Hiding Philippians In My Heart

 

In late August of 2020 I was overwhelmed with everything that was going on in our world and how I, as a believer, was to live in response to it.  Collectively we were in the middle of a pandemic.  There was tense racial division and protesting because of the death of George Floyd in my home state and in states across the county.  An important presidential election was coming in a few months and people were very passionate about their candidate, some to the point of idol worship it seemed.  Conspiracy theories abounded.  Social media was a hotbed of opinions and sadly, so much hatred.  Stress and anxiety were high for many as families were still dealing with job loss, changes to their jobs, finances, schooling for their children and lots of loss and grief.  

I was weary, discouraged and praying, "Lord, how do you want me to live in response to everything that is happening in our world?"  At the time I happened to be in the book of Philippians in my personal Bible reading.  One morning as I was reading chapter 1 I came across the following phrase.

"...striving side by side for the faith of the gospel."

All around me there was striving...

Striving for this political candidate or that one  

Striving for masks or no masks

Striving for justice or revenge

Striving above the opinions of others so that yours could be heard.

But here was my answer.  The striving that I, as a Christ follower was to be involved in was to be for the gospel.   Did I have personal opinions about the other things?  Of course I did, but God spoke to my heart that day.  He reminded me of what was really important and that was the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  All around me people were hurting and discouraged.  I had the answer.  Jesus Christ.  Was I faithfully sharing that or was I busy being a keyboard warrior? 

As I read through Philippians and meditated on it, I thought that this would be a timely book to memorize. I figured that I could easily memorize it over the next year and began in earnest.  I didn't meet my goal to have all 4 chapters memorized in one year but I am not giving up.  For whatever reason memorizing seems to be a little harder for me than it has been in the past. 😊  It's taken me 1 year to memorize the first 2 chapters and I plan to take this year and finish up with chapters 3 and 4.  Hiding Philippians in my heart has helped me to keep my focus on what is important in the middle of all the chaos.  Hiding Philippians in my heart has brought peace and hope to my soul that the world cannot take from me, no matter what is going on around me.  

Are you currently working on memorizing God's word?  I'd love to know what passages of Scripture you are committing to memory.  

In My Home ~ Week 3

 

Greetings!  I pray this finds you an yours doing well and enjoying this last week of May!  I love the idea of shelves on the kitchen wall as seen in the above picture.  I have a similar layout but have upper cabinets so no room for shelves.  I do have a window right above my kitchen sink though and from it I can look out across our yard to the newly planted fields.  This year we are surrounded by corn.  From my window I can also see my bird feeders and if I look out to the right I can see our basketball hoop and beyond that in the yard is the jungle gym and sandbox and trampoline.  My boys are all bigger now so the jungle gym and sandbox are not used as much as in the past.  In the years to come though I can enjoying seeing grandchildren out there playing.  What a wonderful thought!

Sunday's Psalm {9.5.21}

 

“The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed,

a stronghold in times of trouble.

And those who know Your name put their trust in You,

for You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who see You.”

Psalm 9:9-10

Stronghold: a fastness, a fort, a fortified place, a place of security

Websters Dictionary 1828

Birthday Week Daybook

 Outside my window...  A beautiful early fall day.  Yes, technically fall doesn't begin until Sept. 22 but for me, fall begins on September 1st.  The leaves on a couple of the trees in our yard are beginning to turn yellow.  The field corn and soybeans in the fields around our house will be ready for harvest soon.

I am thinking...  School planning.  We are behind schedule for school by about 3 weeks due to our family going through Covid.

I am thankful...  Another year of life.  I turned 50 years old yesterday!  I am thankful for healing/health.  Covid hit each of us a little differently.  I ended up with some pneumonia and had the longest recovery.

In the kitchen...  No cooking for me today.  It's my birthday and we went out for lunch after church.  Supper will be left overs from the week.

I am wearing...  Jean capri's and a tye-dye shirt.  Bare feet.  😄

I am creating...  I've been knitting dishcloths.  This coming weekend we have Scrap and Craft for the ladies at our church.  I am planning to bring my pictures from the last year to get them sorted and into an album.

I am going...  Shopping with my daughter later today.

I am wondering...  If I should take a nap before shopping.  

I am reading...  In Genesis and Romans in my Bible.  I am reading a book called Women Who Risk.

I am looking forward to... Lunch with my parents, sister and brother this week.

Around the house/yard...  I spent the day mowing the yard yesterday.  It took about 4 hours.  There are weeks to be pulled and some trees need to be trimmed.  I am working on new weekly home-keeping routines. 

A favorite Scripture for today...  Psalm 9:9-10

The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed,

    a stronghold in times of trouble.
10 And those who know your name put their trust in you,
    for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.

One of my favorite things...  Seeing my grandchildren!  Since the last time I updated this blog, a third grandchild was born.  Miss Ella is 4 months old now and so sweet.