Female in Motion

As you know, I don't make New Year's resolutions. (I wrote about it here: http://www.fim-carol.blogspot.com/2008/01/resolutions-schmezolutions.html.) It's a self-defeating and guilt-producing practice for me. So I simply say that in 2012 I will love God more than last year. Following are my tips for keeping my resolution on track next year: Get a plan. In order for me to love God more in 2012 than 2011, I want to get to know Him better. (You can put your own idea in there.) I'm going to start slow by adding time spent with Him into my daily/weekly/monthly schedule. If I start slowly, I can build up to a thundering crescendo! Find a life verse. My 2012 Life Verse is: 1 Peter 5:10 "But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you." Spend time with the Savior. I am building up my prayer time, adding minutes in the morning during my devoti...

Psalm 33:5 (KJV) He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD. "He knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness' sake!" This line from the song "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" plays often during this time of the year. What's the big deal about being good, anyway? Santa's game is pretty simple: if you're good, you get nice gifts. If you're naughty, you get coal. God doesn't play that game. God is good all the time, regardless of your behavior. Blogger Jon Acuff says, "When you doubt God's goodness, you doubt the very core of who He is." You see, God IS goodness. Not "God acts good." He actually created goodness. He is goodness, personified. The steady, warm glow of God's goodness is all around us. I find His integrity in every sunset, child's smile and time spent with family. God's goodness does not need to be packaged in tinsel and bows to be made...

2 Corinthians 12:9 (KJV) And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. The headline on my blog reads, "This blog contains the rantings of a middle-aged crazy lady, sharing her imperfect life to show others God's perfect love." It's the truth. My life is a long way from perfect. God loves me anyway. That's how I know that He is real. When Buddhist monks paint, they leave a tiny spot blank somewhere on the canvas. They make it imperfect on purpose. Of course, nobody's perfect. Not even close. Only God is God. We are all vulnerable, weak, imperfect. That way, when God works through us, we'll know that all our accomplishments are not under our own steam. It's God's doing. A wise man said, "let go and let God." If we worked a little less at making everything just so, God might be able to d...

I stood in front of an open refrigerator, surveying the remnants of Thanksgiving dinner. It contained a couple of spoonfuls of stuffing, a dab of mashed potatoes and three asparagus stalks. Not enough to make a meal out of, these leftovers. That made me think about God. Yeah, I know...I'm weird. God used to get the lion's share of the leftovers in my life. I was very busy, hustling here and there. I tried to squeeze Him in between housework, shuttling kids and work. An exhaled request for help, a prayer request for a sick friend, a verse or two of Scripture before bed was all I could spare. And then I realized it wasn't enough. I wanted a grown-up relationship with God. I wanted my faith to mature. My Heavenly Father is not some vending machine to shove a few coins in and get your latest wishes fulfilled. Maybe it was something I read. Jon Acuff is a Christian blogger that I read daily. In 2008, he wrote a post about how some people try to squeeze God into(or out of)their l...