Faking Grace

I just finished reading the book Faking Grace, by Tamara Leigh from the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance. I really enjoyed its message. Here is the breakdown of the plot:

Maizy Grace is a reporter in need of a job to help pay her bills. While she has called herself a Christian since her childhood, her faith has never gone beyond that. Now, she finds herself in two part-time jobs: one as a lifestyles writer for the local paper and the other as an editorial assistant at a Christian publishing company. Desperate to prove herself to the local paper and land herself a full-time position as an investigative reporter, Maizy finds herself living two separate lives and getting herself into a real mess when the paper assigns her the job of investigating Steepleside Publishing and exposing its skeletons. While facing down demons from her past, Maizy realizes that she may not be cut out for investigative reporting if it means ruining the lives of those she is coming to know as friends. While trying to fake her way as a Christian, Maizy finds herself yearning to be more than a "cultural Christian," and realizes she has to pick one life or the other.

The author does a good job at examining how the world looks at Christianity and the fact that everyone, Christans included, suffer from temptations and trials. What is different is the way these trials are handled.

I also found myself examining my own hypocrisy in my life. While I put on the right face when at church or other places in public, I find it easy to make all kinds of excuses as to why I am not faithful with my pray and personal study life. I fear that I am more of a cultural Christian than I would like to admit. Faking Grace has prompted me to make a renewed effort to incorporate my faith into every aspect of my life.

I would highly recommend this book! It is a quick and easy read with a wonderful message!

Keep the Promises You Make to Yourself!

I was indulging myself a while back with some Dove Dark Chocolate when I came across this admonition on the inside of my wrapper. Wow! I really needed to hear that. It got me thinking.

I will follow through with something for someone else, but I really don't keep the promises I make to myself. Whether it be to eat more healthy foods, exercise more often, blog more frequently, keep the clutter cleaned up, keep in better touch with my family and friends, or keep up with my daily quiet time, I just always seem to fall short in some way.

I have made schedules many times, written lists, even asked Andrew to keep me accountable.

What happens?

I ignore the schedule, procrastinate on my lists, and gripe at Andrew for "nagging" me about the task. Crazy isn't it?

So, I will try again! I am going to try to keep the promises I make to myself. Huh! Who needs a counselor when you have Dove chocolate?

What about you? What do you do to keep your promises to yourself?

Mother's Day

I thought I would put up some pictures from today. Brook (my sister-in-law) and I cooked lunch for our mom's today. We gave our gifts and visited around the table. And, of course, I had to hold Cameron for a while. :)

After we visited for a while, Andrew and I went by the cemetary and then came home. Then I did what I do most Sunday afternoons~I took a nap!

I will be honest. Today has been pretty difficult for me. While I am glad I was able to honor special moms in my life, it has been a very real reminder of what I have lost. However, I am very thankful that I had the gift of Sydney, even for a short while. It is amazing the difference even a few hours can make on a person's life.

Daily Devotional: Delighting in the Law

I have been pretty lax in my quiet time, lately. You may have noticed that there have not been any daily devotional posts lately (and then again, maybe you have not noticed). I had temporarily stopped going through Knowing and Loving the Bible because I had started the Beth Moore study on the Psalms of Ascent. However, I just have not been able to get myself into the study. Maybe it was because I had built it up too much in my mind. Maybe it was because the last study I did (Walking by Faith) was so great for me that this one just could not stand up with it. I don't know. I was pretty excited because I had heard so much great stuff about Beth Moore studies. But, this one just was not for me right now. I will probably still try another one again later.

But, this morning, I went back to Knowing and Loving the Bible. The lesson this morning opened with just what I needed. I was instructed to meditate on Psalm 19 and write down what I learned. The verses that stuck out to me were verses 7-11.

7 The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.

8 The precepts of the LORD are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.

9 The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever.
The ordinances of the LORD are sure
and altogether righteous.

10 They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the comb.

11 By them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.

That is in much contrast to how I think I have looked at the Bible and God's instructions to me. That would go a little more like this:

The law of the Lord is hard, I can not possibly keep it.

The statutes of the Lord are demanding, I don't know how to do them.

The precepts of the Lord are boring, I fall asleep reading them.

The commands of the Lord are tedious, I get tired of trying to keep up with them all.- I mean, I get most of them. It is the little ones that are harder for me to remember and follow through with...

You get the picture. I have thought of God's Word as more of what I do than who I am; what I am passionate about; what I live for. But what Psalm 19 says is that God's law is perfect and it will revive my soul, even if it is hard. His statues are trustworthy, not demanding; they make me wise. The precepts are right and will bring me joy, not fatigue. His commands for me are radiant, not tedious, giving me light to walk by.

God gave me the Bible to be my help and guide. It is my promise of a better future with Him. By keeping these commands, I am not completing my chore list, I am being warned and prepared for a reward!

I want to look at my Christian walk with more joy and less complacency. I want to be excited when I sit down to read the Bible, not just checking something off of my to-do list for the day.

God, help me to be passionate about your Word. Help me to be joyous about my Christian walk. Help me to appreciate this gift you have given me through your Word!

Food for Thought

I just read an amazing post over at Gina's blog about what types of things we take into our lives. It was a very challenging post. I have struggled back and forth with how I feel about it through the years. Check out what she says and then please come back here to weigh in.

Over the years, I have watched television shows or movies that contain ways of life that I know God would not approve of. Should I be staying away from those things? I have always justified this by saying that I can tune out the bad stuff. But, is that enough?

What should I do with the time that I normally would spend watching "the tube?" I have really enjoyed reading inspirational blogs like Gina's and reading Christian fiction novels. What other types of entertainment would you suggest for Christians? I am just curious how you spend your time.

I would love to know what you think about the matter.

Stingy Much?

I have recently discovered, well really I recently admitted something about myself. I struggle with being stingy. I want to help people and do what I can for them, but I don't like it when it makes me uncomfortable. Here are some examples:

My friend, Sandi, and her husband recently started up a new ministry working with the local refugee/immigration service office. Our church is helping a family from Burundi who recently was relocated here after spending the past 12 years in a refugee camp. They don't speak English and only have five months of support before they are on their own. We are helping them learn about shopping for groceries, getting clothes, taking them to doctor's appointments, getting the children set up in schools, etc. I had volunteered to help out with transportation to doctor's appointments. However, when the day came to go for the first time, I found myself dreading it. I was worried about the language barrier and the fact that it was an OB appointment did not help much either. Everything turned out well, but why was I reluctant about helping?

"It's OK," you might say. "It is normal to be apprehensive in a situation like that." Well, here is another example. This one really is what made me acknowledge my stingy tendencies. I have had a girl from my church on my prayer list. She has been in the hospital on bed rest for premature labor. She recently was released and is now just waiting for the baby to come.

The college group at church is collecting money for her. Andrew and I were discussing how much we wanted to give her. (We are currently attending the college small group as Andrew is the faculty sponsor on campus.) I found myself low balling the amount I was suggesting we give. What?! Yes, it is true! After all of the money people gave us while we were in the hospital, the college group in particular, I was being stingy.

Thankfully, Andrew is one of the most giving people I know. He volunteers his time, money, ideas, muscles, whatever you need. He overruled my suggestions. I want to be a giving person. I want to give of my time, money, muscles (what little I have), and whatever else people may need. And, I want to give it cheerfully! I hope to make overcoming my stingy nature a goal for 2008.