Showing posts with label books that shape me. Show all posts
1 Chronicles 16:11

 "Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice! Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually! Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgments he uttered, O offspring of Israel his servant, children of Jacob, his chosen ones!" (1Chronicles 16:9-13 ESV)

 Happy new year dear friends! As I start this year, there are a couple of things God seems to be teaching me, things I want to work on with His help this coming year:

 1. As the steward of my soul, I am responsible for taking care of myself. At times, I have been passive about the care of my body, soul, and mind, maybe afraid to be selfish. But I'm learning in the book Boundaries by Doctors Henry Cloud and John Townsend** that "appropriate boundaries actually increase our ability to care about others. People with highly developed limits are the most caring people on earth."

While it's God's plan for me to be in community and depend on and support others, only I know how my life feels and how it affects my heart (see Proverbs 14:10), so I am the one ultimately responsible for its care--as I abide in Christ. I want to better care for my life so that I can be used by God in the lives of my people around me.

2. I must be face my weaknesses. I read in my devotional (New Morning Mercies by Paul Tripp**) yesterday morning that when we fail to face our weaknesses, we are basically saying, "I don't want to be who I am or face who I am." I certainly don't like facing my weaknesses. I want to be able to do it all, and do it well, and for everyone to be happy with me, but this is not the life God has called me to or given me strength for!

 Tripp writes that "the great danger is your delusion of strength, because if you think you're strong, then you don't seek the help that you desperately need from the One who is the ultimate source of strength of every kind."
"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." (2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV)
These are the lessons I'm learning right now. One outcome is that we have enrolled our girls in the local public school and taken a break from homeschool. It breaks my heart a little to give it up, but the girls came home happy and excited from their first day yesterday, and God has given them the sweetest teachers. This is one way I am trying to establish healthy boundaries and accept my weaknesses this year.

I am dreaming of things to create and share with you this coming year. I hope you'll follow along! For now, I'm sharing this hand-lettered phone screensaver of 1 Chronicles 16:11. What better way to enter a new year than to be determined to "Seek the Lord and his strength [and] His presence continually"?

To download, click on the image below and save to your device!
hand lettering Bible journaling

Books in this post (clickable links):**

     

 *I'm so happy for you to enjoy my coloring pages and printables for your personal (not commercial) use! Use for Bible studies, church groups or events, and Sunday school classes are all fine! If you're in doubt, I'm happy to answer any questions. All artwork and photos are copyright Marydean Draws. If you share this, you're awesome (!), and as a courtesy,  please link back to this post and not the PDF file. Thank you!!

 ** “We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.” Bascially, if you purchase something using these links, I get a small portion of the sale. It's a small way you can support the blog if you'd like. Thanks!

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Lessons for a new year + a 1 Chronicles 16:11 Phone Screensaver

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(The Amazon links in this post are affiliate links,* which means that if you purchase something using them, I get a small portion of the sale. It's a small way you can support the blog, but only if you'd like!)

Okay, I know it's not technically summer yet (see previous post), but . . . HAPPY SUMMER!!!

I am feeling so much better this week and settling into the groove of summer. I am reading Anne Brontë's (of the Brontë sisters) The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, and am ambitiously looking forward to reading Eric Metaxas's biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and maybe David McCullough's John Adams biography (partly because we are studying the first half of American history next school year). Which one will I start first, and which will I finish, only time will tell. I'm also absorbing a ton of wisdom and encouragement from Paul Tripp's Parenting.

I got the chance to attend the HEAV (Virginia Homeschool) Convention in Richmond, VA this past weekend with my friend Katie. Every year I've gone has been encouraging for me as an educator and a parent. There's also a HUGE used curriculum sale and all kinds of fun homeschool vendors, in addition to the fun of being in Richmond with my friend talking, missing exits, and gushing over good food. It helps me to remember there is more to me than just "mommy," although I love and cherish that role. Have I mentioned how supportive my husband is? I came home to lots of mommy-missing kids, a clean house, and Thai food!

My girls are currently reading a lot of library books, mostly books with sparkly covers about magical animal adventurers. To be accurate, one is reading, and the other is mostly browsing and slowly, painfully, emerging as a real reader, which is amazing to witness.

The girls are also often listening to Jonathan Park during their daily rest time (we bought an online subscription for their birthday present). Here's a little trick that works for our us during rest time: I stream audio stories on my phone and give them a Bluetooth speaker (I got this one for Christmas) to listen to in the other room. I'm not comfortable with them having access to my phone or another tablet when I'm not in the room, so this is a simple solution.

As a church, we are taking a break from our regular community groups and doing some fun, member-created groups for the summer. Some friends and I are hosting two coloring nights where we'll get together over some snacks and tea or coffee and chat while we color my Bible coloring pages. This would be a fun and easy way to connect with friends over the summer! Besides all the freebie coloring pages on the blog, this set in the shop has a lot of fun coloring pages perfect for a ladies' night.

And speaking of coloring pages, I have a new one for you that I made a while ago, but just haven't gotten around to sharing yet!

We generally think that looking back is not a healthy way to move forward, but when recounting God's faithfulness, looking back can be crucial to our hope and confidence.

When looking back, we can see with clarity how God never abandoned us. The "recount" of His "wonderful deeds" fills us with hope that in the future, we will again look back and see the same faithfulness written all over the days we're currently living. I'm not convinced we'll look back and understand all the elements of our story, but I am confident we will see God's presence.

 I know that in some seasons, it's hard to get our tired and worn hearts to begin the recount. Like a slow and weighted train, we feel immovable. Today, let's start at the cross, and the costly sacrifice on our behalf, planned before the world was spoken into existence, when He chose us in Him (Ephesians 1:4; Revelation 13:8). Despite our fluctuating feelings, our whole hearts can, like that slow-starting train, begin to move forward in faith.

 Today's printable Bible verse coloring page is from Psalm 9:1. You can download your page HERE in Spanish or HERE in English, or by clicking on the image below!*

Spanish Bible verse coloring page

*I'm so happy for you to enjoy my coloring pages and printables for your personal (not commercial) use! Use for Bible studies, church groups or events, and Sunday school classes are all fine! If you're in doubt, I'm happy to answer any questions. All artwork and photos are copyright Marydean Draws. If you share this, you're awesome (!), and as a courtesy,  please link back to this post and not the PDF file. Thank you!!

 "We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.”

If you like this, you can get these posts in your inbox by signing up HERE! 

The recount + Psalm 9:1 Printable Bible Coloring Page in English and Spanish

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I just love books and how God uses them to change me. I have to admit I'm not always great at finishing them, but I have great expectations!

 Here is a collection of books I'd like to read this coming year:
A. The Green Ember by SD Smith (comes highly recommended by the Read-Aloud Revival's Sarah Makenzie). This one is to read with the girls.

B. Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles that Can Radically Change your Family by Paul David Tripp (author of my favorite marriage book)




F. New Morning Mercies:  A Daily Gospel Devotional by Paul David Tripp (actually, I already bought this one and started! It's solid.)



I. John Adams by David McCulough (because I'm terrible at history)

Have you read any of these and do you recommend them?

 Any good fiction recommendations to round out my list? I love books that take me away from the pace of my real life. It seems to help my anxiety. I read two classic Anthony Trollope novels (think very slow-cooker novel pace) this past year and enjoyed them. You can get some of them free for the Kindle on Amazon (and you don't need a Kindle to read them--you can download the Kindle app)! Or . . . just check your local library. 

 If you're looking for a can't-put-this-book-down read, my friend, Sydney Betts, has written two novels set in Native American culture and they are FABULOUS, a breath of fresh air in the world of Christian fiction! She's working on publishing the third now, and I can't wait to read it. You can find them here.



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on my Christmas wish list: books!

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If we sat down for coffee, these are the things that would probably trickle out in conversation, the things that make my heart happy, in no particular order and by no means exhaustive. 

 Homeschool and learning (or relearning)
Okay, I'll admit it. For all my complaining, I actually love homeschool. I love being part of my kids' learning and learning myself. We definitely have bad days and even bad weeks, but we have settled into a nice rythym together. We are loving our Sonlight curriculum, which is all reading-based.

Maybe it's me who has adjusted the most--bringing my expectations down to a reasonable level, growing in patience and love, and asking for God's grace for when all falls apart.

Sonlight readers are the best--we LOVED this one

journaling about our history lesson (first grade)

notetaking about Roman history

four-year-old math

This Caddie
We got ours from the Target dollar bins for $3 and it's been the best thing for keeping all our supplies into one place. Michael's has this fancier one.


The book of Galatians.
We are studying through this book with our community group, and it's been such an encouragement. I've been reading it through over and over trying to understand what Paul was trying to drive home to the "foolish Galatians." We can stand before God on the merits of His Son and nothing else.
"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1
This book
I mentioned that I just finished Elyse Fitzpatrick's "Good News For Weary Women: Escaping the Bondage of To-do Lists, Steps, and Bad Advice."  I found myself saying "Amen" over and over again. These are the kinds of truth I want on a slow drip into my bloodstream.


Here are two snippets:
"Many women don't understand the freedom that has been purchased for us, and we often get tangled up in legalism or moralism. We don't know what it would look like for obedience to be motivated by gratitude." Elyse Fitzpatrick
 "What is our highest calling as women? Our highest calling is to believe. It consists of believing, resting, and rejoicing in the work that has been done for us by the Savior." Elyse Fitzpatrick
Can you imagine if we actually believed and lived these truths? 

Elephant and Piggie in Spanish
We've been using these for homeschool Spanish class and they're perfect for introducing simple vocabulary in conversation. The kids are able to follow the stories because of the expressive illustrations. We get them from our local library's Spanish section.

*
This Song
"Out of Hiding" by Steffany Gretzinger and Amanda Cook. I found it while I was preparing to teach about the story of the Prodigal son.


I might even love this Spanish cover even better:


I'm compiling a Worship playlist on YouTube if you want to listen in and sing along.

 These crayons
My mother-in-law finds us fun art supplies to try out. She just got the girls these Color Appeal Crayons. The paper unwraps when the crayon gets low.


Drawing with our new crayons from the Draw 50 Animals book by Lee Ames.
(This one is challenging for my little ones, but I enjoy it. I can walk them through the steps.)

These kids
I love seeing them grow and change. They bring out my need for Jesus EVERY DAY, and isn't that a blessing?

My sister got us these Mama Beat and Man Cub raglan shirts.  You can find them HERE!

watching the snow


Calligraphy inspiration
I got out my sketchbook a few nights ago and sketched letters from a book about the history of calligraphy. I loved trying out the illuminated capitals and flowers and decorations from really old illuminated manuscripts. You'll see some of this inspiration in new Scripture cards coming soon to my shop!




New artwork
I'm working on new printable Scripture card sets for the Etsy shop right now. Here's a little peak:

This print & blog post
I don't have a printable for you to this week, but I'm sending you over to Emily at Jones Design Company, who made this beautiful Gospel printable. I couldn't have said it better myself! Sometimes I wonder if I ever really knew the Gospel before now. I know I did, but it feels new again.

Image Source: Jones Design Company
So, there you go--my current favorites. What are yours? Leave a comment below and I'd love to check them out!

 

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A few of my favorite things this February

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There have been times this last week when the challenges of parenting compounded with physical weaknesses made it all seem just too hard, and discouragement creeps in. It seems silly to write it; I'm not gravely ill or suffering anything serious. It's just the moment-by-moment challenge of life currently.  

 My friend Laura recently shared the quote pictured above on her blog, The Blog Around the Corner. Laura is a friend that used to be part of our church here. She has fantastic style, a gift for hospitality, and a blog about decorating, food, and life. She is a wife and mama to two babies in heaven. She shares honestly on her blog about the suffering of losing her two babies.  

This is the full quote from Andy Stanley: "You have no idea what or who hangs in the balance of your decision to remain faithful when everything around you says "Be faithless." You have no idea what God might be up to through your faithfulness when everything around you says, 'There's no point...”

In Joni Earekson Tada's book, A Place of Healing: Wrestling with the Mysteries of Suffering, Pain and God's Sovereignty, is a chapter entitled "How can I go on like this?" One thing on her list is this:
 "I can go on . . . because right now counts forever . . . Here on earth, we're being observed by both the sons and daughters of God (who need an example of how to face suffering) and by those who have not yet bowed their knee to the Lordship of Jesus (who need to see how believers respond to the mutifaceted circumstances of life). And beyond these earthly eyes, there are other eyes in the spirit realm--both angelic and demonic--who observe and take note whether or not we trust our God in the crucible of trials and affliction. (Remember Job?) And those who have gone before us--are they watching too? . . . Every day of our short lives--even every hour--has eternal consequences for good or ill. Eternity--and the way we'll live in it--is somehow being shaped by our moment-by-moment responses to the life we have before us to live right now."
She also shares this encouragement:
"I can go on . . . because God moves through time with me. . . . He knows time in a personal, experiential way. As the writer of Hebrews said, 'We don't have a priest who is out of touch with our reality' . . . When you find yourself in chronic agony, life gets reduced to hours rather than days--and sometimes minutes and seconds. When I am in physical distress in the night, unable to sleep, unable to move, and unwilling to awaken Ken (again) to turn me, I need to know that God's concern and care for me is literally breath by breath, heartbeat by heartbeat, moment by moment."
This is all a great encouragement to me, so I made a printable 5x7 to share with you, dear friends. It's free for your personal use, and you can download it HERE.

And after you've printed your printable, you can belt out Meredith Andrew's "Not for Moment" with me.

"All my longings lie open before you, O Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you." Psalm 38:9




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Right now counts + free printable!

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Last week I wrote about how marriage has been more like a rock tumbler for us than a merry-go-round. One of the biggest influences in marriage for me has been books that God has used to teach me His words and His heart for marriage.

I'm going to share some of the truths from these books that have stuck with me and shaped my thinking about my marriage.

Tim Keller's The Meaning of Marriage

 This one taught me the simple idea of recognizing that God is at work in my husband. As a new creation of God, my husband is God's masterpiece. I can look forward to all that God will do in him, cooperating with God in that work, and then being patient as God does His work in us both! I can recognize when the "old us" shows itself and know that person is not who we really are now.

Here's are some great chunks from that book (the bolds are mine):
"My wife, Kathy, often says that most people, when they are looking for a spouse, are looking for a finished statue when they should be looking for a wonderful block of marble. Not so you can create the kind of person you want, but rather because you see what kind of person Jesus is making. When Michelangelo was asked how he carved his magnificent David, his reply is reputed to have been, 'I looked inside the marble and just took away the bits that weren't David.' When looking for a marriage partner, each must be able to look inside the other and see what God is doing and be excited about being a part of liberating the emerging 'new you' . . . In this view of marriage, each person says to the other, 'I see all your flaws, imperfections, weaknesses, dependencies. But underneath them all I see growing the person God wants you to be." (Tim Keller, The Meaning of Marriage).
"What keeps the marriage going is your commitment to your spouse's holiness. You're committed to his or her beauty. You're committed to his greatness and perfection. You're committed to her honesty and passion for the things of God. That's your job as a spouse. Any lesser goal than that, any smaller purpose, and you're just playing at being married." (Tim Keller, The Meaning of Marriage).
"On the cross, Jesus did not look down on us with a heart full of admiration and affection. He felt no 'chemistry.' But he gave himself. He put our needs ahead of his own; he sacrificed for us. But the Bible tells spouses not only to imitate the quality and manner of Christ's love but also the goal of it. Jesus died not because we were lovely, but to make us lovely." (Tim Keller, The Meaning of Marriage).

Paul David Tripp's What did you Expect? Redeeming the Realities of Marriage

 This one is packed with so much truth, all wrapped around what the Gospel means for marriage, but what stuck with me was the idea of God's sovereignty over putting the two of us together (something I often wondered about in the early days when things were so hard).

Here are some truths from that book:
"When you face the fact that your marital story is all about the wisdom and will of Another, your understanding of marriage completely changes forever" (Paul David Tripp, What did you Expect?)
"The more you look at your spouse and see the imprint of God's fingers and are amazed, the more you will be able to resist the temptation to try to remake him or her in your own image . . . the more you look at your husband or wife and honor God as creator, the more you will tend to esteem and appreciate the person who you live with, who is so incredibly different from you." (Paul David Tripp, What did you Expect?)
"Our desire is that our marriages would be the location of our comfort, ease, and enjoyment; we often have desires no bigger than this. But God's purpose is that each of our marriages would be a tool for something that is way more miraculous and glorious than our tiny, little, self-focused definition of happiness. He has designed marriage to be one of his most effective and efficient tools of personal holiness. He has designed your marriage to change you." (Paul David Tripp, What did you Expect?)
I hope these encourage you in your marriage journey!

What are you favorite marriage books or lessons?

Books that shape me: Marriage

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