Today is Day 8 of our Advent devotional, the second Sunday of Advent, and our focus is on whether Jesus is the Messiah. John the Baptist is languishing in a prison cell, needing some encouragement from Jesus. Many of us may also go through times of doubt in our lives, so we need to understand that our faith is grounded on truth.

If you’d like a bit of background about Advent, you can read Day One’s entry.

To read today’s entry, simply click on the link below.

Second Sunday of Advent

Over the weekend, violent storms pummeled part of the Midwest, including my community. Although the morning started out sunshiny and beautiful, by the time the afternoon rolled around, I definitely had my eye to the sky as angry, black clouds played hide and seek with the sunshine and warning sirens echoed through our neighborhood.

The worst of the storms passed slightly to our north, but some friends of my son, Jesse, weren’t so lucky. Trinity’s family home was hit and partially destroyed by a tornado. The storm took out two rooms of their home and a salon that was also on their property that they used for a home business.

Jesse, Cameron, Trinity, and Heather headed north to see if they could help Trinity’s family, bringing along a pack of water bottles. The area was hit hard, and the four of them ended up joining a crowd of people helping a neighbor whose barn was destroyed. They ordered pizzas for the family and worked in the dark trying to bring some order to the chaos.

Even though Trinity’s family was hurting, they reached out to help others, becoming the hands and feet of Jesus. Bringing hope and healing into despair and destruction.

The message carved in the mud on Trinity’s house is a testament of faith, words of hope in the midst of a storm where The Sacred is intersecting the not so Everyday.

One of my passions is finding the sacred in the everyday, like our tagline says. While I love special holidays and holy days, I don’t want to wait just for those times to draw close to God. I want to sharpen my sense of Him every day. But it’s too easy to get caught up in the daily details of living and forget to look for Jesus right where I am.

Record God’s Fingerprints

I’ve challenged myself to record His fingerprints in my life: as many times a week as I can, I am going to post a picture and a few words about where or how I’ve seen Jesus that day. It may be through a person, a place, a thing, or an idea. I’ve been thinking about this for a while, trying to become more aware of that thin space where heaven and earth meet. I’m excited to capture what often goes unnoticed — His sacred meeting my everyday. I hope you’ll join me — and share some of yours too.

Pray on!

Ransom notes are serious things. Ransom notes mean that someone’s life is at stake. Jesus paid a heavy price to ransom us from sin and death. How did God feel about paying that ransom? Click on the link to find out: Take 5! Ransom

One Thing and Living

“For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him Crucified.” 1 Corinthians 2:1-2

Jane and I welcome you back to Week Three of The Simple Life! We are very excited to continue this journey with you into the simple. We pray that you are learning to find simpleness and peace in your life by focusing on one thing–Jesus. May you continue to answer God’s call God to leave the complicated and embrace the simple.

Here’s our short introduction to the week 4 study:

If you missed the Week 3 Community Call Week, here it is. Lots of good things were discussed, so be sure to listen if you have time!

Weekly Homework

Remember to check your email every Tuesday evening for your new password for the week.  Below you will find homework for each level of study. Feel free to change from Level 1, Level 2, or Level 3  as your schedule allows! Remember, there is no pressure to complete every activity. These are just options for your growth. They can be accessed at any time, even after the study ends.

Level 1, Study: Weekly Goals 

• For Week 3, do chapters 5 and 6 in Becoming A Woman of Simplicity.
• Remember to focus on Jesus.
• Feel free to do any of the other activities from Levels 2 and 3 as your time allows.

Level 2, Community: Weekly Goals 

• For Week 3, do chapters 5 and 6 of Becoming A Woman of Simplicity.
• Answer the question on the Speak Your Mind comment section at the bottom of this post.
• Join the Community Call, Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. EST on Talk Shoe (Information on TalkShoe is in your weekly email.)
• Listen to the Podcast for information on casting your burdens on the Lord . Simply click on the link below.

 Level 3, Opportunity: Weekly Goals 

• For Week 3, do chapters 5 and 6 of Becoming A Woman of Simplicity.
• Answer the question on the Speak Your Mind comment section at the bottom of this post, join the Community Call on Wednesday night on TalkShoe, and listen to the Podcast at the link provided up above.
• Don’t forget to check out our private Facebook page. Leave your comments about this week’s study, post your prayer requests, or share any insights/questions you may have. Only members of our Bible study group will see these posts.
• Your Simple Challenge activity for this week is Sabbath. “To keep a Sabbath is to set aside a 24-hour day in which you do no work to rest in God’s person and provision. Sabbath is a time to refrain from your normal responsibilities in order to pray and play with God and others.”   For ideas on how to go about planning your Sabbath, click on the link below.

Sabbath

Take advantage of the Extra Simple resources by clicking on the links below:

   Priorities

Sabbath Rest

 Sabbath Day

Image courtesy of Evgeni Dinev / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of stockimages / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

https://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=3840

For your listening and worshiping pleasure, please be blessed by the beautiful music of Paul Cardall–simply beautiful!:

Questions of the Week (Please respond in the Speak Your Mind section at the very bottom of this page).

1. How did you spend the Sabbath this week? What did you feel and how did it affect you and your family? What did God teach you through this time?

Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of evgeni dinev / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of Vlado / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

As Mary and I are preparing to kick off our first ever online Bible study offered by Only By Prayer called The Simple Life, I’ve naturally been doing some reflection on what I think the simple life looks like. I’ve come to the conclusion that I definitely know what the simple life doesn’t look like based on past and current experience. I can tell you that it doesn’t look like any of the following things, all of which I’ve done at some point in my life.

• It doesn’t look like working until 9:30 p.m. every weeknight grading students’  English papers.
• It doesn’t look like staying up until 10:30 p.m. or 11 p.m. every night writing an e-book.
• It doesn’t look like doing household chores all day Sunday to try and prepare for the next week.
• It doesn’t look like skipping my devotion time repeatedly because I’m too tired to get up in the morning.
• It doesn’t look like watching the whole summer pass by with the realization that I’ve only sat down twice in the evening on my deck to relax and read a book.
• It doesn’t look like my children and I only seeing my husband every other weekend for the duration of six months while he works across the country.
• It doesn’t look like wading through a house filled with too much junk!

I’m pretty good at knowing what the simple life isn’t; it’s what it is that I need to figure out.

Now, I know that life has its seasons, and some seasons just have to be endured, but when you realize it’s gone from a life season to a life pattern, then it’s time for a life change!

So far, in my early prestudy ruminations, I’m beginning to see that simply doesn’t necessarily mean easily. Here is what I think I want the simple life to look like: To me, the simple life means 1) sitting at the feet of Jesus 2) undergirding everything with prayer 3) being intentional with my time and resources, and 4) pursuing and listening for God’s next thing for me.

Now I just need to learn how to do all that! How about you? What do you think the simple life looks life for you?

Would you like to join us in exploring The Simple Life ? There’s till time for you to sign up.