Without arguing?

My verse for my Bible class to memorize last week was, "Do everything without complaining or arguing so that you may be blameless and pure children of God without fault in this crooked and depraved generation so that you may shine like stars in the universe." Philippians 2:14-15

I thought it was a great two verses to learn since we had been talking about dress code at school and I had read about it in a daily devotional that is emailed to me....

You know it wasn't hard to learn, but it is hard to live out.

You know the without arguing point struck me first....I didn't realize that I wanted to argue so much until this verse kept floating in my thoughts.

And the without complaining....I complain way more than I thought I did.

I was struggling a few weeks ago with the concept of holiness...how do I live my life to follow after the Creator God, the One Who Provides, my Savior? How do I do this? I know that I should obey and these verses hit me right where I live in my everyday day in day out kind of life. They hit me at work, how I interact with people at the store, when I'm driving, at church, my list goes on and on....

But it is a matter of obedience. And it comes with hope....that I can be blameless and pure...without fault. And it comes with relationship...I'm a child of God...I should live this way! And it comes with a promise...that I will shine!

I really want to do EVERYTHING without arguing and complaining. It is an internal battle of my thought life. It deals with how I truly perceive my circumstances and it really deals with just how much I trust God.

I want to argue and complain less and love others and trust God more. Thinking on these verses and applying them will strengthen me in this regard.

God is good!

The Bible from Genesis to Revelation reveals God's purpose.

God's purpose is for relationships, redemption, and reconciliation.

We played Jed's Quest today in Bible class. It was to show redemption and our need for someone to redeem us.

Tomorrow we'll talk about how we've been blessed and how we are to be a blessing.

How can I be a blessing to those around me? How can I show God's purpose to those around me?

I've been looking up Amish bread recipes! Maybe that can be a start.

For now I'll just finish laundry so my husband can pack wonderful clean clothes for a 2 day retreat with 6th graders, grade papers so my students will know how wonderful they are doing, and try to remember to start some dough to make cinnamon rolls for my daughter, Kirsten and our house guest from Korea, Song Ju.

hmmmmmm.......

Summer Adventures and Missing a Meeting

Yesterday was a great day! In fact, it was full of adventure and time with family and friends.

It started later than I thought it should. Slept in! Those are two great words, except to me who has too much to do in two days before we leave for our annual Jr. High youth group road trip.

Even though I had slept in, Kirsten got up early (we actually got up around the same time, just different perspectives). I had forgotten that we were going shoe shopping and the store had already been open for 1 hour by the time we got there! :) We found shoes for Kirsten (and some for me). While there I remembered, just in time, that I was meeting a friend for coffeee so off we drove to the coffee shop. Dave and Kirsten went home to work on what they needed to do and I had a nice leisurely time with my friend.

We both decided that we needed to go. I was enjoying my walk home when I realized that I had left later than I had wanted to because I was going to run some errands with Kirsten before she had a surprise party to attend. So my leisurely walk home turned to a brisk walk.

We took two cars to WalMart to get what she needed. I paid for her purchases and then decided that since I was there I'd price some craft supplies for camp and get some things I needed for the first night of the Jr. High road trip.

I got home, unloaded my purchases and made a late lunch while tracking my new timeline to ride a century. (The last one got scraped because of snow...snow in May in Idaho...who would have thought!)

Kirsten came home from the party and we had a good time talking while watching some show...don't remember which right now...waiting for Dave to come home for dinner. (Kirsten missed lunch somehow and she was STARVING)

Dave came home, we made a great salad, ate together then took off for a quick bike ride.

We rode off of a trail off of Eagle Blvd in (or really near) Eagle. We were just going to ride for a little bit so we thought we'd do some exploring. What we found was two underpasses and some great gravel riding to be done. We also found mosquitos so we definetly ended soon. (I forgot to bring bug spray).

Got home and basically went to bed. Quite an adventure for the day.

This morning I remembered that I missed a 4:30 meeting yesterday. It totally slipped my mind. I wish that someone had called, but I'm not blaming them. It is my fault that I missed my meeting. With all my organizing for this summer I never wrote it down and then I didn't remember.

I had planned on attending. I had wanted to attend. I simply forgot.

It is during these times that I believe I see God working even in my mess ups. I believe that I was where I was suppose to be the entire time. I used to feel guilty for my mess ups, for my missed appointments and my missed opportunities and my goof ups with what I want to do, but then don't remember to do it. I usually follow through. I usually attend what I've said I'd attend. And I am getting better on not overcommitting (that is why I use a calendar, actually several) so that usually isn't the reason anymore. In fact yesterday I was at home working on home stuff and I could have easily gone to the meeting. I simply forgot.

Here is the verse that I think about when I've messed up on accident:

"A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps."
Proverbs 16:9 (New King James Version)

I am thankful for the LORD who directs my steps. Everyday I want to trust Him with my day. Yesterday I was able to spend great time with my daughter and my husband which I know I needed. We have a crazy full schedule and it was refreshing to me to have time with them. I didn't choose them over the meeting, but maybe God did. I would have loved to spend time with the ladies at the meeting as well, but maybe, just maybe me forgetting was the better of two really good things to do.

I won't really know the answer to the dilema of my forgetfulness yesterday, but I do know that I don't need to feel guilty about it. I'll apologize to the ladies and I'll enjoy the memories from the day with my family and coffeetime friend, and I'll keep trusting that as I plan my way each day I can be confident that God will continue to direct my steps towards the better of the good things that I want to do.