Truly Worship!

Here I am to Worship by Elisabeth Rushton

Here I am to Worship...

By Elisabeth Rushton

 

 

"These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain. Their teachings are but rules taught by men."  Matthew 15:8-9  NIV

 

"These people draw near me with their mouth and honor me with their lips but their hearts are far away from me. Uselessly do they worship me for they teach  as doctrines the commands of men."  Matthew 15:8-9  Amplified Bible

What is this whole life about?
What is the purpose of us being here?
Why do we exist?

I can answer all of those questions!

We are here to worship God, to build up His name and to bring honor to Him! We are here for one purpose, and one alone--to love God and to show that love through our actions!

Whenever most people think of the word "worship," they think of a song, or being in a church singing. Worship is so different than that.

True worship is your lifestyle. It is your heart's cry out to God daily. Worship begins with you waking up and choosing to love and focus on God rather than anything else. It is putting Him first in a world full of things you could have! Worship is saying, "God, here is my heart, take it and allow my love to flow out to You!"  Worship isn't just a song. It is a lifestyle! Deciding daily to only give your heart to God, deciding to hold your gaze on His ways!

Worship is so important to our lives.  I can tell when I am really worshiping God and when I am not. When I am, I can tell my joy((ometor)) is on full! But when I am not, I can most definitely tell I am on empty!

God will give back to you so much when you just take the time to love him! Worship God with everything in you and He will give you so much in return! There is no way to describe how you feel when you are in the presence of God. I don't know of anyone who can give it justice. It is so amazing when you are with God!

If you give up your things you hold so tightly in your heart, such as your
sports, your heart-breaks, your dreams, and all of the things YOU want...if you give them up to God and let Him have all those things that can hurt you or make you hard, then that is another way you can worship God!

Worship is mainly about just being selfless, and giving God the glory He deserves! Love Jesus with all your heart, just give up and love him! To me it takes more strength to become humble and selfless, than to not!

God is worthy of our praises and deserves our praises! It is the least we can do! So worship God, praise him even in the storms of life! Praise God in all that you do!

Love
Elisabeth
http://www.ElisabethRushton.com

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Fun and Easy Ideas for Making Your Quiet Times Great!

Time Out—To Fill YOUR Cup!

Time Out—To

Fill YOUR Cup!

By Cindy Rushton

Parched? Dry? Weary in your well doing? You are not alone!  Studies overwhelmingly show that today’s Christian woman is busier than ever balancing more demands than ever before!  The typical Christian woman balances a wide variety of demands ranging from marriage to mothering to homemaking to homeschooling to home-business/career to ministry, in addition to somehow fitting in time to develop and deepen her relationship with the Lord.

If you are like me, you don’t have to have a study to confirm your suspicion that you have a heavier load than ever before. You sure don’t need to hear that we are busier than ever. You KNOW it!  However, if you are like me, one thing that may need to be a constant reminder is that YOU need time out in the midst of your busy life so YOUR cup can stay full to overflowing!  Well, just how do we do it??  And what can truly fill our cups back up? Well, let’s go back in time and learn from our Master!  Let’s look at the life of Christ!

A Ministry that has ROCKED the World!

You know, when I think about ministry or my life’s impact, I really want to come to the end KNOWING that I have stepped up to the call and been faithful.  But, I also want to know that what I did had purpose and meaning!  This is how God has designed us!

Looking at the life of Christ, we see the ultimate example of a life that had purpose and meaning…a life that made a difference! Not only did Jesus Christ ROCK the world while He walked upon the earth, but He has impacted lives for eternity!

If we look at busy lives, we may think that today’s Christian woman is busy, but I still do not know of anyone with a “daily planner” as packed as Jesus’ daily planner was! Skeptics may think that I have lost my mind completely.  But, we can take a glimpse into His jam-packed schedule, along with His priorities and insights, by looking into the pages of His “daytimer” that is in print to this day JUST FOR US! In fact, I love that each of us have a benefit of owning our VERY OWN personal copy of His “daytimer.”  Yep! We have the four gospels right at our fingertips!   

In the pages of our precious Bibles, we see “appointments” that Jesus had set…we see His “to-do’s” that were to be accomplished…we see a record of His “life purpose” and goals that helped Him to meet His awesome life purpose…we see added “meetings” and “bookings” that He constantly added into His planner…we see a VERY BUSY MAN!

Christ lived His whole life for THE CALL. He lived out a world “rocking” ministry lifestyle! But how on earth did He have strength to do it all…to make it through the tough times—even death on the disgraceful cross?  How did He keep His perspective? What were His secrets to keeping on in the face of adversity?  What did He do to keep His cup filled up so He could minister to the whole world in the midst of heartache, grief, loss, persecution, pain, and even death?  Glimpses into His “daytimer” show us the most life-changing ideas for keeping on, keeping on for the long-haul in spite of the demands of each day!  So, let’s go back in time and take a look at the Master!

KNOW the Call!

Yes! I love that in the life of Christ, we can see that even in the tough stuff, He KNEW His call, the purpose for His life, and He stuck to it EVEN when it hurt—even to death on the cruel cross!! Temptations did not sway Him. Loneliness did not sway Him.  His flesh did not sway Him. He knew the call, counted the costs to fulfill the call, and stuck it out—to the point of death (the ultimate fulfillment of His life purpose!!)!

Key #1 from the life of Christ: get to KNOW the call before you! If you have jumped into your daily life without giving consideration to WHO you are and WHY you are here, now is the time! Otherwise, it is so easy to get busy with life, live a complete lifetime and come to the end having done it all, but it really not counting!

So, first of all, take time to get to know YOUR CALL! What is it that YOU and ONLY YOU can do?  Look at your gifts…talents…strengths…interests…  Who are you? What DO you have to offer others?  Live for it! What is your hold-up?  Go for it!  Yes, go for it with your WHOLE life! The rest just keeps you going, but this is the way to set forth on the path toward a life that counts! Know YOUR call!

Watch Out for Prayerlessness!

Look at the life of Christ! Go back and take a peek at His life just looking at His prayer life! It is astonishing! Want to know one of the greatest keys to His greatness? It was His commitment to living a life of prayer!  Sound simple? Well, I find that this is one of the areas that tends to be my weakest link! 

Oh, I really KNOW the power of prayer!  I KNOW the strength in prayer! I KNOW the satisfaction in prayer! I KNOW the contentment that comes from a life committed to prayer! I have watched prayer extinguish fiery darts and javelins that have come my way. I have watched God miraculously answer my deepest needs that were only a whimper through prayer!  BUT! I still find that at my most parched moments—those moments that I am battle weary, frustrated, touchy, and ready to give it all up—that somewhere along the way I have lost that passion for prayer and moved into a state of prayerlessness! Talk about an easy defeat! My enemy doesn’t have to do ANYTHING at that time, I EASILY throw in the towel! I take my own self out! 

Relate? We ALL have a deep personal need for a deep personal walk with our Almighty God. This relationship does not sizzle without building a deep relationship! Just as our marriage could not survive without spending time together talking, listening to each other’s hearts, seeking to know each other’s heart-beats, and wanting to grow closer and closer; neither can our relationship with God grow and deepen without a passionate prayer life. 

It is through prayer that we can share with God those things that come up in our daily walk—excitement, problems, passions, fears, praises, needs.  It is through prayer that God can wrap His caring arms around us to care for us, comfort us, restore us, affirm us, instruct us, and whisper into our spirits!  Prayer is KEY! It does not involve a daily ritual—in fact, true time out with God requires that we be willing to get BEYOND the ritual and really learn to commune with Him!  It does not involve a set place—in fact, true communion, or relationship (less religious word!), does not even happen at a set place and in a set way but rather ALL ALONG THE WAY!

In Hosea 2:16, we see our broken-hearted God wanting much, much more than this STUFF that we so commonly offer Him as a relationship.  He wants to walk with us and talk with us and show us HIS heart while we walk with Him and talk with Him and show Him our heart!  He wants to be our very first love! He wants to be our soul satisfaction! Nothing or no one else satisfies! Nothing or no one else brings contentment! No other relationship is able to compare!  Tired and weary? Cast ALL of your cares at His feet!  Pour your WHOLE cup out! Then…wait upon the Lord and soon your cup will be overflowing!

Get ALONE with God Regularly!

Relationship is MORE than just communication and our relationship with God is TOO!  There is just something about getting into the presence of God and just basking there!

As we look back at the life of Jesus, we see that He made this a priority in His life too.  Jesus made time in His busy schedule for God as His first priority!  We see that as He began His earthly ministry, He began by entering into a time of solitude in the desert.  His time alone with God did not end there. In Mark 1:35, we see that “in the morning, long before daylight, He got up and went out to a deserted place, and there He prayed. (Mark 1:35).”   Also, Luke 6:12 says, “Now in those days it occurred that He went up into a mountain to pray, and spent the whole night in prayer to God.”  Just Jesus ALONE with God! 

Oh, but Jesus did not get alone with God just in the lull of things. Rather, He knew how vital ALONE time with God was. We see in His life time-after-time that He consistently pulled back in the thick of demands!  Luke 5:16 comes in the midst of His growing fame and growing crowds and in turn, growing ministry needs. We see in Luke 5 :16 that Jesus withdrew to the wilderness/desert and prayed. 

Even during the most difficult and painful situation of all—the crucifixion—we see that He prefaced the toughest of times by pulling aside to be alone with God!  There is just something about solitude to equip and sustain the man and woman of God perfectly for their call!  This is MORE than just a snippet of prayer, Bible Study, and quiet time! It is DEFINITELY more than just that weekly (or yearly!) visit to church. This is a time of retreat to get alone with God! 

Some of the best advice that I have been given by those pouring into my life and ministry has been the counsel to set aside REGULAR times to pull back, pull away, and snuggle up to the Lord for a season of refreshment, renewal, and refueling! I laugh, but I don’t just get this “counsel” occasionally when I am tired and weary. I am delighted that so many people care about me enough to constantly remind me to make it a regular thing, not an exception!  Sure, at the point of exhaustion, mighty warriors need MORE time alone with God, possibly a whole season, but I am talking about the need for something more preventive in our journey: REGULAR time alone with God! 

Now, I can almost imagine the response here, “OH, this is not FOR ME, I am not in ministry…”  “OH! I have a quiet time…” Beloved, this is not just a ministry tip! This is a necessary way of life!

Right here in the pages of Jesus’ “daily planner,” we see the priority that He gave to solitude. We see that He did not let the other “to-do’s” steal the time from Him. In fact, it seems from these passages if you will take a closer look, as though the busier He was the MORE He pulled back, pulled aside, and snuggled up close the Father!  Here in Scripture, we also see that He did not let His environment influence whether or not He pulled back into solitude. Rather, it seems that His environment brought about a greater need to get alone in the presence of God!  So, whether we are needing to prepare for our call as so many of the great men and women throughout time (which happened to also pull aside for a season in solitude) OR we are needing more strength for our daily walk, follow the example of Jesus and take time out to get completely alone with God!

Time to Learn!

Looking back to the life of Jesus, we see that although being completely God incarnate, Jesus was also completely human!  Does it excite you as much as it does me when you read of how Jesus kept learning and how Jesus kept teaching the greatest truths through things He did in His everyday life? Even as a child until His death, we see that Jesus never stopped learning and growing.

While not written on this topic, Romans 2:21 still gets me back to the basics!  It says, “Well then, you who teach others, do you not teach yourself?”  This little verse brings me SO much conviction! My ministry began from my TOTAL addiction to the Word of God! It is funny when I think back to my childhood and remember one of my greatest delights from watching my daddy. I remember his total delight in Scripture. Those verses that God gave JUST to daddy would FIRE him up! I loved that!

As I grew up and began my own family life, one of the things that God began to do for ME was to take His Word and not just make it a thing for my parents…or my pastor…or for missionaries. He made it mine! I began to know verse by verse that awesome delight that daddy had in Scripture! Then, came ministry—simply sharing those delights with others!

What is YOUR story? Well, let me share the warning…

Yep! The warning is that it is so very easy to get so busy teaching our children… writing our Bible Studies… teaching our workshops/Bible Studies… that we forget our first love and get stale in our relationship! Then, you know what happens next! We try to keep on in our own strength. We try to pour out what is not inside.  We get more and more malnourished.  Eventually, we fall back or drop out!

This is not what our precious Lord wants! It is not what WE want! So, as we follow the footsteps of Jesus, we need to take TIME OUT to learn! Bible Study and Bible Reading needs to get beyond the boredom! Actually, we need to keep on reading until we get our FOOD for the day! Prayer needs to become more—sitting there and not getting up until we have poured our whole heart out and soaked in the heart of God!  Worship needs to get beyond the rules and regulations…the preferences and quirks…we need to get into the presence of God! We do not ever need to stop growing and learning! We constantly need to keep feeding our minds!

Our minds are no different from our children’s minds. We are created as hungry beings that must be nourished each and every day. One of the reasons that our children are not learning in schools today is that the diet that is served up in their lessons is simply disgusting! Their young minds need great ideas to feed and nourish their souls and help them to continue to grow healthy! 

Likewise, we are no different than our precious children! Talking to moms, so many of us almost feel that taking time to ourselves even to have a quiet time is an indulgence, much less to keep learning and growing—that becomes…well, SIN! (Ha!) Actually, what happens as we keep our hearts and souls malnourished on a diet of fast-mind and spirit food, we actually get into silly sins and miss God’s best for our lives. Time alone with God is critical to our spiritual preservation! Knowing our life purpose is essential to step up to our call. But, we must keep on learning and growing in order to stick it out for the long-haul!

Time OUT!

It is time for us to take some TIME OUT!  We need to kick back and really search out what God has called us to do!  We need to live a life ON purpose for our purpose!  We need to make a commitment for a deeper relationship with God than ever before!  As we regularly withdraw to be alone with God in prayer, we are strengthened by God, Himself!

Ever feel weak and weary? Ever feel too feeble to do great things for God? Draw strength from the Master! Learn of Christ!

Cut it all back to the MAIN thing! Try withdrawing from your life for a little while each day…try to set aside regular time to get alone with God…keep on learning and growing! I guarantee that you will come away with not only strength, but also the inspiration to do the work that God has set aside for you alone! 

Withdrawal will have another benefit. You will mature much quicker because you will have that renewed mind that God promises!  You will understand  the things of God.  This will help you to turn away from the “busyness” of daily life so you may get an eternal perspective on a daily basis!  Withdrawing to God will comfort you in the tough times...give you the security of an intimacy with God in times of loneliness...and give you a passion for Him that will turn our culture upside down!

Sound easy...but, you KNOW it is difficult!  I know! There is a battle waged from our enemy to keep us OFF of our knees, too busy to spend time with God, and too focused on the urgent to get around to the eternal!  So…ready for some time out? Go for it and let your Heavenly Father FILL YOUR CUP!

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How Can We Encourage Quiet Times?? By Cindy Rushton

How Can We Encourage Quiet Times??

By Cindy Rushton

This area of discipleship has been one of my greatest priorities. I realized in my own personal walk with God that just going to church did not equip me to even know WHERE to begin on those daily quiet times.  I did not want my children wandering around in the same predicament, I wanted for every opportunity to be used all along the way!

In the early years, we trained our children bit-by-bit as we sat for “FAMILY” quiet times. As they became familiar with HOW to study the Bible, pray, and praise, they wanted to have “their own” quiet times. We provided them with the VERY best materials so our children could have EASY access to the Lord during their quiet times. This is our same recommendation for you with your little blessings.  What do we mean? I hope the following will help...

©       Little Children…Bible Storybook, Picture Journal, Music/Praise Tape

 

©       Little Older…Give a prayer basket or a prayer tote!  Include a pretty Bible (large print—boys don’t care about pretty!), a pretty journal (we suggest that you look at our MAKE YOUR OWN DISCIPLESHIP JOURNAL), a devotional or Bible Study Guide, nice pens, and of course, pretty linens!

 

©       Deeper Studies? Add to their library...A study Bible with concordance/cross-references/study notes/maps, topical reference (to look up things by subject), complete concordance (to look up individual words and all references in the Bible to them), Bible Dictionary (look up meanings), other Bible versions, Bible commentary by respected theologians, study book on the Bible or a topic in Scripture, Bible Study Software, Greek/Hebrew translation dictionaries, etc.

Help for Teaching Bible…by Cindy Rushton

Help for Teaching Bible…

 by Cindy Rushton

(Excerpted from Cindy's NEWEST E-Book: Step-by-Step Through Daniel Bible Study. On SPECIAL this week!)

"But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them: And that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.  All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”

 2 Timothy 3: 14-17

     The Bible is A WHOLE, LIVING BOOK!  It is our responsibility to give the children direct contact with this wonderful Book of Life from infancy so that they may be prepared and perfectly furnished for every good work.

     It was the Spring of 1991 when I first read Susan Schaeffer Macaulay’s book, For the Children’s Sake.  My entire life, including the direction that I was going with our Homeschool, was totally changed by the ideas presented in that one little book!  As I think back, there was one primary quote that I remember from that time of study.  I guess this is because this one quote totally changed the way I taught my children, the classes at church, and even myself!  Here is that awesome quote…

     "Lesson Books- A child has not begun his education until he has acquired the habit of reading to himself, with interest and pleasure, books fully on a level with his intelligence.  I am speaking now of his lesson books - which are all too apt to be written by persons who have never chanced to meet a child.  All who know children, know that they do not talk twaddle and do not like it, and prefer that which appeals to their understanding.  Their lesson-books should offer matter for their reading, whether aloud or to themselves: therefore they should be written with literary power.  As for the matter of these books, let us remember that children can take in ideas and principles, whether the latter be moral or mechanical, as quickly and clearly as we do ourselves (perhaps more so); but detailed processes, lists, and summaries blunt the edge of the child's delicate mind.  Therefore, the selection of their first lesson books is a matter of grave importance, because it rests with these to give children the idea that knowledge is supremely attractive and that reading is delightful.  Once the habit of reading his lesson books is set up in a child, his education is not completed, but ensured; he will go on for himself in spite of the obstructions which school too commonly throws his way." (Charlotte Mason, Home Education, Page 220)

     If that was not enough to revamp our method for teaching Bible in our home, I ran across a little book by John C. Ryle entitled The Duties of Parents.  I would like to share a quote with you from it,

"He that is well-grounded in it (the Bible) will not generally be found a waverer, and carried about by every wind of new doctrine.  Any system of training which does not make a knowledge of Scripture the first thing is unsafe and unsound.  Care not so much for their (the children) being mighty in the catechism, as for their being mighty in the Scriptures.  This is the training, believe me, that God will honor.  See that your children read the Bible reverently.  Train them to look on it, not as the word of men, but as it is The Truth, the Word of God, written by the Holy Ghost Himself,--all true, all profitable, and able to make us wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus.  See that they read it regularly.  Train them to regard it as their soul's daily food, --as a thing essential to their soul's daily health.  See that they read it all.  You need not shrink from bringing any doctrine before them.  You need not fancy that the leading doctrines of Christianity are things which children cannot understand.  Children understand far more of the Bible than we are apt to suppose.  Fill their minds with Scripture.  Let the Word dwell in them richly.  Give them the Bible, the whole Bible, even while they are young."

     We do want our children well grounded in the Bible.  We want our children to be able to be firm when others might would waver or be carried about.  We want our children to be mighty in Scriptures…in the ideas of the Scriptures, not just a bunch of parroted facts.  Because of this we believe that we must use the Bible…the Whole Bible…with our children from infancy!  How do we do this?  Through our Quiet Times, Formal Bible Study, Daily Bible Reading and Bible Memory!

Learning from the Bible…

     In our home, we have committed to bringing our children in direct contact with the Bible.  The Bible ALONE, not Bible programs and Bible Curriculum!  There is a real temptation to look for the perfect Bible program, guide, curriculum, and storybook.  I love what Nancy Campbell said one month in her magazine Above Rubies, "There is really no need to provide programs geared toward young children and youth.  What we all need is God's Word, pure and simple because 'Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.' (Romans 10:17)" 

     For our children to come to faith in God, we must bring them to Him; not to an interpretation of Him, or a cute, flashy curriculum that never gets around to teaching His actual words!  There really is not any better program or curriculum than the Bible itself for us to use in teaching our children!

     This sounds great…but what if you do not KNOW the Bible yourself??  First of all, do not feel as though YOU must have all of the answers yourself!  So many parents never get around to teaching their children the Bible just from pure fear!  Fear of what?  Fear of not knowing the answers!  Fear of not knowing what to teach!  Fear of doing the wrong thing!  My friend, God is not the author of fear!  He will meet you at the point of obedience!  Do not worry about the answers, God can answer ALL the questions... just give Him time and direct access to the children! 

     Don't know what Bible curriculum to use...use the Bible!  It is infallible!  It is true!  It has all wisdom and power!  It is the very heart and soul of God in print!   Break free from fear and let God have direct contact with your family!  Steer away from Bible Stories, commentaries, and devotionals.  Perhaps, on this topic no one has said it better than Charlotte Mason in her book Toward A Philosophy of Education, "The expressed knowledge attainable by us has its source in the Bible, and perhaps we cannot do a greater indignity to children than to substitute our own or some other benevolent person's rendering for the fine English, poetic diction, and lucid statement of the Bible." 

     I wholeheartedly agree with Miss Mason.  We must not make this mistake in the small amount of time that we have with our children.  I would never want someone to give my writing to their children as a substitute for the very words of God!  How tragic!  Yet, that is what we are doing when we purchase and use Bible stories, commentaries, and devotionals in the place of the Bible.  We cannot expect the same results from the writing of men and women that we can get from the very words of God! 

     So, how do we give our children those very words of God?  Through a daily Bible Reading and study time and through a systematic plan for memorizing Scripture.  Here are some ideas…

The Rushton Bible Reading Plan...

     We keep our Bible Reading very simple…Here are ideas that you may want to use in your home Bible Reading Time…

·        Pray...never begin a time of Bible Study on your own!  Go to the Lord in prayer! Ask Him to teach each of you!  He will be faithful to your request!

·        Review from your last reading...As we read through our Daily Bible Reading we begin by reviewing the passage from the day before.  I allow our children to do this.  They love this!

·        Read aloud from the Bible!

·        Narrate story from Scripture...this is simply letting the children re-tell what the passage is about.  If it is not a passage that is easily shared in a story, then let them share their insights into the passage!

·        Discuss ideas, any questions, and any difficult words.  Look up any new places on a map.  This is WHY you should read/study Scripture WITH your children.  This is when you will share insights with one another...glean deeper truths from Scripture...really search for more than the casual glance at Scripture!

·        Pray...ask God to really work in your lives to make your study applicable in your lives!

Helps for Bible Memorization

     These ideas are included to help you as you hide God’s Whole Word in Your heart…

·        Make a commitment to learn a certain amount of scripture each week. 

·        Be consistent!  Set aside a regular time each day for working on memory work.  We usually work on ours individually during our Quiet Times.

·        Have a set time to quote your passages to one another.

·        Allow opportunities to quote what they know.  The hardest part is learning your verses, the most fun is quoting it, so make opportunities to quote them!  Make it be tickets to go play, to eat dessert...you get the point!

·        Sing scripture songs.  Steve Green has a great tape for children Hide 'em in Your Heart.  You can get his or others at your local Christian bookstore.

·        Memorize passages together.  We are now trying to memorize Psalm 1 together as a family.  This makes it easier to quote along the way!

·        Write it out.  Keep Bible Journals!

·        Play games...Write out scripture on index cards, one word on each card.  Scramble and try to put in order...Write out scripture on a piece of paper with your words separated enough that you can cut it out into a puzzle, while you are putting it together, see if you can remember what is missing!  When swimming, have a race to see who can quote a scripture first and then race to the other side.  You get the idea, so have fun!

·        Let your older children help the younger ones memorize verses.

·        Don't know what to memorize? Try to memorize verses in which you can use for your personal life…Verses to help with specific temptations. (As matter of fact, you may want to make and keep a list of verses related to areas of your weakness and temptation!) Verses to help encourage you, as well as, your loved ones. Verses for evangelism.  Verses which are God's sweet promises. 

     Using The Greatest Whole Book, the Bible will be your key to discipling your children.  The study of the Bible gives your children that deep, eternal love of God!  Bible study gives them an awe and reverence for God!  Bible study gives them the light on their path, which reveals God's will in their tender lives!  Using God’s Word gives them the full armor to protect and fortify them from Satan's attacks. The Word of God goes deep into our souls bringing us directly to God just as we are!  My challenge is for parents to give their children real Scripture, direct contact with God!    

Let's Make Decorated Journals!

Touch the Future: Journal! by Drewe Llyn Jeffcoat

Touch the Future: Journal!

by Drewe Llyn Jeffcoat

 “One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts.”

Psalm 145:4

My Journaling Story

by Drewe Llyn Jeffcoat

        Ever since childhood I’ve enjoyed jotting down random thoughts, emotions, experiences, and poetic attempts. One would think I’d have a fine collection of journals gracing my shelves by now.  Regretfully, that is not the case, for while I love to write, I’m organizationally challenged and many of those special pieces of my life have been scattered and lost.

        When my children made their grand appearances I knew I had to be more diligent to write down and keep EVERYTHING concerning their childhood, so I purchased three journals - one for each child.  Eventually,   I also I began a file folder of all the interesting stories and written “tid-bits” that blessed my life. Later, I felt convicted to keep a “Blessings Journal” of the miraculous ways God is at work in my family’s life.  I’ve also accumulated a number of meaningful cards and letters over the years. Though I had good intentions, the upkeep of all those paper treasures was burdensome. Every time something monumental or meaningful happened I spent valuable time and energy searching for the correct journal to record it in.  And though the “tid-bits” and meaningful correspondences were easily dumped in a file or box, it was too much trouble looking for them, so they and their joy stayed hidden away.  Many inspirational thoughts, wonderful ideas, and meaningful happenings have been lost through the years simply because I was overwhelmed and couldn’t keep myself motivated. 

        A breakthrough occurred when our family went overseas on a two year mission adventure; I knew I needed to keep a record of that epic journey also, but weight and space limits made simplification a necessity. I purchased a thick, wire-bound notebook containing pockets to take with us.  It wasn’t pretty, but it was functional.  Everything I wanted to keep a written record of went in that one notebook.  “Everything” included:

1.    General happenings & special events

2.    My thoughts and feelings on those general happenings & special events

3.    Miraculous ways God blessed our family

4.    Cute things the children said or did

5.    Childhood milestones

6.    Inspiring quotes from various sources including books read or speakers  listened to

7.    Sermon outlines with special meaning

8.    Bible verses of particular significance

9.    Prayers and answers to them

10.           Poignant song lyrics

Each entry began with the date and some highlighted cue word as to who or what that particular entry was about. It was that simple.  (Why didn’t I think of this before?) Instead of keeping up with multiple journals everything went into one, and though it took six years to fill that one book, I did fill it. (And can still find it!)  Since that method worked so well I’ve recently bought an even thicker (and prettier) journal in which to record the special happenings of my life. 

Dear Reader, You may be a more seasoned and better organized “journal-er” than I am.  If so, I’d love to hear your ideas!  If you don’t keep a journal I want to encourage you to do so and to offer some simple ways to organize all those “scraps” that comprise the fabric of your life.

(c) Drewe Llyn Jeffcoat 2005

Used by Permission.

Why Journal? by Drewe Llyn Jeffcoat

Why Journal?

by Drewe Llyn Jeffcoat

        If you haven’t already caught the journal “bug”, you may be asking, “Why should I?” Here are some great reasons:

1.  It’s therapeutic. Our journal is a safe place to rant and rave, dream, grieve, and expound on the meaning of life. Writing things down often puts things into perspective.

2. It is a disciplined way to reflect on and cherish the moments of our lives.  Busyness pushes many pearls of wisdom, grace moments, and learned lessons to the back of our minds where they gather cobwebs and are quickly forgotten.  Journaling forces one to reflect on and savor life, God, family, friends, and the things of true value.