Archives for 2012

31 Days: Answer the Cry of the Poor

October 21, 2012 by Amy 3 Comments

Proverbs is slammed full of verses about the poor but I love that today of all the 31 days our chapter includes one about opening our ears to the cries of the poor.

Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor
will also cry out and not be answered.

Our church participated in Compassion Day this morning. We had the honor of hosting Peter, a former Compassion kid, and hear his story.

His parents didn’t name him until he was 2 because the chances he would die were so great. He only ate a meal every other day. He didn’t own a pair of shoes until he was 16. Starting at age 11, he was a street kid until the Compassion director in Uganda offered to take him to a boarding school and the Compassion center at a church. He was introduced to the gospel through Compassion and now has 3 degrees, speaks 7 languages, and travels around the world sharing his story with Compassion.

At the end of the service, they shared this video, inviting everyone to sponsor a child. Watch to the end it’s so good.

Scott and I had the honor to also share our story in a testimonial video as Compassion sponsors. We love, love, love our Compassion kids. We’ve been a part of Compassion for almost 7 years and I can tell you can trust Compassion. In fact, the whole process becomes a little addictive when you see how wonderful the whole process is.

Below you can spy us working behind the table with the girls. What a blessing it was for the girls to hear from Peter and be a part of others’ sponsorships.

You can see Peter crouched in the front of the picture in the green shirt talking to a child that is a family friend of ours. I saw him more than once connecting personally with the kids. Beautiful circle of love.

image source

Challenge: Go sponsor a child.

This post is part of The Nester’s 31 Days Series

31 Days: Being Wise about Wine

October 19, 2012 by Amy Leave a Comment

Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler;
whoever is led astray by them is not wise.

I may seem unqualified to talk about Proverbs 20:1. I’ve never had a drink of any sort. I’ve been fighting to write this post but I feel like God wants to impart some wisdom in this area.

I may be naive when it comes to drinking but I have a husband who’s job it is to be an expert on those that are under the influence.

I’ve watched the video tapes of people acting in ways they would horrified to know they acted. I know because they’ve come back and said they were horrified.

I’ve seen pictures of accidents that would make some vomit. Some I still wish I could erase from my memory.

I can tell you that some are led astray by drinking. Most of us have family members that haven’t been in an accident or arrested but you know they are led astray by drinking. People don’t get that way overnight. It’s a slow fade.

The wise realize the power alcohol holds.

Challenge: Take stock of what part alcohol plays in your life. Are you on a path to being led astray? Be wise about your habits and please, please, please do not drink and drive!

This post is part of The Nester’s 31 Days Series

31 Days: God’s Purpose Prevails Over a Person’s Plans

October 19, 2012 by Amy 6 Comments

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Next week at this time I’ll be in the midst of my first blogging conference, Allume. I simply cannot wait to be around hundreds of women that get this whole blogging deal.

In the meantime, planning has abounded as the time draws closer.

People are already packing (I’ll probably still be doing laundry Thursday morning!).

We’re updating spreadsheets for our name tags.

We’re paying for tickets for head shots and morning tea.

We’re signing up for group meetings.

We’re picking out ballet flats and scarves.

We’re choosing which sessions to attend. (3pm Friday. Help?)

We’re planning gifts.

Some are even organized enough to put an entire notebook together (I’m totally jealous of your organizational skills!)

We have all these plans.

Proverbs 19:21 reminds us the wise realize the Lord’s purpose will prevail.

Many are the plans in a person’s heart,
but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.

We have to be open to our plans falling apart.

Maybe we spill something on our new shirt at dinner so we go back to our room and find an overwhelmed roommate needing a friend.

Maybe we oversleep and miss tea but the Lord knows we need extra sleep for an emotionally exhausting day.

Heck, maybe we miss our entire flight and end up not going and never really understand why.

All sorts of interruptions to our plans are possible.

God has his own plans about what Allume is supposed to look like for each one of us. Yes, let’s prepare and enter spreadsheets and choose our scarves, but let’s also be open in those often frustrating moments to remember God’s purposes are prevailing.

Challenge: What interruptions in your life could be God’s purposes prevailing? Give thanks to Him for caring enough to interrupt.

This post is part of The Nester’s 31 Days Series

31 Days: Be Humble

October 18, 2012 by Amy 2 Comments

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Before a downfall the heart is haughty,
but humility comes before honor.

Wisdom and pride are enemies.

In order to have wisdom, you must be humble enough to know that…

You don’t know it

You can’t do it

It’s not about you.

Solomon says if you can’t humble yourself, you’ll experience a downfall. And then you’ll be made humble to know that…

You don’t know it

You can’t do it

It’s not about you.

Challenge: Think about some challenging areas in your life right now. How can you look to God and others for help in knowing what to do and actually doing it? Could the issue be erased if you took your opinions and needs out of the equation and concentrated on others?

This post is part of The Nester’s 31 Days Series

31 Days: Zip Your Lips

October 17, 2012 by Amy 1 Comment

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The one who knows much says little;
an understanding person remains calm.

Even dunces who keep quiet are thought to be wise;
as long as they keep their mouths shut, they’re smart.

The Message translation of Proverbs 17:27-28 doesn’t mince words and it cracks me up.

Solomon explains if you are wise, you will:

Speak little even and especially when you know a lot.
Remain calm even and especially when you are mad.
Keep silent when you want to look wise even when you’re not.

Aren’t those all the times when you want to talk a lot?

When you know the answer, you want to talk, talk, talk to show all you know.

When you’re mad, you want to talk, talk, talk yell, yell, yell to show everyone how and why you’re mad.

Sometimes to make up for the fact you may not know the answer, you talk, talk, talk.

Proverbs says the wise will do the exact opposite. Plainly, shut your mouth.

Challenge: My friend Katrina did the Shut-Up Katrina Project this summer for Summer of 7. This might be a good challenge for us all to take!

This post is part of The Nester’s 31 Days Series

31 Days: Commit From the Start

October 16, 2012 by Amy 2 Comments

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Sometimes I get really frustrated when things don’t go my way. It’s not that my plans were intended for bad. In fact, many times they’re intended for good. My inner control freak freaks out and I’m left questioning what I did wrong. Why am I not seeing the results I hoped for? Why, even when I work hard, does it not turn out like I thought? Why can’t this just succeed???

Proverbs 16:3 made me ask an even tougher question. Did I commit my ways to the Lord?

Commit to the Lord whatever you do,
and he will establish your plans.

Only when we commit our way to the Lord, is God in the results. And there’s a difference between feeling like you’re doing something good and doing what the Lord purposes.

Proverbs 16:3 says

All a person’s ways seem pure to them,
but motives are weighed by the Lord.

Are our motives to carry out what the Lord wanted or our motives really to carry out what we think is the right path? Did we seek God from the beginning or only when things didn’t work out? The wise will commit their plans to the Lord from the start.

Challenge: Is there any area in your life that you feel defeated and ineffective? Commit that goal, that thing, that blog, that friendship, that marriage, that business, those children, whatever it is, to the Lord and he will establish the necessary plans.

This post is part of The Nester’s 31 Days Series

31 Days: Mind Your Thoughts

October 15, 2012 by Amy 2 Comments

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Many give little attention to their thought-life. I recall during my emotional affair, I reasoned my thoughts away. As long as I wasn’t doing anything and just thinking about it, there were no ill effects. How wrong I was.

Those thoughts, played on repeat, led to a desire and temptation to act them out. James 1:13-15 says it like this:

When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their ownevil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin;and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Your thoughts, when unchecked, are desires that lead to death.

Proverbs 15:26 tells us wicked thoughts are actually detestable to God:

The Lord detests the thoughtsof the wicked,
but gracious words are pure in his sight.

We would be wise to mind our thoughts.

Challenge: Take stock of your thought-life. Are you replaying something in your mind someone did against you and it’s making you more angry with every replay? Are you dreaming about the guy at the office? Are you picturing that beautiful woman from the gym? Are you replaying in your mind all the ways your friend has everything you don’t? Are you scheming of ways to hurt someone? Check your thoughts and redirect any hurt, anger or jealous to prayer before it is full-grown.

This post is part of The Nester’s 31 Days Series

31 Days: Say I’m Sorry

October 14, 2012 by Amy Leave a Comment

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For the last two weeks, I’ve written the 31 Day series the night before. Last night I had the verse, but felt like I didn’t have the full picture of the post. Now, I see that God had something very specific from the sermon this morning I need to share.

I’m going to combine two translations to show you Proverbs 14:9. The first part is NIV and the second is NLT.

Fools mock at making amends for sin, but the godly acknowledge it and seek reconciliation.

I see a lot of writing about forgiving. In fact, if you haven’t checked out this 31 Days series on Forgiveness, you are simply missing out.

The other side of the coin is confession of sin. Not just to God but to each other. Proverbs says the wise seek reconciliation. The wise are driven to make things right after you make it all go wrong.

This morning at church we wrapped a marriage series called You.Me.We. He talked about leaving a legacy with our marriage and how it will be a fight. Satan is out to kill, steal and destroy and we must put on the armor of God to wage the war. One defense Ephesians 6 calls for is the belt of truth.

The armor of God is nothing new to Christians but I think on the surface we translate it as “always tell the truth”. Or, “believe God’s truth”. One new aspect I saw today was in relation to Proverbs 14:9. By wearing the belt of truth, we are called to honesty and transparency.

Why is that part of the armor of God? Because if Satan has a plan to destroy your relationships, mainly your marriage, then we can ward off any threat by always confessing and being transparent about sin in our lives. When we leave sin unrepentant and hidden, Satan gets a foothold to cause doubt and even more sin.

Proverbs says the wise take confession and reconciliation seriously. The wise acknowledge any wrongdoings and then seek forgiveness. Just as we talked about the wise seeking, or digging, for wisdom, the wise seek reconciliation. They don’t ignore sin or assume the other person won’t care or gloss over it or hope the person forgets.

Challenge: Can you think of any time in the past where you’ve wronged someone and haven’t confessed and asked for forgiveness? What open wound do you have with someone today that you need to confess?

This post is part of The Nester’s 31 Days Series