Bible Alone – Week 1

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For January’s 30 day challenge, I decided that I wanted to spend the entire month reading only the Bible. No other books, whether they be fiction or nonfiction. I was very tempted to allow myself to read books about the Bible but I knew I would end up reading those instead of the Bible. That’s not the point of the challenge… I wanted to spend the first month of the year immersing myself in God’s word.

In the course of one week, I’ve read –
Judges 12-21
Ruth
1 Samuel
2 Samuel 1-4

I like this pace of reading. It’s not as fast as the Bible in 90 Days, so I don’t feel like I’m just skimming. But I am reading fast enough that I’m getting entire stories in one sitting rather than disjointed chapters.

Unfortunately, I’ve been sick since Tuesday. This has seriously challenged my decision to read no books but the Bible. I have wanted so badly to curl up on the couch with a fluffy and entertaining fiction book. Thankfully, I’ve kept to my resolve! It has been a blessing this week and I look forward to three more weeks of the challenge.

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2012 Resolutions – Homemaking

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This is my last post about resolutions/goals for 2012. Looking over last year’s goals, I realized I didn’t have any that specifically related to homemaking. I find that hilarious as homemaking is my full time job!

This year’s goals

  • Continuously improve my relationship with my husband

    • Date Night – Implement a monthly date night.

    • Have fun working through The Love Dare. I’ve heard great things about this book!

    • Read Love and Respect again, taking time to implement some of the counsel. When I read this book the first time, I was amazed at the amount of truth it contained and realized that I definitely need to respect my husband more.

  • Recipe book – I’ve already started one, but it’s gotten out of control. I think I have 20 loose recipes in the front that haven’t been put in protector pages yet. I need to take everything out of the binder, figure out what we actually like, and reorganize the entire thing. Eventually, I also want to type all of the recipes out in OneNote and print them again. Right now I have recipes cut out from magazines, printed from the internet, and copied from cookbooks. It’s a mess!

  • Daily schedule – This is the bane of my existence. I thrive on schedules, plans, and lists. However, my dear hubby works from home most of the time and his work center is set up in our living room. It is nearly impossible for me to stick to a schedule when he makes frequent calls to clients and coworkers. I won’t complain because I love him being home! But maybe we need to discuss moving his “office” to our spare bedroom so that I can be more productive without worrying about interrupting his work.

  • My blog – It needs a major overhaul. I have a new domain set up but I wanted to set up a new blogging template before announcing the change and redirecting the site. Unfortunately, I know next to nothing about blogging templates! I will embrace the challenge and try to come up with something new.

  • Finances

    • Pay off our last two credit cards. We paid off one last night and only have two more to go. If no emergencies arise, we will be done paying off credit cards by the end of February!

    • Save up six months of living expenses as a full emergency fund. Right now we have a baby emergency fund but it needs beefed up.

    • Start paying off our massive student loan debt. This goal will be around for years.

I really look forward to accomplishing these goals. I fully believe 2012 will be a wonderful year!

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2012 Resolutions – Personal

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As I’m writing out my 2012 resolutions, sometimes I wonder if I’m overdoing it. Then I look at the types of goals I’m including and believe it’s all doable. Personal goals are on the bottom of the list, though, so if I find myself floundering, it will be something on this list that gets dropped.

Last years goals

  • Complete my reading challenges – honestly, I have no idea how I did on this. After a couple months, I stopped choosing my books based on reading challenges and instead picked books that struck my interest at the time. I had a lot more fun being flexible with my reading than forcing myself to read specific titles or genres.

  • Continue learning Japanese. Sub goals:

    • Read 6 children’s books in Japanese – I read one. This was much harder than I anticipated and it took me hours to read just that one book.

    • Study for 365+ hours total in 2011 – Success! I studied for 400.02 hours total. 11:50 on New Years Eve found me studying my vocab lists to push myself over that 400 hour mark. I am so happy with my total!

    • Study every single day. Monthly average of one hour/day – Partial success. I did study for an average of one hour/day but it wasn’t a monthly success. Some months I only studied 15 hours whereas some I studied 45 hours.

This years goals

Quilting

  • Participate in the Color Palette Challenge. Choosing fabric is the hardest part of quilting and I think this will help immensely.

  • Complete a quilt for me. I’m currently finishing up my fourth quilt and each one has been a gift. I really enjoying giving my projects away but I also really want my own quilt to cuddle under while reading a good book.

Japanese

  • Take and pass the JLPT in December. This exam (Japanese Language Proficiency Exam) is offered once a year and I’m aiming for level N3, which will prove that I have intermediate level reading and listening skills. I am not ready for this exam yet but I have 11 months to prepare.

  • Start reading materials written for native speakers. Right now, almost all of my reading involves materials written for those learning Japanese. I need to start reading websites, books, articles, etc. that are written by native speakers for native speakers.

  • Maintain my 1+ hour/day average but with more day to day consistency.

Reading

  • No specific goals but to continue pushing myself outside of my comfort zone. More nonfiction, more classics, less mediocre fiction.

I have one more area of goals to blog about – homemaking. I’m still working on that list so it will be posted once finished. Overall, I think 2012 is going to be a great year!

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2012 Resolutions – Health

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It’s funny that I’m writing this post today as I’m sick. Thankfully, it’s just a cold and I hope to be feeling better soon.

Last year’s goals

  • Participate in the SOS Kitchen Challenge – failed.

  • Run a 5k – Success! Not only did I complete three 5k’s, I also ran a 4 mile race! In October I ran my fastest 5k, just under 40 minutes.

  • Learn how to bake – I started this but got derailed over the summer.

This year’s goals

  • Become more fit. This is a vague goal but I have a plan in place. Right now, I am progressing through week 7 (of 13) of the P90X fitness program. Once that program is complete, I am going to focus on my running again, ultimately aiming for a 10k race this fall.

  • Learn how to bake. One of my 30 day challenges early this year will be baking everything from scratch. I can’t wait!

  • Increase the amount of local and organic produce in our diet. I have access to a lot of local produce and need to start taking advantage of it. Ideally, this will mean early Sunday morning trips to the farmers market.

  • Watch one documentary and read one book each month on health and wellness. We have a Netflix account and they have many documentaries available to watch online. There are also three libraries within 15 minutes of my house. Between Netflix and the libraries, I have access to plenty of material.

I am happy to say that last year I reached my weight goal, losing a total of 67 pounds. I know that weight alone is not an indicator of good health and I am hoping to improve both my fitness levels and my nutrition this year. Having better health will also allow me to be a better witness for God as it will improve mental clarity and honor my Creator.

I beseech you therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God,
that you present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable to God,
which is your reasonable service
Romans 12:1

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2012 Resolutions – Spiritual

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I love New Years. I love that we are gifted, all at once!, with a brand new year, month, week, and day. What a clean slate! I have a few goals in mind for this year, some specific and some general. I thought I’d separate each aspect of my life into individual posts and detail some of my hopes and plans. Of course, this is all dependent on the Lord’s will. As James 4:15 says, “you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.'”

Last year’s goals

  • Study Genesis in depth – this goal was mostly met. I read all of Genesis in multiple translations but only completed the in-depth study on the first half.

  • Keep reading the Bible every single morning – success! I think I only missed 3 or 4 days all year. This morning time with God is vital.

  • Start a prayer journal – failed. Completely.

This year’s goals

  • Start a prayer journal. I really need to put a priority on this as I think it will make a huge difference in my prayer life.

  • Memorize 52 verses. I want to memorize 52 different verses of Scripture this year, one each week. That is a doable goal, one that I only need to commit myself to.

  • Increase the amount of time I spend reading the Bible every morning. Most mornings, I read two chapters. This only takes 10 minutes or so. I need to read more each morning and spend more time contemplating God’s word.

image courtesy of stockvault
My 30 day challenge this month relates to this last goal. I have committed to starting the year off with God’s word, reading nothing but God’s word. For the next 30 days, the Bible will be my only book. I really enjoyed my month of nonfiction last month, but I want to spend more time with God. When I start looking around the house for a book to read while I have a few minutes of downtime, I will pick up the Bible. When I read before going to sleep, I will pick up the Bible. I think this challenge will be both difficult and rewarding.

As today is Sunday, it’s time to pick the verse I’ll be memorizing this week.

Behold, God is my salvation,
I will trust and not be afraid;
for the LORD GOD is my strength and song
Isaiah 12:2

What are your spiritual goals for 2012?

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The Girlfriends Guidebook – a book review

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I was contacted about reviewing a new book by Marian Jordan titled The Girlfriends Guidebook, a book about “navigating female friendships.” Since I got married, I haven’t really maintained any female friendships. I did make and have kept several friends that were introduced through my husband. However, I don’t currently have any close female friends. I was hoping this book would help with that.

I love the warning that is issued at the beginning of the book. In the introduction, the author warns that you should “please read this book for yourself… not for your girlfriends!” (2). It’s too easy to read advice about any aspect of life and want to apply it to others. However, advice should first be applied to ourselves!

The goal of this book is to “examine friendship from the perspective of God’s Word” (22). Looking over the book, it does fulfill that stated purpose. The Girlfriends Guidebook examines friendship and uses lots of Scripture texts to show what qualities a woman should provide in a friendship and what qualities to look for in a friend. Jordan states three reasons for friendship – companionship, sanctification, and service. She outlines each of these purposes and shows how these purposes are illustrated in Scripture. I thought each purpose was well illustrated and supported.

I think my favorite quote in the book is in chapter three. It states that “if the cry of our hearts for love and acceptance is not first realized in a relationship with Jesus Christ, then great disappointment awaits any woman who believes she’ll find it in a friendship” (48). I think this quote is applicable to any aspect of life. If we do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ, we will be disappointed in anything we try to secure love and acceptance from.

After reading the book, I was left with one question – are girlfriends necessary to a married woman? Is there something that a close female friendship provides that a spouse does not? My husband is my best friend. Would developing a bosom female friendship provide something that I cannot or should not seek from my husband? I’m not sure.

Overall, I thought this was a very solid book. The tone is a bit girly for my taste, referring to Sex and the City, shopping, and boys. I’m not quite that girly and couldn’t really relate to some of the author’s illustrations but the book still resonated with me.

Thank you, PR by the Book and B&H, for allowing me to read and review this book. It was provided to me free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion.

For another interesting review of this book, please visit Reading to Know.

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Plans? What plans?

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I had plans for this week. HA! They have been completely thrown out the window. There are a few things I still want to do this week but we’ll see how much actually gets accomplished. Supposedly, my hubby will be working at a client all day on Friday so I should be able to be very productive.

Tonight… we are doing something crazy. We are going to the midnight showing of The Adventures of Tintin! Then, first thing tomorrow morning, we are doing a 90 minute yoga session. I’m sure we could have timed these two events better, but tonight is the theatre release and my husband has been looking forward to it for months. He grew up reading the Tintin comics and was really excited when he found out they were making a movie.

I hope I’m able to achieve some level of coherency tomorrow! I’m sure we’ll be tired but it’s worth it to make my hubby so happy!

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This week’s memory text – Joshua

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Last week flew by like a whirlwind. I’m way behind on last week’s memory text but I’m adding another for this week. There’s no reason I can’t learn two!

This text really stood out to me in yesterday morning’s Bible reading. I was feeling rather abandoned because my husband’s work is taking up almost all of his time lately. But there was a message in this text just for me.

Have I not commanded you?
Be strong and of good courage;
do not be afraid, nor be dismayed,
for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go
Joshua 1:9.
From the mouth of the Lord – Be strong. Be of good courage. Do not be afraid. Do not be dismayed. For the Lord your God is with you.

Even if things are hectic at work, though my husband is extremely busy with work and I feel lonely, God is with me. I can be strong and have courage. God is with me.

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