2011- New Year's Resolution

This year my biggest new year's resolution is to do a better job in leading my family in the worship of God. For years I have struggled to have regular devotions with the family with little success. The consistency was just not there. Looking back on it, I probably underestimated the spiritual battle that I was facing in trying to actually lead my family in worship.

But this year I'm more determined than ever. By God's grace, I AM going to lead our family in taking time to focus on God daily. My plan was to simply use the M'Cheyne Reading plan and simply read one chapter a day with the family. But after thinking through this a little, reading through an entire chapter straight from the Bible, which is written on a high school reading level, I thought this might be tortuous for my 6 and 4 year old. So instead, what I started doing about a week ago was reading through the Bible and breaking up the chapters into small "bitesize" chunks. And then from that, having a few questions for the kids about the content of the passage, along with one or two truths that we can glean from the passage. And then to finish it, I have a suggested prayer which is based on the Scripture reading. For any adult this would sound very elementary, but for a 6 and 4 year old, I think this will work out nicely. (Below is a sample of the Family Devotional)

The other thing I want to do regarding the family and worship is to have a special time on Saturday night in which we read the Bible, sing, pray, etc in order to prepare our hearts for going to worship the next day. I confess that I was inspired in this direction from a wonderful book that Andrea and I are reading entitled, Parenting in the Pew: Guiding Your Children into the Joy of Worship. We want to really train our children to really worship the Lord, to really look forward to going to worship and participating with the family of God. And for families with children, preparing on Saturday night in spiritual & practical ways, it simply is a must. So that when Sunday morning comes, we all can be in the right frame of mind, rather than being rushed, frazzled, and frustrated.

So, that is my biggest new year's resolution this year. The other one is to be more consistent in blogging. Not that I don't write enough in my job, but I think blogging or journaling can also a good spiritual discipline.

Sample
Jan. 2 – Gen 2:1-3
Questions to ask the children.
1. What did God do on day seven? (He rested)
2. Did God need to rest? (No.)
3. So, what does it mean that God rested? (He stopped working because His work was complete).
4. And what does the Bible say God did to the seventh day?
(He blessed it and sanctified it; i.e. made it holy or special)

What truth(s) can we glean from this passage?
God demonstrated for us that rest is good and appropriate. God knows how much we need rest and time to worship Him. This is why He provided one day out of seven to be a special day of rest and worship. So important was it, that He included it in His Ten Commandments. (Ex. 20:8-11)

Suggested Prayer
Dear God, thank you for giving us a special day each week to rest and worship you. Help us to keep it each week in a way that honors You and blesses us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

2008 - A New Year - Another Resolution, or Just a Repeat.

Well, it's 2008... another year has come and gone. Wow, time is really flying. Sometimes it really boggles my mind how fast time is moving. I hope I can quickly get to writing "2008." Something kind of funny about that happened to me about 4 months ago. I can't remember what I was signing or where, but when I wrote the date I wrote "2004." Why? I have no idea... all I could do was laugh about it.

So, it's that time of year again... time for new year's resolutions. My new year's resolution isn't really a new one... just a revived one from the past. I need to eat better! No, seriously... I really do. In the past 3 months, I have really let myself go without restraint. In fact, in the last 4 months, since Andrea and I have moved here, I have gained like 6 lbs. Of course, it doesn't help very much when you have a church full of so many good cooks like we do!

But what has really been getting me is a resurgence of fast food, late night snacking, and drinks (like Mt.Dew, Coke, Pepsi, etc.) Back during the summer, I had cut out all 3 of those things except for Sundays, when I allowed myself one free day to eat what I wanted. But the rest of the time, I was incredibly disciplined... and in 3 months time, I had lost like 10 lbs! I really did feel great.

But recently, I've really let myself go... eating burgers and fries 2-3 times a week, snacking on chips, chocolate, peanut butter, and really anything at like 9 or 10 pm at night. And I have virtually stopped drinking water, concerning which I was drinking a gallon per day back in July.

So, there it is... my revived New Year's resolution. I don't look forward to the battle, but I know I really need to do it! Pray for me! :) ... No seriously... pray for me!