Okay, I need a bit more of a break. I’ll be back later this week to share my plans for the upcoming readathon, as I’m doing something a bit different this year.
Have a great week!
The Historian is Out
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Finite Life
This summer seems never ending, doesn’t it? Summer is my favorite season, but I think I’ve had enough. I’m ready for a change!
But apparently summer will end. We only have 4 more challenges left. Up this week:
“That you step back and (with your husband, if you are married) plan the various forms of your life’s ministry in chapters. Chapters are divided by various things—age, strength, singleness, marriage, employment choices, children at home, children in college, grandchildren, retirement, etc. No chapter has all the joys. Finite life is a series of tradeoffs. Finding God’s will, and living for the glory of Christ to the full in every chapter is what makes it a success, not whether it reads like somebody else’s chapter or whether it has in it what chapter five will have.”
This is the first one that I must say, I’m not sure I entirely agree with. Perhaps I just don’t understand his intent.
I don’t really think it matters how you view the years of your life, as long as you recognize that what God may be calling you to now, may not be what he’s calling you to forever. Sure, life has seasons, but like seasons do, they slowly change. I think rarely does life change abruptly and completely, though there are times that it does, which the term “chapters” implies to me.
So, now I’ve gotten my nitpickiness out of the way, let’s get to what perhaps he really was trying to say. I like that he encourages us women not to compare our lives with another’s. I may be able to do this or that, but just because I have the freedom to do so doesn’t mean that you will. A godly woman doesn’t come from a cookie cutter. In fact, God wants us to do different things, or he wouldn’t have gifted us differently.
At the same time, we aren’t to long for different seasons of our life, past or potential. For me, this can be a real struggle, as I find it easy to long to be a wife and a mother. Thankfully, I have friends in my life that can give me a more realistic picture of those roles than what I find in my daydreams. It’s healthy for me to get a good dose of reality!
Other Posts in This Series:
Photo by photon_de
My New TBR Shelf
The shelf is new (and smaller than my old one), but many of these titles have been on my to-be-read shelf for a long time. But I’m making progress!
Women of Prayer
Let’s keep up with the Challenge to Women, shall we?
Next up:
“That you be women of prayer, so that the Word of God would open to you; and the power of faith and holiness would descend upon you; and your spiritual influence would increase at home and at church and in the world.”
Can I be honest and say that prayer is not my thing? I know it’s important and it’s certainly not that I don’t pray, but I know that I don’t pray as I should.
I think my struggle with prayer comes from my own temptation to self-sufficiency, a temptation that I too often bring to fruition. But God thankfully doesn’t leave me there, regularly bringing about circumstances or situations that challenge my pride.
And that brings me to my knees.
But look at the consequential phrases (I’m sure there’s a proper term for it, but that’ll do) John Piper attaches to the “women of prayer” challenge:
- The Word of God would open to you
- The power of faith and holiness would descend upon you
- Your spiritual influence would increase at home and at church and in the world
Hmm, those are some pretty big things.
But he’s totally right. I might think that I have a lot of strength and know-how on my own, but what if I was filled with God’s power? How much can God multiply my feeble efforts if I were truly depending on Him?
So that said, I want to increase the time that I set aside for prayer. I have a handy prayer journal that helps me with this. I also want to consciously go to God first thing in the day (hard for someone who’s not a morning person). I can spend better and longer time with him later in the day, but I want to start my day recognizing for whom I’m living it, and asking for His strength and wisdom as I walk through it.
Other Posts in This Series:
Photo by wollydog
FQF: End of Summer Edition
1. What books are you most likely to bring on vacation?
I generally only pack memoirs and fiction books for vacation, as they are easier to get into. I figure out the max number of hours I’m likely to read over the trip, and multiple that by 60. That tells me how many pages of reading I should bring to make sure I don’t run out. It’s pretty common for me to have my bags weighed down primarily from books.
2. Do you like to camp?
Though I don’t pursue opportunities to camp, I like it. Assuming that I don’t have to hike to the camping spot…I’m too much of a city girl for that.
3. What was your favorite vacation spot as a kid?
Several summers we would go to Kansas City. I loved going to Worlds of Fun (an amusement park) and riding the Zambezi Zinger roller coaster, though later I was scared of it. I’ve never been on another roller coaster like it, because you would sit in between of the legs of the person sitting behind you (cool safety feature, huh?) and there was a spiral you went up instead of the initial hill.
4. How do you spend a day at the beach?
Reading, suntanning and sleeping. Occasionally I’ll get into the water, but I have to get out when the thought of fish and other creatures swimming in there with me gets to be too much.
5. Do you like any water sports?
I like canoeing and kayaking, if those are consider water sports. I’ve never water skied, and probably wouldn’t given that opportunity.
Why I’m Wearing Heels during Tax Season
What are there only 435 of in this whole country? (answer after the break)
I love wearing heels. Tax season, however, doesn’t love heels. While I do spend a significant portion of my day behind a desk, slumped over a keyboard, I also get up frequently to give a new client paperwork to fill out, answer a question, check a volunteer’s work, shred something, file something else, get an envelope…you get the picture.
During tax season (especially February and April), I’m always doing 3 things at once. Or more. With only three days left of tax season, you know things are crazy.
But today, I’m wearing heels. The reason lies in the answer to that first question (bonus points to anyone who figured out the riddle before reading on).
So, what are there only 435 of in this whole country?
Representatives.
As in The House of Representatives.
And one of those Representatives is visiting our small little site (need I remind you that it’s my site…as in I run it?) on this very day (and no, he doesn’t even happen to be my Representative, thanks to the screwy district lines).
So, on top of my usual busy tax day at our outlying site, I am spending the first few hours of my day in my office schmoozing up Congressmen Bob Etheridge, anyone he happens to bring with him (do they have an entourage? maybe not…but if he was a Senator?), several members of the IRS, some other colleagues, whatever media we can attract, as well as a handful of tax clients (which could be a handful in themselves).
That’s a lot of people to have in our little 4-room office.
I don’t really know what to expect. I’m not to be the main act, but I’m definitely supposed to be the puppet-master. Not sure how I’m going to pull all those strings. If you think about it, pray for me between 9:30 and 10:30 Eastern! I’ll update you all once I get some down time (ha ha!).
Updated:
Congressman here and gone. Media here and gone. IRS here and gone. It went well…only briefly talked to Congressman Etheridge, but enjoyed chatting it up with volunteers, tax clients, and IRS higher ups. Was told that I have a very welcoming and reassuring personality…that’s a first. The important thing is that it’s over…3 more days!