LIVE A LIFE OF NO REGRETS!!: Happy New Year

Quote from "Stepping Heavenward" by Mrs. E. Prentiss

"She says I shall now have one mouth more to fill and two feet the more to shoe, more disturbed nights, more laborious days, and less leisure or visiting, reading, music and drawing.

Well! This is one side of the story, to be sure, but I look at the other.

Here is a sweet, fragrant mouth to kiss; here are two more feet to make music with their pattering about my nursery. Here is a soul to train for God; and the body in which dwells is worthy of all it will cost, since it is the abode of a kingly tenant. I may see less of friends, but I have gained one dearer than them all, to whom, while I minister in Christ's name, I make a willing sacrifice of what little leisure for my own recreation my other dear darlings had left me. Yes, my precious baby, you are welcome to her time, her strength, her health, her tenderest cares, to her lifelong prayers! Oh, how rich I am, how truly, wondrously blest!"

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Happy New Year

It’s always exciting to start a new year. When I was younger, I always made all kinds of plans that seemed to slowly fall by the way side as the excitement faded. As I’ve grown older, I didn’t make too many resolutions on January 1 so I wouldn’t be too disappointed in myself. We’d just work on things as we went. Somehow, we still have made some pretty good habits, but still have areas that need work. I have that excitement again this year like I did when I was young, however my goals may be tempered a bit by experience of what I can realistically accomplish, and what will be setting myself up for failure. I think the excitement was sparked knowing I could have not made it to 2013 facing cancer a year+ ago. Because the Lord gave me more time here with my earthly family, I want even more to live purposely. Over the next week, I’ll be posting different areas of goals I’ve set out for our family.

Today’s goals will be our Bible reading plan. I have a laminated picture I made and placed on our refrigerator years ago that says, “Do Not Feed Your Face until You’ve Fed Your Spirit.” So, we've worked on being consistently reading the Word in the morning.

We will be reading through the Bible this year. We read it daily last year at the breakfast table (or from my sick chair) reading 2 chapters a day. I let the children read when they want to. When they don’t, we go to Biblegateway.com and choose to listen to the KJV Dramatized audio. Then I use “Balancing the Sword” from Vision Forum by Allen B Wolfe to ask questions to check their comprehension. This year they want to be sure we do the entire Bible in a year. Our plan is to do Old Testament readings in the mornings, New Testament readings in the evenings, and the Psalms/Proverbs at lunch. Here is what our first week looks like.

1-Jan	B'fast: Gen. 1-3	Lunch Psalms 1, 31, 61, 91, 121, Proverbs 1	Dinner: Matthew 1
2-Jan	Gen 4-6	Psalms 2, 32, 62, 92, 122, Proverbs 2	Matthew 2
3-Jan	Gen 7-9	Psalms 3, 33, 63, 93, 123, Proverbs 3	Mathew 3
4-Jan	Gen 10-12	Psalms 4, 34, 64, 94, 124. Proverbs 4	Matthew 4
5-Jan	Gen 13-15	Psalms 5, 35, 65, 95, 125. Proverbs 5	Matthew 5:1-26
6-Jan	Gen 16-17	Psalms 6, 36, 66, 96, 126. Proverbs 6	Matthew 5:2-48
7-Jan	Gen 18-19	Psalms 7, 37, 67, 97, 127. Proverbs 7	Matthew 6:1-18