In the bluster of the busy days...

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts...

and be thankful.

Colossians 3:15

These winter days have been full to the brim and spilling over . . . lessons, meetings, deadlines, assignments, projects, and overnight trips . . . 

In the bluster of the busy days, two things have kept my heart quiet:  this resolve to remain and the practice of counting gifts, giving thanks.

So I'll slip in here at the end of February (ahh... posting the first of March) and share just some of the gifts.  Because even on the busy days, this practice of slowing to take note helps me see...

Continuing to count His endless gifts and grace . . . 

#1640  driving home, sun behind us warming the fields

#1645  rainboots and coats in the cold, pouring rain

#1651  husband's encouragement when I'm feeling overwhelmed

#1660  a quiet Saturday morning to study and read

#1669  handwritten notes of encouragement in the mail

#1673  setting sun turning everything golden

#1674  new wreath for my door that my grandmother and cousin made

#1679  firstborn helping me make cakeballs to take to the party

#1682  standing in my mom's kitchen, munching on yummy tea sandwiches

#1683  my dad answering my call even while he was in a meeting

#1687  making our traditional French toast breakfast for Valentine's Day

#1694  full moon rising over the lacrosse field

#1697  husband taking a day off to bake a "dad & lad" cake for the contest

#1699  red tulip on my kitchen counter

#1701  praying with my boy-child through the night watches

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything,

by prayer and petition with thanksgiving

let your requests be made known to God

and the peace of God, which passes all understanding

will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

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The Very Best New Year's Resolution

The best resolution for a new year?  The best new habit to form?

It's the only New Year's resolution I've ever kept.

But I succeeded in keeping it only after failing first... after standing in front of the class I was teaching and challenging them to join me in memorizing the entire book of Colossians... and then making it through only seven verses of the first chapter.

And that nagging sense of failure haunted me for years.

But in January of 2010, when Ann issued that same challenge... to memorize the entire book of Colossians... she did it in a way that we all could manage:  Memorize Colossians in a year, just two verses a week.

Just two verses a week?!  I could do that!

There was a clear plan.  There was a start, a finish, a goal.  There were deadlines to keep me on track. And I could prepare the whole project in advance so I wouldn't scramble and flounder in the middle when days became busy and life got crazy.

So I printed the verses, pasted them in a little book of blank pages... sent off an email to a friend I knew would join me in the challenge... and memorized my way through the entire book of Colossians that year.

And then I just kept going... kept memorizing...

Why?

Well... for the same reason the psalmist recorded in Psalm 119:11.
"I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against you."

And because, if I'm going to be faithful to do as the Lord instructs us through Paul in his letter to the Colossians, to "set (my) mind on things above and not on earthly things..." then I'm going to have to have "things above" already tucked into the corners of my mind and hidden in the caverns of my heart.

In this dark and broken and hurting world, I'll only succeed in thinking about "what is true, what is noble, what is right, what is pure, what is lovely... " if I am making a habit of rehearsing, reciting, and remembering those true and noble things in the midst of the mess, the mundane, and the menial.

And when I face a mountain in the path before me?
I'll not say to it, "Be moved!" unless I have faith.
And what is recorded in the letter to the Romans?
"Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God!" (emphasis mine)

So I'm resolving this year, like last year and the year before that, to hide God's Word in my heart.  It's the surest way to succeed in my goal to remain.

Want to join me in this challenge, this resolve to hide God's Word in my heart?  Do it!  You won't regret it!  God has promised us that His Word will not go out and return void.  If you sow the seed of His Word in your life, you can trust Him to make it grow.  He will make it bear fruit!

Not sure how to get started?
Here are a couple of links that may help:

Ann Voskamp is memorizing chapters 1, 8, and 11 of Romans this year.  She has provided printable Scripture memory pages and lots of links to help you along.  There's also a link to last year's "Memorize the Mount" plan, as well as to the "Colossians in a Year" plan.  Click here for details.

Beth Moore has a fabulous plan for memorizing two verses each month.  Choose the verse and the version you prefer and log your verses on her blog twice a month for accountability, encouragement, and fun.  Click here for details.

And what am I memorizing this year?  I'm starting with John 15, as I strive to remain firmly rooted in Him.  Then I'll memorize Romans 8.  And, Lord willing, I'll finish the year with 2 Corinthians 4.


Want to join me?  Jump in!  Whether you do the Romans Project with Ann, two verses a month with Beth, or a plan of your own... just do this thing!  Hide God's Word in your heart that it might bear fruit in your life!

It's a New Year's Resolution worth making... and you just might find yourself keeping it every year!

Remain in me, and I will remain in you...

If you remain in me and my words remain in you,

you may ask for anything...

John 15:4, 7 NLT

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Remain

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and I think it's true.

Sometimes, one word attached to one photograph can weave its way into your thoughts and take root there.  That's what happened with this photograph:

photo credit:  Louie Giglio

Several months ago, Louie tweeted that picture with just this word: Remain.  And I've been thinking about it ever since  . . . about what it means to remain . . . to abide . . . to dwell . . . to stay firmly rooted.

Remain.

Miriam-Webster says that remain means:

1. to be a part not destroyed, taken, or used up

2. to stay in the same place or with the same person or group

Remain.

I find myself wanting to chase "this idea" or start "that fun project."  I want to figure things out or make them work on my own.  I want to do things my own way in my own time and by my own strength.

But the Lord reminds me, "Remain."

He says this: 

"Remain in me, and I will remain in you.  For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.  Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches.  Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit.  For apart from me, you can do nothing."  John 15:4-5, NLT

Remain.  Abide.  Dwell.  Stay.  Live.

Simple words.
And why does the follow-through so often elude me?

"Remain in me," Jesus says, "and I will remain in you.  No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine."  (John 15:4, NIV 1984)

"Dwell in Me, and I will dwell in you..."  (Amplified Bible)

"Live in me.  Make your home in me just as I do in you...you can't bear fruit unless you are joined with me."  (The Message)

"Abide in me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me."  (ESV)

Live.  Stay.  Dwell.  Abide.  Remain...

...that all I do would be only His work in me.
...that the fruit of my life would be sweet and good because the source is right and true.

Remain.

Around the web, Ann, Lisa, and Emily have been talking about their one word for the year, about the best habits for all these days ahead.

I know my word.
I know the habit that most needs forming in me.

Now to do what I know.

  Remain in me, and I will remain in you...

For apart from me, you can do nothing.

John 15:4-5, NLT

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