Thursday, August 6, 2015

Where Did July Go?

Is anyone else asking themselves that question!! SHEESH!! We've hit August and all the stores are putting back to school things out on the shelves and I'm like, "Hey, I'm still trying to enjoy my summer here!";-) No, but really, we've enjoyed our July FULLY! There have been ups and downs for me as a camp wife and mom, but God has been on the move. He's been drawing me to himself in the midst of all of the Chaos!

The kiddos enjoyed a week of VBS at a local church, but I didn't get any cool pics! We've hosted guest after guest at our home and though we wouldn't have it any other way it has been exhausting. It's that deep down, GOOD type of exhaustion though. When you know you're spent on the RIGHT things! I LOVE that about the ministry God has called our family to. There are plenty of sacrifices we make, but at the end of the day, they are minuscule in light the blessings we receive! I don't always do a great job maintaining this perspective, but when I get before the Lord, the proper perspective ALWAYS reappears!

Which brings me to what I'm super excited about this week... I got wind of this free app. called First 5. You can find out more about it HERE. But the gist is getting with God for the first five minutes of your day. My typical "quiet" times with the Lord are after breakfast is cleaned up and the kiddos are distracted with activities and toys. I always find myself getting interrupted and although I'm refreshed by the time, it wasn't enough for me. It's always better to be serving out of overflow then trying to conjure up the right attitude...

So, about the app, they have SUPER SWEET alarms to wake up by and a scripture with a short devotional to focus on with a simple question at the end to answer in your "moments" notebook (also provided by the app.) People, ok, I've only been doing it for four days, but I have been so REFRESHED! God is totally honoring a commitment to getting with Him FIRST. Yep, before even putting my feet on the floor! It has given me perspective for my day and even speaks purpose into my day early in the morning. It makes the Psalmist so wise when he writes, "...in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly." Psalm 5:3

Anyway, this is really working for me right now!! Praise God!! Since I started having children, I have struggled (well, actually all of my Christian walk) with spending time with Him FIRST. I always just figured, hey, if I get in the word TODAY, I'll be good. It just makes so much sense to me now to do it first thing. My time with Him can blossom into every decision I make throughout the rest of my day.

Hey now, no pressure for anyone out there who is not getting it in with the Lord in the morning because as you can read, I totally get you, but I'm super pumped that this is happening in life right now and would encourage everyone to give it a try (after all, even Jesus was up early communing with the Father Mark 1:35), so GO CHECK OUT THAT APP!!:-)

Wanting to post some summer pics soon!!