Spring Cleaning

Have you done any "Spring Cleaning" lately? The past few weeks I have been trying to do a few projects around the house to prepare for company that is coming to my house this week. I try to keep my house neat and relatively picked up most of the time. Sometimes I get busy and things don't always get put up instantly when I am finished using them, but for the most part my house is usually "company ready". But I still like to clean a little deeper if I know I lot of people are going to be in my house for some strange reason. I know call me crazy! I also know keeping a clean and tidy house will not get me to heaven any faster...and I hope that a cluttered office at work doesn't keep me from heaven! So after tonight I am ready inside and outside of my home for my company since I just finished my "Spring Cleaning" projects. Here are a few of my favorite rooms in my home. 

I love my kitchen! I love cooking and baking in here,
but this single girl doesn't get in here nearly enough
since cooking for 1 is crazy. Yes, I eat a big majority
of my meals at home but they aren't all "home-cooked".  

The other 1/2 of the kitchen. No matter how much company
I have over we always end up in the kitchen! I am thinking my
salt and pepper collect has outgrown their shadow boxes.
Don't you think?!?! 

After a long day nothing is better than this bed...
Can you tell it's special? I love it!
(It's been in my family I'm guessing  over 50 years.)

I addition to the "Spring Cleaning" at my house I have also been doing another type of "Spring Cleaning". I have been attending and participating in a ladies bible study over the course of the past several years. In the last few months we have been cleaning house together! We just completed studying the book "Spiritual Spring Cleaning" by Debbie Schmid. This book helped me realize that just like our houses need a little "Spring Cleaning" so do our lives. We must all go through a spiritual cleaning periodically in order to be truthful to ourselves and live up to our fullest potential as Christian ladies and gentlemen.God laid out a perfect cleaning manual for everyone in the Bible. We must study the scriptures in order to find His plan of salvation. 

This year I have been challenging myself to dig deeper into the scriptures and focus more on my spiritual life. My goal is to get to heaven one day and take others with me. I am not perfect and God knows that. That is why His forgiveness and His grace is so important. His grace saves us through faith if we have belief and obedience. If we confess our sins and repent we are forgiven, but He told us that not everyone will enter the kingdom of heaven. Only those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter heaven. We have an easy plan to follow...God's plan is:  

1. You must hear the message (Romans 10:17). 
2. You must believe that Jesus is the Son of God who was sent to Earth to shed His blood, so our sins could be washed away (John 8:24).
3. You must repent of your sin. (Luke 13:3).
4. You must be willing to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Matthew 10:32-33).
5. You must be baptized in water for the forgiveness of your sins (Acts 2:38)
6. And you must remain faithful and obedient until the end of your life (Revelation  2:10). 

We all will have to give an account for our lives to God on judgement day according to Romans 14:12. If we want His love, His grace, His forgiveness, and His gift of the Holy Spirit then we all have to obey His Plan of salvation in order to have an eternal home in heaven. If you're not a Christian and have got questions let me know and maybe I can help you before it is too late. I might not know the answer instantly, but I sure know a good book we can use as a reference plus I'm sure we can always use a life line by praying to God and/or calling & seeking out the advice of another Christian! 

Service

 

 

For those of you who do not know this pledge it is the "4-H Club" pledge. I learned this pledge in the 4th grade at Celina K-8 and it has been something near and dear to my heart since. I got the opportunity to share my 4-H passion as a 4-H Youth Development Extension Agent in Franklin County, Tennessee from 2006-2009. My favorite line is "My hands to large service". Service is an act of helpful activity, help, or aid. My parents taught me this from a very young age long before I was a 4-H'er. Serving and giving is a passion of mine. I love giving back and helping others. Sometimes I have a hard time saying NO. I know Jesus says that it is better to give than to receive according to Acts 20:35. Matthew 5:16 says, "In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." I don't think God would give me more than I could handle, so I'm up for the challenge!

 

Today I got to help out a fellow Christian sister. She has been under the weather for the past few days and she asked if I could fill in for her. So I said yes! Tonight I got the opportunity to help her out and teach the teen girls class during the bible study hour. My normal teaching quarter is July-September and I've always taught elementary kids bible classes, so tonight was a little different, but I enjoyed the challenge and new opportunity to teach the teen girls class. 

 

On the agenda tonight was to start a character study of the women in the bible, so we kicked it off learning about Eve tonight. I challenged the girls to not blame others like both Adam and Eve did when they sinned and ate the forbidden fruit in the garden. I challenged them to stop the blame game and own up to their sin. "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" 1 John 1:8-9. I know that I am not perfect and I am as guilty as everyone else about playing the "blame game" of blaming others for my sins. We must own up to our sins and confess them instead of blaming our friends, parents, spouse, job, your circumstance, finances, God, etc. We can enjoy forgiveness and peace when we confess our sins. 

 

I am thankful for Eve and the possibilities that I might one day be given because of her sinful act in the garden (thinking about a future family one day...). Because of Adam & Eve and their sin we get to experience childbirth, husbands being the head of the household, hard work, labor & service, and death. These are just a few thoughts about all the future possibilities that lie ahead in life for me and possibly you...   

What is genuine beauty?

Today while preparing for an upcoming ladies bible study the question was posed "What is genuine beauty?". I was also challenged and made to think about being strangers with family and friends. Sometimes “what we think” others are going through is actually way different than what they are actually going through. As humans a lot of times we assume things. We have an outward view of others and our viewpoints are skewed a lot of times because we do not know the "whole story" or we just assume instead of seeking out the truth. These questions got me to thinking about true inner beauty and outer beauty. 

We are all special and uniquely made. God created each individual beautiful and special. We know He loves us by the promises that he gives us. In 1 Peter 5:7 we are told that we should cast all of our anxiety on Him because He cares for us. “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” 1 John 3:16. We were made in God’s image and we should be at peace with ourselves so whenever others might put us down or talk bad about us we should remember that the Lord will never forsake us. “Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said ‘I will NEVER desert you, nor will I ever forsake you’” Hebrews 13:5.   

Beauty comes from the inside. It does not take into consideration what one has on or how one appears. True beauty radiates from within someone and beams out for others to see. God is the provider of "beauty" and it is His spirit that shines through us that others see the outward form of beauty on the outside.

Inner beauty can be attributed to the “fruits of the spirit” that are mentioned in Galatians 5:22-25. These “fruits of the spirit” are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. We are all human and seek out the advice of others and the help of beauty products sometimes. Yes, we put emphasis on outward beauty at times whenever we focus on our hair, makeup, nails, skincare, fashion, body shape and size. Some people do this more than others, but in the whole scheme of everything we should ask ourselves “what really matters”. We should seek out a balance of inner and outer beauty. I believe it is genuine beauty and “inner beauty” that should be our main focus. However, tonight many around the world watch the biggest sporting event of the year…the “Super Bowl”. Viewers will be inundated with what the world says is “beautiful” and great for us as consumers to do, to be, to wear, etc. Tons of people hold “outward beauty” as important…hence the commercials and millions of dollars spent on making them. I believe that true “inner beauty” and personal satisfaction come when one loves their own self and their body. We should put God first and everything else will fall into place because with Christ all things are possible…“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” Philippians 4:13. We can achieve genuine beauty if we trust in Him. 

These were just a few ramblings that were running through my head this afternoon as I prepared for my bible study class. My challenge and hope for you is that you seek out true inner beauty within yourself.