Being Intentional

A week ago, I attended a homeschool mom's retreat in the North Carolina mountains. It was beautiful! That sounds a bit lazy for a writer, doesn't it?  I'll try again...The scenery was awe-inspiring and magnificent. The feeling of peace and contentment surrounding me filled my weary soul.

I was blessed to get away with a good friend and to hear the wonderful Heidi St. John who you might know as The Busy Mom. Check out her website. Follow her on social media. Download her podcasts. You won't be disappointed. 

I've heard Heidi speak before and I've followed her online for a few years, but this time more than ever she was so incredibly encouraging. That didn't only relate to us as homeschool moms. In fact, she spoke to us more as Christian women than anything else. We have to keep our walk with Christ strong for us to be successful in anything else we do--whether it be homeschooling our children, being a good wife, a productive writer, etc.

She encouraged us TO BE INTENTIONAL. That is so important in this day and age. We are busy people. Look at Heidi's online handle (The Busy Mom). Let me repeat, we are busy people. So more than ever we need to be intentional about the things that are important to us. Do you want to get into God’s Word everyday? Then be intentional. Do you want your children to be in God’s Word everyday? Then be intentional about making that happen. It won’t happen otherwise. We have way too many other things that can slip into our day and before we know it, we’ve missed opportunities to spend with the Lord.

So, now, readers, I want to encourage you to be intentional. One way you can do that is to switch up your morning routine. What do you do first thing in the morning? My kids are getting older. They don’t bother me at first light like they used to. In fact, I think they hope if they are quiet enough I might forget they live here and won’t put on the teacher hat and start school. (Not Happening Kiddoes!)

Now my morning routine usually consists of me grabbing my phone or iPad and checking my calendar, email and other social networks to help me wakeup and get my day started. I’ve made a switch over the last week to open up my Bible app and read several chapters of the Bible instead. I’m using the Olive Tree Bible Study app. The basics of the app are completely free and you can set up a reading plan for yourself. It has really helped me. I’m also taking part in Heidi’s monthly Scripture Writing Plan. Download it and start writing scripture. I do this with fiction when I am trying to prepare myself to write a new story/new genre. It fills my brain with good words. What better words are there than God’s Words? Do it. You’ll be amazed at what a difference it will make in your day.

I hope I’ve been an encouragement to you. Be Intentional Today!

New Year ~ New Resolutions

Welcome 2016! Can you believe a new year has come? With each January, people make resolutions for the coming year and they will inevitably break those resolutions by the end of the first month. I've never been much for resolutions though I am goal oriented. However, over the last couple years, I have been less focused on goals, and I need to get back to that because I feel as though I'm spinning my wheels and getting nowhere. Do you know that feeling?

This year I received Sarah Young's devotional Jesus Calling. It had been recommended to me by a dear friend and pastor's wife. So my resolution this year is to spend more time in God's Word, attempt to visit this devotional on a daily basis and utilize my time more efficiently and with less tunnel vision (too focused on one thing and abandoning the rest). 

Thoughts on devotional #1 January 1st. "Do not cling to the old ways as you step into a new year." This of course brings to mind Romans 12:2: Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (ESV)

How often do we cling to the old instead of moving on to the new? It's time to transform our minds and cast off those things which keep us down, that keep us from serving God to the fullest. 

Let me close with one of my favorite verses. Jeremiah 29:11: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. So enter 2016 with hope knowing God is in charge of your future and give it all to His glory!
 

Wishing you all a Happy and Blessed New Year,

Cindy

 

Background Notes on the Book of Esther

I mentioned in my last post that I am doing the Beth Moore--Book of Esther--Bible study this summer. As I go through this Bible study on the book of Esther, I am taking stock of what I am learning and keeping some notes. I’ll be sharing some of those thoughts and notes here on the blog. Feel free to comment. I’d love to get some feedback.

I found it interesting that Esther is also called the Megillah. As in, ‘you didn’t have to tell me the whole Megillah’. This is the scroll of Esther which would be read on the holiday of Purim. It is long and pulls out showing the entire story. From the dictionary—slang: a long involved story or account megillah> Yiddish megile, from Hebrew mĕgillāh scroll, volume (used especially of the Book of Esther, read aloud at the Purim celebration)

The book of Esther takes place in the kingdom of Persia. This is during the time that has been called the Diaspora with the Jews scattered throughout the known world. What is different here versus in the book of Daniel is that the Jews are no longer under captivity. They had been freed during the reign of Cyrus. And the Jews who remained did so because they had so assimilated into Persian society.

 Being a student of the Holocaust (In college I wrote a paper on Jewish women and their resistance to the Holocaust which won the Jack Chinski Holocaust Memorial Award.), I can't help but see a parallel here. Back in Germany before the Nazi's took over, European Jews were assimilated to secular society in just this same way. It was the reason that when things got bad for them they stayed when they could have escaped. They considered themselves German or Polish first and Jewish second. They had also learned over the years that bad treatment of the Jews cycled through history and thought that eventually this too will pass. In the case of the Nazi's, that wasn't to be. But here in Persia, God had already set in motion a work to save his people before they even knew there was trouble brewing againist them.

Esther is a historical book, and being the historian that I am, I love reading the historical Biblical books. For me, it is fun to read a secular historian such as the ancient Herodotus (and you have to read him with a grain of salt—lots of bias and superstition) and how he records the exploits of the Persians like Cyrus and Xerxes and then read about them here in the Bible. It pulls me into His Word.

Another interesting thing about the book of Esther is that God is never mentioned. Not even once. But God is definitely in this book. Everything that happens is how God planned it—'for such a time as this'. Just like Ephesians 1:11 says: “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will…”

Sneak Peak here: What I have learned after five lessons in the study of Esther is that God places us with specific people in specific places to do specific jobs. We may not like that idea but that is God's plan and who are we to argue with that.

Next time--my take on Xerxes and Vashti

Summer Bible Study

A couple weeks ago, I started a new Bible study. I love going to church Bible studies. Not only does it get me into the Word each and every day, but I also get to fellowship with lovely Christian ladies. The problem I seem to find for me is that during the fall/winter or the spring, things seem to pop up (school, life, frustrations, etc.…) that keep me from attending every week. And then I get behind and don’t want to go if I haven’t done the homework.(You know, you've probably been there.)

A good friend of mine invited me to start attending a Bible study at her church that would be held during the summer. I thought to myself, “how perfect!” That’s exactly the time of year I would love to attend a Bible study, but my church doesn’t hold them during the summer.

So, this summer I’m studying the book of Esther. We’re doing the Beth Moore study called Esther: It’s Tough Being a Woman with the accompanying DVDs of Beth’s teaching (Wow! She’s some speaker, isn’t she?)

I’ve already learned so much from a book I thought I already knew pretty well (and I've only just started chapter 2!). I love history (history degree/history teacher here) & any Bible teaching that comes from a historical perspective makes me sit up and take notice more than anything else. And then once God has my attention, he pulls me into his Word and teaches me things about myself that surprises me. 

I’m looking forward to learning more from Esther and hopefully I’ll have the time to share some of those insights with you here.

Happy Reading Friends (& studying)!