I've decided that I will go ahead with the focus of "Telling of His Wonderful Deeds" reflecting Psalm 40:5 "O LORD my God, you have performed many wonders for us. Your plans for us are too numerous to list. You have no equal. If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them." It will stretch me; but more importantly, it will hopefully bring glory to God for all that He has done.
So, what better way to start than to reflect on what He has done this year. As I look back on the year, there are a few things that stand out:
- In some ways, my friendships have been shaken and put through the fire, and I have learned from the LORD what true friendship should look like. What started as painful and feeding my fear of rejection, turned out to be life-changing growth and knowledge. Praise God for the mysterious ways in which He works. Best of all, I can appreciate "what a friend we have in Jesus"!
- I can't think of this past year and not have the work "remodel" pop into mind. I was finally able to get started on what I have been planning for pretty much the last seven years. The time was finally right; and I thank God for helping me through it all so far. It didn't go perfectly; there were quite a few challenges, and I had to learn and grow a lot through this as well. But, it's all part of life, and I'm pleased with the progress that has been made. I thank God for His protection and His guidance.
- While things at work and church, and with family have not really changed in any dramatic ways; I will not take for granted what He is doing in those areas either. He has blessed me, given me the privilege of serving Him; and I believe that He is using me.
- I did try to live out my area of focus on "Loving Others". My hope is that others were able to see God's reflection through my life, as I tried to love them as He has loved me. Amen.
2-Jan: For New Years, I once again watched "Facing the Giants". It really is an inspirational and motivating movie. This time, I made note of some of the stand out lines from the movie:
- We should "prepare the fields" to receive the rains that we are praying for God to send, whenever He may send them in His Time
- Our actions always follow our beliefs
- It's not about us, God put is here to honor Him with our actions and attitudes; so we are to give God our best and all we have and leave the results to Him
- Stay humble but confident
- God can do whatever He wants however He wants
I also watched a movie on Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I respect him for his sacrifice and martyrdom; but, while I expected to be inspired by the story of his life and actions, his being the author of "The Cost of Discipleship", the movie may have recounted most of the facts, but it didn't seem to capture the heart. Though, it was interesting that while I expected a strict and rigid theologian, it was nice to see the movie depict Bonhoeffer as a charismatic fun happy person. Off hand, I probably wouldn't be able to quote anything he said; but, overall, to me, he would represent someone who stood firm in his convictions to the end.
That is something I would do well to follow. I must admit that I ended the year badly in 2014; and I felt that in the New Year, I had to ask God to pull me out of the dark pit I had stumbled into. I feel like I'm back on the right path, and have new resolution to not be knocked down and pulled off the path again; but, I was reminded in devotions last night from 1 Timothy 4:8, that it's not so much discipline that should be our focus, but rather godliness. Laboring and striving are not end goals in themselves; it is for the purpose of being holy just has He is Holy. That is my hope, goal, and desire - to be like Christ.
4-Jan: The sermon today was so apropo. We were reminded that David was not doing what he was supposed to be doing at the time he fell into sin with Bathsheba; and that in this story, it is Uriah who exemplifies what it means to be a "man after God's own heart" and who stands firm. Pastor Rory encouraged us to repent of our past failures and to lay all our brokenness literally at the foot of the cross. I do commit to walk in His Ways and to seek purity and holiness in my life.
My friend and her family came to visit today. I must admit that she and her husband do much by way of helping me stay current on technology. It was nice of her with her kids to pray for me right before she left. That was special. I also do see that with all her kids and the demands on her time, it is hard to have "quality" time with her. I will just keep her in prayer and utilize what time we do have and to continue to share through whatever interactions we can.
5-Jan: So, what are some changes planned for this year? Well, I will get back into reading more Christian books. And, I will make it a goal to play more piano and memorize at least one more piece of music. I also plan to finish as much remodeling inside as possible, which would include kitchen, bathroom, painting, and carpet. Hopefully, by the end of the year, the only thing left will be the backyard. And then, I can use my home as a place to invite others over and to practice hospitality.
12-Jan: Something that God seems to have been simmering in mind lately is starting to boil. Various conversations I've had with the single women in my class have touched my heart with the idea that they may need a special ministering to. As God has taught me so much and brought me so far in not only being content in my singleness, but actually being able to say that I can rejoice in the benefits of being single; it may be something that I can share with these other women or at least to be an example to them. Most of my current areas of ministry are things that I have being serving in for awhile now; so, maybe it is time to "stretch" into new areas. After I finish remodeling, I may be able to have these "singles" over more often, like near holidays (e.g. day after Thanksgiving, New Years, etc) or just for movie night or even just tea. This is definitely something that I will be praying about.
Some additional thoughts are maybe to start a community group for singles. We can get-together with a focus on fellowship with a lighter emphasis on teaching. We could watch a movie with a Christian theme and discuss it afterwards; have a dinner with a topic for conversation (e.g. apologetics question); have a lesson on an interesting topic (e.g singleness, solitude); or go visit a place with a spiritual reference we can discuss afterwards (e.g. Reagan Library, Art Museum and then pull paintings from Bible from internet and discuss, etc)
4-Jan: The sermon today was so apropo. We were reminded that David was not doing what he was supposed to be doing at the time he fell into sin with Bathsheba; and that in this story, it is Uriah who exemplifies what it means to be a "man after God's own heart" and who stands firm. Pastor Rory encouraged us to repent of our past failures and to lay all our brokenness literally at the foot of the cross. I do commit to walk in His Ways and to seek purity and holiness in my life.
My friend and her family came to visit today. I must admit that she and her husband do much by way of helping me stay current on technology. It was nice of her with her kids to pray for me right before she left. That was special. I also do see that with all her kids and the demands on her time, it is hard to have "quality" time with her. I will just keep her in prayer and utilize what time we do have and to continue to share through whatever interactions we can.
5-Jan: So, what are some changes planned for this year? Well, I will get back into reading more Christian books. And, I will make it a goal to play more piano and memorize at least one more piece of music. I also plan to finish as much remodeling inside as possible, which would include kitchen, bathroom, painting, and carpet. Hopefully, by the end of the year, the only thing left will be the backyard. And then, I can use my home as a place to invite others over and to practice hospitality.
12-Jan: Something that God seems to have been simmering in mind lately is starting to boil. Various conversations I've had with the single women in my class have touched my heart with the idea that they may need a special ministering to. As God has taught me so much and brought me so far in not only being content in my singleness, but actually being able to say that I can rejoice in the benefits of being single; it may be something that I can share with these other women or at least to be an example to them. Most of my current areas of ministry are things that I have being serving in for awhile now; so, maybe it is time to "stretch" into new areas. After I finish remodeling, I may be able to have these "singles" over more often, like near holidays (e.g. day after Thanksgiving, New Years, etc) or just for movie night or even just tea. This is definitely something that I will be praying about.
Some additional thoughts are maybe to start a community group for singles. We can get-together with a focus on fellowship with a lighter emphasis on teaching. We could watch a movie with a Christian theme and discuss it afterwards; have a dinner with a topic for conversation (e.g. apologetics question); have a lesson on an interesting topic (e.g singleness, solitude); or go visit a place with a spiritual reference we can discuss afterwards (e.g. Reagan Library, Art Museum and then pull paintings from Bible from internet and discuss, etc)
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