Clarifing and Going Deeper

The things on the previous list are all things that God has been teaching me or dealing with me on the last two months or so. Some things are easy, some are harder; a true renewing of my mind. Take the King James. He placed the thought in my mind a few months ago to read the King James and see what it was like. There was another mention in a teaching on something, I went to Miss Sues and she offered her KJ. So I started reading it there. I came home and was hoping I could begin reading from the New King James. Further teaching and confirmation it was clear...no the KING JAMES. Sigh. This is a true renewing of the mind for me. For the last 11 years of my walk with Christ I have been reading from NIV. I know it, I am comfortable with it and I understand it. So why switch it? Because I have come to understand that when he calls me to do something it is for a specific reason. I may not clearly understand it at the moment. I don't need to clearly understand it, I need to obey. So the last couple weeks I have been doing my reading on www.biblegateway.com reading KJV. There are moments I don't understand. There are times I stop and think what does this say. Sometimes I read it in the NIV to get a grasp of an unfamilar word. I probably need to start going to the Strongs concordance and dictionary when I get stumped; take it a little deeper. One step at a time.

Loving my dog. I am frustrated with my dog at the moment. She is still a pup in many ways. Not in size but in age and mentality, she is. She digs(in my yard), chews(everything plastic or wood, some fabric and some rubber), barks and is rougher than I like. I am not giving up on her. We know much of it is training. Some of it is immaturity. We really need to focus on her training. This is much needed. I am trying to not speak negative to her. I have been known to call her dummy, peabrain and the like. I am trying to believe she can be a great dog. I am loving her, at moments this is difficult. I hope I feel differently in a year. I want to say...she is the best dog.

Victory in the kitchen... Oh my, we have come a long way. I have kept it no secret that I struggle with housekeeping. For most of our marriage I have plain failed at it. I came to realize about a year ago that if my kitchen was in disorder it spilled out to the rest of the house. If the kitchen was a mess the rest of the house was trashed. If my kitchen was clean, I had some peace and it motivated me to keep the living room clean as well. If the sink was full of dishes, I felt discouraged. I would not even want to clean them. I would not want to do any of it. All because my dishes were more than I thought I could handle. Downward spiral. I have really been trying to stay on top of the dishes. After DH remodeled the kitchen I am SUPER motivated to keep it clean. We eat a meal I clean up after it, you may think, "No brainer" but this has not always been the case. Everything put in it's place, dishes in the dishwasher. Clean. Victory! Dinner's have also improved. I make a list of meals I have everything for and put it on the side of the refridgerator. As I make them I cross them off. This helps me know what I can make but does not stick me to having to make a certain thing on a certain day. I operate better with the freedom to make that choice at the time of preperation.

Housekeeping. This one has been over the course of the last two years but He's not finished with me yet in this area so it is most definately on the list. The issue(Lost: Green Paper) this week highlighted the fact that I am not finished. I have made tremendous progress in my home in the last year. Read past posts to know some of the steps I have made. I am to the point now that I am not embaressed by visitors, in fact I am glad to have anyone over. The main rooms of the house are in order. Yet lurking behind closed doors is the reality that much needs to be done. It frustrates me. It embarresses me. I want everything in perfect order so I don't have to live this way. I know that God put this desire in my heart because it has not always been there. I was perfectly content to live in disorder. My husband is not. Things are moving to the better. Things are happening and progress is being made. Again, one step at a time.

Giving heart. God has blessed me beyond measure. Not just materially. I have a great family, great friends, people that are generous to me. I also have lots of stuff! Much of it not necessary. As freely you have been given, freely give. Read Free Sale for more on this. Give. Give. Give. I am learning to give away what is in excess in my home. I am learning to give above and beyond what I am called to give. It has been a growing time in this area.

There is much more to the why's and how's of that which is on the list. That is what comes to mind at the moment. I do not wake up each morning with God bombarding me in each of these things. But I do have gentle reminders and correction along the way. My life is a work in progress. I know when I look back to who I was 10 years ago I am a completely different person today. I can only hope I am different in another 10 years. Perhaps I will even look at my list of yesterday and laugh, saying something like "Remember when ________was a struggle for me. Thank God it no longer is."