#143 - Continual Growth

Good morning. :) Or.... HAPPY THURSDAY! :) It's a great day! The boy is enjoying watching Miss Pattycake right now! Any parents out there? Miss Pattycake is a great DVD/CD series that sings songs, teaches kids about God & Bible stories, as well as the basic things they need to know about using manners,  numbers, ABC's, colors, hygenine, healthy eating, etc. It's a great DVD series with a lot of energy. Tyler and I find ourselves walking around singing the songs... it's pretty funny! But if your in the market for some good Bible Based, high energy DVD's that teach great principles... Miss Pattycake is a winner! :) 


Ok... well, let's get rolling. :) 

Proverbs 17:28 - Even a fool when he holds his peace is considered wise; when he closes his lips he is esteemed a man of understanding.

Proverbs 31:15 - She rises while it is yet night and gets [spiritual] food for her household... 

Well.... it's amazing how the Word is a continual source of instruction and correction! Sometimes it's not fun... but as we are on this journey to become all God has created us to be, I guess it's good. ;) I know it's good! Have any of you talked when you should have just been quiet? Or have you been around people that ALWAYS are talking and you can't get a word in edge wise? Or those people that always change the subject when you are talking to them.... and they change the subject to, guess what? Themselves! I know I have been guilty of it too! But, as it says in Proverbs 17, even a FOOL is esteemed as a person of understanding when he CLOSES HIS LIPS! 


A couple of practices for the week:

1. When you (and I) are talking to people this week... when we are tempted to change the subject or BEGIN a sentence with the word "I".... let's take a second and stop ourselves! Can we NOT focus on ourselves? Can we keep the focus on them? Allow them to talk not us?
2. Practice Humility - When we are tempted to tell someone... "Well, let me tell you what I did...", or "Well, I actually went there AND I went here too...." - Let's practice the art of not trying to "out-do" someone else's story. AND.... if we feel tempted to brag about something we've done, let's take a second and just CLOSE OUR LIPS. 

Have you ever said something, sent an email, text or something and then your corrected by the Word? Or later when your not "in the moment" you think, "Man, that was kinda stupid." I know I have.... and I continually find things in my life to work on and fine tune. Here's just another one. 

What about Proverbs 31:15? Our Proverbs 31 friend "rises while it is yet night and gets spiritual food for her household." Do you ever wonder, "Am I ever going to get this whole thing down?" The whole being a good Christian, diligent, disciplined, etc. With a growing family, I am learning this. Tyler Junior is 15 months, so his schedule seems to evolve as he grows. So for me, my schedule changes too. Our routines change. I had my main quiet time before he woke up this morning. Spent some time meditating on some specific scriptures... then, the boy woke up. Pull out the "Mom Card" and do breakfast, etc. Well, after breakfast, Tyler Junior watches a short DVD called "My Baby Can Read", and then he watches "Miss Pattycake." So, as I'm reading through Proverbs, I'm listening to this song, "Fruits and veggies in your tum tum tum, Fruits and Veggies yum, yum, yum!" And OTHER fun Miss Pattycake songs, but songs that are NOT too conducive with having a QUIET "Quiet Time." 

So... I don't know if your schedule and life is changing, but if it is.... like me, do you need to figure out how to allow your Quiet Time to be what it needs to be? QUIET. An atmosphere that is inviting for the Holy Spirit to be present. Praise God that we are on a path of continual growth, that we will be forever learning and we don't "arrive." 

So THANK YOU as you are on the journey with me that you allow me the latitude to grow! I pray as I'm growing, God is doing things in you for you to grow. 

Would you share? What are you learning? How are you growing? I'd love to hear your voices out there! :) 

#132 -Clippings

Good morning! Well... Tyler Jr got his first hair cut last night! Bye bye curls! :-( It was so cute, but just getting too long. In a way, it was sad to see the cutie curls get snipped off. It was actually a perfect segway into today's devotion: CLIPPINGS. So.... let's get started.

1st Clip of Tyler Jr's hair. January 26th, 2011

Proverbs 27:1-2 - DO NOT boast of [yourself and] tomorrow, for you know not what a day may bring forth. Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.

Proverbs 27:21 - As the refining pot for silver and the furnace for gold [bring forth all the impurities of the metal], so let a man be in his trial of praise [ridding himself of all that is base or insincere; for a man is judged by what he praises and of what he boasts]

Proverbs 31:28 - Her children rise up and call her blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied); and her husband boasts of and praises her, [saying]....

Let me start of saying this...sometimes transparency stinks! Ha! Why?? Well.... here ya'll are out there and get to read about ALL the times I drop the ball!!! Isn't that great?! It's kind of no fun sometimes to reveal the "reprimands of Amy" or those times when I mess up... fall short... drop the ball. And... here we are again. Insert foot in mouth Amy!

Do you ever have those times when you just wish you could take the words back in? They go out, and you think, "Man... could we just rewind? Can I just get those words back?" Then, if it's actually in TEXT, in writing.... then you definitely can't hide from it. Sometimes words spoken fade a little bit, but if it's in writing, it can continue to be re-read and re-read. 

Well...here's the story... I was excited.... actually, excited wouldn't be the phrase that would accurately describe it... JACKED would be more like it! The beautifulness of social media. I received a direct message from a SUPER-HERO of mine & my husbands. Someone we respect extremely. An awesome person of God, mentor, someone who has the fruit on the tree.... someone in life where we want to be, where we will be. Basically the message was an invitation to a special meeting (that was sent to me but directed to Tyler). I showed Tyler and we were both JACKED! This person is typically out of reach for us, so it was such an honor, and really, the FAVOR of God working in our lives that they would invite us. Well... here goes Amy, like a little school girl. I was so jacked and thanked the person and also mentioned several bits of positive 'activity' that "I" have been doing lately. Isn't that lovely. Well.... I didn't think about it at the time. I was still to JACKED to give it a second thought! Until.... doesn't the Lord have great timing how He does things. I wake up this morning, get in the Word and BAM! Can't hide from the Word! Being corrected by the Word. Receiving a rebuke from the Word! But, PRAISE God! I can and will receive correction! Let's take a deeper look. 

Proverbs directly said, don't BOAST about yourself. Let ANOTHER man praise you, not your own lips! Why is that so important? Quietly working, quietly being diligent allows one to be lifted up by another. Let's look at what happened to the Proverbs 31 woman.... here she is, being DILIGENT in ALL of her work. The woman is UH-MAZING! She's buying up real-estate, helping the poor, being an entrepreneur - sewing items and SELLING them, planting vineyards, and the list goes on. She is diligently working, being productive. Her eyes are not on herself, and IF they are at any point, she is not verbalizing it, she is not praising herself or saying, "HEY! LOOK AT ME! LOOK WHAT I'M DOING!" And at the end of the day, look what happens! Her children rise up and call her blessed and her husband praises her! I can see her children, in front of their friends bragging on their mom. I can see the Proverbs 31 woman in town with her husband, on a date, walking arm in arm, and he sees some of the town counsel members (since he's known at the city gate and sits among the elders), he says, "Hey George, Bill, let me tell you what my wife did. Let me brag on my wife for a second...." Meanwhile, she sheepishly smiles, her cheeks turn a light rose color, and her husband brags on all that his wife has accomplished. All that she has continued to do in silence, quietly being diligent about her work, she is now being PRAISED in public. 

It also reminds me of what I read a few days ago. Could I not have taken a hint then? Proverbs 25:6-7 says, Be not forward (self-assertive and boastfully ambitious) in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great men; For better it is that it should be said to you, Come up here, than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince, whose eyes have seen you. Basically, don't elevate yourself. In this verse, don't assert yourself to a high position that you feel you deserve, as then you may be DEMOTED IN PUBLIC. Instead, take a lower position, that you may be brought to an ELEVATED status in public, while others are watching. I've also heard it said, "Don't read your own press clippings." That's when you get in trouble because that place is the beginning of when pride can sneak it's way in.

Praise the Lord for the Word! I can receive correction. Forgive me Lord! A great lesson for me this morning. Diligently quiet. Diligently working. My new mantra! ;)

Have a blessed day!

_______________________

Enjoy the pictures of Tyler Junior's first HAIR CUT! Mama's DOLL BABY! :) 

"Bye bye curls." - Will mom be OK with it is the question!?

My doll baby!

Clip clip. Snip snip. TJ did pretty good with Ms Stacy!

No more curls.

Mom's NEW Little man! :) Off to "Save the World!" :)