Encouragement to Refresh our Hearts

I was blessed to hear Mary Beth McGreevy at a women's conference this weekend.  A local church plans a conference every March and for various reasons I have not attended inthe past, I was really looking forward to it and definitely not disappointed (well, only in the food . . .)  I thought I would share a few highlights that may be helpful and/or encouraging to others.

The Source of True Encouragement
       -God's Word (Romans 15:1-7, Romans 12:1-2) God is good, what He does is good, pleasing and perfect.
       -God's Character (Romans 15:8-12) Paul quotes four OT prophesies, all fulfilled perfectly by God.  We can TRUST Him to give us HOPE because he is MERCIFUL.
       -God's Enabling Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13) The Holy Spirit enables us to live the Christin life.

 Encouragement in Deed: Building Up in Love (Acts 18:1-8)
 God uses friendships with others to encourage His people(Aquila and Priscilla, then Silas and Timothy are provided to encourage Paul).  We need to be there for each other and come along side others in their work, in their grief, in the joy . . .
God uses resources to encourage His people, practical needs and help are a great encouragement to fellow believers.  (Matthew 7:12)
Support and Blessings through our efforts encourage others (Acts 18:6-8).  Seeing fruit from our labors is encouraging.
A few practical lessons in encouragement:
1. Listen--convey an interest, pursue an opening when people 'hint' that they are hurting, reflect back to them what you are hearing, clarify by asking questions helps you and the other understand even more deeply, ask open ended question and then listen, acknowledge that intimate communication has taken place and that you appreciate it and will keep it in your confidence, ask for permission to share your thought or direction you see in God's word.
2. Pray for each other, be specific.
3. Believe the best about others, give them the benefit of the doubt.  Let them know you believe in them (praise them publicly, get behind them during failures).
4. Live out the gospel in deeds of love and mercy.


Encouragement in Words: Apples of Gold in Settings of Silver (Acts 8:9-11)
v9 God tells Paul not to be afraid, the root cause of discouragement is often fear.  Words of love spoken from the heart makes real encouragement.
v10 God reminds Paul that He is with him.  Paul knew that, but the reminder encouraged him, we too often need reminders of something we already know.  We need to know God and His word in order to encourage others in His word.
v11 God tells Paul He has many people in this city, but at the time it did not appear to be so.  God has a plan for our lives and knows the people we will run into that will encourage us or that we will encourage.
Practical tips on what to say . . .
-The essence of encouragement is exposure without rejection, express acceptance as God does with us
-Understanding sometimes offers more encouragement than advice, sometimes we just need someone to listen and care, not offer solutions
-Strive to understand more precisely so that we can point them in the right direction, ultimately pointing them to the importance of knowing God, that He is sovereign and good.




As part of the conference a local minister gave a sectional about a little-known woman in the Bible, this year it was Ahinoam (I Samuel 25:43).  She was David's wife, set to be queen, mother of his firstborn son (IISam 3:2).  Then many discouraging, upsetting events took place in her life; David took more wives, he left her and Abigal to be taken captive by the Amalekites, her son rapes his half sister, he is later killed, and then she and her household have to flee Jerusalem because of Absolom.  He used this example to show that we have all had difficult situations in our lives, and in our darkest moments we may not be able to pray or sing praises (Isaiah 12).  In those times we must pray for and sing for those who are hurting too much right now--that is the purpose of the body of Christ to strengthen and encourage one another.   He mentioned a few things that might be helpful to share with a person going through a very difficult time: Remind them that God is not taking His wrath out on them personally, He already took it out on Jesus Christ.  Remind them that God is our salvation and we will trust and not be afraid.  Bring them to Christ and remind them of the riches and glory of God's grace in our lives.  In Isaiah 12 he pointed out that in verse 1 the you is singular, but in verses 3 and 4 the you is plural and together we can draw from the well the wealth of blessings in salvation, especially when one is too weak and discouraged to draw from the well herself (what a beautiful picture of God using His people to encourage one another).

 It is so good to fellowship with fellow believers, to listen to godly leaders, and to be refreshed and encouraged in His Word and in my walk.  I hope my rough, brief notes give you some encouragement in your trials and some ideas for encouraging others towards spiritual growth.

2011

Happy New Year! I know it was a week ago already, but I thought I should acknowledge the changing of the date . . . and share my reflections.

Looking back on 2010, it was a year of loss. My Grandma B died in April, we lost our baby in July, and in December my Grandpa VM went to be with the Lord. I rejoice knowing they have entered eternal worship in heaven, yet my heart is grieved again remembering the difficult months after losing our baby. Through loss there has been much healing and growth in faith, for which I am very thankful.

As we look ahead to 2011 we do not know what the Lord has in store for our family, yet we trust in Him and His will for our lives. It is my prayer that this year will bring more reminders of His sovereignty, His love and grace for us, and continued spiritual growth.

It is easy to start a new year with lots of goals and plans . . . I already have a list of projects for the first several months, I've been up early each morning this week to exercise and hope to maintain that healthy habit, I am trying out a few different printable planner pages to see what works best for me, and I started a new year of personal devotions (see box to right). As I commit my plans and goals to the Lord, I want to encourage you in your walk with Him in a new year . . .

Proverbs 3:6 "In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths."

What have we been doing?!?!

So, it has been awhile and I'm not really sure why. I have a little scratch paper with some cute/funny things I could write about the kids . . . I even have a couple of pictures . . . maybe later. Here is some random things that have been on my mind and taken up my time lately:

Since November started we have remained busy with the usually stuff mentioned in the last post with words . . . I also spent 12 hours one weekend scrapbooking!! Yeah! It is so much fun to do a bunch of pages with other people. I worked in Gideon's book and he went from 3 months to 18 months! Wow! I'm practically current!! I did not work on Briella's book, she is currently 2 in her book, so not too bad. One of these days I'll have time and creative juices to get working on hers again.

I have also been getting up early to fit in more time for daily devotions which is a huge blessing even though it was not easy to start setting the alarm an hour earlier than I used to. I am also trying to fit in some exercise each day (often during nap time or after the kids are in bed). My cousin/friend (Thanks B!) found this awesome site that has TONS of videos you can download for free! I love the walking videos because it is a great cardio work out and I can stay inside and not get bored on my treadmill. I also spent $2 on a exercise ball workout this summer and finally started using it.

I have found a couple of other fun food sites that I have really enjoyed: Our Best Bites
and Sisters Cafe.

I am also reading more and more about natural health remedies. Since moving back to the midwest I have needed some help with colds and I remembered my college roommate saying her sinus doctor told her to rinse with salt water. I was shocked when she told me she just sniffs it up from the palm of her hand, but I tried it and I am a believer! You can also buy nasal sprays or a netipot, but this works for me. We are stocked up on Vitamin D to boost immunity, and echinacea and garlic to fight off sickness, too. I'd rather spend money on these more natural health items than go to the doctor and pay for a visit and more drugs that I'm not so convinced are always helpful. We also use a honey cinnamon mixture that seems to help with coughs and sore throats. Keeper of the Home has lots of information that I've found interesting and useful and I've looked stuff up here before, too.

I'm also excited to try to sew one of these with my mom over Thanksgiving. In the next few weeks I want to make an Advent Calendar or a Jesse Tree to teach Briella about Christmas, but I haven't quite figured out which one to make and how to do it.

Oh and I ordered our Christmas picture/cards already! I found a good deal and just went with the pictures we had, so I should be sending those out sooner rather than later this year!!

Devotions

My goal for 2010 is to read through the entire Bible again for my personal devotions. I recently read Shopping for Time written by Carolyn Mahaney and her daughters, a very practical, yet enjoyable book. (They are the girls of Girltalk an excellent blog to check out.) Anyway, in the book they mention a cool website where you can print reading schedules for your own devotions, so you can check it out and print one for yourself here. (I'm trying the chronological plan) Another cool thing from Shopping for Time that I am implementing is after reading a scripture passage, answer two questions (I'm paraphrasing with my own twist):
1--What does this passage reveal about God?
2--How does this revelation about God impact my faith and life?
My plan is to write out my responses along with the passages and my list of prayer requests. Personal devotions are so important, yet I find that without a plan in place, it is difficult to be consistent. I guess I'm sharing this to keep myself accountable, to encourage others to grow in this area, and also to see if there are other ideas you'd like to share . . .
Happy 2010!