"It took me back to the 'Mary vs. Martha' thing"

Ok, so tonight at one of the local 'church buildings', Bill Prankard came to speak.  Although he spoke on many different things, the one the touched on that was huge confirmation for me!  It took me back to the 'Mary vs. Martha' thing.  As you will have read in previous posts, I seem to be in a place of finding the balance between the two...yet again.

What I find is fantastic, is the fact that almost exactly one year ago to date, (August 12th), I posted on that very same topic!  I love how God uses things I've written to speak back to myself!  Here is what I wrote a year ago...

As fall approaches, I've been contemplating what to do in regards to activities, for myself and for the kids. I mean it's great to be involved in Christ-centered things, but there also comes a point when I think we need to just 'stop'. Be still enough to just hear from God and relish in His speaking to us. I fear sometimes with being so busy (even in 'serving'), we are helping the enemy out by doing his dirty work for him. Having ourselves so occupied with many 'things', it can take the focus off of building our relationship with God and putting the focus on our 'works' instead...not a good combination, contrary to what the enemy may like us to think! So, what if we took a 'season' and invested the time we spent running to 'things' and used it to simply sit at the feet of Jesus?! What would our lives look like then?! Perhaps I (we) should be acting a little more like Mary and a little less like Martha! (I'm not saying being extreme here...I don't believe it has to be either/or, more like both/and...and adequate balance!)
 

That being said, this is the challenge I am proposing to myself. There will be only one Bible Study I will be attending on a weekly basis, instead of two of them and Kids Club for the children. This I am hoping will eliminate some of the stress of having to get many things done after school before said activities, and reducing the pressure to get the kids into bed at a decent hour for a good nights sleep in preparation for a full day of school the following day. The bonus of the one night I'll be heading out for my study, is that the kids spend that night at their Dad's place...allowing me the time to be gone and not have to worry about getting home to relieve a babysitter. Also, the children get to spend some time with their Dad...a win-win situation for all involved!
 

What do you feel about your upcoming fall schedule? Are you already feeling overwhelmed with all the running it looks like you'll be doing? If so, maybe this is for you today! Take the time and ask God to reveal to you what He would have you concentrate on. Is this a 'Mary' season for you, or a 'Martha' season?!
 

For me this was confirmation of my upcoming 'season'...for you: perhaps just a really good reminder that being a 'Mary' is just as important as being a 'Martha'...an appropriate blend appears to be crucial in these very last days...  Something to continue pondering for sure!

I pray God's peace be upon you as you enter your new season :)

Until next time,
'K'

"Stand guard against the enemy's schemes - hitting us where we're weakest"

So I mentioned in my last post about feeling the need for another retreat.  I wasn't aware of just how much that is a necessary thing until I actually stopped and listed everything I have going on - or will have beginning within the next month.  All are great things to be involved in, however when they are all put together, the accumulation is quite overwhelming.

I often wonder how I get myself to this place.  I try so hard to balance my life, and yet it seems without fail, I end up back in the same place time after time.  Sigh.  Why is it so hard to have balance?  I mean, logically it seems simple enough...right?!  Yet when it comes to actually applying it, somehow it all goes by the way-side.

I believe I do place things in priority, or at least I try to!  And my intentions are always best when it comes to organizing my time.  Though it appears to somehow get muddled up along the way.  Each day another little blip shifts the routine, and next thing I know I've gotten way off course.  Does this happen to you too?? 

I won't give the enemy credit for much, although he is very persistent when it comes to derailing our faith walk with Christ!  He has no other agenda than to take our focus off of Father and place it on ourselves.  This can be done either by placing ourselves up above God (we don't need Him because our life is running along tickity-boo with how WE are making things happen), or by having our gaze so focused downward at the little cut we have, causing us to sit and wallow in self-pity (poor me...the world is against me...).  Either way, our focus ends up in the wrong place.

It is stated in scripture that the enemy's goal is to 'steal, kill and destroy' (John 10:10).  This I believe is intended for ALL areas of the believer's life - not to be meant only as a literal (physical) human act.  This goal causes great difficulties in the area we cannot see - the spiritual realm.  Believe it or not, this is a very real problem.  Choosing to avoid this topic only speaks ignorance and leads to a tremendous amount of pain.  Coming to awareness about it though, leads us to suiting up in God's armor and prepares us for the battle we KNOW lies ahead.  This is not to say that we dwell on what we know about it, but knowing the enemy's strategy is a great starting place to be.

"We must provide no hospitality to the flesh and give no quarter to the enemy" (from 'Wrestling With Prayer' by Eric and Leslie Ludy).  This phrase jumped out to me as I read it.  Perhaps due to the fact that I had done just that - given quarter to the enemy.  A gentle yet firm conviction from Father - although it was gentle - still stings because I know I was in the wrong.  At first it was the 'slap on the wrist',  but with it's second coming about - I receive the '2X4 across the head'!  This has to mean 'lesson learned'...there is now no 'ignorance' card to play.  I pray that grace can be extended and we can move on, leaving this situation behind.  If not, I will get through it - walking in the grace that God extends, with a very important lesson under my belt.

Wrapping up this post, I pray that we all continue to stand guard against the enemy's schemes - hitting us where we're weakest.  Leaning on the Lord's strength, fully dressed in His armor, is the only way we can truly defeat the enemy.

Blessings on each and every one of you...
Until next time,
'K'

"...singing camp songs...then you come to an awakened state..."

Today is a cool 16 degrees Celsius (60 Fahrenheit) and we're being blessed with a constant pouring of rain!  Thank you God!  It's quite a change from the really hot and dry/hot and humid weather we've been enduring the past several weeks, that's for sure!  So with the rain today, it seems like the perfect setting to curl up with a good book and get some reading done with a nice cup of hot coffee :)  I think I'll do that!  But first...I'll blog :)

It's hard to believe that we're almost half way through the month of August already!  I remember at the end of June, when the kids had just gotten out of school, wondering what all we could do to fill our time to help the summer pass.  Now I'm looking at the remaining 'summer' days and wondering which of the things I'm going to do that we haven't done yet and which ones I'm going to have to leave!

The kids have been at (over-night) camp this past week.  It is the first time either have been, which makes it a first for me too!  I did really well when dropping them off...(I think having an extremely busy weekend helped keep my mind occupied)...until I drove away!  Yep, the vision of my little guy being a loving big brother, holding his little sister's hand comforting her with being her only friend (until she made a new one there - which wouldn't have taken her long!), it somehow caused tears to come to my eyes.  It wasn't that I was sad, but more so the fact that this was a brand new experience for them - my little ones are growing up!

It's been a very quiet week here needless to say!  And it's been encouraging that I haven't received any phone calls home - yay (for them!)!  I want them to experience childhood camp the way I did growing up.  I have such fond memories of it.  Actually, just the other day I was taken back to when we'd all be on the bus heading over to the community pool singing 'camp songs' (you know, the ones you sing in a round or repeat back!)...I could almost smell the familiar smell of all the pine trees that covered the campground!  I hope you have great childhood memories of camping too!  Or at least a memory that takes you back to a great experience of your youth and makes you smile!

Switching gears back to today...as I sit here and write, it's still raining steadily outside, I feel that a prompting I've been having is being confirmed.  Another 'retreat'.  However, not a long one.  Perhaps just through to the end of the weekend?  Or maybe the following week too.  The length will remain to be seen.

I've just been feeling like so much has begun to creep in (...once again...) and take over what I've held in high priority.  Like my time is evaporating into thin air, and I have nothing to show for it.  It's frustrating how so many little things can just suck the time out from right under you.  Then you come to an awakened state and realize the enemy has been lulling you into a slumber and it's exactly what he wants to do.

I know not everyone will understand where I'm coming from...it's my journey.  However, some of you will.  But when I don't get that intimate time alone with God - just us, no one else - I become more easily distracted, and irritable.  This in turn effecting those around me.  So for me, making my intimate time with Elohim is essential to my daily living, as well as those in my life.

I guess looking at it in the way of human relationship makes it easier for me to grasp...more so than looking at it being a relationship with Almighty God!  Walk with me here...  When you're in relationship with someone and you have regular (if not constant) communication with them, you learn about them...who they are, what makes them smile or cry or frustrated or hurt.  And in turn (or at least it should be a reciprocated thing!) they learn about you in the same way.  It is a continual process; one of giving and receiving.  We invest our time in them because they are important to us.  Yet sometimes when time and distance comes between...the intimacy that has been built can start to diminish.  (Now I'm not saying this is the case always...as there are some great friends I have that I rarely see, and when we do get the chance to connect we pick up right where we left off!) 

How crucial it is to recognize that happening and take the steps necessary to rectify that relationship (providing it is a God-honoring relationship and not one the Lord is wanting removed from your life!...this is where one's relationship with God is key...and we ask for His discernment in the matter).  Failing to do so can leave those in that relationship heading towards isolation (another of the enemy's tactics), causing unnecessary pain, hurt and resentment.  All because we didn't make it a priority to nurture the relationship that was so precious. 

I've had it happen, and I've seen it happen.  There is nothing Satan won't try to cultivate damaging and unhealthy relationships among us.  He is all for division; unlike Christ.  So, when something comes up between you and someone you care about...talk about it.  I know this can be humbling, especially if you are the one initiating the communication, but when you weigh the options...I'd rather be humble and walk in God's grace over being proud and lose a relationship with someone I care about because of the flesh.  Wouldn't you?!

If we all lived this way...hmmm, perhaps that's the charge for us this post.
Thank you Jesus for bringing about Your Way, Your Truth and Your Life in our everyday situations!

Until next time,
'K'