Margaret McSweeney's Blog, page 48

Quiet Time

Quite time. Why is it that when things get busy our quite time is the thing that lacks (please tell me I’m not the only mom who does this)! It’s a new month (and new year). Time for re-starts and new beginnings. I, for one, want to make it a point to have my quite time everyday – even if it’s in the midst of chaos. Here are three simple ways I am adopting to help make sure my quite time happen.

Keep a simple lifestyle. For me this means saying no to things. I am a people pleaser – I have an insane hard time telling someone “no”. In the past few months, my eyes have been opened to the world of “no” – and knowing it is ok. By going through my life and cutting out the unnecessary, I have found that I have more breathing room. I have also discovered starting my day with my quite time does a world of change in my attitude. I can actually remember what is important and needs to get done. I’m not scurrying all day trying to get things finished and ending up with a pile of stuff finished, but not to the best of my ability. For me this means shutting down early (no more late nighters for me) and getting up early – before my kids (who get up pretty early).

Download an app. I love my Bible. I love the feel, the smell, the words – everything (I am a bit of a book lover anyways . . .) But some days there are those days. Those days where the kids are up before I can even think about pushing the snooze button. The days where no amount of trying can I make anything go right to have a “quite” time much less my quite time. This is when I love having the accessibility of an app on my phone. I can lay in bed and read before the sun comes up (because it is a known fact that as soon as mom is out of bed it is time for everyone to wake up – no matter what the hour) or I can a few precious moments in the bathroom throughout the day. And with my Lifeproof case I can even do my quite time under the hot stream of the shower!

Have a partner. Have someone who will keep you accountable. For me this is my best friend in the whole world. We have similar lifestyles (both have two rambunctious kids under the age of three) and both have the tendency to accidently let our quite time slid. But together we keep each other accountable and stay in the Word. This year we have downloaded the same “read through the Bible in a year” plan – it is so much easier when you are doing it with someone. It is also fun to compare thoughts on what you read.

Do you have a plan for staying in the Word? I would love to hear your suggestions!

Quite Time

Quite time. Why is it that when things get busy our quite time is the thing that lacks (please tell me I’m not the only mom who does this)! It’s a new month (and new year). Time for re-starts and new beginnings. I, for one, want to make it a point to have my quite time everyday – even if it’s in the midst of chaos. Here are three simple ways I am adopting to help make sure my quite time happen.

Keep a simple lifestyle. For me this means saying no to things. I am a people pleaser – I have an insane hard time telling someone “no”. In the past few months, my eyes have been opened to the world of “no” – and knowing it is ok. By going through my life and cutting out the unnecessary, I have found that I have more breathing room. I have also discovered starting my day with my quite time does a world of change in my attitude. I can actually remember what is important and needs to get done. I’m not scurrying all day trying to get things finished and ending up with a pile of stuff finished, but not to the best of my ability. For me this means shutting down early (no more late nighters for me) and getting up early – before my kids (who get up pretty early).

Download an app. I love my Bible. I love the feel, the smell, the words – everything (I am a bit of a book lover anyways . . .) But some days there are those days. Those days where the kids are up before I can even think about pushing the snooze button. The days where no amount of trying can I make anything go right to have a “quite” time much less my quite time. This is when I love having the accessibility of an app on my phone. I can lay in bed and read before the sun comes up (because it is a known fact that as soon as mom is out of bed it is time for everyone to wake up – no matter what the hour) or I can a few precious moments in the bathroom throughout the day. And with my Lifeproof case I can even do my quite time under the hot stream of the shower!

Have a partner. Have someone who will keep you accountable. For me this is my best friend in the whole world. We have similar lifestyles (both have two rambunctious kids under the age of three) and both have the tendency to accidently let our quite time slid. But together we keep each other accountable and stay in the Word. This year we have downloaded the same “read through the Bible in a year” plan – it is so much easier when you are doing it with someone. It is also fun to compare thoughts on what you read.

Do you have a plan for staying in the Word? I would love to hear your suggestions!

Speaking Through Me

“…for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” – Matthew 10:20 (NIV)

A computer tech, Adam, recently came to fix my computer. While he was working on it, his wife called a few times to ask about dinner. After chuckling, he told me he was her second husband; her first husband was abusive and addicted to alcohol, a nearly fatal combination. She ran away from her first husband, divorced him, and then met Adam.

Adam realized they both needed counseling and to plug into a church, but his home church refused to help. He was hurt by their hypocrisy and no longer attended church at all. I sat there in stunned silence as he continued to fix my computer. I was surprised by his honest admission to a complete stranger to the point that neither of us spoke for a few minutes.

After silently praying how I could show Christ’s love to this man, words came pouring out of my mouth, words that were in no way mine. I don’t know what happened to Adam or if the words I spoke touched his heart, but I do know that God still uses His Spirit to speak through us.

Today, ask God what you can do to speak to someone today. Ask God to speak through you. You never know how He might use your words to transform lives.

Meet the Pearl Girls: Christen Krumm

Christen Krumm is a book lover by default. She always has a pile of books or two (or four) around the house to trip over. She graduated from the University of Arkansas Fort Smith with a BA in English in 2007. She is a coffee drinking stay at home mom/Litfuse Nester by day and a aspiring author by night. In her free time, she loves crafting with paper and creating random goodies for her two kids. I currently reside in a semi-small Arkansas town with my rock star, super-hero husband Andy, Daughter Elsie and Son Drew. Find out more at http://ChristenKrumm.com Twitter @ChristenKrumm

How did you become a writer? 

My earliest memory of being a writer was when I was seven years old on my kitchen table writing a story about a dollhouse whose dolls came to life at night. After going through wanting to be almost every occupation under the sun (including a 6 year stint of wanting to be a doctor) I decided that as a writer I could be anything I wanted through my characters, and the rest is history.

What is your life verse?

Romans 12 — the whole thing.

What motivates you to write for charity?

Knowing that my words are helping or encouraging someone else.

What is your favorite food? 

Food is my favorite food.

If you were stuck on a deserted island what 5 items would you take? 

My iPhone (that would have  a never ending battery life — HA!)

My stack of TBR

Bible//Journal

Never ending supply of coffee

My water bottle

On Forgiving | MaryAnn Diorio

Over the years, forgiveness has been a subject close to my heart, perhaps because I’ve needed to forgive so many people in my life, but, most of all, because I’ve needed so much forgiveness myself.

Most of us at one time or another struggle with forgiving those who have hurt us. I think that one of the reasons we struggle is that we don’t understand what forgiveness really is. This misunderstanding keeps us in bondage and living with a constant undertone of anger and bitterness, thereby hurting both our souls and our bodies.

To explain what forgiveness is, let’s look first at what it is NOT:

• Forgiveness is NOT letting someone off the hook.

• Forgiveness is NOT condoning evil.

• Forgiven is NOT being a doormat.

• Forgiveness is NOT having to trust again the person who hurt you.

• Forgiveness is NOT a feeling.

• Forgiveness is NOT an option.

Now let’s look at what forgiveness IS:

• Forgiveness IS taking the person who hurt you off of your hook and placing him on God’s hook, then asking for God’s mercy on that person.

• Forgiveness IS acknowledging that evil was done but choosing to bear the consequences of that evil without retaliation.

• Forgiveness IS taking charge of your emotions.

• Forgiveness IS setting boundaries with the person who hurt you, even refusing interaction with that person for a time or forever, if necessary, such as in cases of physical abuse.

• Forgiveness IS a decision.

• Forgiveness IS obedience to God’s commandment to forgive.

Forgiveness is at the center of the Gospel message. God forgave us through Jesus Christ. We, too, forgive others through the power of Jesus Christ. Only by His power can we truly forgive. And only by His power can we be truly forgiven. As we choose to forgive, we discover that unforgiveness enslaves while forgiveness sets free.

To help you in your struggle with forgiveness, I’ve written a novella entitled A CHRISTMAS HOMECOMING.  For more information, please contact me at maryann@maryanndiorio.com/bookstore or visit the Harbourlight Books website.

Dr. MaryAnn Diorio loves God, people, children, and dogs, in that order. She also is passionate about story and its power to transform the human heart. Dr. MaryAnn, as she is affectionately called, writes compelling fiction that deals with the deepest issues of life. She is Adjunct Online Professor of Fiction Writing for Regent University and coaches writers on their journey to publication. MaryAnn and her husband Dominic are the blessed parents of two wonderful daughters and a fantastic son-in-law.

Find out more about MaryAnn at http://maryanndiorio.com/.

Release Your Creative Spirit: Small Steps to Success

With the new year in place are you feeling a familiar ache to be heard, to let out the music or lyrics that burn inside, the painting you can already envision, the scenes you’ve photographed in your heart a million times, or the poem or story you’ve completed in your mind. Don’t ignore that feeling. This is the month for a new beginning, especially if you’re in the second half of life. This is the time to indulge your dream.

“Decide now to take that first step on the Yellow Brick Road to the Oz of your dreams,” says my artist-friend Earl Storm.

START SMALL. Take one step toward your goal.

Instead of focusing on the grandiose (best-selling novel, becoming a world-famous concert violinist), “take the small but necessary first steps,” says Storm. When you think only of results you miss the best part. If you want to write, enroll in a class on writing for publication or buy a blank book and begin a journal. If you’ve always wanted to play the piano, rent one, and then invest in some lessons.

ALLOW SMALL MISTAKES. Expect them and learn from them.

It’s okay to goof up, to create a drawing and toss it out, to send out a cartoon strip and get it back. Most creative people admit that mistakes are part of the process of creative expression. Writer Julia Cameron once said, “Creativity is its own reward.” The result doesn’t have to be world-class. The process itself can be cause for celebration.

TAKE SMALL BREAKS. Stop and reflect. Rest and breathe.

“From time to time, step away from what you’re doing and notice other people’s art, and the art in nature. We need to fill our well. Time-outs are as important to the process as the art itself,” says Storm. They can be as varied as hiking in the mountains, watching scenery from a commuter train, or reading a good book.

ENJOY SMALL TRIUMPHS. Keep a journal or a scrapbook of your progress.

“Victories are much more than parades and confetti,” says Storm. “Those that really count are quiet and deeply personal. Other people may not even notice––but you will.”

Just finishing a poem or a cartoon strip or a song or a painting or a quilt is a victory worth noting. Maybe that piece of art has been going round and round in your mind and heart for years. Soon it will be on paper or canvas or on the wall. You’ll no longer think about it. It will be there in front of you to look at and feel and read and admire.

It’s a new year, a year for fresh starts. Go to it!

A Voice In The Wilderness

Picture yourself in a desert. The land stretches in every direction further than your eyes can see. The sun is blistering hot, beating down on your head and shoulders. You are sweaty, tired and distinctly aware of how very alone you are.

Now, imagine in this setting, hearing the cry of a voice; a voice you may even recognize. It is the King’s momma, ringing loud and clear across that dry ground, as she begins this description of the woman her son should seek as his bride:

“Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is more precious than rubies.” ~Proverbs 31:10NLT

How would you respond to her words? Would you cry out in confidence, “Here I am!” Or would you resonate with her question, wishing you could find that one precious, trustworthy gal-pal that would breathe life into your desert of relationships? Or maybe you would wonder, “What planet did she come from?”

The King obviously had his choice of women. He could summon them with a wink of the eye or a snap of his fingers. And, we all know how tempting it might be to respond with dreams of living happily ever after as his bride. In fact, many of us have been there, done that, only to be disillusioned and deserted.

We can be sure the life of this mother and son was that of luxury, position, fame. And yet, this motherly advice comes as a warning for all of us to heed. In spite of their privileged lives, this mother had taken a trip around the block. She was well versed in the sexual promiscuity that had invaded the kingdom. In fact, the problem of immorality is addressed throughout the book of Proverbs.

What I love about this mother? She knows the immense value of a woman who seeks the Lord. She also knows how very precious is our sexual purity. If we give it away prematurely or to the wrong person, it cuts to the depth of our womanhood.

This is a prophetic woman. Her words echo into the future in preparation for the coming of Christ…

“He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the LORD’s coming! Clear the road for him!’ This messenger was John the Baptist. He was in the wilderness and preached that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven.” Mark 1:3-4NLT

This mother. This preacher. What do they have in common? They have gone ahead of us: clearing the path and paving the way for our freedom. They remind us what is important to God. They reveal our need for a Savior.

“When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” Romans 5:6-8NLT

Friend, are you wandering around in the wilderness?

Feeling alone, desperate to hear a voice of direction? Are you thinking it is too late for you; or that you’re not good enough for God? Are you feeling “utterly helpless” today? If so, you are in the perfect position to receive the forgiveness and love of Jesus Christ. Whatever your situation, will you please take as long as is necessary to talk to Him, give all your problems to Him, and allow Him to cleanse you of all the muck of your life?

Try this: Journal the thoughts, admit the hurts and shame, that surfaced as you read this devotional. Present your words to the Lord. Listen. Hear. Respond by asking forgiveness and by celebrating God’s great love for you.

Holy Father,

I pray for my sister today. I pray you would bring her to the end of herself, so she can see Jesus. Lord, as we prepare anew for your coming, reveal to us the depravity of our hearts, the places that have been lying in ruin within us. Heal our hurts. Transform us from the inside out.

For those who are wandering in the desert, may You be the voice they hear. For those in the land of plenty, open their eyes to their inner poverty and the poverty that surrounds them. For those in need of a friend, lead them to a woman of virtue. Lord, may our hearts be woven together in Your love!

In Jesus Name,

Amen

There’s More to Him than You Can See Right Now

I was chatting with a young woman who attended the college Bible study we were leading. She didn’t like the idea of getting married, because she thought it would get so boring living with the same person forever.

Silly girl.

I said “I do” a few decades ago to this guy I loved, but I had no idea the package I was getting.

I didn’t know how attentive he would be to me, calling me several times a day just to see if I was doing okay.

I didn’t know the level of integrity he would have, not even allowing me to share his soda at Taco Bell. (He wanted a refill, and it wouldn’t be right for me to drink some and then for him to go for more.)

I didn’t know how blind he would be, never seeming to notice my weaknesses, even when I pointed them out to him.

I didn’t know how protective he would be, getting all fiery mad when he found out a guy yelled at me for parking in the wrong place.

I didn’t know he would become a pastor one day. A good one.

I didn’t know how crazy loyal he would be to people, loving them through thick and thin.

I didn’t know how much in love with him I would feel when he strongly and tenderly cared for our kids. Could never have imagined what an amazing dad he would make.

I didn’t know he would still think I was smokin’ hot when I was 43, with these crow’s feet at my eyes and a bit of stomach hanging over the waist line.

For those of you who are in those new years of marriage, I encourage you to watch for ways your man’s depth of personality and character begin to rise to the surface. Call attention to those qualities you discover. Thank him for them. Tell your girlfriends about what you’re seeing. The purposeful act of discovering the richness of your spouse will keep your marriage fresh for decades.

Simple is Hard | Emily Harwood

Simple is hard. It’s easy knowing that you can’t please everyone. But, dog-gone-it, it’s hard remembering that and trying not to worry about it.

I am a huge people pleaser. And it’s so easy for me to bite my tongue or hold back my thoughts. I don’t want to step on toes, disagree, or make a rift.

I don’t want to feel left out because of my different beliefs. I don’t want to feel un-liked. I don’t want people to say, “Oh, that’s that ONE girl. She’s weird.”

I had such high goals last semester in college. I wasn’t going to hide under a bushel. But I found myself somewhere along the way trying to be everyone’s best friend. Ouch! They knew I was different. That I had higher standards. That I was a Christian, and I stuck to my beliefs. But what happen to my testimony? If they talked about dressing up as loose women for halloween, I’d keep my mouth shut. If they asked what I thought on such and such, I’d try to give my opinion as lightly as I could, so I wouldn’t cause a rift. Why was I worried so much about their opinions of me?

The other night, as I was reading my Bible, I came across Ephesians. I didn’t plan on reading that book, but I went ahead and started reading. The Lord knew exactly what I needed. “Not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bond-servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.”Ah! I have read this sooo many times over the years, but it had a whole new meaning, especially since I’m around a lot of people everyday at college. I have to constantly remember that what other people think of me doesn’t matter. Only HIS opinion matters in the end. My role in life is to serve HIM and love others. A little further in the chapter I ran across this, “And for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”As this spring semester is about to start, this is my personal prayer. I’m learning that it’s so much better to seek to love others instead of wanting to be loved. People don’t have to think that I’m great. They don’t have to love me or like me. I’m an ambassador for Christ. The only thing that counts is what HE THINKS OF ME. My job is to serve HIM, not men. To speak boldly about HIM and to share HIS love. Man, that can be tough! People are going to get their toes stepped on or disagree. They just are.

I hope as 2013 goes on, that you will be encouraged to please the only ONE that counts and not those around you. That we will love those around us as Christ loves us and that we would be HIS ambassadors, furthering HIS kingdom, willing to loose the world’s opinion by gaining HIS.

Emily Harwood lives in a small, rural Arkansas town with her family. She is full-time college student, coffee drinker, book lover, and a wanna be hiker, traveler, and crafter. She love’s quiet mornings and rainy days. 

Catch Margaret McSweeney on Faith Place

Be sure to tune in tomorrow — January 22nd — at 9:05 AM PST//12:05 EST at www.FaithPlace.org to listen to Margaret McSweeney chat about her book Aftermath!

Loss is a four-letter word that grips our hearts and gridlocks our lives. Grief can hold us captive until we surrender it to God. How do we find the necessary grace to journey through the mourning process? Juxtaposed to the outpouring of her mother’s words about grief, the author shares her parallel journey from the emotional abyss of grief after becoming an adult orphan. With candor, the author shares her own emotions experienced along the spectrum of loss after her parents’ deaths: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance—adding interactive options for readers. Five sections cover these common emotions and provide: • comfort Scripture lists • counsel sections from grief experts • chronicling sections with detailed helps • tangible handles on dealing with grief during holidays, capturing loved ones’ legacy, and more.