Losing weight. Waiting.

What do losing weight and waiting have in common?

• I'm not good at either of them. 
• Both take time and patience.
• The Lord has lessons for me in both.

To be honest, I've never really earnestly tried to lose weight. I might succeed in dropping a pound or two, but one loaded with salt, fatty delicious Mexican food dinner would set me off course and stop me from trying.

So, almost three weeks ago, I decided to purposely try to lose 10 pounds. I'm tracking what I eat with My Fitness Pal and maintaining my usual exercise routine. While I am losing weight, I see how it takes so much discipline and self-control. These are not my strong suit. I'm seeking the Lord in this, wanting to not make weight loss an idol. But, I'm actually seeing how much food I really need, compared to what I often eat. It's been such a great lesson on needs versus wants. God has been pointing that out to me in other areas, too. Like the woman I met who has a borrowed car to use on Saturdays. The rest of the week, it's the bus or her own two feet. And yet I feel completely stranded if I'm without a car for the afternoon. 

I'm also learning about waiting on the Lord. When I get excited about something, I want to run out ahead. There are a couple of ministry opportunities that I want to jump into head first, but I'm trying to wait on the Lord to lead us. It's not easy for me. At all. But, I know He calls us to wait on Him. He'll "fight the battles" for me. So I wait.

A Taste of Radical

It's not often that one can read an entire book during a workout. However, I read David Platt's The Radical Question/A Radical Idea on the exercise bike this morning.

I loved Radical. It challenged me in so many areas. But, this brief book just whets your appetite for more. Maybe that's the intended purpose?

Platt calls into question what the American church is doing while so many in the world perish with out Jesus. "What is Jesus worth to you?" he asks. The second half of the book highlights Radical Together and reminds us that the church is people, not a place.

If you've never read (been afraid of?) Radical, this book might be just the place to start.

I received this book for free from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

31 days of encouragement. Or, 5 days of not much.

Eight days into the month, and, more than anything, I'm seeing how challenging it is for me to be intentional about encouragement. Like any discipline, it takes practice. Time. Effort.

I've spoken a few words of blessing to my children. And a few words of impatience. Ugh. I'll keep trying. In fact, I just remembered someone who might need a word of encouragement today.

31 Days of Encouraging Words

On Monday, I read about bloggers linking up at nesting place for 31 Days of Change. More than 1000 bloggers signed up to write for 31 days about various topics. Ann Voskamp, one of my favorites, is writing about 31 days to crazy joy. It inspired me to take up my own 31-day experiment in encouraging words.

The Lord's definitely been moving me in this direction. As I recall, speaking encouraging words was my prayer request last month at my moms group. But, in my typical fashion, I'm a little late getting started. It took me a day to be convinced to try it. Day 2 was spent speaking encouraging words to myself (read: remembering that I'm supposed to build up, not tear down). By bedtime, I was reminded to praise my little one, who totally blossoms when watered with words of affirmation.

Today, Day 3, I began seeking the Lord in this in earnest. No surprise, He had much direction to give. I was reminded to send off a swift text to a couple of friends. Not terribly personal, but better than nothing at all. The responses were a blessing to me.

I also remembered to thank my sweet husband for some above-and-beyond things he did yesterday. And, the Lord gave me a few ideas to act on in the coming days.

I saw the power of affirming words this afternoon in the eyes of the girls in our after-school mentoring group. Each of us wrote something encouraging in each girl's journal. Sweet D told one of the other leaders, "Did you see what everyone wrote about me?" Clearly, the words written achieved God's desired effect. She was blessed.

I'm looking forward to seeing where the Lord leads me this month. And I'm hoping for some lasting change.

Truly. Simply Jesus.

I recently read Joseph Stowell's Simply Jesus. I so enjoyed reading this book. Stowell's love for the Lord and closeness to Him drew me in.

His main point? "You can be satisfied to just know about Him, or you can enter into an experience with Jesus." I don't know about you, but I definitely want to experience Him.

Stowell addresses why many of us don't have a closer walk with the Lord. Simply put, He's not our priority. (Painful, but so true.) We'd rather put ourselves first than put Him first. We must clean our slates, so to speak, through confession and repentance. And not get caught up in ourselves, our own good works.

The good news, Stowell reminds us, is that Jesus rewards those who seek Him. And, once you've tasted His goodness, you can never get enough.

Stowell points out the changes we need to make: rejoice in the Lord, in what He has done, and value Jesus above everything. He will meet us in our hard places when we totally surrender to Him.

I only wish this book were longer! The upside? It's a quick read.

I received this book for free from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.