Judging by Darin's very early and enthusiastic start this morning and my (failed) attempt to make today extra-fabulous, Pastor Brady has effectively provoked us to look into our attitudes about the beginning of a new week.(I highly recommend downloading his podcasts, by the way-- http://www.newvisionlife.com/sermons/sermon-archives/2014-sermons/nomoremondays/)
My usual reaction to feeling the need for a change in my life is to create a measurable habit, and lately that means forcing them on my family, as well.
My usual reaction to feeling the need for a change in my life is to create a measurable habit, and lately that means forcing them on my family, as well.
So I set out to bring hope to my Monday. We've had a list of 52 verses to memorize on the side of our refrigerator for... oh, I don't know... probably almost 52 weeks, but today we're going to start the memorization. I wanted to specifically chose a verse that would hold meaning for my Mady Jane this week as she starts Kindergarten. I'm honestly expecting an unexpected reaction from her. School would seem to be right up her alley--she's clever, talkative, energetic... loves activity, structure, and people--but so far her thoughts on school have only been devastation about what she might be missing out on while she's there. I wanted a verse that she could think of when faced with __________ (whatever emotion she might surprise me with) on Wednesday.
"When I am afraid, I put my trust in you."
Psalm 56:3
That'll do. Not just for Mady and school, but for all of us around here this week. We have quite a bit on our minds; it would not hurt at all for this reminder to be our first response to any type of fear. We wrote it out and came up with motions... only to later decide we needed to learn the actual sign language. Mady always has a concern for doing things the formal way. Not sure we're doing the sign language correctly, but we'll figure it out and maybe post a video later--maybe. I even found a picture of the verse to put as my wallpaper on my phone.
I tried to find a song that could encourage this theme for us this week. I searched in several different ways and kept coming back to "Oceans" by Hillsong United. I love this song. Love it. I feel like it hit me in a huge way last summer and has almost been like an anthem for me for over a year now. It is powerful and incredibly applicable to not only my life, but several people's lives around me. Ironically, it was also the wallpaper I was replacing on my phone this week. And, if I'm being honest, I was not thrilled about replacing it. I knew Mady could use my phone to work on the verse (which, in turn, is also helping with her reading and spelling). But, in some strange way, changing my wallpaper made me feel like I had to let go of that lyric, and that made me feel some weird sort of sadness. Side note: I'm not generally a sentimental person. I try to avoid emotional attachment to objects. Oddly, song lyrics are the secret exception to my non-sentimentality. (There. The secret's out.)
So out with the old wallpaper, but in with the new-that-still-applies-to-the-old-so-I-don't-have-to-totally-move-on-yet. :) Just learning to trust around here. Even in "the great unknown." Even "where [my] feet may fail." Clinging to that this week. If you see my family a week from now, test our memorization! It's going to be a great habit. And next Monday doesn't stand a chance!
I think I saw on Facebook that you were going to start blogging. So I figured I'd follow along. I love the Monday scripture reading and also your friends theme titles
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