Have you ever seen a child after being told to clean his room, drag his feet, fold his arms, and lug himself ever so slowly moving towards that dreaded room? You know, he is walking in the right direction but it’ll take him 3 hours to get there… and once he gets there he sits down to read a book or play instead of getting down to business. I listened to a stirring sermon today by Gary Petty that asked if that just might be us. I am a child of God. This is who I am– this is what I became when I was submerged under that water and had hands laid on me. More than anything, this is who I am. Am I dragging my feet on the way to obeying Him? Has my desire to please Him diminished? My Father, My Creator watched His son die for me- and here I am dragging my feet, half-way obeying Him and taking 3 hours to do what He asked me to do. 

The more I delve into the heart of this issue one question kept coming to mind: Do I really want to please God? Or are His laws necessary burdens? There is a difference between obeying because I know it will yield positive results and obeying because I love the Lawmaker. So I’m asking myself and I challenge you to ask yourself- Do I wake up and ask God, ‘How can I please you more today than I did yesterday? Show me new ways I can serve you and glorify you!’ Do you want to be shown? There is seeking and then there is submitting. I think sometimes I am willing to submit to doing it His way but the honest truth is that I’m not seeking it. I’ll do what I know God requires of me- but I don’t want to go looking for more ways I can submit.

On the other hand, it’s so easy to get wrapped up in pleasing those around us- our friends, our boss, even our family. How often do we do things to gain the favor of other people… as opposed to doing things to gain the favor of God? Am I spending more time trying to please my husband than I do trying to please my God? Are my actions, day to day, motivated by a clear desire to love, honor and glorify my God?  I can remember getting up with my cousins in the middle of the night to clean the house just for mom. I felt compelled to do something nice for her- granted, when I turned on the vacuum at 3 A.M. I can’t remember being rewarded for my acts of service… but I did have an honest desire which led to action to please her. Have we lost this for our heavenly Father? Are we willing to get up early, stay up late and sacrifice physical things to please Him? And we shouldn’t just be willing, we need to want to! I like to picture God looking down, pointing at me and saying, “I choose you. I want you to be my Child and I want to have an intimate and loving relationship-  the two of us in this thing together forever.” I think wanting to please Him has to start with grateful remembrance of that. I must begin and live and end every day as a Child of God and take comfort in knowing that God has given me everything I need to be a Child of His for all eternity.

I think Psalm 116 illustrates the process we all need to go through when we find ourselves dragging our feet to please God. Read David’s words and see if you aren’t reminded of all God has done for us. And then get down on your knees, up onto your feet and please Him more today than yesterday.

1 I love the Lord, for he heard my voice;
    he heard my cry for mercy.
2 Because he turned his ear to me,
    I will call on him as long as I live.
3 The cords of death entangled me,
    the anguish of the grave came over me;
    I was overcome by distress and sorrow.
4 Then I called on the name of the Lord:
    “Lord, save me!”
5 The Lord is gracious and righteous;
  our God is full of compassion.
6 The Lord protects the unwary;
  when I was brought low, he saved me.
7 Return to your rest, my soul,
  for the Lord has been good to you.
8 For you, Lord, have delivered me from death,
  my eyes from tears,
  my feet from stumbling,
9 that I may walk before the Lord
  in the land of the living.
12 What shall I return to the Lord
  for all his goodness to me?
16 Truly I am your servant, Lord;
  I serve you just as my mother did;
you have freed me from my chains.

Marcus Aurelius once said, “How much time he gains who does not look to see what his neighbour says or does or thinks, but only at what he does himself, to make it just and holy.” A topic that has been on my heart lately is covetousness… or probably as we would call it today, comparison without contentment. I’ve been thinking a lot about how often I do this, how it affects my attitude and how it ultimately affects my intimacy with God. And the first thing that I realized is just how easy it is to do! This world is set up in such a way that it constantly pushes us to compare ourselves. You can’t turn on the TV without seeing a car you don’t have, a husband or wife that is in perfect shape, or the newest phone or ipod or kindle that you can’t afford. You’re also reminded that ‘You’re worth it,’ and urged to ‘Obey your thirst’ by companies like L’Oreal & Sprite. Oh and at the same time you’re on Facebook and everyone you know has a better life than you apparently. I mean, given all the honeymoons, new babies, new homes, job promotions and all. And then there you sit- all empty of blessings, filled with envy, eating potato chips with your credit card in hand ready to go buy something that you ‘need.’ Somehow it’s easy in these moments to feel kind of slighted- like someone (God) left you out… why wasn’t I invited to the blessings bandwagon that everyone else seems to be on? 

The more I look into this topic I believe we live in a world that is designed to make us unhappy with what we have. Wasn’t that at the core of Lucifer’s decision to rebel against God? Before he turned his back on God a seed started to grow deep inside his heart and soul. That seed was covetousness. He wanted more from the One who had more than he did. He felt cheated. It ate him up from the inside out. Scary stuff. We cannot let this happen within us. This is one of those areas that we have got to acknowledge daily and get rid of it daily! Think seek and destroy. “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Cor.10:5) That’s a question I have to ask myself ALL the time- is what I am thinking in obedience to Christ? Am I demolishing anything that is against the knowledge of God? Are my thoughts destructive towards my relationship with Him or with others? Because we live in a world that is constantly whispering in our ears that we deserve more, that we won’t be happy until… and that our worth is tied up in the things we own- we must take every thought captive. Coveting plants a seed of bitterness. That seed left to grow will produce many things that will separate us from God. Coveting leads to jealousy, envy, greed, always wanting and seeking more and receiving nothing but more and more discontent and frustration. Let me tell you a secret- it will never be enough. Without God, nothing and no one ever is. Ever. It’s not a secret really, it’s just something that none of us can seem to get through our heads. It has been true for all time and will continue to stretch into eternity. God has placed me exactly where I am, with exactly what He wanted to give me, with exactly who I am supposed to be with. Exactly. Therefore it does not matter what my neighbor or my best friend have. We are fully equipped right where we are. And we must believe this if we are to avoid spiraling into a discontented and envious state.

In 2 Peter 2 it says that there were some IN THE CHURCH who, ‘have a heart trained in covetous practices…’ Could this be said of you? I know at times it could have described me. First of all coveting is a heart issue. This is not a quick fix. This is an on your knees, in your mind, purposeful daily choice. And one you must choose if you want to find true joy. The word trained here implies a mode of behavior, to teach by doing various exercises, a pattern of conduct. Is your heart trained in covetousness? Are you constantly comparing the blessings of your life to other people’s? At the gym or at school or at church, do you spend too much time comparing your body to someone else’s? It’s like a disease and the more you feed it, the more it grows within you- until you have a heart that is trained in covetousness. The verse goes on to say, ‘They had a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children.’ Don’t become accursed. Don’t allow this to consume your life and hurt your relationship with God. Let’s get on our knees and thank God for being exactly where we are and for being fully equipped to do everything He call us to do!

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. – Psalm 118:24

Alex & I are in the midst of our first media fast where we attempt to refrain from any unnecessary media for a couple weeks. Movies, TV, Facebook, etc. It has been rewarding and difficult at different moments. But, one good thing that has come from it is that I have had the quiet time to read more. My latest finish is ‘Cold Tangerines’ by Shauna Niequest. I enjoyed the book but my favorite part was almost at the very end. I love that, it’s like a little present for reading all the way though. 🙂 I thought I’d share it today:
“Everyone has something to say. Everyone. Because everyone, every person was made by God, in the image of God. If He is a Creator, and in fact He is, then we are creators, and no one, not a bad seventh grade English teacher or a harsh critic or a jealous competitor can take that away from you.”

I have always known that we were created in the image of God. And I have always known He was the Creator… but I never put those 2 together before. I’ve always been a DIY-er at heart. Whether it was scrapbooking, painting a room, building a table or writing I’ve always enjoyed the process of creating. It’s like I get in a zone- in a space where I’m completely focused on the task. It requires my entire focus because no one is telling me what to do, there’s no template to follow- it’s just me, my brainwaves and my ideas. Creating. When I read that passage I realized why I love that feeling so much. God made me that way! In fact, He made all of us that way. I believe, like Shauna says, that we all have one thing or many things to create. Each of us have different gifts & strengths which allow us to create something uniquely ours.

Writing is something I’ve really always been doing but I’ve been doing it casually, whenever the impulse strikes. As of late I’ve been trying to identify ways that I can serve those around me- especially in a season of life without children of my own yet. And one of those ways, I think, is to write. So I’ve tried to make this transition from writing solely for my own pleasure to writing for others too. And sometimes it’s hard; sometimes I need a push. In those moments, it really helps me, first of all, to recognize that God created me to create. So I can do it. Despite my own weakness, writer’s block and lack of experience- I do have something to contribute. Secondly, it helps me  to remember that God served in the most primal and profound way by creating when He created the universe and put us in it. Therefore the time and energy and revision is a form of service- and an important one! 

So, I challenge you to create. You were made to do it. Whether it’s a painting, a book, a note to a friend, a fixer-upper, a garden or a new deck… keep doing it and thank you. If you aren’t currently doing anything like that, think about it. What can you create to contribute? How can you serve His creation? If you’re already doing it, keep going and I hope this gives you a little more incentive to do so. And every once in a while, stop to consider that you’re following in the footsteps of the Ultimate Creator.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth… God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.” (Genesis 1:1, 31)

So we decided to head towards a goal- one of simplicity and future discipleship. So, we did. And by ‘we’ I mean God did and we followed along bewildered and giddy. We said to each other about half way through this period that we would share all the things that just ‘worked out’ because it’s pretty hard to NOT see God’s hand in this. So here we go- the evidence is about to be piled high.

1. Part of what I left out in the previous post was that the 2 weeks prior to our garage-epiphany I spent praying that Alex & I would have a united vision regarding my role in our marriage. I had become more convinced that what God was calling me to do was to focus more of my energy at home. I didn’t know how to bring this up and not add pressure to Alex, which was the last thing I wanted to do. So I have this rule- if I want to bring up something serious with Alex (or anyone really) I make myself talk to God about it first. For 2 weeks, every day. I was seriously on day 13 of my 14 day prayer period when Alex brought up the topic on his own. As I sat in the car and listened to Alex go on and on about how much pressure it would take off of him if I was at home I just burst into tears. Awesome. Wonderful. My Cup Runneth Over.

2. We purchased our home in February of 2012 and it took until September for them to finish it. We bought the end of February because they were raising the price of the home by $20,000 a couple days later. Instant equity- awesome, right? God didn’t think that was awesome enough apparently because by the time we sat down with the realtor the price to build our exact home was up by $40,000! And, I’m honestly not joking, the week before we put it on the market it was up by $70,000. It went up $30,000 from the time we met with the realtor to when we put it on the market. Now don’t think we walked away with all that money- it doesn’t work like that but God did bless the process and we have our 20% to put down on that next, smaller home of ours. By the way, I feel the need to remind you that this is the REAL ESTATE market, in MICHIGAN. Only God could have done that- it’s a fact.

3.So we held 1 open house on a very rainy Sunday. The weather was just awful- wet and unseasonably chilly. We got home a little early so we went and parked near the house to wait for it to be done. Our spirits were a bit down because honestly, who would want to come out to look at our house in this weather? But we sat in our car, as the rain pitter-pattered on the windows and prayed. We said, ‘We know You can bring the buyer even in the rain, Father. If it’s your will, please do!’ And He did- the buyer did walk through our house that day… and we handed the keys over about 2 weeks later. It was almost as if He wanted us to KNOW that He had done it- on a cold, wet, miserable day. There could be no doubt.

4. So one of the reasons we wanted to leave that particular house was because of an over-bearing and ridiculous set of bylaws from our Home Owner’s Association. Okay so we were newbies at homeownership and should have read the bylaws before we moved- but we didn’t. Turns out I do not appreciate being told where I can and cannot plant a bush in my yard. Not cool. So anyways, we will pay more attention in the future. So, we’ve had our house up for sale for about 16 days at this point and the realtor calls. Apparently it is not classy enough to have a for sale sign in our yard. And we know this because the president of the HOA called and told the realtor we had to take it down, citing the aforementioned bylaws. Humph! How are we supposed to sell our house if we can’t have a for sale sign in our yard??? Frustrated, I walked, okay stomped, over and pulled the sign out of our yard. By the time I told Alex I had a little better attitude and remember saying, ‘Maybe this is God’s way of saying we won’t need it anymore.’ We got our offer a couple hours later. 🙂

5. We lived in the house from September 12th-May 31st. Because it was a new build our winter tax bill rate was based on the land without the house on it so we paid basically nothing. The summer tax bill comes out June 1st, so we didn’t have to pay it. We lived in that house for the exact right amount of time. Now tell me that isn’t divine timing?! 

6. After accepting the offer I had to broach the topic of working part-time with my boss. To say the least I was extremely nervous. But given that we had 2 weeks until we had to move- it was time to rip the band-aid off! So I did. And in the end, he suggested better hours than I did and we took no more of a paycut than anticipated. How did that happen?? In effect I was promoted and allowed to hire someone as my assistant for the time I wasn’t going to be in the office. He also allowed me to work 1/2 days the week before closing so I could move almost everything over to the apartment. What a blessing!

7. So we put the house up, accepted an offer in 2 1/2 weeks and set a close date for 2 weeks later. I had my 1/2 days and was a moving machine! In fact we were entirely moved out about 1 week before closing. The only thing we were waiting on was the appraisal. Which I wasn’t worried about. Why should I be? It’s a brand new house right? Well, I guess you can’t call it brand new anymore since we did live in it. Oh and there’s that ding in the wall in the spare bedroom. And the A/C needs to be recharged… and then all the sudden it’s me calling Alex in a panic telling him I just know the appraisal isn’t going to come through and then the buyers will walk away and now we have our stuff in 2 places! Naturally he did what good husbands do and assured me God would take care of it as He had everything else. And He did. He made me wait 3 more painful days, but alas the appraisal came in for EXACTLY what we were selling it for. No more, no less. Isn’t that the way God works? 😉

8. Not only did God provide a wonderfully easy and pain-free ‘out’ but He gave us an ‘in’ too. We accepted an offer and a close date 2 weeks away and we officially had no idea where we were going to live. We knew we wanted to get into an apartment while we looked for our smaller house to buy. So, I did about an hour of research, narrowed it down to 2 and Alex & I went on our way to choose. We prayed that it was obvious which one to take. And after one of the apartments came with a free 32″ flat screen TV, a random special of $50 off per month, washer and dryer in the unit and the water and trash are included it certainly was a no brainer. Once again, He provides! We signed that day and are so happy with our cute, quaint little ‘meanwhile’ apartment.

9. A day before closing our realtor gave us  a call- that’s the one that makes your heart jump into your throat when you see the name on your phone. It can’t be good, right? Everything really had gone too smoothly… In fact all was well- but he wanted to know what company had written our Title Insurance policy when we bought the house and wondered if we could find it. Right. We didn’t just move on a whim in a week or anything… but miraculously (no, but seriously though) I did find it. The same company “happened” to have written our previous Title Ins. policy and was willing to give us a $300 discount on the one we had to buy for this closing. Crazy, I know.

10. We expected to get a certain amount back from our escrow account sometime after closing. So we had figured that into everything and were really happy with it. Well about 2 weeks ago we got a check for almost double the amount we expected from our escrow. That is what I like to call the proverbial cherry on top.  (We also recently discovered we owed some tithes and had paid them back to God the week before… so I’m pretty sure that had something to do with it too. :)) “Bring all the tithes into the store house, that there may be food in My house, “and try Me now in this”; says the Lord of Hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.’” -Mal. 3:10

Those are just a few that we remember. I can tell you though, that there were MANY times in those 3 weeks that we felt that God was opening the windows of heaven and pouring out such blessing that we couldn’t contain it! Praise God!

 

PS- Happy Birthday Mom! After 50 years I’m sure you’ve had many ‘my cup runneth over moments…’ Here’s to MANY more!

So it’s hot, humid, and rainy today AND Alex is taking his motorcycle safety class from 5:30-9:30 Monday-Thursday for 2 weeks starting today AND I’m using the rain as a good excuse to avoid going running… So I thought I’d sit. Sit and write. With coffee and maple blueberry crisp by my side. What can go wrong, right? Days like today- where distractions are few and the quiet is abounding- are the days for soul searching. So I was thinking, ‘What have I done recently for my soul, to renew my purpose, to sharpen my vision, to relax my schedule enough to remember what’s truly important. Immediately I thought: The move. I know you’re all dying to know why we traded in our beautiful 2200 sq. foot home for a pretty-average little apartment. So here it is. 🙂

On a Saturday in January God’s hand was working mightily in our little lives. We were at church, I was chatting away with my Aunt about how Americans have become addicted to affluence and about how so many people ‘need’ both incomes and ‘can’t afford’ to have children, yatta yatta yatta. Little did I know Alex was listening in. We got in the car to drive home and it was too quiet- if you know Alex, you’d understand given his upbeat, outgoing, lively nature. And then he says, ‘You know how you were talking about all those people addicted to living on 2 incomes’… Mhm… ‘Well, is that us?’ Insert long pause here. ‘Yes.’ I answered with a sheepish smile. So once we got that out of the way all we could do was talk. Talk and talk and talk. About where we were, about where we wanted to go, about jobs, about our vision, about children, about what God wants of us, and about sacrifice. We talked the 45 minute ride home from church and we sat in our garage for another 2 hours and we talked. Mind you it was January- so we froze and talked but we just couldn’t stop.  So we decided that what we really wanted was for me to stay home for our future children and we couldn’t afford to do that in the house we were in. Finally Alex said, ‘But you love this house, would you really move now?’ And I looked right at him and said, ‘Tomorrow, sweetheart.’

That was one of my favorite moments in our marriage. Those 2 hours in the garage that ended in a promise to be purposeful about where we were headed so we could accomplish what God wanted of us. We felt so powerful. And radical. Maybe a little nervous laughter escaped here and there. But most of all we felt united. It is a wonderful thing to be united in a vision together with your spouse.

So, that was all well and good- but there were a LOT of logistics to be figured out. After all we JUST moved into this brand new house built just for us in September. We decided to sleep on it, pray about it and see how we felt the next day. We both went to bed secretly wondering if we were going to feel differently tomorrow. And we both woke up even more excited about downsizing than the night before. So we called a realtor. And then we called another one. And we put one foot in front of the other- one prayer after another. We put the house up for sale in mid-April and we accepted an offer within 2 1/2 weeks. We closed on May 31st.

Throughout the entire process we kept looking at each other and saying, ‘I can’t believe this is working out so well! What is happening?!’ Sometimes we jumped up and down in excitement; other times we caught each other’s eyes across the moving boxes and they filled up with tears of gratitude. It was like every time we had to take another step we just prayed, a door opened and we walked through it. Just following along as He led. The prayer we kept praying was, ‘Lord, we want to do what You want us to do. We think you are leading us to downsize so that our future children can have 1 parent stay at home and so we can have a slower pace of life to spend more time with You and with each other. Please take us where You want to take us and help us to make wise decisions with the money and assets You have blessed us with.’ And He delivered. As He always does. That season of life was one of the best faith-builders for each of us we have ever experienced. To take our hands off the wheel, surrender the course of our life to Him, and watch Him guide and direct us so gently and blessedly where He wanted us to be… it was awesome. I’m still on a spiritual high and I think I will be for some time.

There is SO much more to say about the experience that I can hardly organize my thoughts about it. There are a million lessons we have learned and are learning still. But for today I want to leave you with this one piece of encouragement. Let go and let God. Believe that He will bring you to where you need to be in life. Believe that He will bring you a godly spouse. Believe that He will bless you with children when it is time. Believe that He will carry you through school, work, big decisions and terrible times. Believe. Because I promise you that He delivers, every time! Oh, and by the way, we feel ‘richer’ than we ever have before- following where God leads you will do that, every time!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6 

Okay, so I must apologize for the hiatus- if you can call a whole entire month away a hiatus… but I have a wonderful and full reason why. Alex & I made the decision to move from our big, wonderful, brand new home to something less… and at the same time more. I’ll fully explain that later but I can safely say that we are in a much smaller apartment, living on less and feeling ‘richer’ than ever before. And it all happened so fast- so fast in fact that we had sold our house and I had no idea where we were going to live. Hence, the ‘hiatus.’ 

Somehow I have managed to maintain my reading addiction amidst all the packing and trips to Lowe’s and the post office to change addresses. The most recent book I read was recommended to me by my sister in law (who shares a love of reading those things that make one feel full and awake and alive). It’s called ‘Bread & Wine,’ and I absolutely loved it. There are so many great lessons to pull from it but I am just so anxious to get back to writing that I’ll choose just one that stood out to me to share today. 

She talks about how the table, with the bread & wine, can be a daily reminder of just how much we need God. We are reminded of our humanity, our fragility as our hunger drives us to the table 3 times a day. It also struck me that we should be reminded of God’s constant delivery of sustenance for us. He created the hunger and He fills it every day, with every cookie, muffin, granola bar and meal. He delivers. Every time. I’m going to try to remember that each time I grab a quick snack from that overflowing refrigerator of blessing. 

This was one of my favorite parts of her book: “When the table is full, heavy with platters, wine glasses scattered, napkins twisted and crumpled, forks askew dessert plates scattered with crumbs and icing, candles burning down low- it’s in those moments that I feel a deep sense of God’s presence and happiness. I feel honored to create a place around my table, a place for laughing and crying, for being seen and heard, for telling stories and creating memories. Body of Christ, broken for you, Blood of Christ, shed for you. ‘Every time you eat the bread and drink the wine,’ Jesus says, ‘ remember me.’ Communion is connection, remembrance. …the genius of Communion, of bread and wine, is that the bread is the food of the poor and wine the drink of the privileged , and that every time we see those two together, we are reminded of what we share instead of what divides us.”

I just love that. I realize we have a different view of ‘communion’ than the author does but she writes of a principle we can agree on! What an awesome perspective on something so routine as dining. I love those moments- when you find something spiritual and profound right smack dab in the middle of the mundane. It changes it forever. For me, meals are filled with greater meaning now than just filling a physical hunger. There is something innately sacred about coming to the table. We come to fill a physical hunger but the truth is that with the right mindset and the right people surrounding you something far deeper is filled within you. So, the next time you find yourself around the table take a moment and thank God for filling you- in the best and most profound ways.

So one of the first things I looked into when I became a wife and wanted to be financially savvy was couponing. I had no idea what I was in for. There are people who basically do this for a living! And nothing against that (they do extremely well for themselves) but I just don’t have that kind of time. So I thought I’d share some basic things that I do use to help lower our grocery expenses without eating up precious time.

1. http://www.coupons.com 
This is a great resource- basically you create an account and put in the grocery stores you frequent. Then it pulls up coupons that are printable that you can use at those stores! Easy peasy. Typically I have 3 sites up when I’m making my grocery list and this is one of them. It’s quick and easy to look up, print out and head out. 🙂

2. http://www.kroger.com
I love Kroger. They have a huge organic foods section and if you use coupons on their site you can’t beat their prices. A cool thing about this one is that once you register you can load the coupons directly onto your kroger card online. So no printing… awesome, right?!

3. http://www.krogerkrazy.com
Why do all the work if someone else is already doing it for you? I use this site often! She puts on here deals and which coupons you can combine to get the best savings at Kroger. Love it. Often she is using kroger coupons + coupons off of coupons.com.

If you don’t shop at Kroger you can probably find a blog like krogerkrazy for your store. I’d google it- once you find one, just follow it and it’ll likely help you save with a limited time commitment.

Couponing Caution: So, I have to put in here a few pitfalls to avoid when you decide to start using coupons.

1. Only buy what you really need. Just because Cheezits are on sale does not mean it is in your budget. It’s really easy to get sucked in because if there is one thing that we are all afraid of- it’s missing an opportunity. Take a second and consider if it really is a savings for you or a marketing ploy success.

2. Don’t compromise on quality because you found a coupon for it. I am a firm believer in putting real, raw, living foods into our bodies. Sometimes I find myself compromising if I have a coupon. ‘Yeah there is MSG in it but it’s SUCH a good deal!’ It is not a good deal if it is hurting your health. Period. 

Anyways, there are just a few things to get you started. Hopefully this is helpful- every little bit helps!

Hospitality is a huge topic and one I’m really looking forward to delving deeper into. As women, I believe this is a calling we must take seriously. Why is it so important anyways? Well, let’s take a look…

“Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” (Rom. 12:13) It’s pretty obvious that God expects us to practice hospitality but what was interesting to me is the context of this command. Earlier in this chapter Paul is explaining our calling to become living sacrifices. Apparently showing hospitality is one way to do that. Previously I thought of hospitality as a way to serve… but it’s more than that. It’s a way to lay down our priorities, time table, food and home as a sacrifice to others. And I had to ask myself how willing I am to do these things. Because I am into budgeting I have to confess that the first thing that goes through my mind when we have unexpected visitors is the extra food we’ll need to buy and if that will fit into the budget. Sad, right? I must be willing and gracious about serving others… even if that means we have to do with less for the rest of the month. When I have done this, I realize every time that the quality time we spent with our guests far outweighed any extra cost. We must be willing to sacrifice in order to serve lovingly and graciously to whomever comes in our door!

This also made me think of Proverbs 31:13: ‘She works with willing hands…’ I think the whole topic of ‘willingness’ is one worth looking into. Am I a willing worker in our home or am I begrudging what needs to be done? Am I excited about what God has called me to or enduring it? We must be willing, warm and active helpers to our husbands.(and whoever else we come into contact with)

 ^“But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.” (1 Pet. 4:7-9) It was also interesting to me that it says ‘above all’ we are to show hospitality which demonstrates having a fervent love for each other. God places emphasis on this… and so should we! Oh and the ‘without grumbling’ part… well let’s just say I have work to do. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in my plan that it almost irritates me to be hospitable. Embarrassing, I know… and yet it is something I struggle with. It’s one of those scriptures I know He put in there just for me to read. 🙂 

Often it is helpful for me to look at the principle behind a biblical command. I believe the principle behind God’s command to be hospitable has to do with self-sacrifice and self-control. We must be self-sacrificing of our time, energy, homes, food, etc. We must exercise self-control with regards to our thoughts and attitudes towards those who enter our homes. So, next time you have an unexpected guest at the worst time try not to think of it as an inconvenience but rather an opportunity to lay down something of yours and grow in sacrifice. (Something we are ALL called to.) And my guess is that with the right attitude, you’ll even enjoy the company. 🙂

Another concept naturally came up when I was looking into this topic. What about movies/music that aren’t openly sinful but also aren’t uplifting or educational? What about the grey areas in media? I think this scripture speaks to that: ‘Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, And revive me in Your way.’ (Psa. 119:37) How many of the things I watch or listen to are just worthless? If I am watching those things how much of my time am I devoting to them? I believe this involves our calling to redeem the time. Our job is to spend every day growing closer to God, developing righteousness and ultimately bringing ourselves closer and closer to accepting eternal life.

Thinking on this has spurred Alex & I to reevaluate how much time we spend watching TV, being on the internet and just doing eternally ‘worthless’ things. I’d encourage you to ask yourself the difficult but honest question: Do I spend more time growing in godliness or tuning out and focusing in on worthless things?

One of the things that I am also passionate about is putting good stuff back in. Though Alex & I wanted to get rid of sinful entertainment it did leave (for shame) a large hole in our lives. So we started brainstorming what we could put in that would be uplifting and godly. Here is a short list of what we have tried to add to our repitoire:

1. Brian Regan comedy DVDs- he is a clean comedian and always cracks us up and brightens our mood.
2. Courageous, Fireproof & Faith Like Potatoes DVDs- excellent messages and extremely uplifting
3. Anne of Green Gables box set- helps me travel back to a much more innocent time and who doesn’t love Anne (with an E)!?’
4. Sons of Korah- an awesome band that puts the Psalms to music. I would HIGHLY recommend them.
5. Documentaries such as Indoctrination, Gather the Family, Food Inc, etc.- very educational and uplifting. You can find a bunch for free at the library too.
6. Planet Earth, Life and other nature DVDs- great for after church on the Sabbath too.
But mostly, we are trying to spend more time doing active things. Playing tennis, riding bikes and going for walks together. When we prioritized being active we have less time for ‘worthless’ things and don’t miss them as much.

Anyways, our study into this topic has changed our life. We are much more aware of Satan’s influence and I think we are much better equipped to fight the good fight for God’s righteousness. I would love to hear from you the steps you’ve taken to guard your heart, mind and family. Any ideas for us to potentially use? We must not allow Satan’s influence to take hold in our lives- actively or subtly. God has given you a heart, a mind & ultimately eternal life- guard them with ferocity!!

So, how does it start? This being conformed to the world, letting Satan’s influences in, turning away from God… I believe it is subtle. It starts small and before we know it we spend 2 hours during the day on Facebook, another 2 hours at night watching TV and we suddenly can’t function without our music (which may or may not have been strongly influenced by Satan). And we have ‘no time’ for bible study or prayer. The reality is that we are called to light and are to have NO PART in darkness. ‘Let not your heart turn aside to her ways; do not stray; into her paths.’ (Prov. 7:25) It begins with ‘straying.’ Where are you straying? In what areas are you dabbling in sin? Are you compromising with what music you listen to? Does a favorite artist have just one song that is overtly sinful but you try to ignore that and continue listening anyways? By contrast we are called to do what is listed here: ‘My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.’ (Prov. 23:26) Have we truly given our heart to God? Are our eyes focused on Him and His ways?

‘I will not look with approval on anything;that is vile. I hate what faithless people do; I will have no part in it.’ (Psa. 101:3) That scripture cut me to the heart. How many things do I see every day that would fall into this category? Satan is doing a great work and it is all around us. This also made me ask myself, do I really ‘hate’ sin? David says in that Psalm that he hates what faithless people do and that he will have NO part in it! (Note that he didn’t say he hated the people… he hated their sin and so should we.) There is nothing unloving about hating sin- remember that because this world will try to convince you otherwise! Are you taking any part in sin? If so, rid your life of it now and remember this command: ‘Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.’ (Col. 3:5) We must put to death those sinful things and we should not be watching movies or listening to music that promotes any of these things. They are ungodly and will be put to death upon the return of Jesus Christ. And by the way, if you are aware of the fact that a music artist is ungodly and you choose to continue to listen to it this is a form of idolatry. Nothing should be so important that we place it above God. Guilty? Me too.

When Alex & I first started throwing things away it got real. I can remember saying, ”Man we’re throwing away a lot of money here.’ And then we remembered this: ‘Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ.’ (Phil. 3:8) Perspective. Then it didn’t seem like a loss. It turned from mourning the loss of old loves to an urgent frenzy to remove any ungodliness from our home. (And a fervent burning desire to keep it out!) It’s amazing how God works with us! Remember: obedience first, emotions follow.

Keep an eye out for part 3 of Guarding Our Hearts!