Whether you are a working woman, stay-at-home mom, or volunteer your time during the week – I want to help you get over that mid-week hump! So here’s a little poll for our readers this week – tell me what YOU need to get through Wednesday and rolling down that hill to Friday afternoon!

You can choose from one of the following topics, or tell me your own ideas. We at ExemplifyOnline are here to serve and minister to you – and I would love to do that in a way that best benefits you in whatever busy life you lead! Please take a moment to answer the following in a comment below -

On Wednesdays, I’d love to read:

• Household Tips & Tricks
• Bible devotional series
• Jokes & Funny Stories
• Meme/Link-ups (ala Wordless Wednesday, Random Dozen, etc)
• Other: please specify in your comment below

Thanks for taking the time to help us make ExemplifyOnline the best online resource for you!

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

I’m sure you’ve heard that prayer many times, and if you’re like me you probably associate it with AA (Alcoholics Anonymous).  But have you ever applied it to your own everyday life? In the past year, I’ve thought about this, and prayed this prayer, so many times.  Whether it’s dealing with my family, my job, my appearance (dieting, anyone??).  But I’d never heard or read the rest of it until a few months ago…

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

Reinhold Niebuhr

How can we not take this simple prayer and apply it to all areas of our life?  What if we could truly and completely live “one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time” and accepting that whatever God has in store for us is totally in His control?  How freeing would that be?  What if we could truly accept the world as Christ did – warts and all – and surrendering it all to His Will?

Is “reasonably happy” enough for us?  We spend so much time and energy trying to make the world as we “would have it“, not as God has designed it from before Creation. Am I saying we shouldn’t try to improve our world?  Of course not! But there are some things that we simply can’t control, and some of those things will make us unhappy.  But if we can accept God’s Will in our lives, in our world, we can be “reasonably happy” on this earth until we join Him in Heaven.

Is that enough for you?

When I look at the devastation in other parts of the world – in Haiti, in war-torn countries, in the rural areas struck by devastation in the form of unemployment, poverty, loss of land and homes, in the hospital corridors where loved ones cry out for those in their lives with terminal illness… The more I see these things, the more I realize that “reasonably happy” is not only enough, it’s more than I ever deserve.  But through Christ’s promises, that’s what I am assured during my time here, if I only surrender to Him completely.

What do you need to surrender today to be reasonably happy? Are you trusting God to take care of it, or are you still clinging to the hope that you can make a change that only He is capable of making?  Are you “trusting that He will make all things right“? And most importantly, have you surrendered completely to His will in that situation?

Please take a moment to think about an area of your life that you still struggle to surrender to the Lord.  Now take a moment to ask His forgiveness for trying to control it yourself. Turn it over to Him completely, and be prepared for a change – if not in your situation, in you! Let us know, through a comment or link up, how we can pray for you to let go of this problem – there is power in numbers!

But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

~Matthew 6:6

I’d like to take this week to discuss getting our Prayer Closets in order. This is the most important place in our home, and we should pay special attention to having it set up to bring us into closer connection with the Father.

What does your prayer closet look like?  Do you have one?

Mine is at the dinner table. Not at dinner time, mind you, but that’s where I have my morning devotional and prayer time.  I grab my coffee, sit at the table after hubby goes to work, and have my time with Jesus.

I also have a basket that holds my “Prayer Supplies”:

Bibles - a few different translations
Highlighters (gotta have highlighters!)
Strong’s Dictionary & Concordence
My prayer list (a small notebook)
Pens
Notecards & envelopes – to stop and send a note of encouragement when a friend or family member seems to be strongly on my heart.

Do you have a prayer closet where you can go to connect with God?  Yes, we can and should pray at all times, no matter where we are – but it’s also important to have a special place to spend time with our Father.  You may not think you have a Prayer Closet, but think about where you have your Quiet Time:

Is it in your bedroom? your den? Do you have an actual closet you have set up for this purpose alone?

Let’s commit to giving Him a special place in our homes.

Please comment or link back to share with us how you’ve made a special place to spend time with God each day.

Hi Ladies! Before we get started on this week’s project, let’s take a moment to remember and say our Bible verse that is guiding us through our Getting it Together in 2010 projects:

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed…  2 Timothy 2:15

How did you do on your recipe organization last week?

If you’re like me, with the best intentions but not quite as much time, you may not have gotten it ALL together. Hopefully we all got started, though. I’m still working on getting all the recipes clipped from my stack of magazines, and can’t wait to start filing them!

This week, let’s take a look at the pantry. It’s a lot harder to cook a meal if you don’t know where your ingredients are! Here are a few tips to help us organize our cabinets this week, so that we can focus more time in 2010 on the things that matter: God, family, and more fun than hunting for the last can of cream of mushroom soup!

• Remove everything from your shelves – everything! You can’t organize what you can’t see.
• Wipe your shelves and make sure they are a clean slate. If you’re like me, you probably haven’t done this in quite awhile. Put down new shelf paper if you’d like.
• Sort your pantry items on the table/counter – like with like. All soups together, all cereals together, and so on.
• Access your space. Think about investing in some inexpensive tiered shelves (I found some at Walmart for just a few dollars), door racks to hold small items like spices or cooking sprays,  or odd-shaped bottles.
• Try to put perishables in air-tight containers: flour, sugar, etc.  This will help keep your shelves clean and keep little critters at bay. You can find these containers at the dollar store or most any other place that sells household items. Good ol’ mason jars work well, too!
• Begin putting your items back in the pantry in ways that are convenient for you – this isn’t a one size fits all project. For instance: If you’re “vertically challenged”, you may not want the items that you use daily to be on the very top shelf.  Likewise, no one needs items they use once a year (think serving platters with holiday themes!) in the kitchen every day.  Find another home for seasonal items and free up space for everyday use.

What are your best tips for organizing your food items and paper goods in the kitchen or pantry?

Let’s all chip in and help one another to tackle this area this week.  We spend a lot of our life searching for missing items at home – let’s all cut out one source of searching so we can free up that time for more worthy pursuits and so that we can be “ workers who [have] no need to be ashamed“!

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,

a worker who has no need to be ashamed…

~ 2 Timothy 2:15

This sounds like a silly question, but if God looked at your home right now, would he see you “a worker who has no need to be ashamed“?  Or would he find clutter, like my own, in the small corners where we think no one can see it?  Guess what – God sees it.  He knows we have our weak areas in home-keeping just like the rest of life. But I want to make a concerted effort to get rid of the clutter that makes me cranky, makes me waste time looking for things, takes my mind off of Him, and put my house in order for a bigger cause: so God Himself will see me a “a worker who has no need to be ashamed“.  I plan to recite that verse as I go through each area that needs improvement.

As we enter the New Year, I have decided that 2010 will be the year I FINALLY get all my clutter areas in order.  If you walked into my home this moment, you’d think I was a pretty decent housekeeper.  There aren’t clothes in the floors, the beds are made, the bathroom & kitchen are clean.  But I have dirty little secrets – the junk drawer, the closets, the laundry room/pantry that have become unmanagable in 2009.  And the bane of my dinner-time existence — my recipe collection.

My first project is getting all of my recipes into some organized format so that throughout the year I won’t be scrounging through torn out magazine pages and smudged scribbles to find something to prepare for my family.  My plan is to clip out all of the recipes in the HUGE pile of magazines I’ve been saving and attach each to an index card. I’ll print all the ones I’ve saved on my computer for making “one day…” and put them on cards, as well.  I’ll finally go through the drawer that contains the previously ripped out, scribbled down, ingredient smudged collection and yes – put them all on cards.  Then I’ll file them all in a nice, neat, preferably very cute recipe box (or binder – haven’t quite decided yet) and find a convenient home for it in my kitchen (which is a really interesting place to keep recipes, don’t you think?  I’m sure it’ll work better than keeping most on my computer in the home office where, by the way, I do exactly NO cooking).

• Want to join me??
• What’s your method of organizing your recipes?
• What are other areas we need to tackle and get in order?  Closets? Pantries? Office areas?
  

Let’s work together and hold one another accountable for becoming workers that our Lord can be truly and completely proud of in managing what He has given us!

So far, I have bought exactly one gift. Well, three if you count the two that my hubby has already seen and one he’s already opened & used (motorcycle stuff he had to use yesterday for his Toys for Tots Run). I’m just not into the buying and rushing around and the general frenzy that usually accompanies this time of year. I just put our tree & lights up today! Maybe it’s that my kids are older and don’t want or need the latest greatest [insert toy name here]. All they want is money – cold, hard cash is all that’s on their wish list this year. Which certainly makes it easy on the Mister and I, but does take away a chunk of the fun of Christmas morning.

Or maybe it’s because this year I’ve been thinking more and more on the true meaning of Christmas. Each year, we read the Nativity Story on Christmas morning. We say we want to celebrate the real “Reason for the Season” – but… do we really? Or have we just been giving God some lip-service so He’ll know we have acknowledged Jesus for a few minutes on his “birthday”?  I have to admit, I think our family has fallen into the Lip Service group more years than not.

Look at how many hours we spend shopping, decorating, singing carols, attending parties.  Compare that with how long we spend truly celebrating the MIRACLE of Christ’s birth. How does your family measure up? I know mine falls short. Way short.

In church this week, our pastor talked about the miracles in the story of the birth of Jesus – yes, multiple miracles. The story begins “in the sixth month” (Luke 1:26) – of what? The king’s reign? The year? Sixth month of what?  We find out in verse 36 – it was the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy as she was carrying John – Jesus’ cousin.  The first miracle that God performs in the Christmas story isn’t Mary becoming pregnant with Jesus – it’s Elizabeth and Zechariah conceiving John the Baptist! Do we ever think about that at Christmastime?  I haven’t, not until today.

Why does Luke tell us about Elizabeth’s pregnancy in the same chapter, just before he tells us of Jesus’ birth? Because, Mary needed to be convinced of God’s miracles. Yes – Mary, virgin mother of Christ – doubted:  “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” (v:34)  The angel convinced her it was possible by revealing the pregnancy of Elizabeth as a miracle in verse 36 – “And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.”

Can you imagine Mary’s expression when she found out that her cousin, who we assume from the Scripture was an elderly woman by this time, was pregnant?? And then to find out that SHE, Mary, would bear the Savior of the World??  Oh yeah, and she was still a virgin, at that. Talk about “Shock & Awe” – isn’t God the most shocking and awe-inspiring One ever??

I can just picture the young girl – at first frightened, then amazed,  then elated. So much so that she traveled to Elizabeth’s home to celebrate their good fortune! It’s important to note that Mary did not know of Elizabeth’s pregnancy prior to the angel visiting her – as stated in Luke 1:24 “…Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion.”

So – how many times do we think about Mary & Elizabeth while we’re preparing for Christmas festivities? How many times do we just stop and think about the ultimate Miracle that was given at that time for us all? I know that I need to spend much more time thinking about that, not only at this time of year but always.  While I’m at it, I need to give thanks for John, and his parents who were obedient and blameless (v.6).  Do we ever thank God for those people in the Bible that did wondrous things, other than Jesus?

I challenge us all to use this month of celebrating the birth of Christ to really think on the miracles of His birth, His death, His resurrection.

I challenge us all to read and study the Story of Christmas with a new understanding of the “shock & awe”-inspiring miracles that happened then. Not only the Virgin Birth, but all that came before and after to assure that the prophecy of Christ would be fulfilled.

I challenge us all to put that above the shopping, the parties, the “noise” of December that can so easily crowd out the only celebration that any of us ever needed and never deserved – the Birth of Our King!

How will you spend the rest of the month?

Please share your plans to celebrate the Birth of Christ in a miraculous way this year!

Let’s talk about it! Leave a comment below and/or link to your own blog discussion  by clicking here to visit Mr Linky!

Every year, I tend to spend the weeks and days leading up to Christmas wondering…

What must have been going through Mary’s mind that night before Christmas so many years ago? The poor young girl in labor – yet still a virgin – giving birth in a stable of all places, after traveling on a donkey for hours and hours.  Can any of the moms here sympathize??

And Joseph – can we talk about a keeper, ladies?!  Standing by Mary for all those months leading up to Jesus’ birth. Ignoring the shame and torment from others in the neighborhood who couldn’t possibly understand the miracle that was about to happen..What was he thinking?!

What could the earthly parents of Jesus been feeling that night before our Christ was born??  What did they talk about on that long journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem? I can’t wait to ask them!

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him   in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.          ~Luke 2:4-7 (NIV)

Spend a moment or two and reflect on that most important Night Before Christmas… What do you think was going through Mary & Joseph’s minds the very night before Jesus was born?

Let’s talk about it!

Comment below and be sure to link up to your own blog using the Mr Linky button below!

At this time of year, it’s easy to be thankful for our many blessings in life:  family, food, shelter, jobs, everything that we have been given over the course of the year…  the list can go on and on.

But how many of us ever take time to thank God for the things that we have lost?

Philippians 3:8 says “What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ…” (NIV)

It is  sometimes hard to see in the moment that your unanswered prayers are the best for us. We think we must have this thing, or that person, in our lives. But we have to remember that the one who created us knows much more than we about what is best. We are told to ask and believe, as if it is already so.  Some call this the “name it and claim it” form of prayer. I’m personally not a fan of this – at least not in the way that some people today think it works. But that’s for another post…

The Bible says “This is the confidence that we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us–whatever we ask–we know that we have what we asked of him.” (1 John 5:14,15 NIV)

The key words here being “according to his will“.

Many times, we ask for things that are not in alignment with His Will.  Sometimes we may get what we request in prayer – through our own means – but if it is not according to his will we will ultimately lose it.  And often, we don’t lose it until after suffering much pain. This is the result of our not trusting in God’s Will…in not trusting Him for everything that we need in this life.

How hard is it for us to be thankful for our losses? As I grow in my Christian walk, I’m amazed at the people and things that I am thankful NOT to have in my life anymore.  There are those that I can look back on and thank God that I don’t have them anymore because, in each case, I can see that they were a hindrance to my spiritual growth and my relationship with Jesus. Does this take time? Definitely! Sometimes many, many, many years pass before we can see the fruitfulness of our losses. But we can hold tight to the Word, which tell us  “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God” (Romans 8:28). When we grasp this and truly believe it, we free ourselves to praise and worship and rejoice in our losses.

ALL THINGS.  Even our losses.  Sometimes – especially our losses!

This Thanksgiving, don’t just be thankful for the things you’ve gained – thank God for the things you’ve lost, as well.  Count them all rubbish, for you have gained Christ!

What is something that you have lost that you are thankful not to have now?

What do you call “rubbish” because you’ve gained Christ by losing it?

Let’s talk about it!  Comment below and/or link up using the Mr.. Link button below!

You’ve probably heard the beautiful song by Faith Hill called “Where are you Christmas?“.  Well, I want to write one called “Where are you Thanksgiving?” and I’ll wear one of these shirts while I sing it!

Seriously, did anyone else see Christmas stuff being put out in stores before Halloween?  I did! Why is it so hard for people to wait just one more little month to start shopping for Christmas?  One more little month to spend being thankful for all of their bountiful blessings? Thirty more days to enjoy before the craziness of the holidays hits us full force?? Is that too much to ask?

I remember when I was small, we didn’t hear a peep about Christmas until the day after Thanksgiving. Sure, us kids would be making our mental lists for Santa all year long, and some of us would even put them to paper well in advance (now we realize we were just undiagnosed OCD’ers, but that’s for another post).  Our parents weren’t rushing around to find the perfect gift (that would probably end up in a yard sale the following year), no worrying if we’d been naughty or nice and whether or not we would get a visit from Santa, no sitting up all night watching the Santa Radar on the local news. It was understood that Thanksgiving Day was just as sacred as Christmas for us – and it wasn’t about Pilgrims and Indians and sharing maize.

Thanksgiving was, and still is for me, my favorite holiday.  It means the whole month of November to remember how blessed I am. A whole month to give thanks to God for all that He has done for me and my family, for our freedoms in the United States, for the little things that we take for granted the rest of the year. It’s a time to pray for those who are not so blessed, that they might have something to be thankful for as well. November is a month to give to those less fortunate, to help them prepare for the coming cold months – be it clothes, food, blankets, coats, shoes… We should do this all year, yes, but when you start focusing seriously on your blessings (and all the items in your wardrobe!), it’s hard not to want to share it with those in need.

Last night I was watching one of the legal-fictional-type-shows on tv. During a commercial break I saw FOUR – count them FOUR – Christmas commercials! In a row! I sighed and felt a pang of pity for those who are already running around spending money they don’t have, on things that others don’t need, for people they probably don’t really even like much.

Maybe it’s age, or maybe it’s that I’m finally growing out of my Baby Christian phase (though I do still stumble when I try to Walk now and then), but I prefer to enjoy this month without worrying about Christmas yet. For that matter, I don’t plan to worry about Christmas in December either. I plan to spend it celebrating the world-changing, life-altering, supernatural birth of Jesus Christ, and God coming to earth in the form of that little baby in the manger.

I refuse to buy into (figuratively or literally) the commercialization of my Savior’s birth!

What about you?

• What are your thoughts on Thanksgiving being pushed to the back burner these days?
• Are there any special things your family does to celebrate Thanksgiving?

Let’s talk about it!

Comment below or Click here for Mr Linky!

Welcome to the new meme of Exemplify! The Weekly Wednesday Whatever is a meme hosted by Melinda of Frugal Grace, right here on the Editor’s Blog of Exemplify.

Weekly, Melinda will share what’s on her mind (you’re going to love her sense of humor!) and then turn the tables on you, asking for your take. You can either answer The Weekly Whatever right here in the comment section or write a post on your own blog about it and link up below.

Whatever you decide, we can’t wait to chat with you!

****

All of you
Is more than enough for all of me, For every thirst and every need
You satisfy me with your love,  And all I have in you is more than enough

~ Jeremy Camp

You don’t hear much about fasting in today’s churches and religious discussions. I know many people that think it’s an outdated concept that went the way of rope sandals and selling doves in the temples. There are a few groups who are still committed to this Biblical process, but they are few and far between in today’s fast-food nation. I mean, it was probably a lot easier to fast when you had to hunt and gather, versus driving up to a window to place your order from your air conditioned car.

There’s a movement among younger Christians to be more bold and “on fire” and devoted to God on a spiritual level, not just sitting in church every Sunday and listening. They want to be involved on a gut level (pardon the pun) with our Creator, and—according to the Bible—fasting is a process by which one can accomplish this.

Two of my friends just finished a forty day fast. Yes, 40 days with absolutely NO food—only juice and water. They say they feel amazing, have tons of energy, but most importantly—feel closer to God than ever.

I hunger for this.

I’ve considered fasting for years, but never really done it long term. I’ve done a day here and there, but that was more often just forgetfulness on my part—getting too busy to remember to eat. Then it would usually end with a huge bowl of cookie dough ice cream at 10 p.m.  I’m thinking this is not how Jesus ended his fasts…

I’ve felt the need to get closer to God, to just let myself be totally dependent on Him, to seek more of Him and MUCH less of me.  I’ve been praying about this for some time now, and what I keep hearing is—I really need to lay down some things at His alter and give them over to Him once and for all. You know how sometimes we say we’ve “given it over to God,” but then we—in our silliness—soon think we need to take back control over the situation. As if we can even think of doing the work that only He can??

I hear more from men about their fasting experiences, but I’d love to hear what women think about it.

Have you fasted?
For how long?
Any advise for someone thinking of attempting a longer-term fast?
What are your general thoughts on fasting?

Let’s talk about it!

Comment below or link back to this post and get feedback from your readers!