A Call to Discipline

Would it surprise you to learn I am lacking discipline lately?  I have been struggling for a few weeks just to do what I know I should and finding all kinds of silly excuses not to.  Even my prayer journal has been hit and miss, with more misses than hits last week.  How timely that Courtney over at Women Living Well posted this on her blog:

5-weeks-5-disciplines-5-challenges

The time has come to stop praying about it and confessing my failure everyday and start doing something.  I am somewhat limited on physical activity at the moment as I am nursing a sprained knee and sprained ankle.  My sweet son Matthew pointed out that I do not have to live with these weak ankles.  So I went online and found some suggestions that I am going to put into practice beginning today with the Ankle Strengthening Program.  With my good ankle I worked through most of these today. (The one using the towel was a lot harder than it looked.) 

The other thing I need to work on: getting to bed at a reasonable time.  10:30, lights out for me.

Ken and I decided to enlarge the pond in our backyard and began work on it this past week.  The first two photos are from this past winter- notice the size of the water feature, the little pond was not much bigger than it.

My amazing hubby dug a huge whole in the backyard-
16x9 feet at it's widest and  two feet at it's deepest,
with lots of shelf space for plants!

Below is the current stage of the pond- notice the size of the water feature- it is the same as the "Before" photos.   Still a lot left to do- including choosing plants, and adding a bog area.

I sat out by the pond this morning and enjoyed my quiet time by this peaceful spot.  I enjoyed the sound of the water spilling into the pond as I contemplated what the Kingdom of God is like.  Then Jesus said, "What is the Kingdom of God like?  How can I illustrate it?  It is like a tiny mustard seed planted in a garden; it grows and becomes a tree, and the birds come and find shelter in its branches."  He also asked, "What else is the Kingdom of God like?  It is like yeast used by a woman making bread.  Even though she used a large amount of flour, the yeast permeated every part of the dough." 

 Luke 13:18-21, NLT1

What if I am that tiny mustard seed?  What if I am that little bit of yeast?  My part--your part--in the Kingdom of God may seem like a small or insignificant role.  Yet when we do our part God can take our wee offering and do something incredible with it.  We have no idea the impact our individual lives have on the whole world, or what God can accomplish if we will simply do what He asks of us.  I am dealing with the effects of weakness in a part of my body that I never give much thought too, except when I am in pain and can't walk very well.  I don't even want to think about what my lack of discipline could be doing to the Body of Christ.  In love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the whole body for the building up of itself in love.  Ephesians 4:15b-16, NASB  (Feeling convicted yet?)

Courtney's challenge to develop some discipline has come at a good time.  What about you?  Are you up for the challenge?  Leave a comment below about what things you want to work on and let's encourage one another as we strive to be the women God wants us to be in 2012.

Grace, Peace, and Mercy, Deb

Making Progress

It's January 20th already!  Just one more full week left in in the month.  As I look back on this week I can see progress in some areas and others that I have been lax in.  My quilting being one of the later.  I just got around to doing some of the redwork yesterday afternoon, briefly.

Then I noticed today that I am working on the same square I showed you back on January 6th when I wrote Friday Reflection.  Reading over the list of goals I set for myself this year I am happy to report that I am on track in most areas.  I am right where I should be in reading through the Bible, and only missed one day.  I cannot believe I let last Sunday get by me without doing my Daily Bible selection- I read the passages on Monday, but that is not the habit I want to develop- I really don't want a day to go by when I have not spent time sitting at His feet and listening to His Word.
My prayer journal goal is going well and I have written in it everyday except for Sunday.
I made my goal for my blog writing this week, and I think I have done a fair job with my posts.

As for my physical goals, the running has still been on hold this week, but I was able to get in some low-impact aerobics and this morning I am finally under the 150 mark on my scale!  That has been the weight I have just not been able to get under since about July. Five pounds gone since I weighed in last week and I really can't explain it, except maybe that the Christmas candies are finally gone.  Oh chocolate, how you love my hips!
I am being brutally honest here with an actual number.  I hit 150 for the first time many, many summers ago and I thought at the time- "no way!  It is time to do something about this weight gain!"  But it only went up from there. So I moved into a size 12, then a 14, and this past year I was going to have to move up again. Thankfully our budget was being used up by our son who was studying in Australia at the time and I really could not afford to go out and buy the next size up and that motivated me work to get back to a healthy weight.  I've lost 30 pounds since February and would like to lose another 20-25 this year.  I must brag on my beloved husband here- he has lost about 50 lbs and is looking really good.

I've done a lot of reading this week, but confess it has all been "new to me" books- Love my Kindle and the freebies that are available.  I was feeling very unqualified to lead a ladies Bible study that was set to begin on Wednesday and started scooping up everything I could get my hands on related to Ephesians.  I really started to feel convicted about it though. This verse from the New Testament kept coming to mind,  "By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.  We have received all of this by coming to know Him, the One who called us to Himself by means of His marvelous glory and excellence." -2 Peter 1:3, NLT
 I stopped reading all the commentaries and the other studies and just started to trust that the Lord wanted me to lead this study because of what I had to offer, not all of those other people.  He really laid on my heart and in my mind that what He wanted me to share was not about amassing knowledge of the book of Ephesians, but letting it just soak into my soul and change me from the inside out.  That is what I have always done and that is what He wants me to share with the ladies in this group.

It has been a great week!  I am praying that you will learn a similar lesson- that the Lord has given you something to do, something that you are uniquely qualified for.  And You do not need to lean on anyone else but Him to accomplish it.



Grace, Peace, and Mercy,
Deb