Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

As we celebrate Valentine’s Day this week, I wanted to look at some of the verses in the love chapter of the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13. These verses are wonderful for us to aspire to. Lest we become discouraged of ever being able to live up to the standard that God gives us in these verses, however, I wanted to take a look at what these verses could look like in the real nitty-gritty details of life. I know that we all have times where we fail in trying to keep this high standard of love; after all, Jesus was the only One who ever loved completely unselfishly, but let’s look at some possible ways we could live out each verse.

Love is patient, love is kind.

• I will keep my voice in a kind tone when disciplining my children.
• I will not talk in a sarcastic manner to my spouse.
• I will listen with my full attention.

Love does not envy, does not boast, is not proud.

• I will be content with my house, with my furniture, with my clothes.
• I will not boast about all my children’s latest accomplishments to everyone within hearing.
• I will try to maintain a humble spirit when I do get something new or take that next vacation.
• I will regularly count my blessings.

 Love is not rude; it is not self-seeking.

• I will control my temper when I am driving.
• I will be courteous to slow checkout-lane clerks.
• I will wait my turn in the exit lanes of the highway and not speed up, hoping to wedge myself in at the last second so that I don’t have to wait in the long exit line.

 Love is not easily angered; it keeps no record of wrongs.

• If my spouse responds crankily to me, I will attempt to keep my temper.
• I will not remember everything my spouse or children have ever done to hurt me. I will not hold grudges. What if God did this to me?
• I will strive to have a good relationship with my in-laws.

Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.

• I will speak the truth in love to my family and remember to show them the same grace that I would want extended to myself.
• I will be truthful in my conduct at work, including how I spend my time there. Am I wasting time on Facebook or personal e-mail?

Love always protects, always trusts,always hopes, always perseveres.

• I will choose the decision that aligns itself with God’s word. I will remember to honor my family and not speak badly about them.
• I will not lose hope in God’s ability to work in every situation with myself, my family and my friends.
• I will persevere in prayer.
•  I will remember that God loves me.

Love never fails.

• God’s love never fails. SO, I will extend grace to others and myself when people fail and disappoint me, or when I disappoint myself.

Do any of these verses speak to your heart? What are some ideas you could share with us on living out the love verses from I Corinthians 13?

Happy Valentine’s Day, and pray on!

Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth and to rule over the day and over the   night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.”                                                     Genesis 1:17,18

I am overwhelmed at the beauty God blesses us with. What are ways that I can bring beauty into other people’s lives each day? Lord, show me how to share this with others. Perhaps in a …

beautiful meal I cook and give away,

a scarf I knit for a friend,

a smile I share with a stranger,

a prayer I pray.

What are other ways we can share God’s beauty? Feel free to add your thoughts!

“Like the cold of snow in time of harvest is a faithful messenger to those who send him, for he refreshes the soul of his masters.”   Proverbs 25: 1

When I look at this photo, I am reminded of how delicate and fragile life is … of how much we should cherish this gift God has given us. What do you have to celebrate in your life today?

“That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;” Colossians 1:10

Have you thought anymore about how you want to live a life of purpose in 2012?

In the last blog post, we discussed four ways you could do this in 2012. After having some time to mull these over and maybe try a few of the suggestions, let’s look at the next four items on the list.

5. Choose a non-fiction Christian book to read that challenges you. Before you start reading this book, pray and ask that God will change you in the process. Ask Him to show you what you need to learn from this book, and pray that you would be open to making the changes God wants you to make. Stick with it, even if it’s slow going. Actively read the book. If the book is your own copy, this means you should write in the margins, highlight sections you want to remember, and make notes in the text. The more you interact with the text, the more of it you will take in. Try to repeat this process a few times this year. If you’d like a few book suggestions, you could start with one of these:

• I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist by Geisler and Turek
• Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis, or anything else by him
• Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas

6. Schedule a retreat at a retreat center. Do this with a group from your church, some of your friends, or take a night or two or three by yourself at a retreat center and spend some time with God in prayer. I know you spend time in prayer at your own home, too, but there’s just something different about getting away to a retreat center that you can’t duplicate elsewhere. First of all, when you’re away from home, you can’t be distracted by all the work you think you should be doing at your house. You’ll be able to use the time to completely disengage from the responsibilities of child care, cleaning the house, or doing the laundry–guilt free.

Secondly, retreat centers have resources for you to take advantage of like prayer labyrinths, chapels, libraries and even classes for you to take. Try it. You’ll love it. Ask God to show you what He wants you to learn from the weekend. Be sure you write down what you are learning and where you go from here. You can use the following link to help you find a retreat center near you, searching by your state:  Retreat Finder. Keep in mind that not all of the sites listed are Christian, so research the listings before you make a reservation. I even found a site close to my house that  does not charge a set fee–it’s on a donation basis!

7. Begin a new spiritual discipline in your life. Have you ever wanted to explore fasting? Or perhaps you have an interest in  journaling, or maybe the discipline of self-examen has piqued your interest. Spend some time learning about a discipline and then begin to incorporate it into your life. Both Dallas Willard and Richard Foster have classic books available on the disciplines, and either book would be a good place for you to start learning.

8. Begin praying through the World Watch List of the 50 most hostile, restrictive countries in the world (to Christianity). Open Doors USA compiles this annual list. Click for the 2014 version.

I’m excited about living a life of purpose in 2012. I wonder how God will change me through this process. Have you tried any of the suggestions yet, or are you planning on doing one soon? If so, we’d love for you to leave a comment and tell us about it.We’ve got four more suggestions to go, and Mary is going to cover those in the next blog post.

Until then, pray on!

“That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;” Colossians 1:10

Happy New Year!

The start of a new year is always exciting, because I feel like I’ve got a clean slate ahead of me with lots of possibilities. One theme that has been running through my mind is that I want to live a life of purpose in 2012. Mary and I have jotted down some ways we’re going to try to do that this year, and we wanted to share those with you.

So, here’s the first four items on our list:

1. Get involved in something bigger than yourself. It’s easy to get so caught up in our own lives so that all we think about is ourselves and our situations. When we are going though a difficult time, we tend to think the world revolves around us and our situation because we are so inner focused. Having a cause that is outside of yourself is one of the best ways to maintain your stability and a healthy spiritual and mental outlook. It’s a wonderful antidote to depression.

Even if you are physically incapacitated, you can still be involved in world matters simply by praying. I know two women who are just about housebound because of health problems. One of them is actively involved in placing at-risk children in temporary housing, and the other one has a vibrant prayer ministry for people all around the world. Both of them do these activities from their homes.

Here’s a few ideas to get you started on finding a cause to be involved with:

•  Volunteer at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter.

• Extend a micro-loan to a struggling entrepreneur through Kiva and then pray for that person.

• Become a tutor for adults or children.

• Prepare a meal for shut-ins.

• Volunteer at your church.

• Pray for persecuted Christians. You can find information at Open Doors or Voice of the Martyrs.

• Mentor a person younger than you.

• Join something God may be calling you to like the choir, drama group or teen ministry at church.

• If you are housebound, ask some of your favorite ministries at your church if there are ways you can volunteer for them from your home. Maybe you could put together their monthly newsletter. Many ministries are also in desperate need of someone to handle grant writing for them. This is a skill that you can easily learn from your home through an online class. Here is a class that you pay for that teaches you the grant-writing process (https://www.ed2go.com/online-courses/grant-writing-a-to-z.html), but I’ve also seen free tutorials;  also often times the ministry itself will train you to do this if you volunteer for them.

2. Pray faithfully for your family. Sometimes we forget to pray for our families because we are busy praying for other people. Or, we may get discouraged if we don’t quickly see the changes we want to see. Make it a priority to pray for your family. Write down in a safe place detailed requests and perhaps some scripture that relates to the situation and then pray for them several times a week. Remember to record any changes you see in your family–and you– so that you have a record of God working in your lives.

3. Pick a Bible study and see it through to the end. I know I often start a new Bible study with enthusiasm, but half way through it, it can become hard to maintain that motivation. I’ve found that if I stick with it and finish the study, God always does a work in my life. Check out some studies from Beth Moore and Kay Arthur (Precepts) just to name a few to get you started.

4. Take a few minutes each day to connect with God through His creation. Have you ever tried keeping a nature journal? I’m not particularly artistic, but I really enjoyed this activity when I tried it a few years ago. It forces you to slow down and really see things. Study a snow flake. Set up a bird feeder and watch the birds for a few minutes each day. In the warmer months, grow some flower and vegetables. Learn the names of the different trees in your area.

You can keep a traditional nature journal by purchasing a blank artist’s notebook and colored pencils. Sketch as best you can what you see. Or maybe you want to try an online version. Take pictures with your digital camera and upload your pictures to an online gallery, such as Picasa Web Albums or Flickr. You can also use Mixbook, Walmart, Meijer, or any of the other myriad photo applications to make an actual printable book with your photos.

As you begin to observe the world around you, God’s hand prints become so much more noticeable, as does the verse from Ecclesiastes 3:1 “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.”

I’ll continue this series in the next blog post. If you have any of your own ideas to add, please leave us a message. Until then, pray on!

Image: vichie81 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

O Come Let us Adore Him

These words have been ringing through my mind today as Christmas draws near, and it’s more than the obvious reason that I’ve heard this Christmas carol on the radio or that Christmas is only five days away. Much more. God has been readjusting my vision this Christmas.

Christmas 2011 will be a different Christmas for us. It’s the first Christmas that we won’t have both of our children with us. For the past 23 years, the four of us have always been together to celebrate. We have our traditions, our special things that we do together as a family to welcome Christmas Day. They’re very much a part of what makes Christmas Christmas for me. Maybe too much so?

As many of you know, our son Jesse is on a walk across America to raise money for the burn center at Riley Hospital for Children where he was a patient in June of 2010. Three months ago when Jesse decided to do this walk, I thought surely he couldn’t be meaning to miss Thanksgiving, his birthday and Christmas. Could he? When I asked Jesse this over the phone, he said, “Mom, how is that going to look if I fly home for Christmas when people are sponsoring me, and I’m supposed to be walking across America?”

The reality that I knew was coming but had been avoiding thinking about had arrived. With the certainty that Jesse would not be home and possibly not Amber either as she now has her fiancé and his family to consider for Christmas plans, I was forced to look at where I was getting my real joy for Christmas from. Was my joy coming from my perfect plans all going according to schedule, or was it from the gift of Jesus in my life?

As I have had to adjust my perception of celebrating Christmas, God has been shifting my focus to where it should be. The priceless gift of having Jesus as my King is coming clearly into focus. To know that He is with me each day in the nitty-gritty good-and-bad that makes up my life is what God is showing me I should be celebrating.

I’m wondering what your Christmas will look like. Maybe you’re struggling through a painful divorce. Perhaps you’re hooked up to a chemo IV. Or maybe you’re blessed this year to have all of your family with you. Whatever your life is or wherever you are this year, Jesus is there. And that’s Something to celebrate.

O Come let us adore Him …

Pray on!