Blog Book Club

Blog Book Discussions for Week Two. Read or thoroughly review CHAPTERS THREE and FOUR then answer the questions that follow this paragraph. Remember to add your basic bio information every time you comment: First name, age decade, married or single. If at any time, your answer is too vulnerable for you to want to identify yourself, just go with age decade and married or single status. Those facts themselves bring insight to your answers.

1. Based on Chapter Three, what tends to be your own "Prominent False Positive"?

2. What is the challenge stated at the very end of Chapter Three?

3. Based on Chapter Four, what Biblical figure (or statement about him/her) resonated with you most and why?

That's it for this week! Remember, you have until next Monday to answer your questions.

Silent Sunday

Teaching Our Children to Pray
Praying for Brothers and Sisters:
Ask God to help your brothers and sisters desire Him above everything else.
Heavenly Father, please fill my brothers and sisters with a desire to please You and do things Your way. Teach them how to love you with all their hearts, minds and strength so they can be totally committed to You. (Matthew 6:33, Dt. 6:5, 1 Kings 8:61)
Praying for Mom-
Father, please help my mom to relax and not feel like she needs to be busy all the time. Show her when it's time to stop working so she can rest or play. Help her take time to spend with You and with our family. (Exodus 23:12, Ps 23:2-3)
Praying for Dad
Heavenly Father, help my dad to know You better. Show him how much You love him. Help him to make time to spend with You in Your Word and in prayer. Fill him with Your Holy Spirit so he can be the man You want him to be. (Psalm 1:2-3 Ephesians 1:17, 3:16-20

Searching For The Savior Saturday

Sorry to be late today. It has been a week.
I guess that technically this would need to be put under Tuesday for Testimony Tuesday but I think that after you read it you will agree that it could go under either.
Working in an Ob/Gyn office, I have learned to expect the unexpected. You never know what may happen with a patient or what a patient might say or how they may respond to something that you say.
This week my heart was broken, not just once but twice. I have the honor of doing the "Intake Interview" of the women who have just found out that they are expecting. I have sat in interviews that the woman has sobbed during the entire event or they are so full of questions and have read every book on the shelf before they even got to me and they just took their test 3 days ago. I have sat with very young women at the tender age of 15 and the more mature Mom at the age of 45.
This week was a little different. Both of my experiences left me with my mouth on the floor and my heart broken and my gut in knots. After going through all the medical part of the chart, we get to go through the "fun stuff". Like Wal-Mart catalogs, Olan Mills and belly to baby pictures, and all of the other great things that you get in that "Goodie Bag". Typically before I go through the bag, I ask "THE QUESTION"......Do you have any questions I can answer before we get started? Both women said the same thing using almost the same words......"Do you all do terminations here?" My first response is "Oh NO!!!!" I just calmly reply that we do not in our office but they are more than welcome to meet with a physician if they would like.
My heart wanted to share with them Psalm 139. To express to them that those cells are now a baby. There is a plan for that baby. That baby is not an accident. It has a beating heart, arm and leg buds, moves around, has a developing brain and on and on I could go. I wanted to tell them how much God loves them and how He has a plan for them and that He sent His Son to die for them. I wanted to wrap my arms around them and tell them that we would stick with them through it all.
I have prayed and prayed for these 2 women. Both agreed to see a physician and discuss "options" with them before making such a huge decision. I was overwhelmed for them. Part of me wanted to preach and part of my wanted to hold their hand.
How do you respond when you are faced with someone who is about to make a choice that could alter their life forever? What if you are at work? What if you know that they are a Christian? What is your response? At this point, I can pray for them. I can share a smile and express the love of the Lord through words and actions if I see them at the office. I believe they maybe Searching For The Savior. Oh, how I pray they find Him!!!!!!!!
This week, think on how you would share at work? at home? with a neighbor? Share your ideas in the comment section!!!!!!!
Pam

If you are like me being inside gets me ready to clean out. With this wonderful winter weather we have had I have had a lot of time to declutter. I found this article and thought it might be helpful. From Lorrie Flem's blog http://www.homemakingwithteach.com/lorriesblog/

How to Decide to Save It or Wave Bye to It. . .
. . . 10 Things You Should Ask Before Deciding

All day long moms have many decisions to make, what to cook for dinner, whether to do two spelling lessons or not, if we should go to the library today or tomorrow, etc. We have all kinds of decisions to make and one of the biggest and longest lasting as far as long-term impact, is whether or not we should buy this or that . . . or not. Here are 10 questions to ask yourself when faced with talking yourself into taking it or leaving it.

1. Do I have a place to put it?
Do you tend to make impulse purchases and then have to deal with where to put it and how to use it? I’m especially challenged in this area when garage sale or thrift store shopping. Come on! A deal is a deal and where to put it and how to use it don’t often enter into the decision. It’s a grab it now or someone else will!

So, let’s make a conscious decision to stop and think before we buy. Make purchasing decisions based on knowing exactly where it will go in your home. If you do, chances are you won’t make that impulse purchase after all!

2. Do I absolutely love it?
This question won’t work in every case. I mean, I don’t love my vacuum, I just love what it does to my carpet! But this is a great question to ask yourself when you are trying to decide whether to keep an item, or get rid of it. If you cannot honestly say you absolutely love it, chuck it!

3. Is it a time or money saver?
If you can’t use it for one of these, and, if it doesn’t bring you joy when you see it, let it go!

4. Will it still be current when I need it again?
Saving clothes, shoes, and textbooks between kids is rather risky. I like to use the saying, “When in doubt, throw it out.” Clothing styles change rapidly as does technology. It’s easy to replace clothing from thrift stores and it’s just too easy to find the most up-to-date information on the web to keep many books.

5. Am I hard up for hard copy space?
Saving papers means we need storage space AND we need to be able to relocate where we stored it. Rather than printing from your computer, save a copy to your computer. Create different folders on your computer or better yet, store it on a removable or external drive the size of a pair of fingernail clippers!

6. Am I hanging on to it out of obligation?
Let’s face it, we all feel a twinge of guilt when we think about not keeping a gift. It’s good to ask ourselves the question of whether or not we’re keeping it out of obligation. If we are, then we need to remember that a gift is given without strings or obligations, and the receiver is free to do as they wish with the gift.

7. Will it affect me financially if I toss or shred it?
There are many places that you can get advice on what financial records you need to keep and for how long. Beyond that, you can shred financial papers without fear. If it’s a receipt for an item you still own that is under warranty, by all means keep it with the owner’s manual, but other than that, fear not!

8. Do I really need to buy it, or can I rent it?
Movies, carpet cleaners, sewing machines, foot baths, etc. How much have you purchased that you only needed once or twice a year? In most cases, rather than owning and thus storing, you can rent much of what you use.

Let’s think about entertaining. If you entertain infrequently and need some warming trays and large beverage dispensers for coffee, tea, and/or a cold drink, the charge to rent isn’t usually anywhere near the cost to purchase and you don’t end up with clutter that you have to store!

9. Do I use it?
Why do we keep things we don’t use? If we don’t use it, lose it! If we don’t wear it, donate it! If we don’t eat it, get rid of it! Think how much less work there will be around the house if we don’t spend all our time maintaining stuff we never use, wear or eat!

10. What’s the worst case scenario if I get rid of it?
By trying to figure out the worst `what-if’ we can be assured that in all likelihood, it won’t ever be an unrecoverable act to get rid of something. For example, say you shred your bank statements and end up needing a copy of one of the statements? No problem, simply contact your bank for another copy!

Or, if you have scanned and stored copies, you have them at the ready without having paper taking up valuable space. In nearly all cases, recovery is that easy!

Hope you found this helpful.

Happy FRIDAY!!!

Galatians 5:7
You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?

Some things to ponder.
1. Are you running the good race?

2. In what area do you need to ask God to help you stay on track?

3. Are you letting some one or some thing "cut in on" you and keep you from obeying the truth?

4. Are you "cutting in on" some one and keeping them from obeying the truth?

Ladies, this race is hard and long but so worth it. Keep your eyes on the prize and keep running.

Have a great Thursday.

Worshipful Wednesday

Ladies sorry for the delay.

Welcome to our first “Blog Book Discussion”! We are excited to take this journey together through the pages of Beth Moore’s new book, “So Long Insecurity”. We have special edition books available for $21. Or you can pick one up at your local bookstore.

Here’s how a “Blog Book Discussion” will work. Each Monday we will post a reading assignment for the week along with a few questions. The idea is to read your assignment, then log back on to the blog to answer the questions or to comment before the next Monday’s post. We think this is a really great opportunity to share our hearts and feelings without having to all be in one place. Each Monday we will post a new assignment and questions. We will do this for the 9 weeks up until the Simulcast on April 24th, perfectly timed to finish the book the week of the simulcast.

Ok, here’s your first assignment:

Week One: Read the Introduction, Chapters 1 & 2

1. Write a journal-type entry on the inside cover of your book describing this present season of your life and why you’ve chosen to read a book like this. What do you hope to learn from this journey?

2. When was the last time you came face-to-face with our gender’s massive struggle with insecurity? Describe the setting. (Based on Chapter 1)

3. What part of the definition or description of insecurity resonated most with you and why? (Based on Chapter 2)

After you’ve read assignment log onto the blog and click on comment at the bottom of this post. (You can comment using an account or post anonymous without one. If you are having trouble commenting contact Tara and I will walk you through it.) Please start with your first name, age decade, married or single(so that we will all have an idea where we are each coming from). Then post comments or answers to the questions.