I tell my kids: loving your neighbor starts at home. And today, I am reminded: it starts in me.
The house can be clean or dirty. The yard can be tidy or covered in leaves. The laundry can be clean or in piles to do. But I only get this day once, and while I can’t stop the leaves from falling, I can take my thoughts captive.
Note to self: tell your kids as clearly as possible that you’re on their side; working with them, not against them. Let your kids hear you praying about things, so that Christ is the center of your life and not your worries. Fill your mind with God’s treasure, so they will see and seek it too.
4-5 Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!
6-7 Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
8-9 Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies. Philippians 4:4-9, The Message.
Thankful for mercies new, every day …
And spectacular sunsets (aglow through the dining room window), southbound flying geese, socks for my feet, a blanket around my shoulders that my dad made, gray skies, a bubble-blowing six year old, dinner together at the table …
Courtney (66books365)
Sixty-six books in a year 