Female in Motion

And so it begins! Today is the start of Fantastic February with Female in Motion. Okay, I know I'm a couple of days early, but I just couldn't wait! Together we're going to make a month-long journey to improve our walk with God and get rid of some old, bad habits. Here's what we're celebrating: It's Leap Year. There are 29 days in February this year. Let's use each one to improve ourselves and our relationship with Jesus. Every day, write down something positive about yourself. Start each sentence with "I am." We are going to get rid of that nasty, negative voice rattling around in our heads, and replace him (or her!) with good, positive thoughts. It's my birthday month. I will turn 50 in February. That's right! Book me, Dan-O, I'm 5-0. I'm excited about what 2012 may hold. Every year that God gives me is a gift from Him, so I'm going to grab this one by the horns and party! I'm giving away a prize...

My pastor related a story last week that really struck me. His mother taught all of her children (eight, in total!) to write by giving them a pencil and placing her hand over theirs. She guided their little hands along the paper, forming beautiful words. Those youngsters weren't actually writing, they were simply following the lead of their loving mother. This sweet tale is a fitting parallel to how the prophets wrote the Bible. Faithful men of old were chosen by God to record His Word. God told them what to write. His Word is "theopneustos," a Greek word meaning "God breathed." Thus, the Scripture is divinely inspired. Here we are, more than 2,000 years later, still talking about the words those men wrote. I believe that the Bible is alive; a living testament of God. These words have power and meaning and wisdom in every passage. It is a living love letter that God gave to each one of us. I try to spend as much time as possible studying the Bible. It always see...

I count on my knees. By that, I mean that I do a lot of things involving my knees: exercising, hauling laundry and groceries upstairs, scrubbing tubs and floors and loads of praying. (I'm Baptist, people!) Growing up a tomboy, I did lots of sports and physical stuff. I did bike stunts, played tennis, soccer on both girls and boys teams, ran track, hiked and played powder puff football. Most of the years while my daughters were young, I spent on my knees playing and helping and staying on their level. All of these activities wreaked havoc on my poor old knees. In the Bible, it speaks of King Solomon spending time on his knees, praying, with his hands lifted up to heaven. David and Daniel, the prophet, also worshipped this way. The book of Judges tells of the soldiers in Gideon's army bowing down on their knees to drink water before facing the walls of Jericho. As I age, my knees have started to creak when I stand and give a little when I climb the stairs, but it's not a pro...

I've been a Christian for a long time. When I was young, I got so excited about doing "projects" for God and for my church. When a few of them didn't turn out exactly as I had envisioned, I was sorely disappointed. Missionaries from exotic foreign lands visited our congregation and my emotions ramped up again, then just as quickly died out. I was immature in my faith. Charles Spurgeon, a British Baptist preacher in the late 1800's, wrote: "Strong faith, like Mary, sits still in the house. Little faith would convert the world before the sun went down, and she grows faint because her zeal has not fulfilled her wish. Little faith must pluck the promises while they are green. She is not content to wait till they become ripe and mellow." Seems like I've seen a lot of people come through our church. They join in, get excited about service and spend hours working in ministry. Within a few months or years, though, they seem to fade away. Perhaps they had a f...

Matthew 13:44-46 (KJV) 44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. 45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: 46 Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. In my blog post last week, I set a few goals for myself in 2012. One of these was to get to know God better by spending time with Him. We discussed this "treasure" scripture in Matthew yesterday in Sunday School. As part of this 2012 journey, I asked myself some questions. What is the biggest joy in my life? Some might say family, hobbies or even that first cup of coffee in the morning. The Hubster likes to come home, put on sweats, lie on the couch with a kitty cat beside him and watch TV. This activity makes him content, but it is not the biggest joy in his life. Others will only be ...