Posted in Book Reviews

This is a book by Gordon MacDonald.  I said before that if I started sharing quotes I could be taken into 'cuffs and hauled off to prison for plagerizing so I will basically just share what I learned and what I am applying from this book. 

I have issues... I mean real issues.... I have such a hard time NOT comparing myself to other people.  When I do this I am, more often than not, the one who seems to come up short in my own comparison.  It is not about being better than but rather wishing I were in their shoes.  I know... this is bad.  I get that...  I have gotten that for a very long time.  I won't even go into what I have wished was different over the years but I am sure many of you can relate.  The few times someone actually said they wished they were me I was totally floored and wondered what in the world I had that they could actually want.  I know... I am an ungrateful mess.  I get that, too...  *sigh*

Reading this book was like taking a deep breath and coming to terms with so many things in my life.  You hear people say all the time, "It's NOT about you."  You know what?  When it comes to God it really is ALL ABOUT ME - but NOT the way you think!!!  It's about the fact that He wants ME to be His own.  He wants ME to have a relationship with Him.  He wants ME to trust Him.  He wants ME to obey Him.  He wants what is best for ME.  He wants MY time and resources and He can do amazing things with the smallest of those things.  He doesn't want ME looking around and comparing MYSELF to others because all I am ultimately responsible for is MY OWN MESS.  Again with the letting go of stuff...  (God took me there this morning in Romans 2, btw...) 

As I read this book I jotted down some ideas that stood out to me and how I am applying them.  Here is an overview of that...

*   Success is not measured  by the world but by God.  My dependence upon God and not myself or my talents is the standard by which I am judged.  The world tells me that I have to be the best wife and mother.  I need todress a certain way.  I should have had two children instead of four.  I should be working outside the home.  My husband should be the pastor of a megachurch or some other big high and mighty successful ministry.  I should have lots of popular friends and know lots of people that can take me places.  I should be living in a huge house with a maid and a big fancy brand new car in the driveway.  The whole keeping up with the Joneses thing... 

But God says I need to obey Him.  I need to trust Him.  I need to be content with what I have and not keep wanting more and more and more.  I should love my husband and children and be the wife and mother God has called me to be.  I should do the ministry I am called to and support my husband in the ministry God has called him to.  It is not about living on my merits but on God's.  Living in the private world means that go to a place each day where any value or importance comes from who God is and not who I am.  Living on my talents and merits is pretty limiting and it requires absolutely NO trust in God.  That is not what God calls us to.  He wants us to trust Him.

*   The second thing I took from this book is that I must live my call.  My daily life should be an "in progress" of the call placed upon my life by God and not a list of things others tell me are important.  This means I do not take on every ministry and activity there is to take on.  I have certain things God has called me to do and I must do those things.  My days should be about achieving growth and maturity to be able to be obedient to those things I am called to do.  I am His child first.  That is evident in the time I spend with Him first thing everyday and throughout the day.  My relationship with Christ should take presidence over everything else. 

The next thing I am called to is being Dan's wife and my children's mother.  Things that interfere with my responsibilities there need to be put aside or done some other time.  I am called to be the keeper of this home that God has given us and I have a duty to be a good steward of all that is put in my charge including and especially my children. 

We (as in my own particular little family) are called to homeschool our children.  That means I have to make time each day to do that and not let other things get in the way.  I no longer take part in all the field trips, outings and Bible studies that are offered for homeschool families in our area.  The biggest reason is that they were taking away from our daily lessons.  It is better for us to stay home and get the important stuff done.  It doesn't hurt that I am a homebody and like being at home more than anything else, too.    So, five days a week we are home and on Saturdays if I can help it. 

I have also shared with you guys how God brought me to a ministry.  I don't take on things in church that I am not called to do anymore.  Those things only serve to frustrate and distract from what I am really suppose to be doing.  I am back in school by God's design, too.  So, study and going to classes is a priority as well.  Dan and I have discussed that at any point that this becomes more than the family can deal with I will cut back and be at home more (which would probably mean taking one class at a time instead of two or something to that effect).  We believe that God is calling me to this and will continue in this until I finish or until God says no more... 

Now, you have to know that I am still working on all these things.  I am still "in progress," too.  I am constantly growing and learning and changing the way things are done in my home in order to be better at it.

*   Another thing this book has reinforced for me is that I must take my time back from the world and give it to the Lord.  This kind of goes hand in hand with the previous point.  When I wake up in the morning I should be willing to let God plan my day instead of having an agenda I refuse to deviate from.  I need to be open to His plan and see things with His eyes.  My goal is to begin to see with spiritual eyes the day that is laid before me and watch for Him to work in all the details of my life. 

*   MacDonald emphasized that reading is one of the most important things I can do.  He encouraged his readers to read the Bible every day.  He also encouraged the reading of Christian classics and really great books.  I should not be giving my time away to things that hinder that such as television, internet surfing and really bad books that don't teach and edify.  I made some decisions based on this one to incorporate right away.  I am reading a chapter every day in my Bible and journaling and praying about all the things God shows me each day.  I am also going to actively have a Christian classic going at all times.  I just finished this book and am now reading Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald S. Whitney and for our family reading club we are reading Pilgrim's Progress.  That is where I am starting...

*   I mentioned that I am now journaling during my study time.  I had gotten away from journaling some time ago for, who knows what reason but I have picked it back up and I had forgotten what a great tool the journal is while studying and praying.  I am so glad he mentioned this.  It is good to be a journaler again. 
*   One of the reasons I am picking up the book by Whitney on Spiritual Disciplines is because of MacDonald's encouragement to actively pursue a personal walk with God by building the private world through spiritual disciplines.  He mentioned four spiritual exercises that he uses in his life....
    
1.   Solitude and Silence - taking time to have quiet and tune out the world's noise and to be alone to spend time with God.
2.   Listening to God - when you tune out the noise you are open to His still small voice...
3.   Reflection and Meditation - not the meditation of other religions that requires you to empty your mind but the kind that the Bible speaks of in filling your mind with God's word and chewing on it.  Taking time to memorize scripture and really let God speak to you through His words.
4.   Prayer as worship and intercession - not just corporate but private and personal worship and intercession.  He encouraged his readers to make lists of those you are praying for and include local, state, national and world situations and ministries as well as missionaries.  Keep track of what God does in the lives of those around you and really pray for them. 

*   Observing the Sabbath is CRUCIAL for restoration and centering in a world that pulls at us from all angles.  He talked about how God set the example in resting after creating the world and how it is for our good.  He talked, also, about the fact that Sabbath is NOT vacation.  It is NOT leisure time.  It is time to stop or cease our activity in order to be filled up by Him in reading His word, being quiet and still, and not letting our mind think about the troubles and stresses of daily life.  I need to really take this one to heart...

*   He ended the book by reminding us to build that Spiritual Center in our lives that keeps us stable in a very unstable world.  It is important to keep coming back week after week and sometimes day after day to the very thing that grounds us - God is our rock and our salvation.  There is nothing more important than that. 

I encourage you to read this book if you get the opportunity.  There is a second book by MacDonald that is going on my to read list this year.  It is a continuation of this book and it is called Mid-Course Correction.  I'll let you know how it turns out, too...