My husband Brad and I joined a Speechcraft class through Toastmasters International last week!! This might appear as shocking to some of you who know us well, in some ways it shocks us that we are attending. We both decided we were going to do something a little bit risky and out of our comfort zone. Speechcraft is about improving oral communication, leadership skills and in turn fosters self-confidence and personal growth. This past Tuesday, I was to give my first 2-3 minute ice breaker speech about myself. The class was originally told we were to give a 4-6 minute speech and that is what I initially wrote out. I had to edit my speech down a lot when I delivered it and presented it in 3 minutes and 5 seconds. I thought since I wrote out this complete speech and didn't get to deliver it all, I would share it with you.
A Life on Purpose
We are all here on earth for a purpose and as we journey through this life our desire is to discover that purpose. Born and raised in Goshen within a loving Christian family unit, I knew that I was loved. But as I entered the world in Kindergarten, life hit me with the truth of our humanness. The words “you are fat” spoken to me without knowledge of the depth it would settle in my heart. These words started defining my life patterns. I grew up with a desire to fit in, to be included, to be chosen but as my self confidence waned, I discovered that I had academic ability. So I dove in completely to my school work, I applied my perfection personality and never looked back. I obsessed, worried and believed that if I get all “A’s” it would give me the sense of purpose I was seeking.
I excelled all through school and during this time I continued to battle with my weight. Tugging at my heart strings were the thoughts that if I was skinny I would fit in better with everyone. In my schoolwork it was evident of how my fears were playing out. I never pushed myself to take classes that possibility might jeopardize my perfect scores, I participated and excelled in all the business courses. So as my senior year arrived, I was awarded the honor of salutatorian of the Fairfield High school class of 1990.
My father owned Miller Brothers Builders and Miller’s Building Supply in Goshen and with my business skills; I knew that is where I would spend my working years until I became a mother so college wasn’t necessary. Life was playing out as planned. I spend a year at Bible School in Ohio where through a dear friend, I met my Canadian husband, Brad and after 3 years of courtship we were married in 1994. I worked at Miller Brothers as business manager. The fears, lack of self confidence and weight issues continued to plaque me during all these years and even though life on the surface looked good, I struggled internally to know my purpose and the plans God had for me.
Life took an abrupt turn on September 20, 1996 when I received a call from my mom, her and dad were on vacation in Branson, Missouri to say that “dad just went code blue and she would call me back” He passed away of a massive heart attack shortly after the call. Now what? My business abilities kicked in and I along with my only sibling, my brother Nate and Brad we took over Miller Brothers and Miller’s Building Supply, God granted us knowledge and wisdom to operate the business.
I was blessed to become a mother in January of 1998, a wonderful, adorable boy, Bryson. When Bryson was 2 days old, life again took another abrupt turn. A nurse entered our room in the early morning hours to let us know that she had observed some strange activity during the night that could resemble a seizure and they wanted to run a battery of tests. What seemed like hours, a doctor arrived to tell us there was evidence from the CT scan of some brain abnormalities and Goshen Hospital wasn’t equipped to handle this and was calling Riley Hospital to send an ambulance. The fears of the unknown, was Bryson going to die? Bryson was born by C-section and so I was recovering from surgery. We called our friends and family to pray. I recall being wheeled down to the nursery and held my son before he left. Not knowing if I would see him alive again or what all was in store. The doctors were kind and released me to accompany my son down to Riley. After several days at Riley, Bryson was diagnosed as having suffered a stroke before birth.
The next several years were involved intensely with Bryson’s physical and medical issues involving physical, speech, occupational therapies, doctor appointments, EEG’s and lots of seizure medication. My purpose of life now was to give my son the best life possible. I struggled turning this time to understand the “whys”, why my son, why me? It really didn’t seem fair, I didn’t sign up for this. As I processed through these emotions, I was put on the bottom of the priority list and my weight increased. It took me several years before I was able to accept this part of God’s plan for my life and with this healing, I got an increase in my self confidence. I realized that I was an advocate for my son and I had to stand up and fight for him.
IN 2000, we welcomed Tyrell into our family and he brought another piece of joy to our home. As I adapted to 2 children and the intensity of Bryson’s needs, I was diagnosed with depression. This opened my eyes to some of my emotions and fears, and I was able to work through some of these thoughts and feelings. And then in 2003 we welcomed our youngest son Kaden. So with my quiver full of 3 boys, my oldest son with special needs and my self confidence increasing, I was still plagued with fears and my weight. I was just surviving on this journey called life.
Finally in 2007 I decided I was done just surviving and I wanted to discover what God had for me. I cleared my calendar of all extra activities and made it the Year of Lisa. I started reading and digging deeper into who I am. I discovered that the first thing I had to address was my weight issue. IN 2008, I lost 40 pounds and gained another level of confidence by feeling good physically because of exercise and healthy eating habits. But I still needed to unearth the other issues that were buried deep that were not letting me fully live out the plans for me. I hired a life coach and have spend the last several years seeking to understand who I am, starting to read the Bible in a new way and other books that clarify what my being here is all about. I am still on this journey but I have grown so much in understanding my purpose and as Jeremiah 29:11 says: For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
I cling to the motto that is on the wall in my living room “The purpose of life is a life of purpose”. And I wait with anticipation for the next adventure God has in store for me.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
The Road I don’t want to Travel
God has given each one of us different roads and paths to travel during our time here on earth. Some are straight and smooth and others are full of curves and potholes. My life has included some of each. Right now I am afraid that God is leading me on a road with curves and potholes and I don’t want to go. It is not that I have never traveled this road before; it is because I have traveled this road many years ago and the potholes were very big and deep and caused pain with each bump.
Over the last several months Bryson has had some unusual episodes at school and on December 27th, Brad and I experienced 3 episodes with him while celebrating Christmas in Canada. The road I am afraid of is SEIZURES. I have struggled the last several weeks thinking about the possibility. I can’t even see the road ahead and I really haven’t even started walking down this road yet, but the possibility of it keeps taking me back; back to that road, back to the place where I lived in such fear, hopelessness, and sadness. Bryson had a seizure when he was 2 days old that started our journey. He started on a low dose of seizure medication. At 10 months old, we asked for an EEG in hopes that he could get off his medication. But that is when the road curved sharply and the bumps started coming. For the next several years, we had a neurologist who believed he could HEAL Bryson of Epilepsy and Bryson was over medicated, lethargic, and didn't seem to be improving. As parents you want to do everything you can for your child and you believe that doctors know what is best. Finally, we reached the end of our rope and went for a second opinion to Cleveland Clinic. Here is where we started seeing hope and a future outside of seizures and medication and as I stated in an earlier post, Bryson has been drug and seizure free for over 5 years.
What else did I write in that same post – “and we stand firmly believing that God healed Bryson from Epilepsy “What does that mean for this road I might be approaching? I believe God, I don’t want to question him; I don’t want to doubt his healing hand? NO I don’t want to travel this road, but I know that God has a plan, and maybe the purpose is for me to deal with that road that I traveled many years ago, deal with the anger I have toward that doctor. God wants me to travel again down those roads and repave them; repave them with His love; His care; His understanding, repave with forgiveness.
In my daily reading from the chronological Bible today, Genesis 18:1- 21:7, I was challenged with the way that Abraham questioned and pleaded with the Lord over saving Sodom if he found righteous people. He asked again and again. I also pondered on the question in Genesis 18:14 “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” Nothing is too hard for Him, He will be with me as I travel these roads laid out ahead of me, He is ok when I question him over and over to try and help me understand. He loves me!!
So I finally picked up the phone today and called the neurologist about what the next step should be. As I start down this road, I desire to seek God in every curve and in every bump. I desire to seek His face and ask Him questions. And as I walk step by step, I will continue to believe that nothing is too hard for my Lord and that HE can make this road smooth and straight!! God knows what He is doing and I just need to walk with my hand held firmly in His!!
Over the last several months Bryson has had some unusual episodes at school and on December 27th, Brad and I experienced 3 episodes with him while celebrating Christmas in Canada. The road I am afraid of is SEIZURES. I have struggled the last several weeks thinking about the possibility. I can’t even see the road ahead and I really haven’t even started walking down this road yet, but the possibility of it keeps taking me back; back to that road, back to the place where I lived in such fear, hopelessness, and sadness. Bryson had a seizure when he was 2 days old that started our journey. He started on a low dose of seizure medication. At 10 months old, we asked for an EEG in hopes that he could get off his medication. But that is when the road curved sharply and the bumps started coming. For the next several years, we had a neurologist who believed he could HEAL Bryson of Epilepsy and Bryson was over medicated, lethargic, and didn't seem to be improving. As parents you want to do everything you can for your child and you believe that doctors know what is best. Finally, we reached the end of our rope and went for a second opinion to Cleveland Clinic. Here is where we started seeing hope and a future outside of seizures and medication and as I stated in an earlier post, Bryson has been drug and seizure free for over 5 years.
What else did I write in that same post – “and we stand firmly believing that God healed Bryson from Epilepsy “What does that mean for this road I might be approaching? I believe God, I don’t want to question him; I don’t want to doubt his healing hand? NO I don’t want to travel this road, but I know that God has a plan, and maybe the purpose is for me to deal with that road that I traveled many years ago, deal with the anger I have toward that doctor. God wants me to travel again down those roads and repave them; repave them with His love; His care; His understanding, repave with forgiveness.
In my daily reading from the chronological Bible today, Genesis 18:1- 21:7, I was challenged with the way that Abraham questioned and pleaded with the Lord over saving Sodom if he found righteous people. He asked again and again. I also pondered on the question in Genesis 18:14 “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” Nothing is too hard for Him, He will be with me as I travel these roads laid out ahead of me, He is ok when I question him over and over to try and help me understand. He loves me!!
So I finally picked up the phone today and called the neurologist about what the next step should be. As I start down this road, I desire to seek God in every curve and in every bump. I desire to seek His face and ask Him questions. And as I walk step by step, I will continue to believe that nothing is too hard for my Lord and that HE can make this road smooth and straight!! God knows what He is doing and I just need to walk with my hand held firmly in His!!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
God met me here!
It has been a while since I posted and that discourages me. I feel like the past several weeks have been difficult. Most of my previous postings have come from inspiration that God laid on my heart and I was able to just write. It just isn’t happening. I ask myself why and the answer hurts. God hasn’t changed or moved, I just haven’t been taking the time to listen like I desire too. I had written “like I should” and I erased it, because I don’t want my time with God to be a “should” I want it to be “my desire.”
Can I blame it on the holiday season? Maybe I could use that excuse, but it really wouldn’t be the truth. I have felt God close to me and I know that my level of intimacy with Him has grown incredibly this year, but I know I have consciously not made my time with Him a priority in the past month. Why have I consciously not made time for God? I have to admit “fear”! When I regularly have these intimate times with God and I listen and hear Him speak to me, I have incredible joy and peace and I have inspirations, crazy thoughts and dreams!! I am filled with such a zeal for life and my love for God. So why am I choosing to miss these moments? Because I know that with God all of these inspirations, crazy thoughts and dreams are possible and I’m afraid of my humanness and not embracing God’s holiness!! My life coach addressed the subject of fear at our last meeting and my homework is to identify my core fears!! I haven’t done it yet. It is on my to do list!! Wow, as I am writing this, I hear God speaking to me now, He knows my fears, He knows that my heart desires to follow and embrace Him and His plans for me!! He wants me to just let go of all the things that are holding me back. I want to cast off all of those fears and what ifs that are swirling around in my head and just believe!!!
God, thank you for talking to me through my fingers as I type, I started this not as a time to meet you but to express my feelings and YOU met me here!! God, my desire is to meet you in those intimate moments and to embrace those crazy thoughts and dreams and to run with you!!!
I claim these verses:
2 Timothy 1:7 – For God has not given us a spirit of fear.
Luke 12:32 So don’t be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s Masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Can I blame it on the holiday season? Maybe I could use that excuse, but it really wouldn’t be the truth. I have felt God close to me and I know that my level of intimacy with Him has grown incredibly this year, but I know I have consciously not made my time with Him a priority in the past month. Why have I consciously not made time for God? I have to admit “fear”! When I regularly have these intimate times with God and I listen and hear Him speak to me, I have incredible joy and peace and I have inspirations, crazy thoughts and dreams!! I am filled with such a zeal for life and my love for God. So why am I choosing to miss these moments? Because I know that with God all of these inspirations, crazy thoughts and dreams are possible and I’m afraid of my humanness and not embracing God’s holiness!! My life coach addressed the subject of fear at our last meeting and my homework is to identify my core fears!! I haven’t done it yet. It is on my to do list!! Wow, as I am writing this, I hear God speaking to me now, He knows my fears, He knows that my heart desires to follow and embrace Him and His plans for me!! He wants me to just let go of all the things that are holding me back. I want to cast off all of those fears and what ifs that are swirling around in my head and just believe!!!
God, thank you for talking to me through my fingers as I type, I started this not as a time to meet you but to express my feelings and YOU met me here!! God, my desire is to meet you in those intimate moments and to embrace those crazy thoughts and dreams and to run with you!!!
I claim these verses:
2 Timothy 1:7 – For God has not given us a spirit of fear.
Luke 12:32 So don’t be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s Masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Weight and Wait
Weight and Wait are two words in my vocabulary I could do without. They both have such a stronghold on me. Each word holds such depth in my life. I will start with weight. I have been over weight all my life. In kindergarten, I was called “fat” to my face by a classmate. That marked the course for my low self image and set my feet on a path of discouragement in this area. Why have I had weight issues all my life? Partially I can blame bad eating habits and wrong food choices. But mainly I have a weight problem because I have a wait problem. This concept is new to me and in writing this out I am trying to flush out some of the core junk in my heart. God brought this to my mind several weeks ago and it has just been circling and I need to give it clarity.
In the book study that I am involved with currently, Becoming More than a Good Bible Study Girl by Lysa Terkeurst, she addresses how as women we tend to be consumed with labels, rules of religion and measuring up. These 3 elements are strong pillars in my life. I was labeled in kindergarten as “fat”, I grew up in a conservative Mennonite home where “laws” were so important and therein lays my conflict with weight and wait. I believed the feeling of not measuring up, not being good enough, striving to be the good Christian girl; I just couldn’t reach the bar that was set. So I started waiting or desiring for better things. They had to be out there. I was waiting for a boy friend, waiting for the chance that maybe I would be good enough to play sports, waiting for approval of my peers, waiting to be in the cool crowd and even after getting married I waited for my husband to accept me for who I was. And as I waited for these things, my weight continued to increase because I ate to feel the “wait void.”
Over the years I have yo-yo dieted, lost 30 gained it back, lost 40 gained it back and then had 3 children and gained and gained weight. I remember sitting in my whirlpool tub about 5 years ago and God told me that I didn’t have to wait until I was at the ideal weight before I could serve Him and accept and love myself. This started my journey to where I am today. I started believing I was worth something and it had nothing to do with measuring up to the belief that the world says I need to weigh 136 pounds. It has been a long journey and now I feel again like I am in the wait. In 2008 I successfully lost 40 pounds, because I believed in myself and had the confidence that I could succeed. It was done in waiting. It wasn’t one of these fast off diets that usually plunge you further into the weight issue later. It was a slow time of waiting for the pounds to come off. I am still not close to the 136 pounds of the world standards and I believe I need to continue to work on my weight so that I can be totally used by Him. Maybe that sounds confusing, but as I am talking about weight and wait, I am believing that I need to submit my weight and my idol of eating to my Master so that I am totally submitted to HIS plan and not my plans or the world’s ideals.
God gave me a dream for a ministry in January of this year and my writing is one of the ways that I am starting to fulfill this dream. My heart is filled full of passion, desire and excitement for what I know God can do in me, but I am “waiting” for HIS perfect timing and it is hard. I don’t wait well!! Lysa Terkeurst in another one of these chapters spoke to me with her words for the story of David. After David was anointed to be King, he wasn’t taken directly to the king’s court for training and immediately shown all the plans that God had in store, no he was sent back out to the fields to continue his sheparding roles. I was humbled because just the day before I was muttering to myself that all my mundane chores of laundry, errands, grocery shopping, cooking just didn’t seem important in the realm of my dream and vision. But as Lysa expounded on, David continued to build up the characteristics he would need as king while he was working in the fields. I too need to continue to build up my character as I am in this time of waiting.
I want to challenge myself to work on my weight as I WAIT for when God will reveal His awesome plans for my life in the timing that HE has orchestrated for me. As I will serve HIM while I am waiting.
Lamentations 3:25 – The LORD is good to those who depend on him,
to those who search for him. Waiting for God’s timing brings great rewards.
Romans 8:25 But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)
In the book study that I am involved with currently, Becoming More than a Good Bible Study Girl by Lysa Terkeurst, she addresses how as women we tend to be consumed with labels, rules of religion and measuring up. These 3 elements are strong pillars in my life. I was labeled in kindergarten as “fat”, I grew up in a conservative Mennonite home where “laws” were so important and therein lays my conflict with weight and wait. I believed the feeling of not measuring up, not being good enough, striving to be the good Christian girl; I just couldn’t reach the bar that was set. So I started waiting or desiring for better things. They had to be out there. I was waiting for a boy friend, waiting for the chance that maybe I would be good enough to play sports, waiting for approval of my peers, waiting to be in the cool crowd and even after getting married I waited for my husband to accept me for who I was. And as I waited for these things, my weight continued to increase because I ate to feel the “wait void.”
Over the years I have yo-yo dieted, lost 30 gained it back, lost 40 gained it back and then had 3 children and gained and gained weight. I remember sitting in my whirlpool tub about 5 years ago and God told me that I didn’t have to wait until I was at the ideal weight before I could serve Him and accept and love myself. This started my journey to where I am today. I started believing I was worth something and it had nothing to do with measuring up to the belief that the world says I need to weigh 136 pounds. It has been a long journey and now I feel again like I am in the wait. In 2008 I successfully lost 40 pounds, because I believed in myself and had the confidence that I could succeed. It was done in waiting. It wasn’t one of these fast off diets that usually plunge you further into the weight issue later. It was a slow time of waiting for the pounds to come off. I am still not close to the 136 pounds of the world standards and I believe I need to continue to work on my weight so that I can be totally used by Him. Maybe that sounds confusing, but as I am talking about weight and wait, I am believing that I need to submit my weight and my idol of eating to my Master so that I am totally submitted to HIS plan and not my plans or the world’s ideals.
God gave me a dream for a ministry in January of this year and my writing is one of the ways that I am starting to fulfill this dream. My heart is filled full of passion, desire and excitement for what I know God can do in me, but I am “waiting” for HIS perfect timing and it is hard. I don’t wait well!! Lysa Terkeurst in another one of these chapters spoke to me with her words for the story of David. After David was anointed to be King, he wasn’t taken directly to the king’s court for training and immediately shown all the plans that God had in store, no he was sent back out to the fields to continue his sheparding roles. I was humbled because just the day before I was muttering to myself that all my mundane chores of laundry, errands, grocery shopping, cooking just didn’t seem important in the realm of my dream and vision. But as Lysa expounded on, David continued to build up the characteristics he would need as king while he was working in the fields. I too need to continue to build up my character as I am in this time of waiting.
I want to challenge myself to work on my weight as I WAIT for when God will reveal His awesome plans for my life in the timing that HE has orchestrated for me. As I will serve HIM while I am waiting.
Lamentations 3:25 – The LORD is good to those who depend on him,
to those who search for him. Waiting for God’s timing brings great rewards.
Romans 8:25 But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)
Thursday, November 12, 2009
The Honor of being Dishonored
Acts 5:40-42(the Message) That convinced them. They called the apostles back in. After giving them a thorough whipping, they warned them not to speak in Jesus' name and sent them off. The apostles went out of the High Council overjoyed because they had been given the honor of being dishonored on account of the Name. Every day they were in the Temple and homes, teaching and preaching Christ Jesus, not letting up for a minute.
As I was reading Acts 5:29-42 the other day, I was struck with the words in verse 41 - “overjoyed because they had been given the honor of being dishonored on account of the Name.” Have I ever felt dishonored? What does dishonor mean to me? Definition of dishonor in Merriam Webster dictionary is the lack or loss of honor or reputation; the state of one who has lost honor or prestige: shame; a cause of disgrace.
I know that my name has been dishonored in the past by people’s words, but has it really caused me disgrace? As a perfectionist and a person who doesn’t take risks, I have shielded myself from many situations where I could have stepped forward and put myself in harms way, but instead did not take a bold stand to open myself up for dishonor. Then the really hard question hit me, I have protected my name as much as possible, have I ever been dishonored because of Christ? After pondering this, I am truly heartbroken. My stand for Christ has not been a strong and bold one. I have many times failed to speak His name in situations where my reputation could have been in jeopardy. Oh how that hurts to say. In this story, the apostles had been jailed, whipped, threatened and they were OVERJOYED because they were dishonored for Jesus. The situations I have encountered in the past would not have caused me to be jailed, whipped or threatened; only my reputation was at stake. Where is my courage? Where is my belief in my heavenly Father?
Have you allowed yourself to be dishonored because of His Name? If your heart aches like mine at the answer, I ask you to join me as I cry out, Lord, change me, make me bold for you, give me the heart of your apostles so that I am willing and overjoyed to be dishonored for your Name!!
As I was reading Acts 5:29-42 the other day, I was struck with the words in verse 41 - “overjoyed because they had been given the honor of being dishonored on account of the Name.” Have I ever felt dishonored? What does dishonor mean to me? Definition of dishonor in Merriam Webster dictionary is the lack or loss of honor or reputation; the state of one who has lost honor or prestige: shame; a cause of disgrace.
I know that my name has been dishonored in the past by people’s words, but has it really caused me disgrace? As a perfectionist and a person who doesn’t take risks, I have shielded myself from many situations where I could have stepped forward and put myself in harms way, but instead did not take a bold stand to open myself up for dishonor. Then the really hard question hit me, I have protected my name as much as possible, have I ever been dishonored because of Christ? After pondering this, I am truly heartbroken. My stand for Christ has not been a strong and bold one. I have many times failed to speak His name in situations where my reputation could have been in jeopardy. Oh how that hurts to say. In this story, the apostles had been jailed, whipped, threatened and they were OVERJOYED because they were dishonored for Jesus. The situations I have encountered in the past would not have caused me to be jailed, whipped or threatened; only my reputation was at stake. Where is my courage? Where is my belief in my heavenly Father?
Have you allowed yourself to be dishonored because of His Name? If your heart aches like mine at the answer, I ask you to join me as I cry out, Lord, change me, make me bold for you, give me the heart of your apostles so that I am willing and overjoyed to be dishonored for your Name!!
Friday, November 6, 2009
Best Read of 2010
If you are looking for a powerful book to read in 2010, keep reading on!! I have several copies of this book on my shelves and I carry it around with me to a lot of places with the intention of reading it. In the past, I would get a few chapters read, but then it would sit there for a few months before I picked it up again. But in 2009, that all changed. I received a new version of this book for Christmas and I have been reading little pieces of it very day and am almost finished. It has spoken to me in ways that I never knew it could. What book am I talking about? I am referring to The New Living Translation Chronological Bible! Yes, we all know that the Bible is the most powerful book ever printed, but if you are like me, you desire to read it and to understand it, but just never make a strong commitment to complete the entire Bible. Sometimes when I read a passage, I couldn’t understand what I just read and got discouraged. Here are reasons why I have succeeded with reading through the Bible this year.
1. The New Living Translation – this translation spoke with words that were easier to understand and helped bring out the message to me.
2. Chronological – the Bible is mapped out in the order of when it happened. This is so powerful when several books of the Bible have the same story and you read it several times over in a row and see how God spoke to the different authors and confirmed the happenings of the time.
3. Short and doable time segments – the daily reading is about 15 minutes so it is easy to fit into your day.
4. Connecting with other people at wendypope.blogspot.com. Wendy is involved with Proverbs 31 Ministries in North Carolina. Here is an excerpt from Wendy about her blog when she started this journey at the beginning of 2009.
“Monday-Friday I will do my best to post something on my blog to start the "conversation." All comments, thoughts, and insights are welcome. You don't have to have a blog to post a comment. You don't have to post a comment at all. No pressure here. Read each day, visit my site, and glean from others.”
Check out her blog and the testimonials regarding her “Read through the Word”. This was what I submitted regarding my journey!!
This journey of reading through the Bible this year has been an incredible experience. The Chronological set up and NLT have brought the Word to life. I believe I would not have made it this far in my reading if I would not have had Wendy’s blog to follow. Her insights and other reader comments have helped me interpret and understand the scriptures with such a deeper meaning than ever before. I am excited about reading the Bible through again next year and taking my relationship with Christ to an even deeper level!!
So I welcome you aboard this journey for 2010!! Put this book on the top of your Christmas wish list. Books are available at Amazon.com for $16.49 and at Christianbook.com for $11.99.
Blessing,
Lisa
1. The New Living Translation – this translation spoke with words that were easier to understand and helped bring out the message to me.
2. Chronological – the Bible is mapped out in the order of when it happened. This is so powerful when several books of the Bible have the same story and you read it several times over in a row and see how God spoke to the different authors and confirmed the happenings of the time.
3. Short and doable time segments – the daily reading is about 15 minutes so it is easy to fit into your day.
4. Connecting with other people at wendypope.blogspot.com. Wendy is involved with Proverbs 31 Ministries in North Carolina. Here is an excerpt from Wendy about her blog when she started this journey at the beginning of 2009.
“Monday-Friday I will do my best to post something on my blog to start the "conversation." All comments, thoughts, and insights are welcome. You don't have to have a blog to post a comment. You don't have to post a comment at all. No pressure here. Read each day, visit my site, and glean from others.”
Check out her blog and the testimonials regarding her “Read through the Word”. This was what I submitted regarding my journey!!
This journey of reading through the Bible this year has been an incredible experience. The Chronological set up and NLT have brought the Word to life. I believe I would not have made it this far in my reading if I would not have had Wendy’s blog to follow. Her insights and other reader comments have helped me interpret and understand the scriptures with such a deeper meaning than ever before. I am excited about reading the Bible through again next year and taking my relationship with Christ to an even deeper level!!
So I welcome you aboard this journey for 2010!! Put this book on the top of your Christmas wish list. Books are available at Amazon.com for $16.49 and at Christianbook.com for $11.99.
Blessing,
Lisa
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Church of Facebook
My latest read, Church of Facebook by Jesse Rice was filled with lot of thought provoking concepts and information. I picked up this book at the local Christian bookstore and after I read the back cover, my curiosity got the best of me.
I am a computer nut, not so much in the technology field but for gathering information, resources and shopping. I love to research books, authors, follow blogs, ministries and more. I started out by being a closet blog reader (never leaving comments or being a public follower) I wasn’t ready to make myself public to the world or a broader base of people. That is why I didn’t jump on the facebook bandwagon after it came out. But about one year ago, I took the plunge and joined facebook and I have been hooked every since.
I am a person that thrives on my friendships and being around people. I love to talk to people face to face and over this past year as I have become more and more addicted to my facebook account, I started having a desire to figure out why this social network has such an appeal to me and to the other millions of people using it. So this leads me to this book….
Jesse did a great job of writing this book with illustrations of historical events that help us understand how certain things in history have changed our world. But I want to highlight in brief what stood out to me. His initial concept was the fact that people like facebook because they have the control of what people read and see about them. We have the ability to only post the BEST pictures of us and our status can be stated in a way that we trigger comments from friends that will encourage us and make us feel good. This is not a negative thing unless we are not being REAL in what we are trying to show our friends. He has many great stories and points but he concluded by stating that facebook is a new revolution that is changing the way community is lived, but that we need to display three key elements as we post on facebook and they are: be intentional – Jesus was intentional in the way he thought, spoke and acted in his personal life as well as his public life. So we need to live intentionally (with purpose) being aware of our thoughts, feelings and actions. Second element: show humility, Rice quoted Bruna Martinuzzi ; “something interesting happens, too, when we approach situations from a perspective of humility; it opens us up to possibilities, as we choose open-mindedness and curiosity over protecting our point of view. We spend more time in that wonderful space of the beginner’s mind, willing to learn from what others have to offer. We move away from pushing to allowing, from insecure to secure, from seeking approval to seeking enlightenment.” Rice speaks to this in the way we make judgments about people by what they post on their status or what pictures they post. We also do this by making comparisons to our facebook friend’s life experiences. The third element is authenticity. Authenticity as defined in Merriam-Webster is “not false or imitation.” One issue on facebook that has gotten much press on is the concern how people are misrepresenting themselves on their profiles.
So as Rice concluded in his book and my challenge to you is to BE REAL on facebook as you would with your face to face relationships and connections. That is my desire and that is what I plan to do as soon as I finish this. I NEED to go check my facebook page!!!
I am a computer nut, not so much in the technology field but for gathering information, resources and shopping. I love to research books, authors, follow blogs, ministries and more. I started out by being a closet blog reader (never leaving comments or being a public follower) I wasn’t ready to make myself public to the world or a broader base of people. That is why I didn’t jump on the facebook bandwagon after it came out. But about one year ago, I took the plunge and joined facebook and I have been hooked every since.
I am a person that thrives on my friendships and being around people. I love to talk to people face to face and over this past year as I have become more and more addicted to my facebook account, I started having a desire to figure out why this social network has such an appeal to me and to the other millions of people using it. So this leads me to this book….
Jesse did a great job of writing this book with illustrations of historical events that help us understand how certain things in history have changed our world. But I want to highlight in brief what stood out to me. His initial concept was the fact that people like facebook because they have the control of what people read and see about them. We have the ability to only post the BEST pictures of us and our status can be stated in a way that we trigger comments from friends that will encourage us and make us feel good. This is not a negative thing unless we are not being REAL in what we are trying to show our friends. He has many great stories and points but he concluded by stating that facebook is a new revolution that is changing the way community is lived, but that we need to display three key elements as we post on facebook and they are: be intentional – Jesus was intentional in the way he thought, spoke and acted in his personal life as well as his public life. So we need to live intentionally (with purpose) being aware of our thoughts, feelings and actions. Second element: show humility, Rice quoted Bruna Martinuzzi ; “something interesting happens, too, when we approach situations from a perspective of humility; it opens us up to possibilities, as we choose open-mindedness and curiosity over protecting our point of view. We spend more time in that wonderful space of the beginner’s mind, willing to learn from what others have to offer. We move away from pushing to allowing, from insecure to secure, from seeking approval to seeking enlightenment.” Rice speaks to this in the way we make judgments about people by what they post on their status or what pictures they post. We also do this by making comparisons to our facebook friend’s life experiences. The third element is authenticity. Authenticity as defined in Merriam-Webster is “not false or imitation.” One issue on facebook that has gotten much press on is the concern how people are misrepresenting themselves on their profiles.
So as Rice concluded in his book and my challenge to you is to BE REAL on facebook as you would with your face to face relationships and connections. That is my desire and that is what I plan to do as soon as I finish this. I NEED to go check my facebook page!!!
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