Results of the first month?

Success!!

February 28th, and I've read 2 books (one more chapter and I'll have 3!), created a wall decor (which I'll post a picture of later), and have made some pretty good headway with Ephesians and my prayer candle and Bible readings!

It's exciting to see God move in when you decide to start intentionally living for His purposes! I am by NO MEANS even close to where I want to be, but God has blessed my baby steps along the way, and it's clear that this path is so much easier and joyful because it's HIS! No doubt, there will be rough times and months that may not turn out like February has, but in the long run, I have a feeling it will be so worth it!

I still need to work on submitting every area of my life over (the hardest part is my mornings...ugh) and using my time wisely, but I'm sure with practice, I'll get better and better.

It was hard to keep from dancing during worship on Saturday. :) I love being drenched in God's love and blessings!

But, oh, how easy it is to praise during times of abundant blessings...

God is faithful to reveal where I fall short and struggle

The past three mornings, I have heard BIRDS chirping outside my window! Very faint, and it doesn't last long, but I hear them!!!

Or, it's my delusional state, having been submersed in snow for so long.

So the getting-up-early thing isn't working out so hot. Maybe it's because I'm staying up too late the night prior and not ready to get up yet. But either way, it's not working. I need more discipline. Rrrr.

My leader's group on Monday prayer walked around Cornerstone Church, praying for our leaders and those serving and those being served. It was so awesome! We probably could walk that church all night long, beseeching God for several different things, and never run out of things to say or thank God for or ask for. I really love prayer walking, and I would love to do it more frequently; it's a shame my self-conscious nature prevents me from doing so, as I'd probably look like a fool, talking to myself. In China, it was no big because no one knew what I was saying anyway. :)

March is (supposedly) craft month! I'm excited because I spent about 2 hours (umm....probably shouldn't have) on instructables.com picking out different projects that I'd like to do. Here's to being more creative!

Today, LisaGrace gave me a series of books that I've already delved into and adored from the beginning! I'm already halfway through the first book (granted, today was a VERY slow day at work), and there's three in the series, which is called The Mark of the Lion by Francine Rivers. It is SOOOO good! I forgot how much I love Christian fiction! I get so lost in the stories! They're incredibly historically accurate too, which is really neat!

It got me thinking today though; I get so wrapped up in Christian fiction that everything around me fades away and I'm oblivious to what is happening around me. The stories pull me in and I enter the character's world and feel what they're feeling.

There's nothing inherently wrong with this, but why don't I feel the same draw to the Bible, where I want to read it and get so lost in the story that my name needs to be repeated several times to pull me out of my trance? Why don't I feel the Biblical character's pains and struggles and victories as well as I feel Hadassah's in Voice in the Wind? What difference in value do I place on the two books that leaves this great chasm? And what do I need to do to be changing in my life to make my value system and priorities line up more appropriately with Christ's?

Harder than I thought

Like I said in my last blog, I'm giving up all internet related things (with the exception of blogspot and gmail) in lieu of seeking God more. It's only been half a week, but MAN is it hard!! I didn't realize my tendency was this strong! I made a list of things that I wanted to do Thursday and Friday evening and Saturday afternoon, but when those times came, I threw myself a little pity party because I couldn't do the thing that I wanted to do (or rather, the thing that's become a worthless habit). I DID get some stuff done like finding myself a sweet dresser, finishing a wall decoration, sorting through my closet to find exactly what little nice clothing I own, reorganizing, finishing a book, and picking up some sweet music. I recommend A Fine Frenzy; I'd pull up a video on youtube for you to listen in on, but that's already proven to be a land mine of wasted time. (Though I did find this SWEET video of funny asian people)

The book I finished is called Through Painted Deserts by Donald Miller - amazing. I've ALWAYS wanted to go on a road trip through the country; no agenda, no time constraints, just you, some friends, and some sweet God time. This book only makes me want to do it MORE. Favorite line:

And if these mountains had eyes, they would wake to find two strangers in their fences, standing in admiration as a breathing red pours its tinge upon earth's shore. These mountains, which have seen untold sunrises, long to thunder praise but stand reverent, silent so that man's weak praise should be given God's attention.

I seriously get chills every time I read that. Oh, Donald Miller...you are most definitely one of my favorite authors.

I've still got some discipline issues to work on, but it's marked improvement from the way I used to spend my evenings. Hopefully, I'll get to a point where I can actually complete things in one evening, instead of getting distracted. I'd also like to get to a point where I can actually drag myself out of bed early so I can read or pray before I leave for work. I know I am capable, but I am so not willing to do anything at 6 am. At that point in time, there is no thought of honoring Christ; I am 100% self-centered.

We'll get there...we'll get there.

Sick Candle Food

Yep, it's that time again. When my productive hacking cough could compete with a 60 year old experienced smoker's and the melodic sounds of sniffles and blows fills the silence of my sick/snow day (or sick of snow day), you know it's cold season. And lucky me, I'm down to 5 kleenexes left! Sometime soon, I'll have to venture my way outside and brave the cold and several inches of fresh snow to get to the store. Oh, but the prize will be so worth it....VICKS VAPOR KLEENEXES!! Yesss...those amazing things could clear out your sinuses immediately! Someone in my family has been known to stuff them up her nose, just to get the maximum affect of the vicks vapors. Hmm...I cannot wait!

In case you hadn't noticed (which I'm assuming you didn't), I added something else to my list of 2010 goals over ther. <-- I bought a 70 hour candle, and by end of May (or hopefully sooner), I want to have used up the entire candle. It's a way for me to keep track of my prayer life and a reminder to myself to have that one on one time with my God. I'm not by any means saying you need to light a candle when you pray; it's just a tangible way for me to see a goal being met - being more diligent about being in prayer.

Let's see.... work's good, I've been more disciplined about staying on my schedule and setting aside that time for God each day. It's surprising too - when I have a schedule and different things I need to have done each day, there's less time for facebook and hanging out with my email 24-7. Who knew?! But I'm seeing more and more that I don't need those things and they've become a distraction (I always knew this in my head, but I didn't realize how bad it was until now). So for the lent season, I'll be giving up all internet related things with the exception of email and blogspot. No online tv shows (which means no tv shows period, since I don't ever watch them on the actual television anyway), no facebook, no online comics or MLIA. I don't NEED any of that stuff, and my time is better spent becoming a more disciplined person. Chuck, Community, House, and The Office do nothing to help me grow as a person, but continuing to practice cooking different things, organizing my life better, and setting aside more time for God most definitely will!

And speaking of cooking... I spent all weekend in the kitchen (at least it felt like it...)

-Friday, I made Sarah Owen's Enchilada Soup and tried my hand at making steak and green pepper stir-fry. The soup was great, the stir-fry was not. Meh

-Saturday, I made LisaGrace's Chicken Alfredo Pizza - it was so good! And everything was from scratch, so it made it all the better!

-Sunday, after spending all day at church(s), I came home and made Cheesy Spinach and Bacon dip for the Super Bowl Party at Todd's. The only reason it wasn't all gone at the end of the game was because we ran out of chips. =D

-Monday, I made Paige's Chicken Tacos. It's totally uncharacteristic of what typical tacos are, but they were amazing! Everyone ate until they couldn't eat one more bite! The guacamole I made with it was pretty fantastic too.

Overall, a VERY successful weekend of cooking! It was really encouraging to see that I can not only make edible food, but really good meals too! (with the exception of the stir-fry...still not sure what was wrong there...)

This afternoon, I'll be making cookies for Kyle, who said he'd change my brake pads tomorrow. Gotta love a friend who'll do car work for you in exchange for cookies!