I think it is also great for this book to come out at a time when women are feeling like they need to have everything and be everything.  Marcus clearly makes it known that this doesn’t have to be, that we need to find our “strongest moments” and focus on those if we really want to feel fulfilled in a extremely difficult culture.   No longer do you need to pretend to be someone you are not, and this book will give you the help to make this realization a reality.  This is not just for business women, this is for all women.  I hope to dig deeper and get to know more about my strongest moments.  The resources available in the book and through the website are very inpiring.  This would make a great group study with a close group of women as well!

There are 7 different life areas and within those each has 3 principals included.  Each principal has stories to share from real people, both known and unknown.   The simplicity of the layout and the depth of the stories make each of them a lesson in itself.   Then after the stories each section also has a long list of relevant quotes.  I love short simple words to live by and this book nourishes me with many!

I would suggest this book to anyone who wants to be inspired and to truly learn how to make your everyday great.  It lives up to it’s title.

“When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife.”

That night the angel had come to Joseph in a dream and told him not be afraid to take Mary as his wife.   And so when Joseph woke up, he did just that.  He didn’t waste anytime pondering once he knew that God had spoken to him.   I just don’t think that Mary and Joseph would have become married that next day, even if she wasn’t pregnant.  So he could have waited until whenever that day was, but that probably would have given him time to talk himself out of too.  I personally probably would have done that and then I would have let all these doubts take over that “oh she probably slept with someone else why would God tell me these things.”   Or “that wasn’t a dream from God it was just a trick from the devil.”   Cause that’s what I do if I don’t follow God’s instructions right away.  Good job Joseph, let me learn from your good ways!

Because yet again, Joseph immediately followed God’s instructions in Matthew 2:13-14 “After the wise men were gone, and angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.  “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said.  “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother.  (Emphasis mine.)

He surely didn’t wait until morning like I may have.  He  could have thought, surely the Lord would not expect me to make such a journey so tired?!   And he could have went back to sleep.  Now I truly like to believe that I would be so quick to obey as Joseph was in both of these scriptures…but would I be?  Am i?  Do I listen, and promptly obey?  Or do I listen, figure out when I think the time would be best, and the n try to obey?  I have a feeling it’s the later of the two situations and this I must work on.   When we don’t obey promptly we are less likely to walk it out the way God wants us to.  Think if Joseph would have waited until morning just to get a few more hours of shut-eye, our Savior could have been captured by Herod, I’m sure he wasted no time getting a search party out looking for the Messiah.  Again, thank you Joseph, what an example you have set.

Life is for sure this….unpredictable, so why try and act like it’s not.  Things happen, people don’t always oblige, and I need to learn to accept that.  I’m determined to let go of this before it get’s the best of me!

Does anyone else feel like things have to be “just so”?

Proverbs 16:1 We can make our own plans, but the Lord gives the right answer.

1. To be affraid of (expect with alarm)

2. To have a reverential awe of

I am talking fear of God as in “reverential awe” here.  It simply means to know that He is everything good in my life.  And I honor Him by dedicating all I am and all I have to His glory.  Sounds simple enough.   But sometimes I am “affraid of” God.  When I get out into the world, I start to shrink back.  I don’t know how you react or what point of your walk with God you are in but I still tend to sometimes gossip rather than praise and encourage, fault find instead of forgive, act out in anger instead of love.  Why do I do this?  This is surely not who I was made to be, and we each at some point feel that deep within.  This is God tugging at my heart to turn around and live His ways out in my life.  And that is okay, we need His conviction.

But I need to make sure I remember His conviction is that of love.  He’s not yelling at me “Okay Rachel, I’ll remind you ONE more time but if you don’t listen next time I will abandon you for good.”  (This is a reaction we might give to each other.) But NO, not God!  He will remind me, and tug at my heart, over and over and over.  God does not leave us, or forsake us.  There just two things then that I need to remember to do.

1. Don’t stop listening for Him-  I can not shut God out when I start to think I have gone way too far.  There is no limit to God’s love and correcting forgiveness.  How do I know that, and remember that?  I keep reading it daily in His word!

2. Turn around-  When I know I’ve done wrong in His eyes and been called to turn back and repent…I must do it!  And do it quick!  I should not keep sinning when I feel conviction because I think the damage has already been done and what would it matter now?  I must act quickly and repent…there are blessings from God waiting.

• Are you being treated fairly?
• Are you getting respect?
• Do you feel wanted, needed, and desired?

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 is a well known scripture, because of it’s explanation of what love is meant to be, God’s way at love.  His way is always much better than ours that is certain.  It says love is patient and kind.  Are people kind to you?  It says love is NOT jealous, proud, boastful, rude, demanding, or irritable.  

How great would it be if everyone could love us this way?  But is your answer no to any of the three questions above?  If so, it might be a good time to examine how you show your love to those people.

Are you loving others according to 1 Corinthians 13:4-7?  Do your forgive quickly?  Are you patient?  Or do you get irritated, and make demands on those you love?  So many times we feel as though we are victims of selfish, unloving people.  We think that people just don’t give us the respect we deserve.  But when you really take the time to step back and examine your relationships, and ask yourself how you measure up at loving, you might find out your not so “loving” yourself. 

Before these versus 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 says: 

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. (Emphasis added)

“But have not love” does not refer to others loving us, it is talking about loving others.  When you give love, when you act in love, it is the greatest blessing you hold.  In Acts 21:35 Jesus says, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”  This isn’t aimed specifically just at money, or gifts, or earthly possessions although those are also great blessings to give away.   But love is God’s true purpose on this earth.  Do your best, to give your best…. the love of 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.   

{Warning: This should lead to loving when your flesh says no! Love the “unlovable”!}

I read this book to my four year old and he was intrigued with the book the whole way through. My favorite part about this book is that there are multiple concepts for discussion: Prayer, helping others, God’s goodness, and thankfulness are the most important. The illustrations were soft and tell the story well, and got my son pointing to things he noticed on each page. It’s definitely a story we will be able to read over again many times and still be able to learn and enjoy it! Looking forward to adding more of this series to our collection.

The reason I feel like I have went backwards is because God is showing me the things that I do, that are not inline with his word, and the difference is now that I can hear from him and I care about what he says and want to change.

Before I simply did not know what I was doing wrong, or simply didn’t care or think it was affecting my life. I have heard it said that The Word is like a mirror, and you can’t see what you really look like until you look into it. I just didn’t see how much was really wrong with me before I started reading His Word!!

So if you are feeling like me right now, thinking you are making more mistakes now than before, have hope and faith in God that this is just a thought in you mind trying to decieve you from going forward with Him. It says in His Word, “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Phil 1:6

When I first received this book I had doubts in my mind as to if I was going to be able to get into a book with such a title.  I thought that perhaps this was going to be “too deep” for me, or perhaps I was scared to actually find out the answer.  But what I found inside the pages of this brutally honest, yet gently written book is that God can doesn’t expect as much of me as I had maybe imagined.

As I started this book I also realized this was written by the CEO of World Vision.  I am so grateful for this organization and have sponsored a child myself but I was a little leery this was just going to be a book to get more sponsorship.   My skeptic thoughts  turned out to be completely false, this is not at all what Stearns was out to do.

This world is full of pain.  This is a fact I knew, but quite frankly hadn’t heard so much of in one sitting!  But the book does a great job in making it known that even though it seems overwhelming, there is hope, and that each of us has a part and can make a difference. 

The honestly that Stearns gives throughout the entire book, both on a personal and professional level, is inspiring in itself.   His call, specifically to those in the body of Christ, is heartfelt and biblically inspired.  It definitely has touched my heart and has made me also search for the answer to the questions: What does God expect of me?   And am I willing to be open for God’s will for my life?

This morning as I was doing the dishes and gazing out the window above the sink I was delighted to see two blue jays feasting on the neighbors feeder. Two seconds later, a not so beautiful blackbird came and for lack of a better word, started “harassing” the lovely birds and they flew away.

My thoughts: “Isn’t it just like the ugly things in life to take away the joy we can have from the good things.” I mean if you really think about it, how much do we not enjoy because our minds tend to automatically be geared toward the negative thoughts. You can hear it when people talk. Most people, and I say most not all (thank God), will get together and talk negative. Latest gossip, everything that’s going wrong at work, how our families aren’t perfect enough. I’m guilty, I do it. I try hard not to, and have been getting much much better, but we all do it at some time or another. What would happen if we simply just stopped thinking and talking negatively? If we start to, we catch ourselves and then refocus to the positive. I have to believe we would be much happier, peaceful people. It’s just a shift of focus. What you focus on expands, we have all heard this, and it is true.  Biblically it would be “As a man thinks, so he is”.  It’s time we make the determination to be focused on the good things in life God is doing all around us. God can take your negative, and make a positive if you will let Him. And the first step to letting Him do that is to get your mind set to see the positive.

Are you letting the negative people or situations in your life stop you from seeing the good life God is giving you?