thinking thoughts

for me, a road trip = thinking time, and boy did i need the four days of driving we did this week!

i've been asked to speak at a women's retreat this fall and was given philippians 3 as my chapter.  you'll remember this chapter as the one where paul lists his credentials, counts them as loss, encourages us to press on (forgetting what is behind), and reminds us about our future home in heaven.

good stuff.

the only trouble i've been having in trying to prepare to speak on this, is what the focus should be.  i mean, someone could talk for a long time about any one of these ideas....but i'm supposed to talk about the whole chapter.  (should i just bring chair cushions for everyone and go for it??)  not only that, but when i'm going to a retreat, i really hope to hear something that i can apply to my daily life, something that softens my heart to hear what the Lord has for me.

with these things in mind, what do i say?

as i chatted with my hubby about some ideas i'd had, a quote came to mind from the book i've been savouring in my quiet time:

"too many of us live with an uncontrolled thought life." (Becoming More than a Good Bible Study Girl - Lysa Terkeurst)

this stopped me in my tracks when i read it a while ago and has been playing through my mind often.  i started to think about my assigned chapter and how my thought life plays a role in each of these things.  i got to thinking about how if i desire to give over every part of myself to the Lord and yet allow my mind and my thoughts to do as they will, i will never have the freedom, peace and victory i crave.

so this is where YOU come in, friend.

even if you don't plan to attend this retreat (Christian Ladies Retreat, September 9-10 at Faith Bible Camp - sign up today!), i'd love to hear your thoughts!  i love the idea of being able to share not only my own experience with the women at the retreat, but maybe yours too (no names mentioned, of course).

here's the question:

if "faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" (Heb 11:1),  share the importance of the role of your thoughts in terms of being rooted and flourishing in your faith ...  and ... share a time in your life that you suffered the consequence of "thoughts gone wild."

please take the time to help a sister out - chime in now! :)

too soon

it was supposed to be a light-hearted joke, but came out biting and resentful....

it was meant as an innocent question, but sounded intrusive and like gossip...

two examples too many of when I

spoke

too

soon.

I have lived long enough, at this point, to know that there is no value in talking "out of school."  Gossip will always come back and bite you and besides being sinful will ruin your reputation.  But alas, there are times when something comes out of my mouth in a way I never intended - by tone or by words. 

I like to think that I'm not a "worrier" and that I can keep most things in relative perspective, but the one thing I have a very hard time letting go of is the thought that my words or actions have hurt or offended someone.  Even if they don't seem to hold it against me, I tend to hold it against myself.

I know perfection is for the other side, and I work hard to be content with "good enough"....but if there's one thing I'd like perfect control over (or rather, be able to completely allow God to control)  it's my tongue.  Scripture talks alot about it and if you know anything at all about people, you know it's important to most everyone.

Set a guard over my mouth, LORD; 

   keep watch over the door of my lips.

psalm 141:3

a little bit more....in increasing meausre.....full submission...

is this thing on?

So today I'm doing something kind of new.  It's something I am, most appropriately put, anxiously awaiting. (Meaning: I'm a little anxious about it and am waiting to get it done!) 

Tonight I'm giving "the talk" at a Ladies Evening at the Maples Community Church.  The theme for the evening is "Reaching Out" which I felt was one of those 'God has a sense of humor' kind of moments given my blog from last month.

I'm not super-keen on public speaking, which probably seems silly given my job as a worship leader...  Though to be fair (to me!), this is a little different.  Rather than a sentence or two to provide a connecting thought between songs, or rather than sharing a five minute devotional, which I've done a few times, this is a little more.  A little more of myself, my heart, my view of the world and the Bible.

I prepared what I felt God would have me say over a week ago and have been practicing sounding natural - now that's an oxymoron!  In the last few days, I've started to doubt my material.  What if this isn't what they meant by 'reaching out', what if no one can relate to or understand what I'm trying say?

No coincidence, I'm sure, the verse I will be ending the talk with tonight is the one I need to hear on this afternoon leading up to it....

"For God did not give us a spirit of TIMIDITY, but a spirit of POWER, of LOVE and of SELF-DISCIPLINE." 2 Timothy 1:7

I've been praying for a long time that the Lord would use me in whatever way He sees fit, and have often wondered if an opportunity like this would present itself - and if I would be able to do it.  I guess I'm about to find out!

I think I'll go practice sounding natural one more time....