Good Morning Girls and Women Living Well

So this may be a bit more than I can keep up with but I am currently involved in two different Bible study groups and am SO excited about them both so I wanted to share.

The first is by a blog called Good Morning Girls and this is something I've taken part in before. It's an online study which is great for me as a working Mom because I can't get to the Ladies Bible study at my church like I would like to. I've been part of Good Morning Girls off and on for the past couple of years. You can follow along through their blog, and also I'm part of a Facebook group where we discuss the passages each day. The best part about this study is that it helps me be focused on reading from the Word every single day. Even though some days it may only be a couple short verses, it's getting in the Word every day.

And this session, which is about to begin {TOMORROW morning!!!!!} is called Intentionally Focused! I feel that the Lord had already placed the word Intentional on my heart before I heard about this study, then when it was announced it was even more confirmation that this was what I needed to be learning about and focusing on. So I am THRILLED about the topic!

If you are interested in joining, please go to the blog and SIGN UP! You will get emails which include all the study materials, you'll get blog posts, videos, etc. It's all included and I can promise it will be a BLESSING in your life!

Here is a little bit of how I set up my study materials. I use a basic spiral bound notebook and of course, if you know me at all, you know I have to 'pretty it up' a bit. {The second notebook is for counting 1000 Gifts, I could write another whole blog about that so I'll save that for another day!}

I printed out the reading schedule and taped it in my notebook:

Then I printed certain pages from the study guide where there are specific questions to answer or verses to memorize. Other than these few pages, the rest of the notebook will be filled with writing out and 'SOAPing' my passages each day. 

This is the first page in my 1000 Gifts journal, hoping to count to WELL OVER 1000 this year! 

And the second study I'm working on is from one of the author's over at Good Morning Girls - her name is Courtney and she blogs at Women Living Well. She wrote her first book last year and I bought it over Christmastime - I'm about 4 chapters into it now and really, really loving it. It's such an encouragement for every area of the Christian woman's life - The tagline is 'Finding Joy in God, Your Man, Your Kids and Your Home.' 

You know a book is good when I have highlighting on just about every page! 

So Courtney has also started a study to go along with the book and those materials are also available to print out for free! I printed out the schedule, then each of the pages that has discussion questions for each chapter ... so far I am really enjoying reading the book and following along with the questions. If you're interested in jumping in on this study, check out Courtney's blog and order your book today! {I got mine from Amazon and it was very affordable! It's an easy read so I'm confident you could easily catch up even though you missed week one.} 

So that's what I'm up to lately. Many mornings having my quiet time and study time is a challenge as I'm trying to get the girls up and ready for school as well as getting myself ready for work and out the door. But I've been trying to set my alarm clock at least 15 minutes earlier and also stay OFF the computer in the morning. And if I don't finish it all in the morning, then I try to work on it when I get back home on my morning work break.

All of this doesn't make me superMom or superChristian - in fact I'm just a sinner, saved by grace who needs to keep learning and growing each day to become more like Christ. I feel like you can never know enough and always have to strive to grow more and more each day.

Are you currently doing either of these studies?? I'd love to hear from you!

{Day 23} Gratitude

This year I bought the book One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. It’s literally been changing my life. Ann’s concept was to write a list of 1,000 Gifts, little every day things that she was thankful for. They could be as simple as a pile of laundry {because it meant they had more than enough clothes to wear} or as beautiful as a sunset to end the day. Either way, she jotted down things to be thankful for in a notebook every day. And choosing to look for the beauty in everything changed her.

I have jumped into this project as well. I have a list going which is somewhere in the hundreds now. There are times when I stop making the list and get busy and it falls away. Other times I’m very good about writing at least a few things every day.

I have noticed that the times when I’m paying the most attention to my blessings are the times when my life feels the most joyful. There still might be tough things going on, but choosing to see the beauty of life or the Lord’s blessings over us even in the tough times surely helps turn my heart toward joy and not complaining.

The other day I sat on the couch in the morning having my quiet time while the sun was just beginning to pour into the room. I looked out the window and saw this fat grey squirrel running across the power wires 30 feet above the ground. Just like a high wire act, this squirrel raced along that narrow wire. And I just smiled. How funny and cute and yes, even the laughter it brought to me was a GIFT.

In the moments like these when I find myself thinking ‘is it silly to be thankful for a fat grey squirrel on a high wire?’ but I know that it’s NOT silly – this choosing to see the beauty all around me. To slow down enough to notice those things, no matter how small or silly or inconsequential.

Having an attitude of gratitude is one of the surest ways to be a joyful wife and mother. Simple thanking God EVERY day that you get to BE a wife and mother. There are countless women in the world who wish they were married or wish to have a baby but might not be able to for whatever reason. So if you have both of those things – please, please don’t take those blessings for granted. Thank the Lord daily that you are so blessed!

God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today.  Have you used one to say "thank you?"  ~William A. Ward

 

Today’s Challenge:

If you have the time, stop over and read Ann’s blog, A Holy Experience. She’s a wonderfully gifted writer. Her posts about weekends are some of my favorites, with little ideas of things you can do with your family given each weekend. And if you can, pick up a copy of her book, One Thousand Gifts.

Perhaps you could start your own thankful list? Just grab a notebook or sheet of paper and begin by writing 2-3 things each day. Once you get started you won’t be able to stop! Next month Thanksgiving is coming up, there is no greater time to commit to being thankful. Another simple idea is to make a thankful tree or thankful jar that your whole family can add to as we lead up to the holidays. It’s a great example to our kids when we choose to be thankful for everything we’re blessed with.

1,000 Gifts {Apr 5th-Apr 14th}

First of all thank you to those of you who commented on my last post about being in a 'funk'. I SO appreciate your kind words and responses! The funny thing is, it's not hard to pinpoint the reason for my funk - I KNOW these things happen when I'm feeling far from the Lord. Which is certainly not HIS fault, as HE loves me deeply and NEVER strays from my side - indeed it's always ME who falls away and selfishly spends my time pursuing what I want while leaving HIM out of things. Anyhow, ironically that day I had a few minutes of quiet and I sat and read Ann Voskamp's post for the day and was blown away at how perfectly timed it was. You can read it by clicking the link above, but basically she is talking about how to raise grateful kids - funny thing was that I felt *I* needed the message more than my KIDS did! Funny how God always knows what we need to hear when we need it, right? He knows me so well. I noticed too that my list of 1,000 gifts had been pushed to the wayside and I hadn't counted gifts in a few days. Her post also reminded me the importance of giving daily thanks and “Participants who kept gratitude lists were more likely to have made progress toward important personal goals (academic, interpersonal and health-based) over a two-month period compared to subjects in the other experimental conditions.” So on I go ... pressing forward, ever grateful ... * a nice visit from my Canadian relatives that I hardly ever get to see * seeing them made me miss my Dad since my Uncle is his brother and reminds me a lot of my Dad * a fun day consignment shopping with my girls for summer stuff * carpet cleaner, rubber gloves, a bandana for my nose and disinfectant ;) * field trips with friends * sunny days * the girls playing outside more

* a great {new to me} desk for FREE

* getting my seeds in the mail

* garden planning

* making pudding with Joy * playing basketball with my family * dinner together around the table * playing Qwirkle together * seeing the first signs of spring * forsythia FINALLY starting to bloom * neighbors coming out to work in their yards * chalk drawings on the driveway * a nice, big, paved drive which is great for the kids to play on * blowing bubbles * a 2 yr old's squeals of excitement over seeing the bubbles and trying to catch them * pink Converse on a 2 yr old - so cute! {and yes, with chalk on the pants!}

* going outside to do my run without having to wear 5 billion layers

* the grass getting greener by the day

* the warmth of the sunshine - it's like a balm to my soul - kinda like the SONshine is, ya know?

* flip flop weather

*finding healthier recipes for things I like

* springy stuff on the driveway

* learning to love fish

* fragrant daffodils

* new growth every where I look

* our Made to Crave Bible study group - it's wonderful to meet with people facing similar struggles and gain encouragement from one another!

* inventive little girls creating their own rope swing

* and the mud cakes and other such things they create as well ... =)

* that "our children are learning more than academic subjects in the home. They are learning at a young age that their brothers and sisters are their best best friends." ~~Tom Eldredge

{One Thousand Gifts #536-570}

1,000 Gifts {Mar. 21st- Apr. 4th}

I missed a week of recording my blessings and boy can I feel it. Things have been real busy here lately and I haven't devoted enough of my time to quiet time with the Lord or reading books I should be reading or counting and recording all the many ways I am blessed. I hate when that happens and know it needs to change big time. So here is the continuation of my counting my blessings one by one ... * watching these two little cuties {and a 4 mo old baby too} - can I just say that 2 year olds have SO. MUCH. ENERGY! And also that I know why the Lord didn't give me 5 children! ha! * seeing the amazing hawks that have been all around our area lately

*fantastic friends for our girls

* having so much fun playing with this silly puppy!

* a fun nature hike with my family

* Making it to the top and being up above the tree line

* enjoying nature, being outdoors and being with my family after having a rough school day

* this silly puppy who makes me smile every day

* inspiration on the wall

* working towards a common goal

* air popped corn

* the girls learning so many new tricks with their jump ropes

* making lists and then feeling the satisfaction of crossing items off of them

* making progress with my craft show items

* afternoons full of crafting

* my girls asking if they can help

I'm counting One Thousand gifts along with Ann from A Holy Experience - if you'd like to join in click over and check out her blog.

#519-535

1,000 Gifts {Mar. 15th-21st, 2011}

It's been a fabulous week. You know how they say the weather affects your mood - well it's SO true in my case! Last week was gorgeous, with warmer temps and sunny days. This week - well let's just say that today is the 2nd day of spring and we have a snowy/rainy mix coming down ... and the rest of the week doesn't look much better. That's OK though - we will use the time this week to get school work done and projects in the house and then when the sun shines again we'll be ready for it!

Here are the many gifts from our past week:

* my husband Bob, who does a million little things to help me out - like working in the yard, scratching my back, filling my gas tank in my car, etc ...

* learning alongside my kids {adjectives and roman numerals and a million other things I haven't thought about in about 25 years!}

* being married to my best friend

* a quiet afternoon to myself

*Ladies Bible study at church

* busy school days

* letterboxing with my family

* sweet, snuggly dogs

* enjoying the great outdoors

* tromping in the woods and stream with my girls

* FUDGE!

* new rain boots to tromp around in the stream with

* seeing signs of green!

* running with Bob

* the girls telling me the story of St. Patrick "MOM! Did you know he was a Christian??!!"

* green cupcakes

* a fun family field day - Aquarium, out for lunch, letterboxing and hiking through our woods

* having lunch and a fun field trip with our homeschool friends

* 70 degrees!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

* amazing creatures made by God

* sitting on a park bench chatting with my friend while the kids play on the playground and the sun shines so warm over us

* white chocolate/peppermint mocha that my friend lovingly prepares for me so I can enjoy it on the ride home

* Friday night dinner cooked by my hubby

* all of us playing basketball in the driveway together

* laughing at youtube videos together

* tucking them in with snuggles and talk of the day

* library passes for admission to local museums and sites

* lots and lots and lots of GREEN! a whole day dedicated to GREEN!

* chocolate coated almonds

* a sunny Saturday afternoon

* the SUPERmoon, perfectly designed by our SUPER Creator!

* Saturday pizza night with friends

* watching the St. Pat's day parade - SO MUCH FUN!

* teaching the Sunday school kids about thankfulness and learning the lesson myself

One Thousand Gifts #485-518
I'm linking my list to Ann Voskamp's blog A Holy Experience. If you'd like to join in with your own list of gratitude please visit Ann's blog.