and having me listen to what He wants me to do to love others instead of fighting Him with what I want to do.

Flying with a Little One

This past Monday, early in the morning, my fifteen month old little one and I got on an airplane to go see my family. My Grandpa Cook died and we were coming to support my dad and his family (more about that later). The last time I flew with my little one was when she was four months old. There were hard things with that but this time was a little harder. Here some tips from what I learned when flying with a little one:

1) Pack the essentials only
I had a backpack carrier, diaper bag, purse, my personal bag, and the car seat to carry. Yes that sounds crazy and yes I am not doing it again. I determined to carry what is only important which means sharing getting rid of my purse and personal bag and combine it with her diaper. The carrier is heavy but having three bags especially one of them with small straps really hurt my shoulders more. So when we go back home I am only carrying her diaper bag, the car seat, and the carrier.

2) Don't reject anyone who wants to help you
I was unbelievably thankful for all the nice people that helped me! It was tempting at first to be prideful and I say I got it but I would be lying. Being prideful is not worth the pain and frustration you can have trying to do it all on your own. Maybe that's just me.

3) Chew chew chew
When my little one was four months, her ears did not brother her when we ascended and descended on the plane. But I felt like it would be different this time. I know as an adult I know that chewing gum and yawning helps me but my fifteen month old wouldn't get that. But she still had to keep her jaw moving. So I had some cereal and always had some sort of drink every time we ascended and descended. It really worked. She actually whimpered and tugged at her ear and I gave her some cereal  and she stopped.

4) Having a car seat
Besides needing it here while visiting my family, I am so glad that I had a car seat. It made it clear to my little one we were traveling where she accepted that she was in her car seat. There was another lady with a little one and did not have a car seat and it really seemed like a struggle for her. Yes, she did have two others with her but it would seem to be easier if at least one of them was in a car seat so she could have focused on the other two. Also make sure your car seat is FAA approved because one of the flight attendants questioned if it was. I freaked out because I assumed it was since it was new that it was ok. Another thing I did not know about or even thought about was assigning my little one a window seat. The flight attendant told us we had to move to the window seat because of regulations. So both times I had to switch with the other passenger. I am glad neither of them were grumpy about it.

5) What to pack in the diaper bag
My little one is very low key where she didn't play too much with most of the toys I packed for her. So on the way home, I am going to pack less toys along with a few diapers, wipes, a snack or two, her cup, an outfit (which I actually had to use), my wallet, and my ipad. I am excited to see how it will go for us next time.

It was an exhausting trip but I have to say that God gave extra grace those times I wanted to cry. For example, every time I needed help someone asked, because my little one was so good we got a free box of snacks, and my little one slept for almost the entire four hour and fifty minute flight. God was good.

 

   

Life - love = useless

First of all before I get started I am sorry to say that I had to end the Living well spending zero challenge because of unforeseen circumstances but God has still given me a lot to write about. I am excited to share what that is.

Last weekend I went to my church's ladies retreat, and it was a blessing to be around women who were real about who they were but gave God the glory. I really got to know some ladies I saw around church but never thought to talk to. The ladies retreat team even gave us a game of 26 questions to help us to approach all the ladies in order to get to know them. I was able to get to talk to every lady there. It was alot of fun. Very good idea.

The topic was 1 Corinthians 13. I will admit I think 1 Corinthians 13 is kinda cliche but of course I was wrong to jump to the conclusion that God cannot still teach me something from that chapter. And He did just that.

The second session was the one that made the most impact on me. She went over the first three verses. To sum it up would be: life-love=nothing. Starting at verses two, she went over six things that we do can do as Christians stating if we don't have love in anything it is all useless. The one that caught my attention was the gift of prophecy which she stated as speaking truth. It really got me thinking, "Do I speak in love when I speak God's truth?". To be more specific, "Do I speak in love concerning politics online?" or "Do I speak in love when I write on my blog?". Or am I self centered or self glorified? It really got me thinking because I really think I make it all about me and what others think. I have always struggled with this and truly want to be better.

I was so thankful for my weekend away at the retreat but what I didn't realize was that God was going to have me apply showing love sooner than I expected.

Day 9 #31daysLWSZ- cleaning the house

We are now starting the second phase of our challenge which is cleaning your house. To start out we had to get rid of the clutter to get ready for the big cleaning. I was so motivated that my house looks pretty good and not cluttered. I filled my laundry basket full. It was a very successful and motivating day.

Here is some cleaning tips that has always helped me and keep me motivated:
1) Play some music or a podcast
    Some of my favorites is listening to old school 
    Christian music on You Tube
    I also like to listen to Lecrae also on You Tube
    Here is also some of my favorite podcasts

2) Start with one room and gather things up and
    put it in one pile- stick to the room until done (that's hard for me but its works)
    I do really like Ruth's idea of carrying a laundry basket too and filling it up

3) If you have stairs to climb, leave things at the bottom of the stairs so that when you go upstairs you can take them with you instead of going up and down the stairs. (Maybe that's just me because once I start cleaning I can get sporadic and leave a room to go and start another even if the other room is not done lol)

4) Its ok to have a junk drawer
    for those random odds and ends : )

5) Maybe I shouldn't admit this, but sometimes I take a 20 min break and watch a 20 min show on Netflix to remotivate myself.
    like today, I took a 20 min break and watched 30 Rock and then got right back to cleaning again

These are only a few ideas that helped me out today for a simple clutter clean up task like yesterday.

Day 8 #31dayLWSZ- Reflection

I am going to answer some questions Ruth challenged us to answer for the challenge.

What was the SCARIEST part of starting this challenge?
I was afraid that I was not going to have enough food. Yes I did go shopping for some food on the first day but it was really just two types of meat, some produce, and the basic essentials.

What is the ONE thing you are most excited to get out of this challenge?
How to become more creative with meal preparing and how I use my time.

What has been the BIGGEST struggle this week?
My pride. I went into it thinking that I was ahead of everyone else since my hubbie and I already have a strict budget as it is, but I realize that there are things that I still need to work out concerning things with being a mom who lives well and spends less : )

Where were you most tempted (or where did you) CHEAT?
I was tempted to go out and just find a snack through a Burger King drive through but didn't go. I also have to say that my in-laws have spoiled us a lot because I have eaten out and gotten ice cream without playing a cent : )  

What are you MOST worried about looking forward?
Honestly, I am not sure. Maybe that I don't learn anything : (

Did you have any "AHA" moments?
Yesterday.

What has been the MOST surprising thing about not spending this week?
I don't think there was anything. Just glad I am doing the challenge.