Spiritual Life: Where I am and Where I Hope to Be

I posted earlier about where I started out in my spiritual life.  I really do promise this will be the longest of these posts about my categories.  There is just so much wonderful information to share about why I am a Christian and why I am where I am today because of Christ that I couldn't help it!  That brings me to...

Where I Am :

I am a Christian saved by God's grace.  That doesn't mean I'm perfect.  Far from it!  In fact, much of this blog is about my failures.  I want to learn from then and become a better person as a result.  My spiritual life is no different!

I know how important reading my Bible is.  I know how important it is to pray.  If my goal is to be more like Christ, I have to know what He was like, right?  I have to understand Him better and know His character.  I also have to talk with Him.  I have to share myself with Him in prayer.

But, this is another are I often fail.  It is something I need to improve.  It is one of my goals.

I started a read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year program this year.  I use the YouVersion app on my phone and iPad.  I'm behind.  REALLY behind.  But, I haven't given up.  Some days (a lot of days) I just don't read the entire days worth of readings.  Why?  Time is part of it.  But, it has more to do with quality vs. quantity.  If I can get in 10 minutes of reading where I can really concentrate and focus on God and what He has to say, that is better than 30 minutes with kids interrupting, DH trying to talk to me, or my own cloudy brain not staying focused.  So, I often don't finish a whole days reading every day.  I might stretch it out for a couple of day.

But, I have recently started a journal that helps me make the most of this limited time.  While I read, I write down any thoughts that come to me.  Questions, inspirations, things I want to remember, prayer requests...whatever I happen to think about.  I also have a section in it for prayer requests.  But, I need a better system for that.

Where I Hope to Be:

My biggest goal right now is to consistently read my Bible daily and pray continuously throughout the day.  This is hardest to do on days that I work.  I generally read my Bible at night since I am hardly ever up before my kids in the morning.  But, when I don't get home until midnight or later, I'm just ready to fall into bed.  I need to come up with a better plan!  So, I might try to experiment with different times over the next few weeks/months to come up with something better.  I know I can't be the only one with this problem.  I'd love to hear any ideas someone has to share!

Spiritual Life: Where I Was

So, here it goes!  A little insight into where I started, where I am now, and what I hope for the future.

I'll start with the category "Spiritual life."

Funny, until I wrote that, I thought this would be a quick once-over of my life.  But, this category alone requires so much more!  I promise, though that this one will be the longest.  Simply because it includes more explanation since many people won't understand without it.  As a result, it is going to have to be broken down by where I was and where I am and where I hope to be due to length.

Where I was:

I was 5 year-old when I first heard about Jesus.  Now, I might have heard the name at Christmas time or Easter (or as a swear word) before that.  But, I didn't know anything about Him.  I didn't know who He was or what He had done.  I didn't know that He was important or that He mattered.  But, when I was five, my dad started taking me to church.

The first thing I learned about Jesus was that He loved me.  You all know the song "Jesus Loves Me."  I think that might be the first song almost every kid in church learns.  It is so simple, yet expresses something so deep.  How do we know that Jesus loves us?  Well, the Bible tells us so, silly!  So, what exactly does it say?

Romans 5:8 says:

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

And therein is the Gospel.  I learned that I was a sinner.  Once I knew what that word meant, I knew it was true.  So many people think of murder or robbery when they think of sin.  You know, things you would go to jail for.  But, sin simply means disobeying God's commands.  The 10 Commandments (found in Exodus 20) can give you a good picture of how I knew I had disobeyed.

Commandment 1:

Thou shalt have no other gods before ME.

Commandment 2:

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments

Commandment 3:

Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Commandment 4:

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Ex 20:9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

Ex 20:10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

Ex 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Commandment 5:

Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee

Comandment 6:

Thou shalt not kill.

Commandment 7:

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Commandment 8:

Thou shalt not steal.

Commandment 9:

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

Commandment 10:

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's 

Clearly, even as a child, I was guilty of many of these!  I had lied to my mom, disobeyed my dad, been jealous of my cousin's new toys, and, since I didn't even know God, He certainly wasn't number one in my life. 

So, I knew I was a sinner.  Where did that leave me?   Well, that verse I shared, Romans 5:8, said that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  What does that mean?  Well, our sin required a perfect sacrifice.  That sacrifice was Jesus Christ.  He shed His blood for our sins.  He gave Himself so that we could be forgiven!

But how do we receive that forgiveness?  First we have to admit that we have sinned.  Next, we have to confess and repent of our sins to God.  We have to be willing to turn from our sin.  We will still fail sometimes, but we have to make an effort not to sin anymore.  We have to believe that Christ died for us on the cross and can forgive our sins.  And we have to receive Christ into our heart by asking for that forgiveness and for Him to be Lord of our life.  When we do that, we are forgiven, saved, redeemed, and become a child of God.   And that is just what I did!  

My life since then has been far from perfect.  I've failed.  I've sinned.  I've been angry at God.  But, throughout it all, God never gave up on me.  He loved me.  He lifted me up.  He forgave me!  I have never regretted the decision to follow Christ.  I don't know how I would have made it through some dark times without Him.  

If you have any questions, please let me know!  I love to talk about what Jesus has done for me and would be happy to talk with you.  If you want more information, you may find this site helpful: Need Him. 

 

Setting Goals

A while back I was part of a ladies' Bible study at my church where we read the book, A Woman's High Calling: 10 Essentials for Godly Living by Elizabeth George.  I highly recommend this book.  In fact, I read it again just a few months ago because I needed a refresher.

One of the things that she wrote about that really stood out to me was her attempt to keep her life balanced.  In chapter 13, Mrs. George wrote about the way she sets goals and figures out her priorities.  She targeted several key areas of her life and writes goal for each of those areas each week.  Some of the areas she includes are:

• Spiritual life
• Family life
• Home life
• Church life
• Physical life
• Social life
• Finacial life
• Mental life

This process really stuck with me.  But, I admit that I haven't always done it consistently.  I know that when I do, it really helps, but I sometimes let life get in the way.  But, now that I have this lovely little blog, I am going to try and be consistent with this.  Perhaps this blog will serve as a sort of accountability.

When it comes to the term balance, I've come to a realization.  Every day is not going to be balanced.  Sometimes, entire weeks won't be balanced (VBS week last month jumps to mind!).  But, overall, I can't neglect whole areas of my life.  This is something I have been guilty of when it comes to housekeeping and when it comes to my physical life.  But, if I can write goals for every week, it will help me really see when I am neglecting an area of my life.

So, each Sunday I am going to write down my goals for the coming week.  My categories are going to be a little different than Mrs. George's - after all, I'm a different woman!  I know that "Homeschool life" is going to have to be a part of my list since I homeschool my kids.  I also know that my categories me change as my life changes.

This week, I am going to start with my weekly goals and each day I might explain a little more about each category, where I am in that area, and where I hope to be in the future.

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He's Still Working on Me

I've wanted to start a blog for a long time.  In fact, I actually have started one before.  More than one, to be honest.  But, something always happened.  I'm not sure if I just lost focus or interest or what exactly.  I think a big part of the problem was finding the right thing to write about.

You see, I love blogs.  I have several that I read pretty regularly and I love finding great new blog posts, too.  I've learned a lot from blogs.  I admire the women who write them.  But, they also often leave me feeling inadequate.  These people - these bloggers - seem to have it all together!  They write about the great meals they made, the wonderful crafts they did with their kids, the amazingly perfect new organizational system they created.  I know they are just people like me.  But, from this side of the web, they look perfect - they set a standard I'll never reach.

As a result, even though I love to write and I love blogs, I've had a hard time coming up with something to write about.  Because I often don't feel like I measure up to these wonderful women whose blogs I follow.

Then, I realized that it isn't about that.  Sure, I'm not a huge fan of cooking and would just as soon make something prepackaged (gasp!).  Sure, my house is almost always a mess and my kids are lucky if they can even find a glue stick that isn't dried out and shriveled up half the time.  But, that's true for a lot of people!  That doesn't mean I don't have great ideas or thoughts worth sharing.  It just means I have some stuff I'm still working on.  Or, more accurately, God is working on in me. 

You see, that is what this is really about.  I'm a work in progress.  Some days I do better than others, but overall I think I'm improving as a person.  I'm becoming a better mother, a better wife, a better homemaker, and a better child of the King.  I finally realized that this is what I wanted to write about: my journey.  The ups and the downs.  My successes and my failures.  Which means being completely honest with myself and with my imaginary readers.

This realization came to me through a simple children's song that I sang in Sunday school many years ago and my kids sing now:

He's Still Working on Me

He's still working on me
To make me what I need to be
It took him just a week to make the moon and stars
The sun and the Earth and Jupiter and Mars
How loving and patient He must be
'Cause He's still workin' on me

There really ought to be a sign upon my heart
Don't judge me yet, there's an unfinished part
But I'll be better just according to His plan
Fashioned by the Master's loving hands

He's still working on me
To make me what I need to be
It took him just a week to make the moon and stars
The sun and the Earth and Jupiter and Mars
How loving and patient He must be
'Cause He's still workin' on me

In the mirror of His word
Reflections that I see
Makes me wonder why He never gave up on me
But He loves me as I am and helps me when I pray
Remember He's the potter; I'm the clay 

 He's still working on me
To make me what I need to be
It took him just a week to make the moon and stars
The sun and the Earth and Jupiter and Mars
How loving and patient He must be
'Cause He's still workin' on me 

I hope that eventually I might get a few readers who join me on this journey.  But, even if I never do, I'm going to keep at this.  I'll be writing about my life and everything in it.   The one unifying theme is my goal to be who He wants me to be.