Spiritual Disciplines

I received a handout in my Bible Study called, "Taking the 'Ugh' Out of Spiritual Disciplines." It is taken from the "Thin Within" newsletters. I think that disciplines should draw someone closer to God, but many times when we don't do them we start feeling guilty. Then when we finally do draw near to God we don't freely enter God's prescence. Here are some thoughts from the handout that spoke to me and I hope that they speak to you as well.

I believe any intentional practice that turns your heart toward God, deepens your relationship with Him, and transforms you to be more Christ-like, however slightly or slowly, is worth incorporating in your life as a spiritual excercise.

I know a pastor who began making the bed each morning as a spiritual discipline. By faithfully doing so, he engaged in an intentional act of loving and serving his wife.

Spiritual habits help us watch ourselves closely. They impress God's word on our souls and help us keep God in the forefront of our thoughts.

The appropriate purpose for engaging in disciplines is to grow closer to our God and become the people He created us to be. Our purpose is not to curry favor with God or earn points.

Certain disciplines help us draw near to God;others build godly character; still others help us avoid that which pulls us away from God and numbs our sensitivity to Him and others.

As a stay-at-home mommy I have fallen short of my Spiritual Disciplines. Having a baby consumes my time and energy and everything is about the baby. As the baby grows and becomes more independent, there is some extra time, but in my case I had another baby - so the cycle starts over. I also think that I have gotten out of practice. I want to encourage all of you to continue in spiritual disciplines. We need to watch our hearts and remember that these disiciplines do not make us better than others, then we may be like the Pharisees in Bible times. But when we do these disciplines, they grown us, they protect us, and they can comfort us. We build spiritual disciplines like we excercise. Something that we do everyday, in the same way - Bible study, prayer, serving others. If any of you have a way that you practice spiritual disciplines, please share it. I would love to hear from you.

Holiday Ideas

Today my Mom's Club meeting was about holiday entertaining. I didn't realize it at the time, but it made me realize that I didn't have any real plans for Thanksgiving. Listening to everyone talk about getting together with family made me homesick. I miss getting together with family and it looks like we won't be going back to the midwest until next summer or the next Christmas.

I want to make this Thanksgiving and Christmas memorable - they gave lots of good ideas today at Mom's Club, but I wonder if anyone in my own little family will care about any special details that I will try to put into the holidays. So this afternoon I was feeling a little disheartened.

I did get some good ideas. One that I want to share with you is a Thanksgiving Tablecloth. Get a white tablecloth and have everyone at your Thanksgiving celebration write what they are thankful for on it with a permanent marker. Every year get out the tablecloth and add to it. I thought that was a beautiful idea - kind of like a growth chart. Every year you see how much you have "grown."

Another idea is a recipe. It is a Baked French Toast recipe. It would be perfect for Thanksgiving morning or Christmas morning.

1 loaf Sweet French Bread (13- 16 ounces)
8 large eggs
2 cups half and half
1 cup milk
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Dash of salt
Praline Topping (recipe follows)
Maple Syrup

Slice French bread into about 16 slices. Arrange slices in a gererously buttered 9x13 inch baking dish in 2 rows, overlapping the slices. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, half and half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Whisk until blended, but not too bubbly. Pour mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the milk/egg mixture. Spoon some of the mixture in between the slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight. Make Praline topping.

1 cup butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
2 Tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and blend well. Set aside until morning.

The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spread Praline Topping evenly over the bread and bake for 40 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden. Serve with maple syrup. (Personally, the maple syrup can be omitted - it is perfect without.)

I hope that you all will have a wonderful Thanksgiving - it is coming fast. I want to encourage everyone to make it special. Include the children and do special projects. And please pray that my little family and I will find a way to have a memorable holiday season.

Feeling Sick

Today I had Oprah on and it left me sick. She had on a teenage girl who killed her baby, (I think while she was still pregnant) and left him somewhere. I actually didn't end up watching the show - I turned it off - I thought that I was going to be sick. I heard some of it and I didn't want to hear any more. Now that I am writing this - I am mad. What is the point of hearing her story? To get it out there that people do unthinkable things? That unborn babies aren't "alive" - what? I do not want to sympathize with her and I am afraid having her on the show will cause people to sympathize with her.

I know that we all have done bad - evil - wicked things. I think, though, that we have gotten into a society that either looks over, tries to smooth over other's wrongs or they are the complete opposite and are extreemly condemning. I have no answers, just some frustrations. What I do know is that still thinking about that girl - what she was saying and how she was saying it - still makes me sick to my stomach.