Twitter Ate My Blog

I miss blogging.  It’s a realization I’ve been thinking about recently.  What are the reasons people quit/slow down blogging:

• life – yes, life gets busy
• busy – yup, still busy
• twitter – a venue to still be a voice in the airways, but with 140 characters, you don’t need a lot of time to do a quick shout out

So yeah, Twitter ate my blog.  I tweet quirky things. I tweet spiritual things. I tweet about my kiddos, job, doggies, garden, dinner, church, hubby and randomness.  I @reply people. People @reply me.  We interact.  And, my Twitter feeds to FaceBook, so we chat/interact there, too. That’s probably one reason I tweet more than blog, the interaction. I’m not the only one who’s slowed down on blogging… so blogging interaction overall has slowed down.

I can tweet when waiting in the car picking up a kiddo.  I can tweet while riding in the car (as a passenger ).  I can tweet the food I’m eating (better in an Instagram) or the verse I’m reading (via YouVersion). I can retweet some really smart/inspirational people and I can retweet news headlines.  But…

… I still miss blogging. It was always an outlet for me.  A processing place.  And I miss my blogging friends (although most of which I’m connected to on Twitter ).  So, I’m thinking I’m going to pick it back up again.  No promises on regularity/consistency.  Member that little thing called life?

How about you, are you still blogging? Do you tweet?

Before You Leave

Love, love, love this song by Casting Crowns.  It exclaims the heartbreaking truth of what is happening in churches across the country.   The knee-jerk reaction in this day and age is if something “doesn’t work out” ya’ jet. High-tail it outta there… “with their made-up minds”…

Christians, before you leave a church, carefully consider if God has a purpose for you there and wants you to work out your differences.  We all have a purpose in the body.  What if our first reaction was to pray, seek God and build on each other’s strengths, not differences?

Preparing

No matter what stage in life, it seems like we’re always preparing for something.  In high school we start preparing for college; fill out applications, apply for scholarships, save money, get supplies for your dorm…  College years prepare us for a career as we study long hours, sit in endless classes and even get some  hands-on experience. A bit later one may be preparing for a wedding: ordering flowers, cake, food, DJ, dress… Hours of shopping and planning so everything will be “just perfect” on that special day.  Sometimes planned, sometimes not, when expecting a baby there’s so much to prepare for; getting all the ‘stuff’ you need – car seat, crib, high chair, diaper bag, DIAPERS, toys, blankets, learning all you can about those lil ones – reading blogs, magazines, books, watching TLC , what to know about the hospital, labor, birth, life after birth… So much to prepare for.

God has prepared something for us too, those of us that have trusted Jesus as Savior. These verses get my blood pumping a bit faster as I think on the awesomeness of what God has prepared for us:

• He has prepared a city for us – Heb. 11:16
• He has prepared a house for us with a special room made just for YOU – John 14:2-3
• He has prepared a kingdom for us – Matt. 25:34

God has done all this preparation, but have we realized that there’s some things He wants us to prepare for as well?

• He wants us to prepare for spiritual battles, equipped with the Word, faith, prayer - Eph. 6
• He wants us to be prepared for good works, be open/ready for opportunities He brings along, staying pure, set-apart for His purpose - Eph. 2:10, 2 Tim. 2:21
• He wants us to prepare to be His bride, like the 5 virgins in Matt. 25, ready for His return or call home

How can we be ready for Christ?

• Keep Him as the focus of your daily life.  I know distractions come along but when we continually come back to Him as a focal point, it keeps things in perspective and gives Him 1st place in our minds/hearts. Isa. 26:3
• Seek Him continually. One of my favorite verses in the Holman Christian Standard Version is Matt. 7:7.  I love this verse in other versions where it states, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened…” But, I love how it’s worded in the HCSB, “Keep asking and it will be given to you. Keep searching and you will find. Keep knocking and the door will be opened to you.” Keep on keeping on!  Continual asking, searching, knocking will keep on preparing you for Christ.
• Be filled with the Spirit. Eph. 5:18, Rom 8:4  Ask God for His Spirit to lead you, fill you and prepare you.  There’s no one more equipped to prepare us than the One who created us.  Let Him do His work in you.

No one knows the day/hour of His return or when He’ll call us home, but we can live prepared for what He’s called us to here on earth and prepare to be His bride for eternity.

In a Relationship

You’ve seen it on Facebook – people updating their relationship status.

In a relationship with so and so.

Single.

In a relationship with so and so.

Single.

In a relationship with so and so and it’s complicated. 

Since I’ve been on Facebook, I think about four years now, some of my Facebook friends’ relationships have changed several times.  Several. So I pose the question, what does God think about this?

First of all, let me throw out a disclaimer… The Grubbies are not full throttle on the dating scene (in regards to our kiddos) and are seeking the Lord, step by step as we figure this out.  I would say we’re somewhere between the Duggars and Friday Night Lights…  But, here are some things we hear the Lord saying:

The Lord loves you more than you can imagine and only wants what’s best for you.  God’s best. I can throw down a couple dozen verses for ya’ on this, but I’ll let you explore that on your own.  Just use a Bible Concordance or online Bible and search “love.”  He greatly treasures you as His precious child and is constantly on the lookout for you.

God created us for relationship.  He created us for relationship 1st with Him, and then with others.  (Matt. 6:33, John 15). God must remain our first love.  If we are not pursuing an active relationship with our Creator, we have no business pursuing a “relationship” here on earth. First things first.

God’s design for dating is preparation for a marriage relationship. Now, I don’t have a throw down verse for this one, but I will take us back to the 1st point that God loves you/me more than we can imagine.  Based in that, we can determine that it’s not His will for us to date – break-up – date – break up.  That is not His pattern for marriage.  If we learn that pattern in dating relationships, than when the rubber meets the road in marriage, it will be easier to just walk away from marriage.  The rubber will meet the road.  Marriage is not easy.  Marriage takes work and a whole lot of grace from God.  God does not want us to just walk away from marriage when times get tough.

So what does that mean for you?  Here are just a couple suggestions to avoid the relationship drama and pursue God’s best for you in this area.

• Be friends.  Yes, your heart may pitter/patter when you see him/her.  That’s normal (and a little fun and exciting and nerve-wracking). A long-term relationship isn’t built on those attractions, but on a strong friendship base.  Take time to develop that friendship.  Hang out with each other and with others.
• Set guidelines for yourself.  If/when you move into a relationship, keep mental guidelines for yourself and listen for the Holy Spirit as He leads you.  God gave us guidelines all throughout the Bible (most common are the 10 commandments) and again they’re for our good and God’s best for our lives.  Avoid situations where there’s too much opportunity for things to go to far. Once you hit one of those milestones, it’s almost impossible to go back.  For example, if you kiss, it will almost be a expectation that you will kiss each time that you are together.  If you do more than that, it will be likely that  you will do more than that whenever the opportunity allows.
• Listen to wisdom.  Wisdom comes in many forms; the Holy Spirit if you’re a believer, godly parents, youth pastor/leaders, friends that are committed to live for Christ and the Bible… just to name a few. God is good about repeating a message He wants us to hear through many different sources. The book of Proverbs is a water-hose of wisdom. Check it out.

So there you have it, my two cents about being “in a relationship“.  Please feel free to share your nuggets of wisdom below as well .

Win or Lose

Kevin came home this morning after dropping the girls off at school to tell me about how John Parr rewrote “St. Elmo’s Fire” using the name “Tim Tebow’s Fire”.  So I looked it up on YouTube – cool song.  But, since I was on YouTube, with a search of Tim Tebow, I came across another video, of Tim mic’d while playing against the Chicago Bears. That was really fun to watch him interact with fans, players and even opponents.  One statement he made near the end of the video touched me:

“Win or lose, Lord, give me the strength to honor You.”

Win or Lose I would guess most of us don’t have a hard time praising God when we win, when things are going well, when we’re on the mountaintop. But what about when we lose? That’s not so easy.  In fact, Tim makes that point in his prayer that he needs the Lord to “give me strength” either way. James 1 and Romans 5 encourage us to do just that – count it joy/rejoice when things aren’t going our way.  That’s a tough order, but it’s definitely one that will honor God.

Lord, Give me the Strength Tim Tebow is not awesome.  The Lord IN Tim Tebow is awesome. He realizes it’s the LORD who gives him strength.  No one’s good on their own (Rom. 3:23), anything good in us is from Christ (James 1:17) and through CHRIST can we do anything (Phil. 4:13). He is our strength.

To Honor You 1 Peter 3:15 tells us to honor the Messiah as Lord in your hearts. Beyond the hype, beyond the fans, beyond the critics is a young man whose desire is to honor God.  His statement in this video has challenged me to honor God – in the good & in the bad – in His strength.

Thanks for the message this morning, Tim.  Praying for you, brother.

Softly and Tenderly – A Book Review

Singer/songwriter Sara Evans partnered with author Rachel Hauck to write Softly and Tenderly, a modern, true-to-life storyline continued from The Sweet By &By.  Each character in this book was dealing with past indiscretions/secrets and the present consequences of them.

I loved the modern references in the story, for example to the TV show, “Friends” or the fact that Jade and Max have iPhones J.  The characters are so real, it could be written about your neighbor, or your family, someone living in the here and now.   We all have a story, don’t we?

It seems like it took me a long time to read “Softly and Tenderly”, but overall I did enjoy it.   The reader is carried through the gamut of emotions; frustration, love, regret, confusion, sadness and hope.  I was particularly touched by the events in Chapter Twenty-Six.  At the risk of being a “spoiler” I won’t say any more about that.

Softly and Tenderly left me filled with hope and eager for the next book in the series to come out this winter.  Pick up or download a copy at amazon.com.

Get Into The Word (a how-to post)

In this day and age, you don’t even need a Bible (with a binding and pages) to be able to spend time in the Word. Now, I don’t totally recommend that because, for me, I still love the rustling of the pages and marking up my Bible. However, many just use the Bibles that at at our disposal online or via the use of a “smart” device. Personally, I do a little of both, but wanted to share some online choices and apps at our disposal:

ONLINE: There are several sites that you can read the Bible from.
BIBLE GATEWAY – I love the search features of Bible Gateway. You can also quickly look up by passage and by keywords. Bible Gateway also often provides the sub-notes that are available in your hard copy Bible. Bible Gateway also has added devotionals and Bible Reading Plans, but for those I actually like

ONLINE & APPS YouVersion better. YouVersion is my fav . It is available online and also as an APP on your smartphone or other portable device. YouVersion offers several reading plans and devotionals. You can pick one for the whole year, or a topical devotion for 4-7 days. It’s easy to follow and they even send you milestone emails for encouragement. Think it’s too late to start a one-year reading or one year devotional? Nope. 2012 has 366 days so starting on January 2nd still allows you to finish up by December 31st. What better time to get started???

APPS In addition to YouVersion’s app (search “Bible” in your app store and it should be the top finding- it’s run by lifechurch.tv so that should confirm when you find it). What has quickly become a favorite way to start my day has been with Sarah Young and her book, “Jesus Calling”. Now this app is NOT free, but it is worth.every.penny. Also, we paid for it once and are able to put it on all of our devices. Everyone @CasaGrub reads Jesus Calling. Sarah writes as if Jesus is speaking in 1st person, and every day has touched my heart at the perfect time.

So,what am I doing for 2012? I’m going to continue my mornings with Jesus Calling, and for my afternoon/evening reading I chose the “Everywhere I Go” year long devotional/reading plan via YouVersion. I’ll also do my regular Bible Time/Study in the morning as Jesus Calling goes pretty quickly. Don’t freak out if you only pick one to do, I just have a voracious appetite for the Word. Do what works for you and God.

For those of you already doing a reading plan/devotional, what are YOU doing?

Buh-Bye 2011 (OneWord2012)

Not my favorite year.  Not gonna lie.  Some things were out of my control, but some things I could do differently and here’s what I hope to do differently in 2012:

• I’m going to look for God’s rainbows (promises) in the storms instead of just drowning in the rain
• I’m going to say THANK you more
• I’m going to trust more and fret less
• I’m going to focus MORE on the friends I still have than the ones I don’t
• I’m going to live each moment with intention
• I’m going to worry less about me and more about others
• I’m going to LOVE more
• I’m going to ‘be still’ more and KNOW that He is God
• I’m going to let Him heal, restore
• HELP ME, JESUS – none of this is possible without You

God has a purpose for everything 2011 brought our way. I know I missed some of it because of being more caught up in circumstances rather than dependence on the One who holds all circumstances.  The locusts had a feast in 2011, but God is going to RESTORE what the locusts have eaten.

 Joel 2:25-27 25 I will repay you for the years 
that the swarming locust ate, 
the young locust, the destroying locust, 
and the devouring locust- 
My great army that I sent against you. 
26 You will have plenty to eat and be satisfied. 
You will praise the name of Yahweh your God, 
who has dealt wondrously with you. 
My people will never again be put to shame. 27 You will know that I am present in Israel 
and that I am the Lord your God, 
and there is no other.

 Like a PC (not a Mac, ahem), Kendra needs a “System Restore”, back to the basics, clear out the cache and make room so everything will run better, for God’s glory.

  

Happy New Year! 2012 for God’s Glory!

 PS – Check out the verses that follow those above.  Looking for all that GOD will do in 2012 and beyond until THIS day!!  Joel 2: 28-32

 

 

Merry Christmas!!

The Not-So-Perfect Christmas

This is NOT how it was supposed to be.  Nothing had gone as she imagined.  This pregnancy has been less than ideal – from the scornful faces of those who don’t buy her story to swollen ankles with no comfortable shoes.  Then, there’s the whole Joseph factor.  It’s a miracle really that she is now with Joseph.  She never dreamed they’d still be together after that confrontational night.   Oh, that was a night she wishes she could black out from her memory.  Joseph wanted out… and he had an out believing she had been unfaithful.  There was nothing SHE could do to convince him.  Thankfully, God took care of that.

Now, her pregnancy was coming to a close.  Her ankles were atrociously swollen and the Braxton Hicks were picking up in frequency and intensity.  Not to mention the sleepless nights, waking up often to, ahem, use the potty and then try to get comfortable to fall back asleep.  Needless to say, she was less-than-thrilled when Joseph told her they had to make a quick trip to Bethlehem?  “A quick trip?” She thought.  Ha!  It’s a three day journey to Bethlehem… on a stinkin’ donkey… nine months pregnant.  It’s all she could do to hide her disgust.  She did want more than anything to please her Father and respect her new husband – but really?  How much worse could this situation get?

So, journey they did.  They made it to Bethlehem, but so did the 1000s of others who needed to report for the Census.  There was NO place to stay.   Just when she thought things couldn’t get any worse, her contractions picked up.  Yes, contractions.  She was pretty certain that these were no longer Braxton Hicks.  Again, not wanting to burden her hubby just yet, she dealt with it quietly, talking with her Father who was constantly reassuring her.  Finally, they landed a place to crash for the night… in a stable… with the animals.  Nice.

All at once, peace like she’d never known in her life came over her.  Little did she know she was moments away from holding the Prince of Peace. She was curious where the glow that was in the stable came from, but enjoyed every minute of it.  She made Joseph aware that the time was near.  It even seemed like the animals even knew what was going on.  Not long after, she was holding her son.  Jesus.  Immanuel – God with us.

Everything about that night was not how she imagined it would play out.  It started with an angel so she thought it would end in a hospital suite after a fresh pedi and an epidural .  This was the Son of God, for heaven’s sake.  She imagined a picture-perfect situation, yet in the not-so perfect circumstances she met the Prince of Peace and God was with her.

Everything about this season you’re in may seem not-so perfect.  Nothing like you imagined it. Family dissention, financial uncertainty, health struggles, relational issues, future uncertainties, failure, fill in the blank…

No matter what your imperfect situation, in the midst of it Jesus is Immanuel – God is with you. Amidst the chaos of this not-so-perfect season, rest in the Prince of Peace.

See, the virgin will become pregnant 
and give birth to a son, 
and they will name Him Immanuel, 
which is translated “God is with us.” Matthew 1: 23

For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on His shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6