5x5x5 Bible Reading Plan

Beginning tomorrow, Randy and I will take a year-long journey, through the Word of God, reading it chronologically. I, of course, will be using The Message translation and Randy will be reading from the NIV. I can’t wait to read the Word of God like a story!

As I read through each chapter of this life transforming story, I’ll personalize my new Bible by using different colored pencils to underline scriptures that speak to a few areas in my life; character, maturity, family, and leadership. I’ll also keep my eye out for scriptures that illustrate the character of my Heavenly Father. Color-coding and mediating on these scriptures will have a huge impact on transforming me into something that looks a little more like Jesus this next year.

If you don’t currently have a Bible Reading plan, I want to encourage you to begin one in 2010. A great resource is Discipleship Journal’s 5x5x5 Bible Reading Plan – just 5 minutes a day, 5 days a week, with 5 ideas for digging deeper. Following this plan, you’ll take about 5 minutes to read pre-determined scriptures Monday thru Friday each week and spend the weekend mediating on what you’ve learned. You’ll learn 5 ways to dig deeper into the Bible that will equip you to begin applying what the Lord is teaching you to your life.

The link to download and print the 5x5x5 Bible Reading Plan is: http://www.navpress.com/uploadedFiles/5x5x5_BRP.pdf

Vertically Challenged

I’m vertically challenged. For real, my feet can barely reach the pedals in the Suburban, I frequently find myself climbing the shelves at Giant to reach things. I’m sure the employees just love it when I crawl into the freezer to reach the veggies on the top shelf... a little help please? I am forever getting myself into trouble at home for using the benches in the kitchen to get things down from the top shelves. Standing on the toilet seat is a big no-no that I forget from time to time as well. Then, if I don’t wear high heeled shoes to church my feet will not touch the floor. I’ve been known to sit indian-style in the pew from time to time. (That’s a little secret you CLA’ers can keep from Pastor Jim and Pete Spicher since "shoes on the pews" is probably a big no-no.)

Now this all may sound funny for someone that doesn’t live in a world where so many things are out of reach. If you’re one of those that think it’s funny, you try going to a small group in someone’s house, knowing that if you don’t get there in time to get the right seat, your feet will dangle like you are 10 years old or something. Then tell me if you are still laughing. I know I probably sound bitter and I’m really not. Well, not too bitter anyway.

Today, as I was struggling to touch the pedals in the boat Randy calls a vehicle and thinking about all the other places I have a hard time reaching, it occurred to me that at least there is always one place I can reach without a stool, or a bench, or a toilet seat (but it wasn’t ME that broke it, Randy!!!).

So where, you may ask, is that place that a vertically challenged girl like me can always get to without a stool? Psalm 11 says that we can run straight into the arms of God. Hmm... straight? I like that! That sounds to me like there’s no stool needed!

Transition

In just a few days, we will close the door on 2009 and begin the transition into 2010. The dictionary says that a transition is a movement, passage, or change from one position, state, stage, subject, concept, etc., to another.

As the New Year approaches, you may be wondering what movement, changes, or transition will occur in your life over the next 12 months. You know, you'll have no control over some of those changes, but for many of them, you'll either get to play a major role in the outcome or be the one to initiate the change.

So what movements or changes will you choose to impact and pursue in your life during the next year? Will you chose to impact positive changes in your family, your spiritual walk, or your physical body? Will you learn a new skill that will create movement in your career? Maybe you'll decide to take a class that will help change your concept of financial planning?

As a couple, Randy and I have chosen to set aside some time at the beginning of 2010, to dedicate to focused movement towards our Heavenly Father; to seek His plan and next steps for three specific areas in our lives… our family, our spiritual journey, and our calling.

I don't know what’s in store for you over the next 12 months, but I would encourage you to do the same, to take some time to seek God on how you can best transition into the New Year!

The Irreparable Past

I’m not big on New Year’s Resolutions (that’s a story for another day) but at the beginning of this year, I made just one commitment. It was to live out a quote that Oswald Chambers makes in his book, My Utmost for His Highest. It says, “Leave the irreparable past in His hands and step out into the irresistible future with Him.”

I posted those words on my refrigerator and as I read them each day, I allowed them to become more and more a part of me. Was placing the irreparable past in his hands easy? Absolutely not! 2008 was a tough year but I made a commitment to bundle it all up and place it into His hands. At times during 2009, I wanted to grab things back out of those same hands and fix them myself. Because, I, of course, know better than the God of the Universe, right? Yeah, I’m thinking, maybe not.

Eugene Peterson translates Jeremiah 29:11 to say, “I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.”

I have my own translation for this verse. (Watch out Eugene Peterson!) My translation goes something like this: “For crying out loud, Sherry, don’t you know by now that I know what I am doing?!?!? I’ve got a plan and its great plan. I’m not going to let you down. You know that future you hope for, well, who do you think planted it in your heart in the first place? I did and if you’ll just trust me – you’ll begin to see it unfold.”

I don’t know what 2009 was like for you. Perhaps you had a lot of great things happen, maybe you had more not-so-great things occur than you’d like to admit, or maybe your year was a mix of two. Regardless, as you journey into 2010, I want to encourage you to “Leave the irreparable past in His hands and step out into the irresistible future with Him.”

You won’t be disappointed!

Every Detail

At this time of year, as many of us reflect on the birth and life of our Lord Jesus, we also tend to become a little more reflective about our own lives. This weekend Randy and I talked about our life together and how every decision has led us to the next one and the next one. Combined each of those details have brought us to where we are today, both physically and in our walks with the Lord.

It’s not just the big things. There have been so many little things that have built on other little things that have impacted our journey. The most interesting thing is that on many of those things, big and little, we have either questioned God on (Why are you letting this happen?) or questioned ourselves on (What in the world where we thinking?!!?).

Ah, but what does Romans 8:28 say? “We can be so sure that every detail in our lives is worked into something good.”

Why do we tend to think it’s only the good stuff, our great decisions, our talents that God uses? The truth is, God uses it all, every little detail; our good stuff, our not-so-good stuff, our strengths, our weakness, our successes, our failures, our pain, and our joy. If we allow him to; he will use it all to weave into something incredibly amazing... our life story.

Is there something that stands out to you from the past year? A detail of 2009 that surprised you when you saw God use it to work into something good in your life story?

It's Starting to Look...

The Christmas tree is finally up and hey, Christmas is still 6 days away! I don’t think we have ever put up our tree this late! Starting a house project at the end of October is a very bad idea. In case anyone was wondering. Yeah, yeah, I know, it should have only taken a weekend or two. And we believed that because…? We are that naïve?!? Somebody slap us. Well, you can slap Randy – don’t slap me. I might cry.

The good news is that, this week… I found Jesus’ daddy hanging out where I didn’t think he would be (both in our Fisher Price Nativity and in my life), the Christmas tree is up, the little tree is lit on the front porch, there’s only a few gifts left to buy, tonight is Christmas movie night, Randy and I will have time to bake cookies and wrap present this weekend, it’s snowing like crazy, and it’s starting to look like a lot like Christmas!

Now if I can only get those Christmas cards in the mail on Monday...

Baby Jesus' Daddy Found!

We found baby Jesus’ Daddy today. Adin, one of the little boys I’m babysitting, picked up a little man and asked if he was the daddy. Yep, Baby Jesus’ Daddy was there all along; hanging out with the shepherds. I had mistaken Joseph for one of the shepherds because he was holding a staff in his hand. Ugh! Good thing I didn’t get the time to order the replacement Daddy from Fisher Price yet. I’m thinking my husband, Randy, would never have let me live that one down.

But, you know, the whole Jesus’ missing Daddy/found Daddy drama made me wonder how many times I miss my Father day-to-day because he doesn’t look quite like I thought he should look…

ROAD MAP For Growth

Our class lesson a few weeks ago in “transformed!” was entitled, A ROAD MAP for Growth. As a few of the ladies were unable to attend class that evening, I am finally posting the notes here on my blog.

You don’t have to stop reading if you are a guy… this applies to each of us as we grow to become transformed into something that looks a little more like Jesus each and everyday. You know, when it’s all said and done, the character of Christ formed in you and I is all that will matter as we stand before God in heaven.

ROAD MAP for Spiritual Growth

R – Recognize that you are a work in progress
There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears. Philippians 1:6

O – Overcome the urge to “get it all together” for God
Religion – the well-intentioned effort we make to “get it all together” for God – can very well get in the way of what God is doing for us. (Eugene H. Peterson)

A – Ask for Heavenly help
That's why he had to enter into every detail of human life. Then, when he came before God as high priest to get rid of the people's sins, he would have already experienced it all himself—all the pain, all the testing—and would be able to help where help was needed. Hebrews 2:17-18

D – Develop a game plan
Where there is no vision, the people perish. Proverbs 29:18 (KJV) When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. Proverbs 29:18 (NLT)

M –Make stops along the way to evaluate your progress
But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. Galatians 5:22

A – Allow the Word of God to transform you
Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God's way. 2 Timothy 3:16

P – Pursue an intimate relationship with Father God
Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. 2 Peter 1:3

Our time alone with God is where character is molded and shaped – it’s where we are open to listening to him and allowing him to develop character in us at all cost. (Bob Kapp)

Stalk Them!

I started working at McDonald’s when I was 18 years old. If you think their uniforms are bad now, you should have seen them then. I am still scarred from wearing those ugly things!! But as bad as the uniforms were, I learned some valuable lessons during those years.

The greatest lesson I probably learned was about setting and achieving goals. I wasn’t at the Big M very long before I knew I wanted to be a manager. (Don’t laugh, I know it’s not a very status-ey job but if you stick with it, the money is a lot better than you might think.)

So here I was, I wanted to be a manager but I had quite the dilemma because I knew I certainly wasn’t qualified to be one. That’s when I unofficially grasped the idea of mentoring. Back then, I didn’t know it was called that and I’m not even so sure the whole mentoring concept was quite as popular then as it is today. But I knew that if I wanted to be a manager, I was going to have to find someone that was not only a great manager themselves but was willing to invest the time to help me become one. That person was Tina Lightner. I stalked her. For real, I watched everything she did. I studied how she handled the employees and how she interacted with the customers. Anytime I had the chance to help her do something, I jumped at it. That gave me the opportunity to not just watch her but to do things myself while she stood close by.

At 23, when I decided I wanted to be a Classroom Trainer for Burger King; what did I do? I got around the classroom trainers. Again, I stalked them. When they were in town, I would go out to dinner with them and spend every moment I could with them. Not because I wanted the “status” of being with them, but because I had figured out pretty quickly that when I didn’t have the necessary skills in an area that I wanted to have success in, I needed to surround myself with people that did.

Over the years I have stalked several people; some of them in person and some by reading books and listening to CD’s. When Randy and I wanted to grow in our marriage, we spent as much time as we could with a very special couple. Some of you reading this know who I mean – Brett & Fran Deimler. We asked them questions, we watched how they interacted with each other. We spent so many Saturday’s out at their house, helping them do projects, playing ball, and watching them live out a great marriage in front of our very eyes. They told us that having a great marriage was just a decision. As crazy as it is, we believed them and today, I honestly don’t know one couple that has the marriage Randy and I have.

In March of 1999, I began my spiritual journey when a speaker named, Mark Gorman, spoke at a seminar I attended. I immediatly began to get my hands on every CD (well, back then cassette) of his that I could. When he spoke in my local area, I went. Without even personally knowing me, he helped to lay a great foundation for my spiritual journey and that played a big part in me becoming the Sherry you see today. So if you have a complaint on who I've become, feel free to contact him at MarkGorman.com.

A few years later, God brought Pastor Bob Kapp into my life. I saw characteristics in his life that I wanted in mine. Over the last several years I have grown leaps and bounds in each of those areas by watching him and being coached by him. He too, has helped to shaped me into the Sherry I am today. Most of you know where to find him, so if you have a complaint and can’t find Mark Gorman…

Today, I continue to seek out people that are where I want to be in the different areas of my life. Most recently, I joined Weight Watchers. Why? Well, obviously to lose weight but it is more than that. It may seem silly to pay money to have someone weigh you each week when, as my 13 year old son, Nick, informed me, “there is a scale upstairs.” But it is so much more than that. It’s about learning from people that have successfully achieved what I am looking achieve.

I don’t know what it is for you; what area of life you are ready to grow in. But no matter what it is, I want to encourage you to latch onto someone that is where you want to be and stalk them!

Lost Daddy

This week, we lost a daddy in the Webb family. No, Randy isn’t out of town and Grandpa is still doing quite well, causing mischief in Boiling Springs. The daddy we lost is about two inches high and is supposed to sit beside Mary in our Fisher Price nativity. But on Tuesday, while Mia (my three year old) and I were dusting, I found that he was missing. I was pretty sad because we just bought this set last Christmas and already “someone” is missing. Ugh! Mia knew that her Mama was sad; she even tried to convince me that her little, plastic, pink teddy bear was Joseph.

I certainly don’t want to spend another $30 on a new set, but daddies are important. We’ve got to find Jesus’ daddy! So yesterday, I started tearing the house apart looking for him. I looked in all the furniture, in baskets, in the kitchen, I even cleaned up the play room! But still no daddy for Jesus; how sad is that?

While I searched the house for this 2 inch toy, that represents Christ’s earthly father, I started to wonder how many of us would search that frantically for Christ’s Heaven Father – OUR Heavenly Father. Would we search that franticallly for him in those times when he seems to be “missing” from our lives. You know the times I mean, right? The times when you’re going along on your spiritual journey, things are going great in your relationship with God, you’re connected, he whispers in your ear, times of worship are intense, and you just feel his presence all over you. Then you wake up one morning and realize that connectedness is gone. And you wonder where it went, how long it’s been gone, and why you didn’t notice before.

During those times, what do you and I do? Do we search frantically like I did yesterday for the missing toy? Or do we get all logical and just order a replacement part from Fisher Price? Today, I’ve got to face the fact that I may not find Jesus’ 2 inch daddy, the daddy that sits with Mary on my TV stand; that I may be logging onto Fisher Price’s website tomorrow. Ah, but it is so reassuring to know that I’ll never need to “Google” a replacement part for Jesus’ Heavenly Father. God’s Word tells us in Jeremiah 29:13 that, "When you come looking for me, you'll find me. Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed it.”

So if you’re in one of those places, and we all have from time to time, wondering why you don’t sense God presence like you once did, I want to encourage you to go looking for him, get serious – you won’t be disappointed!

God's Alarm Clock

I woke up at 4 o’clock this morning and couldn’t fall back to sleep. No, I didn’t drink too much coffee yesterday. Well, okay, that might be a lie, I probably did drink too much coffee but I don't think that’s what woke me up. No, the alarm clock didn’t go off too early. Well, not the one on the dresser anyway – you know, the one that is always set 15 minutes fast, for some absurd reason... that one didn’t go off at 4 AM. But I have a feeling that a different alarm clock was responsible for waking me up. God’s alarm clock. I have found that most often when I wake up in the wee hours and can’t fall back to sleep, it’s one of two things. Either God has laid a situation or a person on my heart to pray for or he is up to something in my life. Since this morning, I had no urge to pray for any particular person or situation, that can mean only one thing – God is probably up to something.


You've got to be kidding me! God does realize it’s like only 15 days ‘til Christmas, right? I’m sure he knows that our tree is not up because we are in the middle of what is close to becoming a year-long home project. And he’s definitely got to know that I’ve only bought maybe three Christmas gifts so far and that my Christmas cards are sitting on the counter begging to be addressed and mailed. I’m pretty sure he knows all that, yet still, he is up to something. The real question is: Is Sherry up for whatever God is up to?


So in the chaos of December with lots of decisions to make, many things and people screaming for my attention; it’s time to step back, fold up my agenda, and have a long heart-to-heart with my Heavenly Father. As I crawl onto his lap and step into the center of his love, I will find that what’s on his agenda is way more important than what was on mine.