So Long Insecurity

This coming week, Beth Moore's new book, So Long Insecurity, comes out. She is leading readers through the book from the blog. The book study finishes with the Simulcast on April 24th. I am planning on joining this online study and was wondering if anyone would like to join me? At this point the closest Simulcast is in Niverville. There may be one in the city as the time comes closer. Here are the details.

http://livingproofministries.blogspot.com/2010/01/so-long-insecurity-discussion-group.html



So let me know if you would like to join me.

You'd go all that way to do what?

Before I left for Houston I had checked out some of the recommended "must-see" tourist spots. I followed one link to the upscale Galleria mall and saw that they had ice skating there. In the mall! I was joking with my eldest daughter that I would have to go 1400mi to go ice skating. We both laughed pretty hard because we have a rink in our own backyard that I have only goofed around on in my boots because she has been using my skates! Those crazy growth spurts of hers! When I accepted Dave's amazing gift to this SMT Celebration I knew that with it came the responsibility of taking in fully what God had opened the doors to allow. My prayer was that I would open myself up to everything God wanted to reveal to me there through the teaching and interaction with others.

During the final hour on my flight into Houston I had suddenly put down my novel and felt an urgent need to journal and clarify my thoughts further.

I think the poor guy sitting next to me thought I had to make a sudden trip to the bathroom!

As I was journaling and really asking a lot of questions I realized that one main point kept popping out at me - God! There is only ONE God. "I am your God." I kind of laughed and said. "You mean you would wait for me to travel 1400mi to tell me, "I am your God!"

After I got home I was sharing this experience with Dave and we were both deep in thought reflecting on the ways of God. Dave and I were imagining the dialogue God and I might be having and I again said (with a touch of sarcasm mixed with being put in my proper place),
"You mean you would wait for me to travel 1400mi to tell me, "I am your God"

the response -

"You mean it took 1400mi for you to see that I am your God!"

I have been humbled by the distances God will go to show His love for us (John 3:16 for starters). It seems absurd at times, even unreal. But it is real. As real as my trip!

We are in the first week of Living Beyond Yourself study and between this trip, my homework and another devotional everything has been pointing to this question "What if my life was lived solely for God?" What if I didn't seek others approval? What if I fully accepted His love? What would that look like?

I feel like I have more questions than answers. But I believe that there are both promises and a pathway. And have assurance that memorizing and believing scripture will direct my next steps. I am also confident that the lamplight is sufficient for the taking of my next step. Psalm 119:105

Siesta Scripture Memory Team Celebration!

Although I wasn't gutsy enough to wear a pink boa I did end up wearing my very pink scarf to keep me warm while still in cooler temperatures. I also thought it would fill in as a groupee identifier. It was the scarf that connected me to other siesta's within minutes of landing. Truly amazing!

Here we are eating Mexican food together hours after we met. We are from all over! As one of the ladies said, "only God could do that!"

Beth taught us from Psalm 119. How fitting.

There are so many things that I admire about Beth. Most importantly she intentionally points us to God. She is passionate about God. God is her life. Her enthusiasm for teaching and bringing others to believe and love God is thorough, bold and contagious. She is incredibly creative and helps us to remember the main ideas by finding ways for us to remember them. In this case the points of Psalm 119 were given in the form of a run on sentence. The thing that blows me away is her amazing love for other people. It is so evident in her complete thoroughness and respect for our struggles as woman, it is evident in her stories and extremely obvious in the way she interacts with people. Every moment is treated with care and respect. She embodies the title of her ministry "Living Proof."

Events like this remind me of the importance of creating communities that bring glory to God so that we can encourage each other to have no other gods; that living a victorious Christian life is possible.
After the first session we had a meet n' greet... ...and Texas sheet cake. Brilliant idea!This is Amanda, Beth's eldest daughter and LPM Blog manager. What a pleasure to be able to meet her.On Saturday we enjoyed breakfast tacos and some more teaching by Beth. Then we were able to partner up and share our verses.
This was an amazing sight for me. Hundreds of women sharing a years worth of sword drawing and faith building.It was a very personal time for me. This was Lynn and I sharing our verses. She is a fellow Canadian, an Albertan. We were also roommates. What a gift it was for me to be her roommate. I was so thankful for the placing of the scripture memory time part way through the second day. Lynn and I had never met before this weekend and had been introduced by email shortly before the event. On our first night we were able to spend time in the room sharing God's grace in our journey's. She is my new hero. Her obedience and faith so inspiring. I was very moved listening to her speak her verses while knowing parts of her journey. It was living proof of God living through her. Food was a very fun part of the weekend. I had never had Ice Wraps before. They are AMAZING! I've got to find a recipe for them.The weather was beautiful in Houston. We even got to sit by the OUTDOOR pool with bathing suits on and our feet in the water. We couldn't stop saying how beautiful it was all weekend. What a treat! Especially after coming home to a blizzard. I took this picture for my husband. He is NOT a shopper. I think he is allergic because he gets a headache instantly in the mall! This might make a shopping date (really an oxymoron for us) a fun possibility!This was my final supper in Houston. "Sweet" ending to a filling weekend. Three Canadians (from the provinces of Ontario, Manitoba and Alberta). Thank you so much to Beth, Amanda, Melissa and Living Proof staff for the careful and love-filled planning of this weekend. It has spurred us on to knowing and needing God's word to completely permeate our lives.

Pink Boas and Big hair...I'm off to Houston!

Hi Ladies,

It was so good to be with many of you ladies last night at the Bible study. If you are reading this and haven't signed up there is still time to register! Notice the exclamation mark and italics!!!

I wanted to let you know that one of the works that God has started in me is coming to a point of celebration this weekend. Last February a group of my very best friends shared with each other what our goals for the year were. I shared that I was working on adding the discipline of scripture memory for the year. I was aiming to memorize 1-2 scriptures a month.

After I had been memorizing for a couple of months I came across a scripture memory accountability team on line through Beth Moore - LPM Blog. This was great for me as I was doing it alone and this was added motivation to keep at it regularly and with intention. After we moved to Winnipeg they announced that they were going to end the year of scripture memory by celebrating with an event in Houston, TX. A few weeks after reading about the celebration I mentioned to Dave that it would be kind of neat to attend. Too bad it was so far away! A couple of days later Dave told me that he would like to send me, as a gift. It took me a little while to feel comfortable about the idea of actually going alone but in the end I accepted his generous gift.

I am very excited for this opportunity. We are required to say 10 of the 24 verses as entrance fee for the event. I have been reciting them a lot lately. I will try to take many pictures and let you know what all happens. I am also practicing having big hair but have decided that I won't wear the pink boas that some fellow scripture memorizers are wearing as ways of identification! I know if some of you were with me I might be braver...

Oh, I just heard that the high is 74 F!!

What did you learn today?

Last night at the supper Dave went around to everyone at the table asking what they had learned during the day. It seems we learned quite a bit as a family; from how to say hi in India, to how heavy a moose is, to the fact that Samuel De Champlain died on Christmas Day!

I was excited to have had opportunity to dive into our Living Beyond Yourself study. No, there is no homework due for this week! I am going away for the weekend and do not want any excuse for getting behind!

On day one of the study we are learning about the history of Galatia we read about Paul and Barnabas. In Acts 13:47 we see with our own eyes and read with our mouths that God spoke to Paul through scripture!! I think in my mind Paul's amazing and fantastical conversion opened the door to assume that God spoke to him in fantastical ways, possibly more audible than spoken word. But in reading this passage I am believing that because Paul grew up on these words and studied these words before his conversion and with new passion after his conversion and therefore they were in his mind and out his mouth. God impressed them on his heart the way he impresses words on our hearts. I was so excited to read and know and share this with my family. Excited because it spurred on my faith. God can and will speak to us so that He can work through us. He has given us the Holy Spirit so we can remain true to the faith!

Hello Ladies,

This is our last Wednesday check-in before our study starts! I hope it has been a good season of studying alone with God. These are important times for learning to hear God and for making Him intentional in our lives.

Personally, I have been very thankful for this Wednesday check-in time as it has made me more purposeful about what and how I have studied and how I have looked to apply it. This kept me focused on completing the book of Zechariah even though at times I found it very difficult to understand the historical connections and symbolism.

Also I want to mention that Eastview has a number of study options available right now. Check out this link for more ways to stay rooted in God's word.

I have some final thoughts on the book of Zechariah. I am amazed at the relevancy of the words spoken to the prophet so many years ago. As I mentioned earlier, the pictures and the messages given are not in the language or even symbolism that I am used to but with the help of other Bible versions and commentary I have a renewed understanding for the sovereignty of God. I am in awe of God's desire to keep covenant relationship with us even though we continue to seek other gods for no apparent reason other than the fact that we seem to want that title! We seem to think that we know better even though the results continue to show us otherwise.

Thankfully the ways of God are not stopped because of our sin or shortcomings. That is clear in Zechariah. He promises His Spirit to help accomplish all things Zech 4:6-7; He promises to overcome enemies in Zech 10:11 (CEV) saying "My people will go through an ocean of troubles but I will overcome the waves."; He promises that He will take His rightful place as King in Zech. 14:10. He will no longer be confused with any other god.

I have been reminded of the importance of Remembering the work, the love and the Sovereignty of God in our lives. I pray that we will remember God through His word given to us, through the love He has shown in our lives and also the excess love He has shown by the future hope we have in His eternal reign. That our remembering will cause us to act in that remembrance and hope.

We Can Make A Difference!

This weekend I was fortunate to be able to go see a movie that left me with a "wow" feeling. A feeling that as a person or family or community we can make a difference. Our faith can cause us to do things that we wouldn't normally do on our own and we are able to love more deeply because of a God who loves us.

If you are up for a good movie - check out the review see if it is a fit for you.

http://www.pluggedin.com/movies/intheaters/blindside.aspx

Living Beyond Yourself

Added Thursday, Jan. 7: for those of you, like me, who love to see the cover of a new book or study...here it is!



Very exciting news...we are gearing up for our winter study to start of January 20th! We are studying Living Beyond Yourself: Exploring the Fruit of the Spirit by Beth Moore. Registration starts on Sunday!!

The study has 11 video sessions and 10 weeks of homework. We are meeting Wednesdays from January 20 to April 14. There will be breaks on Feb. 17 and Mar. 31. It will be great to meet together again.

I'm not sure where you are at with New Years Resolutions. Our kids have been setting them through school. Our eldest has had great success with hers for the past few years. Today our youngest announced at the lunch table that he is going to work out every day...but what is working out??

I love it!!!

It really is a good plan to know what you are in for when you set a goal. Growing onto maturity is the same way. Last night in our small group as we were studying James 3 we had discussions about preparing ourselves for a day, about not being controlled by our knee jerk reactions. How can we be intentional about keeping our body in check (James 3:2) and being God honoring with the words that come out of our mouths (James 3: 9-12)? One group member shared how her grandma prayed every morning at the start of her day that God would be the watchman of her mouth. She knew the trouble that could lay ahead of her during the day and she took steps needed to prepare her to react better.

This upcoming study will be good. I know I can't react the way I want to on my own willpower. I've messed that up enough times to know my track record. I know that willfully letting God make the difference is important to the softening of my heart and the recognition of need for his power in a situation.

I pray today that we will let God into all the situations of our lives.

Happy Belated New Year!

I hope this finds you settled into the routine of a New Year!

It really is a funny thing that over the course of one day one can feel like their is a fresh start to things. A New Year, a fresh start.

I have been encouraged by Isaiah 26:10 over the past few days. It is the theme verse for College age gathering in the US called Passion 2010.

Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws,
we wait for you;
your name and renown are the desire of our hearts.

May our actions of this New Year be guided with purpose; with intentional obedience to the word of God in our lives; with passion for the glory of God to be revealed through us and our church.