Remembering the Words

I am ashamed to say that although memorizing comes easily for me, I’ve never intentionally memorized Scripture on my own, without being guided by someone or something else.

When I was 12 or so, my mom led my sisters and me in memorizing Romans 8. I think it took us a couple months during the summer. We read it out loud together every morning, and by August we had it memorized. I still remember most of it! How amazing would it be if I had large sections of Scripture committed to my memory like that?

I think I’m going to try it again, using the daily read-aloud method. We’ll see how far I get!

Any memorizers out there? What have you memorized, and what method(s) did you use?

I want this simplicity again…

This was my dorm room during my senior year of college.

(Yes, I had it to myself. I shared an on-campus apartment with Cheyenne and Sarah, and knowing my issues with sleeping, they graciously took the double room and gave me the single.)

I know it’s impossible to maintain perfect order when you’re living with other people, particularly young children. I don’t expect that of myself or of my family.

Having toys scattered around or dishes to wash doesn’t bother me as much as having clutter that doesn’t belong anywhere, and rooms that aren’t arranged well. I have some good systems, but I aspire to that pictured level of simplicity for my home… and I feel pretty far from it right now.

I also want to focus more on making my home pretty, but I’m not an interior designer at heart, and I need a clean slate to work with.

My goal (I say that with trepidation, knowing how often my plans fall through) is to simplify the rooms in my home one by one, beginning with the living room, using Organized Simplicity by Tsh Oxenreider as a reference.

For me, in my home, simplicity is about three things:

1. Decluttering. (As you can see in those dorm room pictures, I prefer to err toward minimalism.)
2. Arranging furniture and belongings, using creativity and systems so there is a place for everything. (This part requires me to think outside the box, for sure.)
3. Maintaining and tweaking those systems over time. (This is actually the easiest part, if you have a good system to begin with.)

Again I say with trepidation that I would like to share this process with you. I’ve let myself get too overwhelmed by our small home that could be run much more simply and minimally if I put a bit of work and thought into it. I’ll keep you updated!

If I Am New

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Adjectives that describe me very accurately:

1. Immature.
2. Selfish.
3. Hypocritical.
4. Proud.
5. Judgmental.
6. Unforgiving.

Verses that are convicting me:

• “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?” (Matt. 7:1-3)
• “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.” (Luke 6:46-49)
• “Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?” (James 4:11-12)
• “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.” (Eph. 4:31)

And especially this one:

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.

(James 1:19-26)

In view of my (specific, besetting) sin issues, I have only one option: repentance. If I am saved, I can’t continue in this kind of sin. James makes that clear. If I don’t learn to bridle my tongue, I’m deceiving myself and am a stranger to God.

If I judge others harshly, I will be judged with the same measure.

If I hear Jesus’ words but don’t obey them, I will be ruined.

If I am a new creation, I will daily die to myself and put off my old sinful nature.

I’m not saying that I should resort to works righteousness… but to righteous works in response to God’s free gift of grace in Christ Jesus.

When I realized what His death on the cross meant for me, as I was lost in my sins, I was so glad. I believe I have received that gift in my heart, and cling to the cross by faith. But I remain in a mire of immaturity that does not honor God and does not assure me of my salvation.

So I say to myself: put away filthiness… put away wickedness… and receive the word with meekness. Hear it. Do it. Bridle your tongue. Serve. Cling to Him for grace to obey.

Weekend Links, Vol. 10

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Just stopping by late on a Sunday evening to share some of the best posts I’ve read over the past several weeks.

• 128 Simple Family Activities: Be a Rockstar Today! :: Inspired to Action
• Identity? God’s :: Rick and Susanna
• Face Skin Care – Do’s and Dont’s :: The Healthy Happy Chicka
• Assurance of Salvation :: That’s All I Have to Say about That
• Be Patient… :: Making Home

On work, laziness, and anxiety.

For the past five days, A.J., Christian, and I have been staying at my family’s house in Ohio. I’ve enjoyed being around my mom, dad, and sisters; eating delicious home-cooked food; lazing around while not worrying about cooking or cleaning; having so many willing babysitters; and being out of my house.

I’ve lived deliciously free of a to-do list this week. Each day’s agenda has been simple: oversee Christian’s needs, make myself presentable, eat, and hang out. And that’s quite fine by me.

I’m naturally a lazy person. I’m not a go-getter. I don’t usually enjoy work. I’m always excited to finish it so I can relax. I enjoy vegging.

Perhaps I’m overstating my case a bit. I was always a good student. I enjoyed school. But housework? While I dreamed of becoming a homemaker, and I love it, I don’t enjoy the ceaseless rotation of menial tasks, or the feeling of being behind before I’ve even started, or the constant need to reorganize and declutter.

Yet even cleaning and organizing were fun for me sometimes. But now that I’m a mother, I’m struggling with the reality that I can rarely focus on one task from start to finish. I can’t silently wash the dishes, letting my mind wander, unless Christian is asleep. After arriving home from a trip, I can’t unpack immediately and get everything spiffy before bed – I have to care for Christian.

Nor can I focus exclusively on Christian. I’m not a nanny – I have a home to take care of and I can’t sit on the floor all day playing without worrying about supper or cleaning the bathrooms.

I realize that this kind of multifaceted job description isn’t exclusive to homemakers. All I’m saying is that I’m still adjusting to the fragmentary nature of my life right now.

This morning, the to-do list began to exert its power again. I had to think about doing laundry and packing, and preparing for the trip home. And anxiety swept in. I thought about the dirty dishes in the sink at home, the Christmas tree still up, how tired I would be when I got home and how messy the house would be, suitcases to unpack, decluttering and organizing to do in each room, toys to set up in a rotation, meals to plan, a car that’s broken down, library books to return, diapers to buy… you know, the necessary trivialities.

How I love Ann’s word of the year, here. In this moment. How I love Elisabeth Elliot’s mantra, “Do the next thing.” Not the next and the next and the next. Just this one.

Lord, forgive me for my laziness. Thank You that You understand my weakness or when I’m not feeling well. But I know You call me to a life of selfless sacrifice. I fall so far short of that.

Thank You for Your Son’s death on the cross, that I might be forgiven of laziness, of anxiety, of not depending on You. Give me the mind of Christ. Help me to meditate on Your Word and not on things to do or my desire for rest.

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2011 Reading List

I’ve been spending time with family this week, so if you’ve contacted me, I will be back to my normal responses next week!

I’ve never made a reading list for a specific year, but I’m excited to try it this year.

* buy/borrow
~ already begun

Devotional:
The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, Jeremiah Burroughs ~
Joy, Lydia Brownback ~
A Godward Life, John Piper

Nonfiction:
If God Is Good, Randy Alcorn
Because He Loves Me, Elyse Fitzpatrick
Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled, Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Knowing God, J.I. Packer *
Treasuring God in Our Traditions, Noel Piper
The Hidden Art of Homemaking, Edith Schaeffer
One Thousand Gifts, Ann Voskamp *
The Faith of Betty Scott Stam, Betty Stam
The Glory of Christ, John Owen

Fiction:
Chronicles of the Schonberg-Cotta Family, Elizabeth Rundle Charles
Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen
Mansfield Park, Jane Austen *
Beneath the Night Tree, Nicole Baart
Promises to Keep, Ann Tatlock *
While We’re Far Apart, Lynn Austin *

What’s on your reading list for 2011?

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