Thursday, July 30, 2009

Bible study notes: Running nowhere in every direction - Week 2

Week 1 is always the introduction and rules and such, so there's not much insight to glean. Each week we will have 2 lessons to do homework on.

The first lesson is on 'My schedule'. Boy do I have some changes to make! I need to find a better balance between working and home and all these other things that pulls me and my time away from what I want to and need to be doing with my life. It's stressful to be constantly in the beginning of everything! I feel like all these things I've always wanted to do and be are still waiting for me to start achieving. Life just gets in the way...So I need to find a balance and contentment on that journey.

The second lesson this week is on 'Expectations'. Now this is a great topic for me! Over the past few years, I have learned alot about unfulfilled expectations. There are alot of people in our lives who have certain expectations of us, including ourselves. One of the stories we studied was Mary and Martha from Luke 10. Martha had expectations of herself for all she had to get done and she certainly had expectations for what she thought Mary should be doing to help her get everything done! When she brought it up, Jesus said, on the contrary! Mary's got it right, being here with me. When you pair up the Proverbs 31 woman with this story, it seems like a contradiction but think of it like this: It's wonderful to be great at home and work and parenting...but your relationship with God is more important than all of it! Because without it, we will fail miserably :)

Parents, be careful with how many expectations you put on the kiddos. They need to do their activities out of fun and fellowship purposes...not because they are afraid to disappoint their parents and potentially lose their affection.

I've said this before and I'm sure I'll say it again. If you are living in a sad and disappointed hole because of the way your life has turned out vs. the way you expected it to when you were young....you have to find a way to mourn the loss of those ideas about the way life was 'supposed to be'. Only when you find ways to mourn it and get past it, will you be available to dream new dreams for yourself! Don't waste your life dwelling on what could have been. It's upsetting enough that those things are going unfulfilled, don't let years pass by with more and more unfulfillment piling up!

Finally, we read from 'The Message', Matthew 11:28-30:
Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me-watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythm of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly.
I ended my study tonight with a simple prayer that I'd love to share with you. 'Jesus, teach me to rest! To put away the burdens of this life and find you where you wait for me, the flowing refreshing currant of your river of grace! It's a happy place to arrive!'

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Guilty as charged: neglect in the 1st degree

Wow. I have severely neglected this blog. This blog is my blog, my personal thoughts and life blog. You won't find any advertisements. There will be no discussing of what's going on in the news unless I am directly affected. This is the place where I can come and be me. I want to use this space on the net to express myself in the most honest way I can, to feel free to say what I want and need to say! I'm a bit disappointed that I have not utilized this platform more. Well, things they are a'changing!

There has been so much going on the past few months, crazy busy schedules and events pulling me to and fro. Momma was in the hospital. I will write more on that in another post. I haven't been to church for a Sunday morning service in 2 months or more; this does not make me happy. It only adds to my stress because I feel less 'in touch' that I feel when I am around my church family and fellowshipping and singing out loud some praises. Not lost at all, just not in my favorite comfort zone. And with me, when my spiritual life is feeling off, it directly affects all other aspects of my life.

In future posts, I plan to write about alot of things that have been going on lately. Here's a list of topics to watch out for:
  • Reuniting with old friends through Facebook
  • Momma being in the hospital
  • My friend Jen's illnesses
  • My new/old relationship with a friend, Kim
  • My special friendship with Jenn (different one, pay attention to spelling or you will get confused LOL)
  • My continued haunting/mourning of an unrequited 'love' and what I've learned from the experience
  • A new friend, Darlene
  • Taking pictures while driving
  • Taking notes while driving (do you see a trend starting?)
  • Upcoming bible study: Running nowhere in every direction
  • A revelation about being crucified with Christ daily
  • My OCD issues
  • Free will is very expensive
  • There's more to losing weight than just weight loss
  • A new perspective on the oldest thorn, the sin nature
  • Finances
  • Sitcoms are my never ending books, that's not good
  • Annoyed with being ignored-no call backs, no re-emails
These are just a few of the things floating around in my head that I want to blog here about. The list will grow as things come to mind. Please come back to visit, please comment, let me know you are alive and reading this and want to interact with me. Thanks for reading today, have a great afternoon!