One. Degree. At. A. Time.

As my last two posts might suggest, I've been thinking a lot about life. 

What we do with our time, what we read, listen to, or watch.

The more I think about it, the deeper I have to dig. It's not enough to scrape the surface. 

It is no longer sufficient to think about what I ought to do, but it's time to take action and actually do something. 

I've spoken about time in a general sense, but then I got to thinking specifically about my time - or rather the portion of God's time He has entrusted me with. What does my day look like? If someone were to make a surprise inspection of my day and how I spent my waking hours, what would they find? Would they find me wasting hours throughout the day on facebook? Would I be caught, yet again, sleeping instead of reading? Would I be fretting over clothes and the latest fashions? Would I be found spending all my time satisfying self instead of doing what needs to be done to help my family? 

What is it that eats my day? Productivity or laziness? 

Digging further to the heart of the matter, where do my priorities lie? 

Does my heart seek God above all else? 

Am I more interested in what God wants of me or what man thinks?

Do I look to God or man for comfort, support, and affirmation? 

What are my idols? 

Who or what is the object of my affections? 

I have realized that I often just walk though each day doing what I do and not giving much thought to what God's plan or purpose for my day is. I was so confident that helping, serving, creating, and learning at home was what God wanted me to do, that I soon stopped seeking His direction. I wanted to see the big picture, but then I thought I knew the blueprints well enough to build on my own. I stopped checking in with the Master Craftsman - the Architect. 

If I took all the time I spend wasted on me and meaningless nothings and began using it to serve in some way, I could get a lot done. How much better would it be if I used my time to be of use to someone else. Someone other than me. Something of value. Something that had eternal significance (I promise you that facebook does not fit that category). =p 

It is easy to talk big about plans and ideas of changing your life, but the hard part is actually turning those words into actions. Being willing to sacrifice whatever it takes to make the change. The change has to come from the heart and from God. There is no way anyone has the strength to make a dramatic heart-turning change in their life alone. We have to seek the Lord and ask for wisdom along the way. Ask for His help to make the change. To go the whole way. 180 degrees if necessary. 

Here goes the change. 

One degree at a time.

Time:

 it's ours to spend, but not ours to keep. 

Time is a gift from God. Every breath we take comes from Him. We are stewards of His time. Our purpose, as stated in the Westminster Catechism is "to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." That is why we are here; for His glory and purpose. We don't deserve any of His blessings. The one thing that we do deserve is His anger and wrath. It is through His grace that we wake up each morning. It is through His grace that we are alive at all. We are living on "borrowed time."
So what are we doing with that time?
Are we using it to bring glory to God?
Are we pointing others to Christ though our behavior, speech, and thoughts?
Are we seeking the will of God for our lives or are we going to church on Sundays and living for ourselves the rest of the week?
Are we making a conscious decision each and every day to "seek first the Kingdom of God"?
Do we pray without ceasing, having God always on our minds? or do we waltz through the day ceremoniously offering a few words of thanks before we eat and possibly lifting up a few words in His direction before we climb into bed?
How do you spend your time?

"Time is free, but it's priceless. You can't own it, but you can use it. You can't keep it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it, you can never get it back." ~Harvey MacKay

"Time is the coin of your life. It's the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let another person spend it for you." ~Carl Sandburg

"Half of life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save." ~Will Rogers

"In truth, people generally make time for what they choose to do; it is not really the time, but the will that is lacking." ~ Sir John Lubbock

"He who would make serious use of his life must always act as though he had a long time to live and must schedule his time as though he were about to die." ~Emile Littre

Whatever....

...things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy - meditate on these things." Philippians 4:8

Many times over the last few years I have thought about this verse with specific regard to media*. How do we discern what movies and music are acceptable or not? Is it only good to listen to or watch something if it has a strong Christian message? What about good ole country songs (which I happen to really enjoy) that are just about real life, but not necessarily from a Christian's view of life? There is certain language I wouldn't use myself, but does that mean I should never watch a movie in which the characters use it? 

I have difficulty seeing the difference between God's commands and the modern idea of liberality. Just because the Bible does not specifically state that something is wrong, doesn't mean it is right. 

One thing that always comes to mind is smoking. The Bible doesn't say it's wrong, but it does say we should "present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is our reasonable service" (Romans 12:1) Everyone knows smoking is harmful to your body and can cause lung and mouth cancer. Is that maintaining our temples for God's service?

 As in all things, I think moderation is a key element, but I also think there are certain things that don't even need to be considered. Where does media fit it? What type of media is acceptable and or worth while? Should our decisions be based purely on what we think is best for us? What about the scriptures that clearly point out that "all the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirits" (Proverbs 16:2)? 

I know there is no such thing as "God's list of acceptable movies and music" so what is the principle behind deciding what's good and what's not? The more I think about it, the more I wonder how much media we should allow to consume our lives. It seems that in any situation I can think of when we would be listening to music of watching a movie, there is something better and more worth while we could be doing. In stead of listening to music, quote scripture or listen to sermons, lectures, or books on CD. In lieu of vegging in front of the TV for 2 hours, read the Bible or a good book, have a conversation, do something productive. Now, I'm not saying we should throw media out the window, but I am suggesting we don't pick the best choice when it comes to how we spend our time. 

I would really love to hear peoples thoughts on this. I know it can be pretty controversial. What do you think?

*NOTE: I am strictly talking about listening to music for pleasure, not for worship. 

Where's My Book?

I want to write, I want to blog. Something profound, something worth reading. Nothing comes to mind. I want to make a difference with the things I say. Why do I even have a blog if I have nothing to write? What’s the point? To bring glory to God. Am I succeeding? There ought to be tons to write about....why does it not come? I close my eyes, the familiar sound of distant voices. The silent hum of nothingness. Nothingness. That’s exactly what I feel. Nothing to say. Nothing to write. Nothing worth reading. It’s not usually this difficult. Tired? No. Lack of time? No. Then what? Silence. Again nothing. Fingers rub the keys, smoothed with time and use, itching for purpose. Eager to create meaning and substance. Still nothing. Books: food for thought. Maybe that’s the key. Read more books. But how when I always fall asleep? Not sitting on your bed would help, prods the voice inside. Sigh. Coffee? Sure. Quiet music? Maybe. Self discipline? Ouch!! Ok, ok. I get the idea. Perhaps a form of laziness is the problem. The more you read the more you know. The more you know the more to say. It’s worth a shot. Where’s my book?

This and That

Roses from Caity's bushes

 The Big Bad Bo Bow Hunter

 Dad, Uncle Bo, and Riley with Uncle Bo's deer

 While the mighty warriors were out hunting, the rest of us played Settlers. 

 Then we went for a walk to the tire swing

 My dear cousin and best friend

 The puppies' eyes are open now, which just makes them all the more cute!

 And this is my new little project that I found for $7 while garage sale-ing with Meghan on Saturday. It needs quite a bit of work: new legs, striping the paint, re-finishing, new paint job, and new knobs. 

Puppy Update: Part 2

The puppies are a week and 5 days old.

Their eyes should begin to open in a couple days.

They continue to grow and are beginning to walk a little, instead of scooting.

 Mr. Chubbs here is a good 6 oz heavier than any of the others

 Sibling Love 

 They like to snuggle

and the puppies don't mind too much either... =D

Heads Up

In the future, you'll probably be seeing a lot more pictures on my blog. 

I bought a new camera this week and since I got it, I've been having great fun playing around with all the different capabilities and settings. One of the fun things is different photo-altering effects. The boys really like this "sketch" effect. 

 With this camera, I can get close up shots where only the subject is focused and the background is blurry. What a novel concept.

 I think these last three are my favorites so far

I Am Now a Preservationist

I have become a fan of canning. Yes, preserving food. Like a chipmunk, storing up food for the winter, except in my case it's not nuts. Last week when we got a huge harvest of green beans, more than we could eat and with no freezer space, we decided it was time for canning! We started out with green beans, then got a bunch of apples from my aunt and made apple pie filling and cinnamon apples, crushed tomatoes, pickles, black beans, and pinto beans. We kept coming up with one idea after another until our entire week was assigned to a specific food (or two) to can. =) There's something wonderful about putting the work into growing your own food and then preserving it to use in the winter. I didn't get very many pictures in the process and now my camera is toast so I can't get any of the finished products, so you'll just have to imagine our pantry shelves filled with rows upon rows of beautiful colored home canned produce...or almost. =)

As point of clarification: not all of the produce came from our garden. 

Puppies: Part 1

Watching: the miracle of life
Hearing: the squealing of contented puppies nursing
Feeling: the soft, wet fur of a new born ball of fuzz

Five on the ground. Black, Yellow, Black, Yellow, Black. F, M, F, F, F.