A {very} good life

Most times I don't post very often because my days are exactly the same. I'm not just saying this, I really do. I get up, shower, eat breakfast, clean up breakfast, clean the house. Do laundry. Bible study. Lunch, clean up lunch. Work on some project or something until I exercise in the afternoon. Clean up from the workout. Cook\help with supper. Clean up supper. Free time, then go to bed. Wake up and repeat.

While I like to write articles sometimes to help myself and others, that's not what my blog is really for. I use it for the unimportant little things of my everyday life - not for serious articles or topics. But since my days are always the same, often times I don't feel like I have anything to post about.

Have you ever noticed that I don't talk much about my personal thoughts\feeling on this blog? Strange, I know. I'm a very outgoing person and being around\talking with people is one of my most favorite things ever. At the same time, I don't like to have my personal struggles, feelings and thoughts put out there for everyone who comes to my blog to read. My raw emotions laid bare for anyone in the world to read through.

I love sharing the good things, the happy things - I don't like dwelling on the bad. One of my pet peeves are people who are total downers. We all know some, or at least know of some. Somehow we know every single struggle and frustration and anger they have going on. I try to stay away from that as much as possible.

Life is GOOD. But sometimes I slip, and I might start to forget. :I miss my sister. every night I hate going to bed alone-sometimes I cry because doubts creep in and I wonder how long I'll have to do so. my hair is thin. do people think I'm chubby? I wonder if friends care as much as they say when keeping in touch doesn't seem to be that important to them. I get frustrated because I want to do more varied, useful things in my life. :

We all have thoughts like these....you might not have the same ones as I do, but every one of us has concerns and worries that can threaten to steal away our peace. 

When I step away and take a look at things I deal with sometimes, you know what? I realize just how small they are and just how blessed I am. :my sister is blissfully happy with a wonderful husband. God will bring about what's the very best for me in His timing, and will help me through every struggle along my way. there's nothing I can do about my thin hair, so just get past it. I eat healthy and exercise very often, trying to keep myself in good shape - I will never ever ever be a size 2 - at my height, if I was ever a size 2 I'd probably be in a coffin. I understand that people get busy and can't just hang around online all the time. i'll have freedom to do more things soon, and what I've been doing has taught me discipline among many other things:

Yes we all have concerns, but don't let them steal our peace. Let God be your Comforter. Let Him help you. If you try to deal with everything on your own, things won't go very well. Realize that you have things to work through, but don't dwell on them. Go to God and his Word for guidance, but don't dwell. Get out and help others - cook, bake, make cards, visit people...

When we're doing our very best to live a righteous, peace-filled, trusting in Him life and helping others to the best of our ability, we'll have a GOOD life.

Smooth sailing never made a skilled sailor. 

The background on my laptop at the moment is a quote from Marilyn Monroe. Don't get me started on Marilyn herself, because I think we all know about her, but I really like the quote.

  "Keep smiling. Because life is a beautiful thing and there is so much to smile about."

Life is beautiful. Life is a miracle. 

Let's celebrate it!

The Power of a Positive Wife: Chapter 3

This poor blog has been neglected for a bit, but I'm going to try and do better about posting on here. :)

I was doing a series on the book The Power of a Positive Wife.  I said... 

"When we were staying with my grandparents on furlough, I happened to see a book on Nanna's shelf that was entitled, "The Power of a Positive Wife".  I thought it looked interesting, so I picked it up and started to thumb through it.  Before I knew it, I had my notebook and pen out, furiously taking notes.  My sweet and generous Nanna saw me, laughed a little, and gave me another copy she happened to have tucked away!

I thought I would take one blog post at at time, and share some good parts from each chapter!

Now, I'm obviously not a wife, but I really love this book; it has so many good points.  Even though it's about how wives should relate to their husbands (which is very helpful to read, even though I'm not married yet), it has so many things I can apply to everyday life with my family".

...I got a little sidetracked, but I wanted to pick up where I left off and finish the series.

Chapter 3: The Truth about true Love

This chapter deals with some myths that many have about love, and how they affect our views of marriage and commitment.  We'll take a sampling of just a few.

Myth #1: There's one "true love" for me. Once I find him, we'll get married and live happily ever after.

Let me first say that I completely believe that God can providentially work to bring two certain people together.  My sister and her husband, for example - I believe that there was providential working involved.  Even though they were oceans apart, things worked out so they could begin talking, and eventually meet, and later get married.  That being said, let's see what the author says about this first myth.

"...Movies, love songs and novels have created a surreal picture of the perfect romance...If you hold to the mind-set that each of us has one perfect, true love out there, what do you do when you realize that your spouse is not so lovable at times?...Certainly, we should look for a spouse who exhibits the character qualities and Christian values that we know we want in a lifelong partner. But when we find that seemingly perfect guy, we must accept the fact that love will still be work...True love doesn't mean having a relationship of ease; it means making the continual choice to love and forgive".

This is so true.  Even with siblings, it takes work to love.  It takes work to speak kindly when you're angry.  Many times it might be easier to stay upset, but it takes work to forgive and forget.  Love is a decision.  It takes nurturing, like a tender plant that must be watered and cared for every day.  If the plant is not watered, it will shrivel and die.  

Myth #3: I can fall out of love with my spouse.

This one is all too common! How many people have you heard say, "We were in love when we first got married, but since then we've just fallen out of love".  That could more accurately be translated as "I'm not willing to work at loving him\her anymore".  Like what was said in myth #1, true love is a decision, and not something we fall in or out of.  Sure, it's probably easier to love during the honeymoon than when you're sleep deprived and tired of seeing dirty socks on the floor and dishes in the sink, but we can still choose to love when it's difficult. "True love loves past the weaknesses and builds on the strengths".

~*~

Principles from this chapter: Love is not simply discovered; it is created, and it takes work...and marital love is a commitment encompassing affection, friendship, pleasure, and selfless love. 

_____

Hope you all are having a wonderful Lord's Day!

Rejoice in the Lord

 Hi everyone! I didn't realize it had been so long since I did a post on here, but I thought I'd share an article that I wrote a while back - Enjoy! :)

“Rejoice in the Lord”.  That phrase is written on plaques and hung on walls in houses everywhere.  However, as we take time to think about it, do we really?  How many times do we find ourselves going day to day with a ho-hum attitude, or simply going through the motions?  As Christians, we should be the most joyful people on earth, because we understand our purpose, and have the gift of Life.  I believe that one of the biggest keys to appreciating the wonderful gift of salvation is to understand the ugliness of sin.

Worldliness and sin abound in every place we go, and it’s normal to get used to something if it’s around us 24\7.  But we must fight this if we’re to remain holy.  We’re not to be conformed to this world, but we’re to be transformed (Rom. 12:2).  The state we’d be in if God had never shown His love by sending His Son is truly sobering, but it’s one that we must periodically think on to remind us of the great blessing we’ve received.

It’s not possible for evil to dwell with God (Ps. 5:4), and God’s face is against those who act wickedly (Ps. 34:16). God does not tolerate sin.  Even though he might not destroy mankind for such evildoing as he did in the days of the flood, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel just as strongly about it today as he did then.  Sin is serious and we can’t afford to become numbed by it.  Sure, we might not be practicing homosexuality, but what about the “smaller” sins of greed, jealousy, fits of anger, impure speech or envy (Gal. 5:19-21)?  These things are every bit as detrimental to our spiritual life as the “big” issues, and are more of a struggle for most Christians.  Sin cannot dwell with God.  We’re imperfect human beings, and we fall.  Over and over, we need to ask God for his forgiveness.  However, the beauty of what God has given us is that if we’re trying to do right and follow him to the best of our ability, we are continually cleansed and forgiven (1 Jn. 1:7).

How should the knowledge that we have a way to escape death and eternal punishment make us feel?  The knowledge that God still would have sent his Son to die in our place, even if we were the only one he did it for?  I can’t think of anything under the sun that can fill me with more joy.  We don’t deserve life, but God loved us so much that he gave it to us anyway.  What a gift! (Eph. 2:8)

That being said, when we go to worship, why do we sometimes have a less than enthusiastic attitude?  We should feel honored to be able to praise him, thank him, remember him, and give back to him.  Let’s “Be glad when they said to us ‘Let us go into the house of the Lord’”(Ps. 122:1).

With the knowledge we have, our everyday lives can and should be filled with joy and peace.  Do we go about our days in a state of semi-apathy, with a slightly dreary attitude?  The Psalms are full of verses telling us to rejoice and have a happy heart, praising God in our thankfulness.  In my mind, the picture that’s painted from those verses isn’t one of negativity and solemnity. Our hope should bring joy, resulting in a glad heart, which in turn, makes a cheerful face.  If you’re not having the best day, try counting some of your blessings and make a conscious effort to speak cheerful words – not to be ingenuine, but feelings often follow actions.

If you go into your workplace with a ho hum attitude every day, it shows, and if we don’t show joy, or even happiness in our lives, why should people in the world want what we have?  We’re to be lights in the world; a city on a hill that can’t be hidden.  Think for a moment even about your facebook page.  What do our statuses reflect?  So many times I see people post over and again how a certain something annoyed them, disappointed them, or angered them, often never thinking to note what was pleasant or positive in their lives.  This isn’t a healthy attitude, and certainly not a Christlike outlook on life.

Let’s truly delight in the Lord, exult in every new day He brings, appreciate the wonderful gift of salvation, and look forward to opportunities that might come our way!  “A glad heart makes a cheerful face, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed” – Prov. 15:13

Abundant life

We've been having several Bible studies lately, that have been going really well.  Every Wednesday and Saturday morning I tag along with Dad and Jake and go to a study that's with 4 young women.  If I remember right, three are Anglican, and one is Methodist.

It's been so encouraging to sit in on these studies!  The women are interested and attentive, and are willing to talk and answer\ask questions.  Alot of people may agree to have a study with you, but while they're fiddling with their phone or staring at a bee buzzing in the window, you get the feeling that they're not really even listening to what's being said.

Being in the study has just reminded me again and again of some things.

Every time I sit in on classes, and watch the people as they see things unfold, it gives me goosebumps.  Every time that we start at the beginning and review God's plan for the world - how he planned for his Son to come and take our place, it brings me to tears.  

In Genesis 3:15, talking about how Jesus will be victorious, and in Acts 2:24 - "God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it."

It just brings me to tears and puts me in awe, because what a wonderful and powerful God we serve.  How unworthy we are to even serve Him, but how blessed are we to be able to!

Jesus came so we could have life.  Not just existence, but life.  Abundant, joyful, peace-filled, full life.

Even when the storms come, we're able to take comfort in the knowledge that God's above all, through all, and in all.

~

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly."
 John 10:10

"My lips will shout for joy,when I sing praises to you;
my soul also, which you have redeemed."

Psalms 71:23

 "My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
to the living God." 
Psalms 84:2

"But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may exult in you." 
Psalms 5:11

 

The Power of a Positive Wife: Chapter 1

Last time, we took a peek at the introduction for this book.  This post will take an overview of chapter one of The Power of a Positive Wife.

Chapter 1 [part one]: The Impact of a Positive Wife

 This chapter starts out asking the question, "If you could choose the one ingredient that makes a great wife, what would it be?"..."What if her every waking moment is motivated by the question, 'What can I do to make my husband's world a better place?'...this would be great attention, but the most important ingredient is God-centerdness."  In this book, Karol Ladd stresses the important of a personal relationship with Christ, and spiritual growth.  If we're truly God-centered, and trying our best to apply biblical principles to our lives, we will try to please our husbands to the best of our ability.  Pleasing our husbands in everything, however, is not our #1 motivation.  "Her walk with God allows her to keep the other areas of her life in balance". 

Karol reminds that marriage is all about two unique individuals using their individual talents to strengthen and balance the marriage.  For, "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work" (Eccl. 4:9).  We're encouraged to take stock of our talents and abilities, and find ways to use them in the best way.

In Romans 12:9-12, 15,16, Paul talks about devoted, true love.  He never asks if the other person treats us with love first.  "Showing love means helping others become better people".  The book states that we should be as blind to our husbands faults as we can, and encourage him in his good areas.  Obviously, she's not talking about a glaring sin problem, and occasions do arise when we'll need to point something out to the hubby that he can try to better himself at - she's simply talking about day to day life; encouraging us to dwell on the positive, not the negative!

When women are hurt by their husbands, they might often be tempted to try to get back at him by giving the silent treatment, use spiteful words, or even withhold intimacy.  Karol gives us the example of Paul.  He had "every right" to try to get even with his enemies, but he chose to forgive and move on.  "We need to practice the profound principle of forgiving...what does an I'm-going-to-get-you-back attitude do for us? Do they make us better people or just bitter ones?" 

 
Wives set the tone for their homes.  Proverbs 19:13, 14 says, "a nagging wife annoys like a constant dripping...but only the Lord can give an understanding wife".  Our attitudes and actions are like air fresheners.  If someone walks into our home, they can either breath in deeply and smile, or wrinkle their noses in disgust.

The last part of chapter one talks about control; Let's see what Karol has to say.  "What do wives want to control? Circumstances, for one.  We want to keep the people and things around us healthy, happy and safe.  Our families, for two.  Many of us want to control our husbands and children - to micromanage their every action."  She encourages us to identify what areas in our life we try to control, and turn it over to God.  It's not our job to try to control our families, and every circumstance in our life; when we see flaws in our husbands, sometimes we're tempted to think it's our job to try to change his ways, but that's not our job.  Our job is to encourage him in good ways, and take his name to God in prayer.

"What is your greatest weakness or challenge in your marriage?  We all know marriage is not a stroll down Easy Street...it's more like a drive Flaws and Weaknesses Lane...The question is not, 'Do you have challenges?' The question is, 'Where do you go for help, power, and strength through the challenges?"

 

The Power of a Positive Wife: Introduction

When we were staying with my grandparents on furlough, I happened to see a book on Nanna's shelf that was entitled, "The Power of a Positive Wife".  I thought it looked interesting, so I picked it up and started to thumb through it.  Before I knew it, I had my notebook and pen out, furiously taking notes.  My sweet and generous Nanna saw me, laughed a little, and gave me another copy she happened to have tucked away!

Now, I'm obviously not a wife, but I really love this book; it has so many good points.  Even though it's about how wives should relate to their husbands (which is very helpful to read, even though I'm not married yet), it has so many things I can apply to everyday life with all of my family. 

I thought I would take one blog post at at time, and share some good parts from each chapter!

 

Introduction:

It starts out with a 4 page introduction where it generally outlines the book, and the overall purpose.  The book starts out with this: "Let me guess...you fully intended to be a positive wife when you first got married...but somewhere between the 'I do' and the 'happily ever after' you found yourself struggling...and suddenly you found that you weren't all you intended you would be".  "...If I gaze into my husbands eyes, it might be that I'm trying to get him to help with the kids or take out the trash."  The book's emphasis is on how wives should react to their husbands, regardless of what the husband's behavior might be.

She tries to stress the importance of the wife's personal relationship with God.  "The positive wife doesn't look only to her husband to fill her with joy and contentment, she looks to her heavenly Father".  She goes on to say that every marriage will have problems, because both the husband and wife do, but the real question that determines the state of a marriage is how we will handle those problems.

Hopefully you'll enjoy the quick look of this book, and if it interests you, maybe you'll even think about getting a copy of your own!

 

We made it

Thank you all so much for the prayers - we've made it safely down to Iringa, and have been getting everything sorted out.

I hardly know what day it is right now, everything seems pretty jumbled up, but let's see if I can give you a bit of what's happened!

A truck came last Tuesday afternoon, and we were able to get everything loaded up, and the truck locked.  We had sleeping bags out still, so we slept at our house that night and got up early Wednesday morning and started driving!   

Mom and Dad were in the Land Cruiser pulling the trailer that had our suitcases and sleeping bags, etc. in it, and the boys and I were in the Wagon with the dogs.  Don and Axe were in the very back and they did great, except for getting really hot.  They made it through the trip without dying - yes!  I was in the middle seat with the ice chest and Panya.  She was really good too, just went back and forth between laying down and looking out my window.  She liked to growl at giraffes and impala we passed!

We got to Iringa at probably around 10pm, and slept at an inn.

The next morning we got to our house, and started getting everything unpacked!  Since then, we've pretty much been doing the same things - unpack, carry boxes, unpack, take apart empty boxes...ask other family members "Do you want this?" every few minutes.  Heh heh.

We worshiped with the brethren here on Sunday; the building is about 20 minutes from our house.  Mwakalonge preached a good sermon, and the people were friendly.  

Hopefully we'll get internet up at the house in a few days.  It'll be nice when things get settled in enough to get back into a regular schedule.

Has anyone made any goals for the New Year?  I've written down a few general guidelines for myself.  They're not resolutions, since I've been doing them anyway, but New Year's is a convenient time to look at goals, etc. you have.

Here are a few of mine:

 - Daily Bible study and prayer time

 - Drink at least a couple of glasses of water a day 
(I usually drink a litre or two a day, but this is just so if I don't drink that much in a day, I at least get something!)

 - Exercise 3 times a week\train to run a 10K
(Hopefully more, but this is so I don't set myself up for disaster, haha) 

So there we have it, hope you all are having a great week!

 ~

 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.

Philippians 4:4
 

 

A new week!

What a beautiful Sunday it's been!  We went to Kisongo this morning for worship, because Jacob was asked to preach.  He did a wonderful job!  It was a really nice treat.  Our evening devo with the missionaries was canceled, because almost everyone wasn't going to be able to make it, but our family still had a devo with just us, which was nice. :)

-

 I started my Romans\Galatians class on Thursday, and I really enjoyed the first class!  At 8am there's a devo for all the students (*insert me shuffling to a chair trying to look inconspicuous*), and at 8:30 we go in and have class until 10, when there's a half hour break for tea {Mwahaha!  It's great, and especially useful for thawing you out once you've become an ice cube}.  Then we go back in until noon, then we break for lunch.  After lunch, it's class from 1 until 3.   

-

On Saturday, the Samfords had a "fish fry" at their house, and it was alot of fun!  They had bought some fish and cooked them {they fixed most of the fish how they like them here - whole fish, minus the insides}, and invited a bunch of people over.  Almost all that came were from the Arusha congregation, but most of the ACSOP students came as well, along with a few others.  In all, there was about 80 people.

The Samfords have a trampoline, so a game that Bonnie had the guys play was the "Masai jumping contest".  By far, my favorite part of the day, haha!  When she first told them they were going to have a Masai jumping contest, they got all excited, because most of them have had real practice!  They had alot of fun trying to do it on the trampoline, though.  Joseph was my favorite {he's actually a Masai}, because he got onto the trampoline, took the jumping stance, and started jumping, doing the Masai "Eeo!" sound at the top of his jump, then starting doing another sound that's made by sucking air in and out of your throat  {Yes, sorry it's so hard to describe!}.  After that, the women played musical chairs, and they loved it!  We all had alot of fun.  :)

-

I hope you all are having a wonderful Sunday!

"The List" - Hmm, sounds ominous!

First off, Lee and Julia made it safe and sound to Oklahoma!  Thanks for all your prayers!

~*~

So I've made a sked-jool (Yes, a schedule) for myself.  I think it'll be good to have what I need to do written down instead of getting most of them done, but having dust rabbits as my roommates.  In my last post, I said I'd tell some of the things that are on it.

These aren't in any particular order.

1)  I've gotten to be a little bit of a wimpy blimpy (Haha, not really...wimpy yes, blimpy not really.  I can't take credit for that phrase by the way...) so I do some cardio in the morning {all of two mornings in a row now! :) }, and a bit of yoga and stretching at night.  

2)  Cook a few meals a week.  (Doing the dishes is always a given, except sometimes an exception when I'm the one cooking the meal.  Dishes never make my list, hehe, you can't forget dishes!)

3) "Cleaning the house" sounds so quick, but people who actually do it know that it's not for the faint of heart!  Sweep the floors every day, dust on alternate days, pick up all the junk that you just put away...Yes, I think they have legs.  *shifty eyes*     

 ~

Fridays are also mop days - Bucket of water and a towel. 

~

Sweep my room, pick up clutter, dust, clean the bathroom.  Thankfully not all on the same day, but in the week.  {*cough* How long has that been there?!}

~

Tuesdays and Fridays are milk mornings.  I go outside, get the milk from "Mama Maziwa", strain it, pasteurize it, and put it in jars.  

4)  Bible study - The most important of all!  Very much enjoying these parts of my day!

5) Swahili - I haven't actually gotten around to doing this one yet, but I will!  It'll do me alot of good if I actually sit down and study it some more.

~*~

So there are a few samples of The List!

~*~

So this afternoon I made homemade raviolis!  I actually didn't mess them up, they were pretty good.  It took all afternoon though (literally), to make that and french bread.  It would take less time, but I had to figure out different sauce measurements and substitutes, and quadruple check myself to make sure I didn't do anything wrong!  :)

~*~

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

~*~

To whom shall we go?

Last night I was doing my Bible reading in Luke 22.  Jesus had told Peter that he would deny him three times.  Peter, of course, had said that he would never deny the Lord.  As we know, Peter did deny Jesus.

{"And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, '“Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.'”
Luke 22:60: But Peter said, “'Man, I do not know what you are talking about.' And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.
Luke 22:61: And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.”
Luke 22:62: And he went out and wept bitterly."}

The part of verse 61 that says, "And the Lord turned and looked at Peter" always makes me stop and think.  It makes me imagine how I would feel if I were Peter...if I had just denied the Lord, not even once, but three times.  Then remembering what Christ told me - turning to look at Jesus...and seeing him simply look back at me.  How ashamed I would be.  Just as Peter was - he went out and wept bitterly.  Just those two verses are so powerful to me.  It makes me imagine the scene in my head every single time.  But the same thing happens to us.  We need to fully realize that God sees all we do.  God is looking at us, seeing everything we do when we do right or wrong.  When we're doing something wrong, He is there, looking at us.  We just can't look back at Him and see Him doing it.  How would we feel if we could see God seeing us when we do wrong?  We should always try to do right and live holy lives.  I think it's possible for us to sometimes forget the seriousness of sin, and forget that God is watching everything we do.

~*~

In the past few days, I've heard of and seen that many people, people who I used to be good friends with, and people I used to know, leave the Church.  It has made me so sad.  They're leaving the Church when they should have been deeply , firmly grounded in it.  Please, please, we must do everything we can to help people like this, ones I know, and ones that you know, to come back to the Church.  And if you think you see someone you know beginning to possibly falter, {maybe it's just some attitudes, dress, actions,   whatever it is...} speak to them about it.  Because my friends, it is so much better to say something now, than to have remained silent, and later wonder if there was something you could have done.

~*~

"After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.  So Jesus said to the Twelve, '“Do you want to go away as well?'  Simon Peter answered him,' “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.'"
~John 6:66-68~ 

~*~