25 Ways to Create Rest

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Thanks to all who entered the Big Giveaway!  It was so fun hearing all about what you wanted to be when you grew up.  Some of you were far more creative than I ever was!  And what a testimony of how God redirected some of us, transformed some of us, and used our desires and giftings for His glory.

I am so thankful for all of your support and encouragement in this first year since my book, Ask Me Anything, Lord was published.  ask-me-anything-lord_kd

Here are the winners!

One first-prize winner of the $25 Amazon gift card is:  Kimberly!!!

Three runner-up prizes of an autographed copy of Ask Me Anything, Lord go to:

  • Betsy Marmon
  • Genia Allen
  • CoreynEva

If you didn’t win, I have to at least give a quick, shameless plug: You can still buy a copy of Ask Me Anything, Lord here.  Don’t forget: Christmas is coming! I’m knee-deep into my own Christmas shopping list, so if you’re looking for a gift you can always buy a copy of the book for you and another to give to a friend!

You bless me so, dear friends and followers!

~heather~

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 25 Ways to Create Rest

My husband teases me about never watching TV or movies.  “You don’t watch; you just listen,” he says.

rest

Photo courtesy of Viktor Janacek, picjumbo

It’s true.  I like to listen to the dialogue while doing chores and working on projects.

I feel restless just sitting still without something for my hands to do.

I read the verses, how Scripture tells me to rest, and all this time I thought I just failed at this.

Could this be sin?  Am I a hopeless case of incessant busyness?  A certifiable Martha who can’t possibly be Mary at the feet of Jesus?

And, after all, I’m a mom with four young kids. Doing nothing sounds unreasonable and downright impossible.

So, when I think about Sabbath and rest, I feel guilty.

But I’m finding freedom here as I spend this month Sabbath-keeping:

In Priscilla Shirer’s book: Breathe: Making Room for Sabbath, I read this quote from Abraham Joshua Heschel, a rabbi and author:

“The words: ‘On the seventh day God finished His work’ (Genesis 2:2) seem to be a puzzle…We would surely expect the Bible to tell us that on the sixth day God finished His work.  Obviously, the ancient rabbis concluded, there was an act of creation on the seventh day.  Just as heaven and earth were created in six days, menulza (rest) was created on the Sabbath…..they believed that it took a special act of creation to bring it into being, that the universe would be incomplete without it.  ‘What was created on the seventh day?  Tranquility, serenity, peace and repose.“

God didn’t do nothing on the seventh day.  He created Rest, and the universe wasn’t complete until He did.

So, Sabbath isn’t about sitting still or napping or doing nothing.

It’s about creating peace and repose.  It’s about creating rest for your soul, whatever that looks like.

In her book Wonderstruck: Awaken to the Nearness of God, Margaret Feinberg writes:

“rest isn’t a purely passive activity.  Rest invites us to participate in restorative activities….Sometimes what’s most restful and restorative to you might involve activity…Sometimes what feels like rest to you may feel like work to someone else (and vice versa)…

Some people experience rest and rejuvenation through physical exercise, others prefer a creative outlet like painting, sculpting or finding a project on Pinterest.  Still others experience rest through spending time at the rifle range, reading an entertaining book, working on a car, enjoying a comedy, or cooking a new recipe”  (p. 72).

So, the question I’ve been asking myself is: What kind of Sabbath am I creating?

Here are 25 practical ways to choose rest for your soul:

  1. Put off the big chores like laundry, vacuuming and mopping until another day.
  2. Spend time as a family playing board games or have a movie night with popcorn and hot chocolate.
  3. Go for a picnic in the park with your kids.
  4. Lie on the couch and read a book.
  5. Take a nap.
  6. Create something beautiful–knit, sew, paint.  Make sure it’s something you enjoy but never seem to have time for and not just another project you need to get done on the to-do list (like hem pants or something).
  7. Bake something delicious.  Maybe use a favorite recipe or be daring and give a new recipe a try!
  8. Light a candle or plug in your warmer and make sure your house smells amazing.
  9. Play music to soothe the soul.  Maybe some worship music.  Maybe something classical so you don’t even have to think about the lyrics, just enjoy the beauty.
  10. Dig deep in the dirt and enjoy your garden.
  11. Sit on the porch with a glass of lemonade or iced tea or maybe a hot cup of tea or coffee and enjoy the breeze while the kids play outside.
  12. Light a fire in the fireplace.
  13. Use paper plates just for today so you don’t have to do a million dishes.
  14. Keep dinner simple.  Order pizza, eat leftovers or maybe go for a Crock-Pot meal or breakfast for dinner (is that officially called ‘Brinner?”.
  15. Or—-if you love to cook, make a big family dinner and enjoy the time together in the kitchen and around the table.
  16. Spend extra time in God’s Word today.
  17. Take a day off from social media and email, or perhaps at least stay offline from sun-up to sun-down.
  18. Don’t answer the phone unless you have to/want to.
  19. Take a walk.
  20. Do a puzzle as a family.
  21. Prepare for your day off in advance:  Make sure the laundry is done, the kids’ homework is done and their agendas for school are signed, so you aren’t tempted to dig deep into a project or chore.
  22. Meet a friend for lunch.
  23. Write a letter.  Like, an actual letter.  With pen and paper, not typed out via e-mail.
  24. Journal.
  25. Treat yourself.  If you exercise all week, keep away from caffeine, soda, sweets, and chocolate….or however you discipline yourself…enjoy a little treat today.  A cinnamon roll for breakfast perhaps?  Your favorite chocolate after lunch?

What kind of Sabbath are you creating?

To read more about this 12-month journey of pursuing the presence of Christ, you can follow the links below!  Won’t you join me this month as I ‘Practice Sabbath-Keeping’?

Heather King is a wife, mom, Bible Study teacher, writer and worship leader.  Most importantly, she is a Christ follower with a desire to help others apply the Bible to everyday life with all its mess, noise, and busyness.  Her book, Ask Me Anything, Lord: Opening Our Hearts to God’s Questions, is available now!  To read more devotionals by Heather King, click here.

Copyright © 2014 Heather King

 

If I sit down for 15 minutes, will there be a cosmic meltdown?

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I made a Mom-speech in the minivan to my kids as we headed home long past bedtime the other night:

These two weeks are going to be crazy busy.  You will be tired. And that means you’ll probably be grumpy.  When we get this tired, the ugly comes out.  So, for the next two weeks we have to show each other extra grace and patience and we need to rest whenever we can….

As soon as my speech ended, they continued bickering over prime-seating in the minivan and when we got home, they fought over prime seating during nighttime prayers and who knows what else.

I made the speech again.

I do this for my kids: I prepare their hearts and minds for busy seasons.  I remind them about grace.prayerrest

I ease the burden some, removing some expectations, allowing them to slack off in some areas so they can focus on what’s important right now.

I give them this breathing room.

But I don’t often do it for myself.

In my 12-month pursuit of the presence of Christ, I’ve reached November—the month when I’ll study and focus on the Sabbath.

And interestingly enough, I’m entrenched in two of the busiest weeks I’ve had since school ended last year.

Isn’t God funny that way?

I’m slowly reading Priscilla Shirer’s study: Breathe: Making Room for Sabbath and she teaches me about building Sabbath Margin into my life.  How to leave space for God to work.  How busyness can crowd out His will.

How there’s only so much time and if I’ve packed in the activity too tightly, I’ll run out of room to breathe.

But rest takes great effort for me.

It’s a spiritual discipline that I struggle with.  I’m better at keeping up with my yearly Bible reading plan and juggling multiple Bible studies and devotionals, memorizing Scripture, praying, and journaling than I am about obeying this Biblical command:  Rest.

I’m physically incapable of napping.  Instead of sleeping, I lie awake thinking about all the things I should be doing instead of sleeping.  By the time I finally give up and throw back the covers in defeat, I’m frantic about the wasted time and move faster through my to-do list to make up for it.

I feel guilty for leisure, embarrassed by free time, and apologetic for fun.

Taking a break feels like laziness.

There’s something else at work here beyond just an addiction to adrenaline.  Oh, how I hate for it to be true, and yet digging down deeply enough reveals its ugly presence—-pride.  Truly, it feels good to be needed.  It feels important to be so busy.

When I run around in a breathless pace, doing, doing, doing all the time, I act as if the world depends on me to function, as if me sitting down for 15 minutes would create cosmic meltdown.

And that’s why God, from the very first week of creation, instituted a Sabbath rest.  It wasn’t for His benefit, as if the Almighty God who created a sun, moon, and planet with the power of His words grew weary and needed to sleep.

No, the Sabbath was not for God.  Instead, Jesus “said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man” (Mark 2:27).

The Sabbath is for us.

It’s a reminder that the universe can exist without our involvement and labor.  It’s a re-ordering of our perspective, so that we remember it is God who is essential and not us.

So often, we forget that our jobs, our families, our ministries, our relationships, our everything depend not on our ability, but on God’s power.

We stress about meetings because we think everything relies on how well we present ourselves.  We plot out conversations because we think the outcome depends on the words we choose.  We think.  We plan.  We do.  We fix.  We busy ourselves.  We worry.  We analyze.  We lose sleep.

God knows the pride that burrows itself into our hearts; the tentacles it wraps around us as we seek fulfillment in accomplishments, in tasks completed, in people depending on us.

Sabbath isn’t about Pharisaical hypocrisy and legalism.  It’s not about do’s and don’ts.

It’s about Rest. 

And Rest is about humbly stepping aside. 

It’s about the placing and continual re-placing of God in control of our lives.

So, I’m going to take some rest time.  At least for next week, I’ll stay quiet on the blog….spending time reading, creating, being with God, being with my family, instead of writing and posting on my regular days.

I’ll be back the following week and I’ll announce the winners of the big giveaway, so keep entering!!

And I’ll hopefully remind my soul that it’s all about Him, always Him, never me.

To read more about this 12-month journey of pursuing the presence of Christ, you can follow the links below!  Won’t you join me this month as I ‘Practice Sabbath-Keeping’?

Heather King is a wife, mom, Bible Study teacher, writer and worship leader.  Most importantly, she is a Christ follower with a desire to help others apply the Bible to everyday life with all its mess, noise, and busyness.  Her book, Ask Me Anything, Lord: Opening Our Hearts to God’s Questions, is available now!  To read more devotionals by Heather King, click here.

Copyright © 2014 Heather King

Book Review: 365 Pocket Prayers for Mothers

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365 Pocket Prayers for Mothers

As a mom, I’m always on the look out for ways to cover my kids in prayer, and I love the idea of this beautiful book 365 Pocket Prayers for Mothers.  It’s lovely enough to be a gift with its lavender cover of imitation leather, and it’s small enough to slip into a purse and carry with you as a mom-on-the-go.  Personally, I may keep it tucked into a purse or even in the glove compartment of the minivan to pull out any time I’m waiting for my kids outside of school or other activities. pocketprayers

You can pray through the book in order from Day 1 to Day 365, or you can use the index to find prayers on topics that might be on your heart like: worry, feeling burned out, thankfulness, balance, and others.

The daily entries include a brief Scripture verse, as well.  Every few days, you’ll find two especially short prayers for those times that you are rushed or perhaps for the weekends.

I loved the beautiful honesty of the prayers.  They were personal to the three ladies who wrote the book—maybe sharing stories about watching the sunset with family or how a daughter is learning to be thankful.  So, for me, the prayers were less about me saying these same words to God, as they were a way to pray ‘with’ another mom.  I could read the prayer on the page and then continue to pray for my own family in agreement and in my own words.

It’s a great gift for moms maybe for Christmas, Mother’s Day or a birthday…or really any occasion.  But it’s also a prayer book you may want for yourself!

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

My favorite holiday tradition fits in a shoebox: Operation Christmas Child

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The Operation Christmas Child videos typically turn me into a tearful mess, just watching children from around the world cheering and dancing because they receive one simple box for Christmas.

Maybe inside they find a toothbrush and toothpaste….or a toy car….or some hair clips.OCC2013

That’s enough to make them grin.

And it’s enough to make me cry at their grateful hearts.

This year, though, I’ve been enjoying the video that follows Uncle Si’s shoebox from Duck Dynasty headquarters all the way to India.  Sometimes I guess these videos can make me laugh instead of cry:

Every year, the organization Samaritan’s Purse collects shoeboxes stuffed full of goodies that they then deliver to needy children all over the globe for Christmas.

Oh how easy to forget, though, that the gift isn’t just the items we pack into a small box and ship out.

The gift is the testimony of God’s love–that our God sees them and loves them.

National Collection Week is in November, before Thanksgiving—this year, November 17-24! That means that we’re in the middle of prime shoebox packing season.

We’ve been packing shoeboxes as a family for several years and it’s by far one of my favorite Thanksgiving/Christmas traditions because it’s a reminder to be grateful.  It’s a way to shift our focus off of getting and onto giving.

This year, though, we tried something new as a family.  Every single time I went into the Wal-Mart to pile up on groceries, I bought a few items for shoeboxes.  It only added about $5 to $6 to my weekly grocery budget and I could do less or more as I needed to or was able to.

Each month, I picked some items to focus on.  Boxes of crayons.  Washcloths.  Toothbrushes and toothpaste.  Soap.  Pencils.  Stuffed animals (after Valentine’s Day).  Flip flops (gotta love summer sales!)002

My oldest daughter and I also made friendship bracelets all year long so we could send a handmade gift with the shoeboxes, and every time I made a bracelet, I prayed for the child who would receive it.

Lots of folks are better at crafts than me.  Some people sew dolls or carve out wooden toy cars.  Me?  Friendship bracelets is what I can do.

Then, every two months or so, I loaded up a bag of the supplies we had collected and dropped them off at our church where we have a room set aside for OCC supplies.

Next week, our church will host a packing party.  In addition to the individual boxes we can pack at home, we’ll use the bulk supplies we’ve collected as a church family and pack as many shoeboxes as we possibly can by working together.

My husband and some of the families at church even made a fun video about how packing parties are different from packing individual boxes.  Please check it out here:


Now that I know we’ll hold a packing party again next year, I can prepare all year long for the event instead of scrambling for items the last few months of the year.

I figure that by bringing in supplies little by little all year long, one family could give more than 100 boxes of crayons…..or maybe 200 washcloths…..or 200 bars of soap.  Plus 50 or so friendship bracelets, of course!
If your church has a packing party, would you consider picking one or two items to buy at the store each time you go?
I hope that you’ve packed a shoebox before and are making one again this year!  If not, here’s everything you need to know to get involved in Operation Christmas Child as an individual even if your church is not hosting a packing party!You can begin by learning more about the organization here, like:

If you make a $7 donation online to cover the shipping for your box, you can even print off a label that lets you track it here!!  A few weeks after delivery, they’ll send you an email telling you what country your box was delivered to and some general information about the needs in that area.  Our boxes two years ago ended up in Tanzania.

Most important of all, pray for the child who will receive your shoebox!  Prayer is so powerful.  Don’t just send stuff, send gifts along with time spent on your knees.

Here are some of my favorite OCC videos.

Matthew West shows the Great Lengths OCC goes to bring shoeboxes to kids around the world.

Scotty McCreery shows how to pack a shoebox.

TobyMac’s Christmas This Year OCC Video

Check out how excited this boy from Angola is to receive his shoebox!  This is my most favorite OCC video!

There are so many opportunities to give every holiday season, but this is my very favorite.  I hope you’ll make Operation Christmas Child a part of your holiday traditions, as well!

Do you have any great ideas or stories about Operation Christmas Child to share with us?

 

Heather King is a wife, mom, Bible Study teacher, writer and worship leader.  Most importantly, she is a Christ follower with a desire to help others apply the Bible to everyday life with all its mess, noise, and busyness.  Her book, Ask Me Anything, Lord: Opening Our Hearts to God’s Questions, is available now!  To read more devotionals by Heather King, click here.

Copyright © 2014 Heather King

 

A birthday giveaway: $25 Amazon gift card

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It’s the one-year birthday of my book, Ask Me Anything, Lord, and I’m throwing a party of sorts!  To say many thanks for your part in this journey, I’m hosting a giveaway!!

The prizes:

  • One first prize of a $25 gift card to Amazon.com
  • Three prizes for ‘runners up:’ one autographed copy each of Ask Me Anything, Lord to keep for yourself or to give away to a friend.ask-me-anything-lord_kd

How to enter:

  • Subscribe to get my devotionals sent to your email by following this blog.  If you already subscribe, that counts, too!  Then post a comment on this page saying, “I follow the blog” in order for it to count as an entry.
  • Like my Facebook Author page: http://www.facebook.com/roomtobreathe3  If you already follow me on Facebook, then that counts.  Be sure to post a comment here on this blog page saying, “I’m a Facebook fan” so that you get entered in the giveaway.
  • Comment on this post with the answer to the question: “When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?”

Please make sure you comment here on this page—not just on Facebook.  It only counts as an entry if it shows up here!

I’ll close the contest on Sunday, November 16th at 11:59 p.m. and announce the winner Monday, November 17th.

Many thanks to you my friends for your support of Ask Me Anything, Lord this past year!

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He had a scraggly brownish gray beard and glasses and wore a faded t-shirt with worn-out jeans.

I was about 17 at the time, and I had stopped into the tiny used book shop not far from my home.  It was a regular haunt of mine because I could pick up classic treasures for a dollar or so.

It’s been so long ago now.  I can’t remember how the conversation started or even why.  Knowing me, I certainly wasn’t the one to initiate a chat with a stranger, especially as a teenage girl with a unknown guy in a store.

But I do remember that he asked me what I wanted to do.

And I said, “I want to write,” in a whispered confession kind of way, the kind of admission you make in embarrassment because you know what you just said was crazy, impractical and surely impossible.

After all, I’m a practical person.  I may have majored in English in college, but I wasn’t silly enough to think that meant writing.  I told people maybe I could edit, or work in publishing, or go to law school, or teach…..all more logical options than dreaming the impossible dream.

But for some reason, I said, “I want to write,” and I didn’t know how to take it back.018

He didn’t even blink.  He just said, “Well, what you have to do is read the best and just write and write and keep on writing.”  Then he handed me a book called Seize the Day, which I still have on my bookshelf now, and walked away.

I get emails now a few times a month from ladies asking me how to get published and could they do what I do, and I give them all the practical information I possibly can.  Unfortunately I can’t give them “Ten Steps to Publishing Success” or “The Five Things You Need to Know About Christian Publishing” and I wish I could—really and truly.

After all, I’m just a humble girl still plugging away at writing myself.

All I can say is just obey and trust God and start small.  Don’t dream about bestsellers or fame or personal glory or royalty checks.

Ten years after a chance meeting in a book shop, I was a mom with two kids and a job working from home, a job at the church, and ministry responsibilities, and I felt like God was telling me I needed to be writing….in my “free time.”

I started as that tired out mama typing away devotionals and articles in a word processor after my kids went to bed at night.  I didn’t think anyone in the world would ever read them.  Maybe one day I could print them off my own printer and slip them into a three-ring binder for my daughters to enjoy.

Then someone asked me to edit for an online Christian women’s magazine.  And then she allowed me to start writing articles.  Then I felt like God wanted me to write devotionals and publish them online, so there was this blog….and then a book idea that took discipline to write in the middle of crazy busy days….

Then there the day last year when I cradled my newborn son in one arm and held the author’s copy of Ask Me Anything, Lord in my other hand.

And I cried.  Of course.

I didn’t think this was ever possible and it certainly wasn’t on my own.

But God.

Maybe we all have “but God…” moments.  They so rarely start with a grand vision of success in any worldly way.  They start with the smallest steps of obedience, humbly just doing the quiet things and being faithful in the here and now, and then one day we look up and wonder how in the world all this happened—-and know it can’t be anything but Him.

That’s the beauty of the “….but God” testimony; He gets the glory.

Like Asaph tells us in the Psalm:

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, my portion forever (Psalm 73:26 HCSB)

And it’s the testimony of David, who “stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul searched for him every day, but God did not hand David over to him” (1 Samuel 23:14 HCSB).

It’s impossible.  We don’t deserve it.  It’s hard and we’re weary. Maybe there are enemies; surely there are obstacles.

But God….He is our Strength, our Hope, our Deliverer.

 

Heather King is a wife, mom, Bible Study teacher, writer and worship leader.  Most importantly, she is a Christ follower with a desire to help others apply the Bible to everyday life with all its mess, noise, and busyness.  Her book, Ask Me Anything, Lord: Opening Our Hearts to God’s Questions, is available now!  To read more devotionals by Heather King, click here.

Copyright © 2014 Heather King

Book Review: Brave Mom

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Brave Mom: Facing and Overcoming Your Real Mom Fears
by Sherry Surratt

We live in a scary world and it’s all too easy to get caught up in parenting with fear rather than parenting in faith, which is why I was so excited to read Sherry Surratt’s book, Brave Mom.  This CEO of MOPS International(Mothers of Preschoolers) talks openly and honestly about some of the biggest fears moms face, including a fear of parenting teenagers, fear of not being perfect, fear that being a mom will change you forever, and more.  Certainly as a mom I’m more than just afraid about keeping my kids physically safe.  I worry about the friends they make….worry about whether I’m doing enough, whether I’ll let them down or mess them up, whether they’ll be bullied or teased or lost or alone or…you name it.  These “Real Mom Fears” can take over the moment you find out you’re pregnant for the first time.bravemom

Each chapter includes notes and letters from other moms who have faced and overcome similar fears, so it really is like attending a mom support group and saying, “Hi, My name is ________ and I struggle with fear” and listening to others who understand what you’re going through.  Surratt’s relaxed and chatty style of writing makes this book an easy read and very relatable.  She concludes every chapter with a section called “Let’s Get Practical” that includes some questions for further thought/discussion and another section called “Let’s Take Action” that helps you put what you’ve learned into practice. It’s not a Bible study really, but it is great for an individual to read or for a book club or moms group to read together.

My favorite chapters in the book came at the end: “Facing Your Emotional Monsters” and “Building a Better You.”  Her advice in those chapters is practical, helpful, wise, and full of grace.  She encourages moms to build a support system and to find spiritual rhythms that work for you instead of trying to copy the quiet time habits of others around you.   I also loved the idea of sorting fears into two categories: things I can do something about and things I can’t do anything about so I need to just leave it to God.  Grabbing a hold of those runaway fears, analyzing them, praying through them, and doing something about them all helps tame the anxiety monster that can hold us moms captive.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

25 Bible Verses About Trust

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  • 2 Samuel 7:28 NIV
     Sovereign Lord, you are God! Your covenant is trustworthy, and you have promised these good things to your servant.
  • Psalm 9:10 ESV
    And those who know your name put their trust in you,
        for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
  • Psalm 13:5 ESV
    But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
        my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
  • Psalm 20:7 ESVversestrust
    Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
        but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
  • Psalm 22:4-5 NLT
    Our ancestors trusted in you,
        and you rescued them.
    5 They cried out to you and were saved.
        They trusted in you and were never disgraced.
  • Psalm 31:14 ESV
    But I trust in you, O Lord;
        I say, “You are my God.”
  • Psalm 33:21 NLT
    In him our hearts rejoice,
        for we trust in his holy name.
  • Psalm 37:3 NLT
    Trust in the Lord and do good.
        Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.
  • Psalm 37:5 NLT
    Commit everything you do to the Lord.
        Trust him, and he will help you.
  • Psalm 40:3 NLT
    He has given me a new song to sing,
        a hymn of praise to our God.
    Many will see what he has done and be amazed.
        They will put their trust in the Lord.
  • Psalm 40:4 NLT
    Oh, the joys of those who trust the Lord,
        who have no confidence in the proud
        or in those who worship idols.
  • Psalm 56:3 ESV
    When I am afraid,psalm56-3
        I put my trust in you.
  • Psalm 84:12 ESV
    O Lord of hosts,
        blessed is the one who trusts in you!
  • Psalm 91:1-2 NLT
    Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
        will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
    2 This I declare about the Lord:
    He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
        he is my God, and I trust him.
  • Psalm 112:7 NLT
    They do not fear bad news;
        they confidently trust the Lord to care for them.
  • Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV
    Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
        and do not lean on your own understanding.
    6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
        and he will make straight your paths.
  • Proverbs 11:28 ESV
    Whoever trusts in his riches will fall,
        but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.
  • Proverbs 28:25 NLT
    Greed causes fighting;
        trusting the Lord leads to prosperity
  • Proverbs 28:26 ESV
    Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool,
        but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.
  • Isaiah 12:2 NLT
    See, God has come to save me.
        I will trust in him and not be afraid.
    The Lord God is my strength and my song;
        he has given me victory.”
  • Isaiah 26:3-4 NLT
    You will keep in perfect peace
        all who trust in you,
        all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
    4 Trust in the Lord always,
        for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.
  • Daniel 6:23 ESV
    Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.
  • John 14:1 NLT
    Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.
  • Romans 15:13 NLT
    I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
  • Revelation 21:5 NLT
     And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.”

How peeling potatoes makes me feel like a domestic diva

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When precise circumstances align just right, I feel like a domestic diva.

The windows are open.

The house smells like it’s filled with flowers or pies—-maybe it’s because I baked; maybe it’s artificially provided by a candle or scented wax in my burner—it doesn’t matter, as long as the house doesn’t smell like diapers and the litter box.prayerprompts

The children are not fighting.

The washing machine and dryer are humming away.

Bread is in the bread machine.

Soup is in the Crock Pot.

I am peeling potatoes.

It’s the peeling potatoes part that really counts.  That’s what makes ordinary household chores feel less like mundane drudgery and more like prize-worthy expertise.  Like the angels are singing and the children should be rising up and calling you blessed and your husband sings your praises.

I’m telling you…..peeling potatoes can do that for me.

Which is funny, because they’re just ordinary potatoes and I’m just an ordinary gal and I’ve sure nicked myself enough times with the potato peeler.

The truth is there are plenty of days, when I feel less than capable, less than expert, less than extraordinary.

I collapse next to my husband in the evening after four little ones finally fall asleep and survey the mess left behind by the tornado of activity.  I confess what’s on my heart—-“I hope you don’t think I just do nothing all day.”

He calms me down.  After all, I don’t really need to say it to him.  I’m really saying it to me.

Because it’s me wondering, “What exactly did I do all day?”

1chronicles

Photo by just2shutter; 123rf.com

I have a one-year-old:

Enough said?

Maybe I don’t always feel accomplished, but for some mysterious reason, peeling potatoes makes me find value in the most mundane act.  I feel this wind of inspiration and encouragement.  It’s like breath for my very suffocated soul.

What I really feel in that moment is that God finds value in me.  He finds joy in the home I’m making for my family.  He showers me with favor.  He teaches me to sing praise over the ordinary.

In his book, Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas tells me that Brother Lawrence “felt equally close to God peeling potatoes in the kitchen as kneeling at the altar in prayer…”

Maybe that’s because potato peeling became the sacrifice on his altar.

Maybe it’s because he prayed while he peeled.

Maybe I can do both.

I remember one of the Scriptures I’ve been clinging to all year:

“Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually” (1 Chronicles 16:11 ESV)

And I read in Romans:

Clothe yourselves with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 13:14 NLT).

Put on the presence of Christ with each new day. Rise in the morning, take a shower, put on jeans and a t-shirt and put on the presence of Christ at the same time.

So, I’m trying my best to invite Christ’s presence into my routine and the ordinary of my every day.  Invite Him in as I cook dinner.  Invite Him in as I throw open windows and light the candle.  Invite Him in as I get dressed in the morning.

Because His presence is constant.  He’s always there.  It’s my awareness of His presence that varies from day to day.

Just like I always have the same amount of domestic capabilities, but somehow peeling potatoes makes me feel particularly accomplished.  Nothing changes except my perspective.

As I finish up this month of Finding the Sacred in the Ordinary, I’m choosing prayer prompts to help me connect with God throughout the day.

These aren’t hour-long prayer sessions spent on my knees.  These are whispered prayers I share with God while I go about my day.

Like:

“Give me wisdom for this day” before I get out of bed.

“Clothe me with Your presence today” as I get dressed.

“Show me how to love my family best” as I pack lunches.

“Thank You for Your provision” as I fold clothes.

“Feed me with Your Word” as I cook dinner.

“Forgive me of my sins” as I wash those dishes clean.

“Thank you for your many good gifts to me.”  And when can I pray this?  Well, anytime perhaps, but maybe especially when I peel potatoes.

What prompts you to pray throughout the day?

 

To read more about this 12-month journey of pursuing the presence of Christ, you can follow the links below!  Won’t you join me this month as I ‘Find the Sacred in the Ordinary’?

Heather King is a wife, mom, Bible Study teacher, writer and worship leader.  Most importantly, she is a Christ follower with a desire to help others apply the Bible to everyday life with all its mess, noise, and busyness.  Her book, Ask Me Anything, Lord: Opening Our Hearts to God’s Questions, is available now!  To read more devotionals by Heather King, click here.

Copyright © 2014 Heather King

Book Review, A.D. 30

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A.D. 30: A Novel
by Ted Dekker

I’ve never accepted a request to review a fiction book before as I find Christian nonfiction to be more my forte.  But I was asked to review Ted Dekker’s novel, A.D. 30, because of its discussion of women’s issues that might be of interest to me and my blog followers.  So, this is my first Christian fiction review and the first time I’ve read any of Ted Dekker’s books at all.ad30

He takes what seems to me to be quite a unique perspective on Jesus’ ministry.  Instead of setting the book in Galilee or Jerusalem or focusing the book on any of the people closest to Jesus, such as a disciple or Jesus’ family, Dekker writes from the perspective of Maviah, an Arabic woman.  She seems in every way to offer an outsider’s perspective on Yeshua and sometimes it’s that view from the outside-looking-in that offers the freshest voice.  She and other characters in the novel struggle to make sense of Jesus’ teachings, such as turning the other cheek and that the Kingdom of Heaven is here, now, within us.  As long-term Christians, sometimes we grow blase to the truly dynamic and revolutionary way that Jesus taught.  It was wonderful to grapple again with what Jesus really meant by His teachings and remember how He overturned expectations.

Maviah’s story itself is that of an outcast.  She has been a slave.  She is a single mother.  She is, simply put, a woman in a culture where she should have no power and no voice.  And yet, her journey takes her to the courts of King Herod and to the shores of Bethsaida where she hears the teachings of Yeshua and meets others familiar to us, such as Nicodemus, the disciples, and the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years.

I liked the freshness of the perspective.  Dekker’s writing style is capable and unique, not cliched in either language, emotion or storyline, and I could see this book appealing to both male and female readers.  I can’t say that I’m drawn to books about life among the Arabian nomadic peoples in the early first century, so it wasn’t a comfortable read or a particularly relaxing and ‘cozy’ read, but it was fairrly compelling.  This book begins Maviah’s story and a sneak peak at the end promises more to come in the future.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

7 Ways to have a quiet time when you don’t have quiet or time

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quiet time

“You dropped your head.”

That’s what he tells me as we leave church.  He points to a spot on the floor with this twinkle in his eye, just waiting for me to fall for the joke he’s played on me many times before.

He gets us all the time.  “Your shoe is untied,” when you’re wearing ballet flats without laces.  “You dropped your head” and people look to see if their head actually is rolling around on the floor, abandoned.

But I don’t even move my eyes. I just lean right over to him, pat him on the arm, and say, “You know what, I probably did.  I probably did drop my head.”

Some days, you know?

Some days maybe you feel like you’ve been running around without any command center on top of your shoulders to help you hold it all together.

You feel a little famished, starving for time in the Word.

You feel a little parched, desperate for the Living Water of His presence.

You feel maybe like you really are missing that head of yours.

One missed quiet time turns into a week and then a month and more if we’re not careful.  Sometimes we think if we can’t pray for a solid hour on our knees in a prayer closet, or if we can’t finish a whole Beth Moore lesson in one uninterrupted sitting, or we miss a day or two in our devotional or our Bible reading plan, then maybe we just need to wait until we can get it perfect.

If you can’t do it right, why do it at all?

Why?   Because we’ll drop our heads, that’s why.  We have to be women of the Word and women of prayer even if it means we need to adapt and adjust for the busiest seasons of life.

Maybe it means we just hold on for dear life to the hem of Jesus’ robe until life finally brings us to a place where we can sit uninterrupted at His feet again.

Sometimes faith has to be on-the-go…..and the good news is that God’s presence can invade the minivan.

Here are 7 ways to have a quiet time when you don’t have quiet or time:

1. Make a Bible To-Go Bag:  Keep a bag in your car with anything you might need for an impromptu quiet time while you wait in the minivan to pick up your kids: a devotional you only use for those times, paper, pens, and an extra Bible or maybe just a Bible app on your smartphone.

2. Find Great Bible Apps:  Load your phone with apps that will let you read the Bible, listen to the audio Bible, tune into podcasts, read devotionals, memorize Scripture, and keep a prayer log.  I’ve listed my favorites below.  Here are some of my favorites:

  • Bible (by LifeChurch.tv)
  • BibleGateway
  • BibleMinded
  • PrayerNotes
  • Scripture Typer

3. Use Prayer Prompts:  Pray while cooking dinner, doing dishes, folding laundry, driving home from work.  Pick specific places or activities that will remind you to pray every time you do them.

4. Break it up:  I don’t have time to read a devotional, read the Bible, do a Bible study, write in my journal and pray all at once.  I need to do these things all day long, a little here, a little there, grabbing time when I can.  Try breaking up your quiet time into 10-minute activities you can spread throughout your day.

5. Do it with your kids:  If your kids have memory verses for their church activities, memorize the verses with them.  Read the book of Matthew together and choose a devotional to read as a family.

6. Exercise your faith:  People often jog to their favorite work-out music or hop on the exercise bike and watch TV.  Try replacing that with God-time.  If you’re on the exercise bike, you can read your Bible or devotionals or listen to podcasts of sermons.  If you’re walking or jogging, you can be listening to worship music, sermon podcasts, an audio Bible, or just praying.

7. Study online: I help to lead online Bible studies at The Womens Bible Cafe.  I love that I can spend one hour in accountability, fellowship and encouragement and I can do it while my baby is napping in the next room.  You can also check out online studies with Proverbs31 Ministries and Love God Greatly.

Most importantly, give yourself grace:  If you expect the perfect quiet time to happen, then you’ll likely give up completely and never take time for God.  And you’ll probably drop your head.  Take every opportunity to spend time with Jesus even if it’s short, messy, interrupted, and on-the-go.  If you fall behind, don’t get overwhelmed. Just start fresh where you are supposed to be and keep going.  And when the day is done, rest well and start fresh with new mercies for a new day.

How do you make time for God when you don’t have quiet or time?

To read more about this 12-month journey of pursuing the presence of Christ, you can follow the links below!  Won’t you join me this month as I ‘Find the Sacred in the Ordinary’?

Heather King is a wife, mom, Bible Study teacher, writer and worship leader.  Most importantly, she is a Christ follower with a desire to help others apply the Bible to everyday life with all its mess, noise, and busyness.  Her book, Ask Me Anything, Lord: Opening Our Hearts to God’s Questions, is available now!  To read more devotionals by Heather King, click here.

Copyright © 2014 Heather King