Showing posts with label MASTERPIECE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MASTERPIECE. Show all posts

Day 11: MASTERPIECE (+ Being Content With What I DO Have)


Each day during The PURSE-onality Challenge: "A Holiday-Ready Heart" in October, Untangling Christmas by Karen Ehman and LeAnn Rice, will be our give-away prize!  

Enter via the Rafflecopter at the end of the blog post or click here to enter!




I was planning to blog about how easy it is to focus on the externals during the holidays: 
  • Decorating our homes.
  • Wrapping the gifts.
  • Dressing our children and ourselves for special events

And I was going to admit that I really don't like decorating my home for the holidays...but I didn't really know why!

 Then a couple of catalogs with holiday-themed covers showed up in the mail, and immediately I had my answer:  

 When I decorate for the holidays, I focus on what I don't have rather than what I do have!

 This realization sparked today's 2-part vlog:

 Part 1 talks about the artificial sense of "you need this!" that invades our homes and thoughts during the holiday season.

 Part 2 discusses how each of the four PURSE-onalities can switch her focus from discontent to contentment during the holidays.  


(Don't see Part 1 of the video? Access A Holiday-Ready Heart Day 11: MASTERPIECE, Part 1 via YouTube!)


(Don't see Part 2 of the video? Access A Holiday-Ready Heart Day 11: MASTERPIECE, Part 2 via YouTube!)


Today's verse reminds me that I don't need anything external in order to be content. I am already God's masterpiece. 

For we are God's masterpiece. 
He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, 
so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago. 

Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)

I can focus on what I do have because I don't need anything to make me a master chef (or decorator or dresser or...)

 I am already God's masterpiece!


Your Turn!

  • How well do you focus on what you do have, rather that what you don't have, in general? At the holidays? 
  • How do the holidays usually impact your contentment: increase it or decrease it? Why?
  • What do you find tends to cause you an out-of-the-blue sense of "I need this!"?
  • Anything else on your heart!


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TPC "lite": The "Forgotten" Box

(Welcome to a whole new week of drawings for YOUR choice(s) from these great prizes with several ways to enter each day! Click on the post title above to get to the blog and then scroll down to the Rafflecopter at the bottom of the post, or go to our Facebook page and click the Rafflecopter tab!)



“Hey, the box is gone!” 
Surprised that Daniel had noticed so quickly, I called upstairs, “Yeah, it’s my de-clutter for today.”

“Cool! Now I won’t trip over it any more!”

Trip over it? 
I didn’t realize the box had been that much in his way. 
To me, it’s just been the leftover box from our last move, two years ago. When I could stand unpacking no more, I shoved it in the closet, and it’s been sitting there ever since. 
Well, except when it’s been tripping my husband!
Replacing Baditude
I can’t tell you for sure what’s in the box because I’ve not looked in it yet. (I think it’s a ton of old nylons that need to be washed, sorted, mended, tossed, and who-knows-what-elsed!)

The “baditudes” I’m pondering today involve my habit of putting stuff off ‘til later because I don’t want to deal with it now. Then getting comfortable not dealing with it. To the point that I fail to notice it’s tripping up someone I love.
One word that comes to mind is procrastination.
Another is denial.
I’d love to tell you that this one stray box is my only evidence of such “baditudes.”
But the point of TPC “lite” is being honest with myself.
With God’s Word
On Day 12, I wrote that God allows nothing – not even my failure to grow up – stand in the way of His love to me.
(Can't view image? Click here to read Romans 8:39!)

I am inseparable from God’s love. He’ll never shove me in a closet and forget about me or pretend I don't exist. 
On Day 11, I wrote:
God is shining His spotlight 
on you and me.
Not because of us.
Because of who we’ve become
by the chisel of his kindness
by the paintbrush of his grace
Created anew!
(Can't view image? Click here to read Ephesians 2:10!)


I am God’s masterpiece. He is so proud of me, He says, “That’s my girl!”

I need to let go of procrastination. Now. 
I need to Let God's assurance that nothing will ever separate me from His love encourage me to separate from stuff I’ve not bothered to deal with for two full years.
I need to let go of denial. Really. 
I need to Let God have access to all of me, even...especially the parts I’d far rather hide in a closet for another two years.
And Gratitude
from my journal:
Today I’m praying…
  • ...for willingness to see the other "boxes" in my life.
  • ...for the courage to let go of all the "boxes" in my life.

Today I’m watching for…
  • ...other ways my clutter and “baditudes” are tripping up my Melancholy husband.
  • ...a simple way to have some Sanguine fun today.

Today I’m appreciating…
  • ...God’s gentleness as He helps me grow. It’s starting to rub off!
  • ...the empty spaces that are showing up throughout the house. 


Your turn! 

  • What "baditude" do you think/know is lurking in "forgotten" boxes? 
  • How can you flip it to gratitude?
  • Other thoughts / reflections / insights on today's topic?

After you comment, be sure to head to the TPC "lite" Rafflecopter for 10 entries into this week's drawing!  

And when you share this blog post on Facebook, you'll get 25 entries!


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Day 11: MASTERPIECE


Our Give-Away for Today!


When a Woman Discovers Her Dream: Finding God's Purpose for Your Life

What is the Dream that God Designed You to Live?

When it comes to living out the dream God has placed on your heart, do you shrug your shoulders and say "It's too late...it's too far out of reach...it's too impossible for someone like me?" You can live out that dream - no matter what age and place in life. 
Through this book, Cindi will empower you to:
  • explore God's unique purpose for your life
  • verbalize new dreams for the first time
  • resurrect lost dreams and see them to fruition
  • make greater use of your uniqueness and special gifts
  • find the boldness to give up a draining career and pursue the dream you've always wanted
Cindi McMenamin is an award-winning writer and speaker, helping women discover strength for the soul. She has more than 20 years experience ministering to women and inspiring them to let God meet their emotional needs, grow stronger through their alone times, and pursue their dreams with boldness.

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Crowning achievement.
Me?
Magnum opus.
Me?
Piece de resistance.
Me?
Be real.
Paint
Do you have any idea how much help I need 
to look good enough for church? 
Sure, I “clean up okay”–
thanks to my friend Mary Kay! 
But my life needs far more than make-up:
My track record
is blemished beyond concealer

My past
is stained by the deep blush of shame

My deeds
are pitted beyond polish

My memories
lie in dark shadows
No amount of make-up will make me a masterpiece.
Chisel
Do you have any idea 
how much would need to be removed 
for me to become a civil human being? 


For starters:


My annoyance with drivers 
who can’t seem to find their turn signals


My fury with my husband 
when he tells me what we’re doing 
rather than asking me 
if it’s convenient for me.


My dismay with my children 
when they don’t act like 
my white-washed version 
of who I tell myself I was 
at their age.


My peevishness at Starbucks 
when they don’t have any more
cranberry orange scones 
at 5:30 PM.

Chip away at my faults and nothing 
will be left to put on display!
Me?
(Can't see image? Download Ephesians 2:10 here.)

Seriously, this has to be a mistake.
There's no way on earth 
(literally!) 
that I am 
God’s masterpiece.
Don’t get me wrong; it sounds lovely. 
Amazing, in fact, but
too good to be true.
I know myself too well.
I can never be that good.
Good enough to go on display?!?
God!
But 
it is written: 
God is shining His spotlight 
on you and me.
Not because of us.
Because of who we’ve become
by the chisel of his kindness
by the paintbrush of his grace
Created anew!
To do the good things he’s been planning just for us!
(Not doing good things 
so that we can recreate ourselves. 
The lie
that we are our own artists
is the enemy’s "masterpiece"
but that’s a story for another day.)
In you and me,
He unveils for all to see 
His greatest work, His labor of love,
His most precious perfect gift:
the rescue and recreation of
our true selves in Him
for all eternity!




Try this today:  (1) If you haven't seen it before, or recently, take 12 minutes to take "God's Chisel" to heart: 





(If you can not see the embedded video, click here to go directly to "God's Chisel".)


(2) Find an artist's tool – a paintbrush, a small palette, a colored pencil–and place it near your mirror. Each day, when you see it, say aloud, "Jesus, I choose to trust you when you say that I am Your masterpiece!"

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
To enter today’s drawing, leave a comment 
  • responding to today’s blog, and/or
  • sharing your Day #1-11 experience of replacing “baditude” with God’s word and gratitude, and/or
  • about anything else on your heart!
Drawing winners 6-8 will be announced soon!

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(Catch up on any "Warm-Up Week" Blog Posts!)

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