Love Dare 38

Ok, soooooooo, I am taking more than the time allotted for the Love Dare. I am on Day 38---but sometimes I need more than one day to think about the Dare and to apply it etc. I plan on starting over again when I finish anyways!!

I love the way this dare started ...it said:

"What is something your spouse would really, really, love? And how often do you ask yourself that question?"

I liked the challenge to go to a new level of love that "actually wants to fulfill every dream and desire you possible can." Also the point was good that God is our Model---he is the one whose love we are trying to imitate.

It goes on to say:

"We dare you to think in terms of overwhelming your spouse with love. To surprise them by exceeding all their expectations with your kindness".

What a challenge--what a wonderful challenge. And the funny thing is that I had been thinking that I needed to have the goal of seeking to out-love others----to give them more love than I (think or perceive) I receive---This ties in so well with this whole idea. I love this challenge!

Simple Living ideas

From an online magazine called the Cry that you can find here. In the fall 2005 edition they published the following suggestions on how to live a simpler life:

RELATIONSHIP

Cultivate a closeness with God.
Practice regular hospitality.
Help each other, emphasize service.
Always speak the truth. Develop a habit of plain, honest speech. If you consent to do a task, do it. Avoid flattery and half-truths. Make honesty and integrity the distinguishing characteristics of your speech.
Don’t judge.
Reject anything that breeds the oppression of others.
Consciously seek to identify with the poor and forgotten.
Start by visiting hospitals, prisons and nursing homes.
Schedule “simple” dates with your spouse.
Teach your children.

ACTIVITIES

Make your commitments simple.
Don’t overwork.
Fast periodically from media, food, people.
Elevate reading, go to the library.
Reject anything that is producing an addiction in you. Cut down on the use of addictive, non-nutritional food and drinks such as alcohol, coffee, tea, soda, sugar, chocolate.
Simplify Christmas and other holidays. Develop the habit of homemade celebrations.

PACE AND ATMOSPHERE

Slow down.
Do not exhaust your emotional bank account.
Lie fallow.
Say no.
Control/restrict/eliminate television watching. Turn off or mute advertisements.
Learn to enjoy solitude.

POSSESSIONS AND FINANCES

Cultivate contentment, desire less.
Resist covetousness and consumerism.
Buy things for their usefulness, not their status.
Learn to enjoy things without owning them. Benefit from places of “common ownership” (parks, museums, libraries, rivers, public beaches).
De-accumulate. Develop the habit of giving things away.
Offer others the use of your possessions.
Develop a network of exchange.
Avoid impulse buying.
Don’t buy now, pay later.
Avoid credit cards if they are a problem.
De-emphasize respectability.
Simplify your wardrobe – give away excess.
Learn how to make do with a lower income instead of needing a higher one.

APPRECIATION

Be grateful for things large and small.
Emphasize a joyful life.
Appreciate creation.
Send cards of encouragement and appreciation when others are not expecting it.

SPIRITUAL LIFE

Make the Word central.
Meditate and memorize Scripture.
Pray.
Encourage simple worship.
Shun anything that distracts you from seeking first the Kingdom of God

Seeking Grace in everyday life

(our granddaughter is a gift of grace ;-) have to post pics of her !)

This was a blessed week. I love what happened on Friday and on the weekend especially ---a bunch of God winks.

On Friday I listened to one of Christopher's pastor's sermons. He spoke about seeking and looking for the grace that is evident each day in our lives.---to actively look for it.

Then when I went to pick up Grandpa for his weekly visit to Grandma he was not ready. So as he was readying himself I picked up a book. I found this quote of Frederick Buechiner's that I loved:

"There is no event so commonplace but that God is present within it, always hiddenly, always leaving you room to recognize him or not recognize him...See [your life] for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, and smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments and life itself is grace."

---That tied in with the sermon--looking for the grace in our everyday lives. Then when we went to the nursing home just as we were finishing up the visit two ladies were leaving through the room we were in......They started talking to us and one of the ladies said to gram that she had one stuffed animal left and she was going to give it to gram. An 11 year old boy had donated his animals (which were like new) to give to people at the nursing home. It was such a neat thing for him to do and it was an example of grace reaching outward. Then the lady and grandpa started sharing about Christ's work in their lives---it was so refreshing.

To tie this all together I read this today:

"Attention is also known as mindfulness, awareness, concentration, recollection. It is a primary practice, and not just alphabetically. We must stay alert or we risk missing critical elements of the spiritual life — moments of grace, opportunities for gratitude, evidence of our connections to others, signs of the presence of Spirit. The good news is that attention can be practiced anywhere, anytime, in the daily rounds of our lives.

Begin by doing one thing at a time. Keep your mind focused on whatever you happen to be doing at the moment. It is through the mundane and the familiar that we discover a world of ceaseless wonders. Train yourself to notice details. "

I love it when God wants to teach us something and He hits us from all sides !! So this week my goal is to look for His grace daily--and signs of the presence of the Spirit ;-).

Prayer for husbands and wives--Priorities

All of Stormie's prayers are so good. I thought I would place this one here:

GOD , I proclaim You Lord over my life. Help me to seek you first every day and set my priorities in perfect order. Reveal to me how to properly put my husband before children, work, family, friends, activities, and interests. Show me what I can do right now to demonstrate to him that he has this position in my heart. Mend the times I have caused him to doubt that. Tell me how to prioritize everything so that whatever steals life away, or has no lasting purpose, will not occupy my time.

I pray for my husband's priorities to be in perfect order as well. Be Lord and Ruler over his heart. Help him to choose a simplicity of life that will allow him to have time alone with You, Lord, a place to be quiet in Your presence every day. Speak to him about making Your Word, prayer, and praise a priority. Enable him to place me and our children in greater prominence in his heart than career, friends, and activities. I pray he will seek You first and submit his all to You , for when he does I know the other pieces of his life will fit together perfectly.

It is good to think of priorities and putting my husband before other things in my day--this is a great reminder and a good prayer.

upbeat

Going to go paint--this music by Michael W. Smith gets me in the spirit to work: it is playing first today on the sidebar ;-)

SNOW --YES

Yes IT IS SNOWING THIS MORNING--IT JUST STARTED BUT HERE ARE SOME PICTURES TO PROVE IT ;-) THIS IS THE FIRST REAL SNOW WE HAVE HAD IN MY LITTLE TOWN THIS YEAR. (NOTE: I HAVE MUSIC PLAYING TODAY ABOUT SNOW.

AND THIS MORNING I HAVE ENJOYED THIS FIRE --BUT I HAVE TO GO DO SOME PAINTING AND BRING GRANPA TO THE DOCTORS---SO OUT I WILL HAVE TO GO.

Bath

"There must be a few things

A hot bath won't cure

But I don't know any of them."

Sylvia PLath