Bible Study Update and (last week's) Meal Plan

I'm about 20 years behind, but I just starting reading Francine Rivers' Mark of the Lion series. Oh my! It is such a great story! I have a hard time putting it down sometimes. I'm on book two, and I can't wait to find out what happens. It's such a beautiful story of faith and unwavering devotion to God.

Have you read any Francine Rivers stuff?

Speaking of unwavering devotion to God, Ben taught an amazing lesson yesterday morning about self-examination. He talked about how we all want to know why we do the things we do in reaction to our circumstances, especially the sinful ones that we regret. There are many excuses that we can come up with for why we respond negatively to life, but if we are believers, then we should be able to look internally (not externally) for a solution. And that solution is always the process of self-examination led by the Holy Spirit, which leads to confession of the particular sinful response, which should prompt repentance (turning away from), which should bring us back into worship and closer fellowship with God. Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to "Love The Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength." If we say that we want to obey this command, then we must own-up to our sins, big and small, seen and unseen. 

It was a very convicting lesson, and I am proud of Ben for teaching so obediently.

Last week's meal plan was extremely random. I made several things that I do not make very often, and there were not any repeat ingredients between any two recipes. It's rare that that happens. Here's what we had:

Brittany's sweet potato and black bean chili

Pulled pork BBQ sandwiches with broccoli slaw and baked beans

Eggplant zucchini bake (Rachael Ray)

Homemade pizza

Some lunches were:

Leftover chicken tortellini soup from last week

Veggie sliders

I feel like I get in a lunch "slump" a lot. Do you have any lunches that you are enjoying lately?

The American Dream--- busted up!

I have about one page left in the book 7 by Jen Hatmaker. It has been a great book for me at this phase of life. It's all about the excess in our lives: clothes, food, possessions, media, waste, spending & stress. These are the areas that Jen addresses; she chronicles how she tackled these areas in light of the Gospel.

Jen is very aware of what is going on around her; she lives in Austin where she is a pastor's wife, and they are literally reaching out to the hurting, homeless, working-poor & refugees. I loved reading the stories about their family, including their three kids, interacting with these such people (beings created in God's image, may I remind you!).  Her children are so used to the situation that they are not afraid or timid; they interact with the people like they're neighbors!

I wish that I could have that for myself and my family! Isaiah comes to mind. You know where God tells us "...encourage the oppressed..." Ya, I'm pretty sure that what I do when I see a desparate-looking person is stare when they aren't looking and then awkwardly avoid all chances for eye-contact. OK, OK... I am getting better... A few weeks ago I did talk to a young girl holding a sign by the road, and Rush (my three year old) got to ask me questions about it. (Yay, God moments with kids!) But why? Why is this our normal response to sensing hopelessness in another? Sure, if they look nice and smell nice and are crying outside the grocery store, we'll probably ask them if they are alright. But if their appearance is undesirable, we shuffle around them, bolt for our car, and assume its their own fault. Why?! I do not want to do this anymore!!!

There, I said it. 

Lord, open my eyes to the needs of others. Give me opportunities to help the hurting and forgotten; to tell these lonely creatures of Your Love. 

One of my favorite excerpts from 7:

"It appears a good way to bring relief to the oppressed is to bring real relief to the oppressed. It's almost like Jesus meant what he said. When you're desparate, usually the best news you can receive is food, water, shelter... I guess that's why "Love people" is the second command next to "Love God." And since God's reputation is hopelessly linked to His followers' behavior, I suspect He wouldn't be stuck with His current rap if we spent our time loving others and stocking their cabinets."

Stirring Up!

"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,  not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near," Hebrews 10:24-25.

This was our memory passage a couple of weeks ago, chosen by me for a reason. Earlier this summer I shared some of my thoughts on community and how much we need each other as Christians. My inspiration was sparked after being in close contact with a group of people that belong to a Care Group (as their church calls it) and after reading a chapter in How People Change called "Change is a Community Project" (chapter 5). So here are my thoughts:

We are saved; we thank God for all our blessings; we go to church (and maybe even Bible Study); we listen to Christian music; we serve in a ministry; we pray before we eat; we tell others that we are Christians. But how do we grow? How are we sanctified? How can we be motivated to stay on track in our Christian walk? Besides our personal relationship with God, I believe that real, intentional, intimate relationships with other believers is the way we can do all of this and thus produce more "love and good works."

Wouldn't it be awesome to have a group of people to share your thoughts and questions with about what you study? (This could be an entire other post, but I feel that Bible-talk should be in our everyday language and conversations SO much more than it is!) I would love to be able to share my sin struggles with a small group of ladies that I admire & trust. James 5:16 says, "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." This is just one of many verses about the benefits of "community" that motivates/convicts me to be more intentional in my friendships.

So, Ben & I have been inspired to, with the help of the Lord, foster some REAL relationships with other Christian families. It is SO hard to do this when you have little ones! (And our weak minds keep coming up with these and other excuses.) Please pray for us as we attempt to do something that we feel very ill-equipped for. More on the specifics later...

I have recently added Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer to my library thanks to my brother-in-law. I was talking to him about small groups and community within the body, and he bought the book for us as a gift. I can't wait to read it with Ben! My favorite line on the back description says, "Life Together is bread for all who are hungry for the real life of Christian fellowship."

Here is a picture of Ben and Lottie with Jared, our brother-in-law.

Recently, someone told me that their purpose for being in a small group was to live out all of the "one-anothers" from Scripture, so I looked them up. (This is not a comprehensive list.):

Love one another John 13:34
show mercy and compassion to one another Zechariah 7:9
Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Romans 12:10
Live in harmony with one another.  12:16
Accept one another Romans 15:7
encourage one another 2 Corinthians 13:11
serve one another humbly in love. Galatians 5:13
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Ephesians 4:2
speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Ephesians 5:19
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus Philippians 2:5
Bear with each other and forgive one another Colossians 3:13
Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. Colossians 3:16
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up 1 Thessalonians 5:11
Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Hebrews 13:1
we have fellowship with one another 1 John 1:7


I am pretty far behind on updating our family happenings...

Some of you know that Rush had walking pneumonia last week right before our annual trip to Hilton Head, SC. He is doing MUCH better now, and we did get to take our vacation. (More on that later...)

Ben had been traveling A LOT, but he has been home for a couple of weeks now. :)

We are reading The Five Love Languages together. I had read it a long time ago and then again about a year ago. It is a great marriage-builder. I HIGHLY recommend it! My love language is Receiving Gifts (it's a mixture of the gift of your presence & acts of service/gifts). Do you know your love language???

Freezer Group is next week already!!! I have got to get cooking! I will post my recipes soon.