Lisa notes

Start

Sometimes step 1 is the hardest.

We think about all the other steps that will follow. And it seems too much. We’re overwhelmed at the thought.

So we do nothing.

I have a preferred regimen for my daily Bible reading. It’s a 2-year plan. It alternates two weeks in the Old Testament with one week in the New Testament.

I like to read my assigned chapters on my Kindle in bed in the morning. I highlight possible verses to journal about later. Then mid-afternoon, I read through old notes on those chapters. And journal about one new verse.

Except I haven’t been doing it.

Not at all.

The past few months I got out of the habit. I was trying to get other things accomplished, so I kept pushing it aside. And nothing is wrong with that. We’re not obligated to read our Bibles every morning.

But I want to read the verses. I like to. And I’ve missed it.

So to start again, I made a decision.

Instead of waiting until I can go through the whole routine again, I’m only going to do the reading. And forget about the journaling. For now. When our current memory challenge is over and #write31days is over and traveling slows down, I hope to pick back up the habit of reading previous journal notes and writing new journal notes.

But just because I can’t do it all doesn’t mean I can’t do some.

So I’ll do some instead of none.

Starting . . . now.

Three Questions

Here are our three questions of the day:

(1) What time do you wake up and get up on a typical weekday?

(2) Is there a project you’ve started but have stalled on?

(3) What spiritual discipline has God led you to use most effectively?

* * *

What are your answers? Please share in the comments.

My answers

(1) I wake up to stay about 4:30am but I like to lie in bed and read or listen to podcasts for a couple of hours if I can before actually getting up. My goal is always to go back to sleep, but that rarely happens.

(2) Ugh, yes. Converting home video tapes to digital.

(3) Memorizing scripture is one favorite way I stay in close contact with God throughout my day (and night).

More here

• A 2-Year Bible Reading Plan
  Here is a plan to read the Bible through in 2 years instead of just 1. Be successful and finish slower instead of starting and giving up quickly.
• Start in Private
  We carefully cultivate our outward image. But what about our private life? If no one sees it, does it matter?
• Not Ready? Just Show Up
  Even when you’re not prepared, just show up anyway. God will show up, too.

Get the whole Handmade series here

Audience

Do you like having an audience?

Maybe it depends on your personality type.

As an introvert, I do not like being the center of attention. I’d rather be in the crowd than on the stage. I’m more quiet than loud.

I don’t want all eyes on me when I’m opening a birthday gift or everyone listening when I’m telling a story.

But I’m glad we don’t have to get loud or have all eyes on us for God to be listening.

He hears. He sees. He loves.

Just the way we need it.

Just the way he made us.

Three Questions

Here are our three questions of the day:

(1) Would you rather be on the stage performing or in the audience listening?

(2) When have you been the center of attention?

(3) When God gives you a message to send out, how are you most comfortable delivering it to the world?

* * *

What are your answers? Please share in the comments.

My answers

(1) In the audience

(2) Probably on my birthday

(3) I much prefer to share a message through written words. It gives me time to think about it first. And nobody is staring at me if they’re reading.

More here

• You Have a Word…And an Audience
  I check the pockets before I put my shorts in the washer. I find words. Everybody has a word. Speak one. Hear one. Be a witness.
• Don’t Compare; Just Create
  I went to a unique competition last night to watch Barry. But was it about comparing or creating?
• It’s Not About Looking Good
  I’m trying not to be all wedding, all the time. But because it’s near, it’s consuming a lot of my head space. And sparking anxious thoughts.

Get the whole Handmade series here

Convert

Turn around. Head a different direction.

That’s what convert really means.

We often use conversion in our religious vocabulary. It’s the point of turning from one way of life, or one set of beliefs, to a new way of life and a new set of beliefs.

For some of us it’s hard to pinpoint a particular moment that conversion occurred.

I grew up hearing about Jesus my whole life. I believed from the beginning.

In my heritage, water baptism was the defining moment. The summer between 5th grade and 6th grade was when I went under the water. I did feel fresh and washed clean.

Keep Converting

But God continues to bring me times of conversion. Periods when faith shifts, even if slightly. Or seasons where change occurs rapidly.

These conversions are no less real than my initial conversion experience.

Any time we wake up and head a different direction, we’re experiencing conversion.

God can and will use almost anything to get our attention. To change us. To refine us. To love us.

And I’m glad.

Three Questions

The questions of the day are:

(1) Do you order quickly or agonize over the menu at a restaurant you frequent?

(2) Was water baptism part of your conversion experience?

(3) Who has God used in your past or now to shape your spirituality?

* * *

What are your answers? Please share in the comments.

My answers

(1) Quickly. I tend to order my one favorite thing again and again.

(2) Yes.

(3) Fran from Manna House has rocked my spiritual world the past 6 years. She demonstrates what it means to love the unlovely.

More here

• Changing, Yet Changed
  I sang the words on Sunday. But which ones do I really believe? Can we be changed and changing at the same time?
• Reframing the Soul
  Just like a frame around a picture, our words frame our lives. Can we change the frame by changing our words?
• When Change Is Slow, Baby Step It
  Whenever the gap between worry and acceptance shrinks, it’s a win. And even if baby steps are all I take, I’ll praise God for them.

Get the whole Handmade series here

Search

I’m looking for something. Extra time.

Is it any wonder I keep losing my watch?

I like to keep a cheap sports watch. (Yes, kids, some people still wear watches, a clock on their arm, instead of using only their phones as clocks.)

I had a favorite black watch. I lost it. Two months later, on the day I gave up finding it, on my way out the door to buy a new one, I found it.

Then lost it again a few weeks later.

So I bought a new gray watch. And two months later, I left the gray watch in a golf cart at PAR’s charity golf tournament. Gone.

Then last week? Jeff found my old black one in his truck.

Need More?

I always think I need more time, more time. There are so many things I want to do. And not enough time to do them in.

But do we need more time?

We’re often addicted to wanting more. Of everything.

• More time
• More information
• More stuff

And more Jesus?

We think we haven’t figured out enough about religion. We haven’t put all the pieces together about how God works. We’re unsure if our feelings are intense enough to qualify as “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.”

So we keep looking for more.

Call Off the Search

Jesus spoke to this very issue.

The apostle John recorded Jesus saying this to people of his time (John 5:39-40, The Message):

“You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you’ll find eternal life there. But you miss the forest for the trees. These Scriptures are all about me!

And here I am, standing right before you, and you aren’t willing to receive from me the life you say you want.”

Do we do this, too?

Do we have an addiction to searching? (Don’t ask how many times a day I google.)

What if today, just for today, we went directly to Jesus first instead of searching for him first in sermons and devotionals and church services?

Granted, he can be found in those places, too. Let’s notice his presence everywhere.

But if he is already with us, maybe we should call off the dogs. Stop the frantic search. Welcome his company instead.

Jesus is here.

This Is Enough

I can call off the search for extra time, too. I have enough time to do the things God wants me to do. I don’t have to sacrifice peace for projects.

I know where my watch is now. I’m putting it nightly in a jewelry box on my bedroom dresser. And I’ll try to leave it on when I’m out, not take it off and set it down.

No more searching.

This is enough.

Three Questions

Here are our three questions of the day:

(1) What’s your go-to for researching info? Google? Siri? A real person?

(2) What have you lost that really bothered you?

(3) What do you wish God would give you more of?

* * *

What are your answers? Please share in the comments.

My answers

(1) I google (they handle over 3 billion searches a day!).

(2) I lost our marriage certificate somewhere along the way.

(3) Is it hypocritical to still say I want more time? I’m a work-in-progress with it.

More here

• Missing Something? 5 Steps to Find It
  Have you lost your peace? Joy? Rest? Here at 5 steps to find what’s missing through the parable of the Lost Coin.
• You’ve Figured Out the Bible?
  Who among us has figured out the Bible? We aren’t always right. But we are always loved. That’s what matters most.
• When You Are Confused, Is God?
  Things happen we don’t understand. We get confused and anxious. What happens to our faith in these moments?

Get the whole Handmade series here