Life in the Word Archives • Page 5 of 12 • The Littlest Way

December 18, 2014 by Jenny

Bible Quotes About Patience

It’s no coincidence that I’m writing about patience…one week before Christmas. I feel incredibly impatient with myself right now which means I project all that impatience on those around me. You read that right–mumbo jumbo using the word “project” and all. And it’s ok, my husband rarely reads my site so he can’t hold that phrase against me. But at night when I consider in my nightly examen, “Was I patient with myself and others today?” I have to honestly say “No.” And I also have to honestly confess being a bad example to my children. Just like I need a motto to help me through the week, a reminder of who I am or what I have–I Have Enough–I also need to rely on the Word of God–good solid Bible Quotes–to teach and strengthen me. Let’s look at some Bible quotes about patience today.

Bible Quotes About Patience

When I realize I’ve been struggling with patience it’s a BIG red flag I’m struggling with pride.

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Patience and pride are the worst of friends. My pride sets my expectations for how I think things should go or be done. When my expectations are not met, impatience rears an ugly head. “Don’t you know I’m…Didn’t you realize I’m…I’m trying to…I’m going to…I need…I want…I expect…I thought…” Me–Me–Me, a sure and glaring sign of pride.

And the ugly truth about patience is when we’re struggling with it, it is so much easier to recognize and try to correct in someone else. So then we become impatient nags! How many times does my impatience with myself end up looking like agitation and impatience with someone else?

So the solution to impatience? I think we need to ask ourselves some questions.

What’s going on here? Is this really a problem or is it just not meeting my expectations?

For example…I run into the grocery store to buy milk and eggs and end up standing in line for 15 minutes for two items. By the time I get to the car I need something–something for my impatiet headache, antacids for my churning stomach because I’ve gotten myself all worked up or a drink (something strong or warm or both) to set myself back right with the world.

Was the problem: I expected to run in and run out? I expected all cashiers on hand? I expected an experienced cashier? I expected the lady in front of me to have her act together?

And what if I decide there really some problem? What if my expectations were not the problem, it was actually the situation? Could it be the Lord was giving me some down time–albeit in a grocery line–to just be still for a minute? Could the Lord have been offering me an opportunity to smile at my fellow shoppers? I may have been the only person they saw that day who smiled at them. Could the Lord have been offering a nice training ground to work on the virtue of patience and did I squash the opportunity with the agitated tapping of my foot? Really, there are worse ways to learn patience than standing in a grocery line right? Waiting on test results from the doctor or a call about a sick loved one in another state, or a terminal illness…

When we encounter these moments that rile up our patience, let’s step back and consider, maybe this is actually for my good…or the good of another.

Each day there is more encouragement and even some laughs over on my Facebook page. Head over and “Like” me there for more.

December 8, 2014 by Jenny

Daily Affirmations: I Choose Joy

One of the questions we ask in our Nightly Examen with Children is, “Did I choose horses?” I know, confusing, silly and maybe even inappropriate sounding for a nightly examen question. What that question really asks though is, “Did I choose joy?” I write frequently about how important our thoughts and words about and to ourselves–our daily affirmations–are to our joy. Remember, I consider our daily affirmations the truth we tell ourselves everyday–within reason. I cannot tell myself after seven children (and honestly even before) I have a rock hard body and mathematically brilliant brain with a constantly pure heart, mind and soul. The nightly question, “Did I choose joy” reminds me to choose joy. It also reminds me I can choose joy.

The phrase, “Choose Horses” came about after a long, rainy day in a camper with six children. I was a little cramped physically, mentally and emotionally. As I was sitting there at the little table with little people arguing around me and climbing over me, I declared out loud, “I Choose Joy!” It was actually more of a battle cry than a declaration. My then three or four old sitting across from me coloring thought for a moment and then hollered, “I choose horse!” Although he was totally serious, that silly declaration broke through my gloomy, fight or flight attitude and turned my day around. So let’s talk about how we can choose joy.

Daily Affirmations: Choose Joy

First let’s look at the difference between joy and happiness. They are not the same thing and must be understood correctly. Here is a good explanation I found:

Some believe that joy is a conscious commitment to be happy, to have a sense of contentment for the moment, despite life’s challenges. Joy is an internal lasting emotional condition…Joy in the Biblical context, is not an emotion. It is not based on something positive happening in life, but is an attitude of the heart or spirit.
Health Psychology

So how do we choose joy? We make the decision to, regardless of situation or circumstance. We choose eternal over earthly, infinite over temporary. Let me tell you a story about my mother-in-love who passed away seven years ago after a three month battle with Uterine cancer. She chose joy even though her situation was dire and her circumstances were painful and grim.

She sat in a recliner two grandsons moved into her bedroom. Her usually small frame had wasted away to baggy skin hanging on brittle bone. Her smile showed signs of pain if you looked close enough–It’s Mother’s Day 2007. Almost two months previous to the day, she was diagnosed with uterine cancer. And one day while helping her shower I cried that her body was betraying her. The very same body which had held 8 precious lives until their birth-day, was now killing her. She touched my hand, “My body is not betraying me Jenny.” If it were not for her, for her body, I would not have my Chris. She told me she had prayed that she never got cancer…

Joy is a decision that looks to eternity while happiness seems only temporary.

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My mother-in-love always made us meet at some park to celebrate Mother’s Day. Sometimes the grass would be high and the playground equipment uncared for. The lunch cold and the wind whipping the table cloth off along with plates and utensils…she smiled…she chose joy. She sat in an old lawn chair when she wasn’t scooping potato salad and laughed in her old lady cackle. But Mother’s Day 2007, the picnic had been moved to their driveway. The same driveway Chris knew his entire life. One by one, each family went in to see her sitting in the old burgundy recliner moved into her room at the foot of the bed so she would be more comfortable that Mother’s Day. A few of her boys, now grown men, wore their sunglasses inside. As they left her room, I could see the runaway tears; the ones that slipped past the UV protection meant to contain them.

She was swollen, near death, in pain…she smiled…she chose joy. She made the decision to see beyond her situation and circumstances that day. She chose to see us that day regardless of the physical exertion just to remain in an upright position, let alone smile. She spent her last Mother’s Day at home, with her 8 children, in-laws, grandchildren and great grandchildren. She looked every single one of us in the eye and smiled…she chose joy.

She chose joy as she smiled through the pain of cancer gnawing through her…I can choose joy and smile at my children as I cook their lunch when hunger pains make me want to act like a big ‘ol pain.

She chose joy as she smiled and sat there talking to us through pain. I can choose joy and smile when a ten year old suddenly wants to talk after it’s lights out and I am done…capital “D” for the day. (Oh Lord do I need to hear this right now.)

She chose joy and smiled when her big boys were dripping tears in her bedroom. I can choose joy and smile when my littles are dripping syrup across the kitchen floor.

Tonight before bed, make a nightly examen with you children and ask, “Did I chose joy today?”

Everyday this week, morning, noon and night, let’s tell ourselves–“I Choose Joy.” Repeating positive daily affirmations to ourselves will change the way we think about situations, people, ourselves and our life.

Each day there is more encouragement and even some laughs over on my Facebook page. Head over and “Like” me there for more.

December 4, 2014 by Jenny

Book Club Time: Called to Life

I was recently asked for a couple of book recommendations and after the Bible, The 4:8 Principle and Searching for and Maintaining Peace, I mentioned Called to Life. I had forgotten how much I gleaned from this book until it came to my mind the other day. So, Called to Life is the next book I want to share with you in Book Club Time. Direct quotes are in bold and my notes follow.

Book Club Time: Called to Life

God is the God of the living, not the dead. He reaches out to us continually, mysteriously but certainly, infusing our lives with value, beauty and fruitfulness beyond our imagining. I just posted the other day in Bible Quotes: The Armor of Light, that “…your worth is based more on Who He is, than who you are.” So this idea that God is the one continually reaching toward us–ready to infuse us beyond our imagination is incredibly comforting.

I shall insist that any call from God is a call to life. Our first vocation is to live, and a call cannot be from God unless it leads us to live in a more intense and beautiful way, engaging human life as it is with more confidence, in all its aspects: physical, psychological, emotional, intellectual and spiritual. A couple of years ago when I started blogging publicly, I used part of that quote as the tag line. At the time I was struggling with my mind and to repeat to myself, that my first vocation was to live was powerful. To meditate on the fact that not did God know where I was physically, mentally and emotionally–He was calling me to this place to live with more confidence in Him.

Often though, the calls we receive from God bear upon smaller, everyday things: an invitation to pardon, an act of confidence in a difficult situation, a service to render to someone, a moment of prayer…I think, and maybe it’s just me, but I think sometimes it’s easier to perform a harder work of charity for a neighbor than the simpler act of just being kind in our own home. Notice I said simpler, not easier. I wrote about this in, Who is My Neighbor?

Every “yes” to God’s call, even in the least matter, brings an increase of life and strength and encouragement, for God gives Himself to those who are open to His calls and confers even more freedom upon them. It’s difficult to realize, but sometimes when we refuse to do something, we are refusing God. And this “something” can be the very least of things: refusing to sit down with a toddler to read that picture book when we’d rather check Facebook, refusing our husband late at night because…well it’s late at night-we’re tired-overtouched-really tired.

Openness to God’s calls frees us from pride…Openness to God’s calls helps us to escape the pitfalls of desire…And this openness frees us from fear. By being open to God’s calls, the believer receives encouragement and strength that empowers him to rise above his fears and break out of the narrow circle of inadequate coping strategies by which people too often attempt to handle with fear. The line or phrase that struck me here–“the believer” I used to call myself a “worrier.” I would much rather refer to myself as a “believer” even if at first it’s only to try to convince myself. And “inadequate coping strategies”–lived lots and lots of them, how about you?

Sometimes one is called to take just a single little step–“Nothing except for today,” as St. Therese of Lisieux said. But it is enough to live and advance a day at a time, finding meaning in existence and persevering until one receives the grace to see more. I know there were days when I thought “always,” I am always going to feel like this–or I am always not going to feel anything. Always is a trap–good or bad. We always think we are going to have the same fervent love for our quiet time with God, and we may start to take it for granted and then the habit of “always” slowly slips away.

The most fundamental call addressed to us is the call to live.

God’s first gift to us is the gift of life, and this gift is already a vocation.

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That is one of my all time favorite quotes, not just from the book but period.

“Live! I want you to live! (Ezekiel 16:6) Here is the first and most fundamental call to us from God. When life seems too hard to bear we must hold tight to this word, will to respond to the call, choose to live and welcome life as it is, with all its burdens and sorrows. In the end, this confident acceptance will bring us to see life as an immense gift.

Life is beautiful and full of meaning in its absurdity if you know how to take it as a whole. So key in those hard days to realize that a day not does not make a life.

Let us love and accept our lives–not imaginary lives–but the ones God offers us day by day, uncovering hidden riches for us as He does. I think so often we get stuck emotionally, mentally, spiritually, because we fight too hard against God. We don’t love and accept–we fight. And in that battle, we lose our peace and our ability to uncover the hidden riches of this life.

That’s only my notes from half the book. So I’ll finish the other half in another post.

Each day there is more encouragement and even some laughs over on my Facebook page. Head over and “Like” me there for more.

December 2, 2014 by Jenny

Bible Quotes: The Armor of Light

I’m sure I’ve read it before, at least the first Sunday of Advent for the past 17 years. But this year, it was almost like everything and everyone got quiet around me on Sunday and I heard these words clearly–“The night is passed And the day is at hand. Let us, therefore cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” (Romans 13:12) Wow. For someone who loves inspiring Bible quotes, I started imaging this on tee shirts, wall decals, and of course photoshopped on Pinterest boards. Let’s look at Bible Quotes: The Armor of Light, especially as we’ve entered this season of light.

Bible Quotes: The Armor of Light

It’s ironic that a time of year that is the most lit up with twinkle and sparkle, can also be one of the darkest times, a holiday blindness if you will. It’s like when you walk into a darkened room from being out in the bright sun, the room suddenly seems darker, you can’t even see where you’re going. And in this season of light, well, sometimes we are blinded and can’t even see where we’re going. Put on the armor of light.

For some of us, we’re suddenly blinded by the idea that we need something. We need a new this or need a bigger that. Ask us in June and we probably don’t even know we need it then. Come December first, it’s like we can’t live without it.

And this thing we suddenly need…it’s on sale. Those four letters can sure fuel that need. Thanksgiving night I sat outside my oldest daughter’s brand new job at 10:30 at night amazed at the number of people carrying out pillows they had just bought. And I thought “Really?” Last week would any one of these people have been streaming in the store at 10:30 p.m. to buy a pillow? Probably not. But last week the store was not decorated with the twinkly lights that cause this holiday blindness. Last week Christmas music wasn’t being piped through every open speaker and their wasn’t a man standing out front ringing a bell asking for donations. Nope, last week was just an ordinary week…and no one needed a pillow at 10:30 p.m. on a Thursday night. Put on the armor of light.

This holiday blindness, it also causes blind spots and begins to mess with our minds. We tend to overestimate our finances, our ability in the kitchen, and our patience level. We forget who we really are in search of who we hope we are. We try too hard to be the good wife and leave a miserable husband, cranky children, glitter, flour and ribbon in the wake of what we thought was going to be the “perfect” holiday season. Put on the armor of light.

And all of these expectations; the need for a new pillow at 10:30 p.m. on a Thursday night, the need to make the Pinterest worthy Gingerbread mansion, the need to have the biggest tree from the most storybook farm appropriately Instagrammed with the “Dreamy” filter …these things can cause a darkness to come over us.

This seasonal darkness doesn’t have to be a case of full blown depression; it can be that feeling of too much to do with too little time. This darkness can cause us to remake a pie that doesn’t look the way the magazine picture does…or our sister-in-law’s. The shadows can easily creep into our mind when we crawl into bed too late with too much still on our plate. This gloom hits us hard when it comes to comparison doesn’t it? Put on the armor of light.

The solution? The way to put on this armor of light? It’s so simple…but simple does not always mean easy. Begin by remembering who you really are. You are not the sum of your perfect turkey basting skills. You are not the sum of your coordinated stockings hung meticulously by the fireplace with care. You are not the sum of your Christmas present wrapping abilities.

Who you are in Christ, is the truth of who you really are.

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And your worth is based more on Who He is, than who you are. You cannot create a Winter Wonderland to make Christ love you more. Honestly you can’t create a Winter Wonderland to make anyone love you more…not even yourself. So this armor of light? It’s actually a stepping from away from the lights of the season; they can and will blind us.

If this season can seem dark, follow Paul’s instruction to put on the Lord Jesus Christ; he said this right after he exhorted us to put on the armor of light. Put on the Light of the World.

Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
†John 8:12

Each day there is more encouragement and even some laughs over on my Facebook page. Head over and “Like” me there for more.

As you begin or finish up your Christmas shopping, please remember to click my Amazon links <>.

November 24, 2014 by Jenny

Daily Affirmations of Gratitude

Today, let’s consider daily affirmations of gratitude since we are coming up on a holiday that begins with the word, “Thanks.” Years ago, changing the way I thought and spoke, using daily affirmations, were a large part in beginning to attack my negative, habitual thinking. In addition to affirmations, I also used thanksgiving as a means to combat those unwanted thoughts. Those who suffer from and with obsessive, scary, negative thinking patterns will tell you, “This is a battle.”

Daily Affirmations of Gratitude

So this battle I was in for my mind…I was so busy being scared, I could not be grateful; there wasn’t time. I was either considering a fear, chasing down a fear, or complaining about my fear. Instead of living in fear, I needed to live in gratitude–sounds almost like comparing apples to oranges doesn’t it? Instead of thinking in terms of, “The opposite of fear is …” Consider it this way…

Instead of being afraid of the bad might happen–be thankful for the good that already has happened.

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The process of focusing on gratitude began as a stunted, forced assignment–write down 20 things everyday to be thankful for…no repeats. Stunted because well, 20? No repeats? Forced because my default was fear. I was not used to living in a place of thanksgiving added to the fact, I could only use hot chocolate, a pretty sunrise, or my children’s laughter only once. Well, technically, I’ve got 7 children (only 6 at the time)–and yes, yes I did count each one of their laughs as it’s own entry in the beginning…that was not cheating, it was more a process of learning to see. You know how when you come inside to a darker room than outside and it takes a minute for your eyes to adjust…well, it’s the same process when you begin to focus on gratitude; it takes a minute to adjust your sight.

I would love to report that I have journals and spirals with page after page filled with gratitude, but I don’t. I have some scattered here and there…I have a weird thing about journaling. I tend to keep a list for a while, get too busy–whatever that means–and the habit falls by the wayside. Time passes and I start needing a mental tune-up so I go back to the process of keeping track of things I am thankful for.

I’ve been posting a series all month long–30 Days of Thanksgiving. Let’s inject some fresh enthusiasm into that to finish out the month! Starting today–Monday–let’s all keep track of 20 things we are thankful for everyday until Friday. By the end of the week we will each have 100 items written down in our gratitude journal. Did you like how I roped you into this attitude of gratitude with me? Not only am I am a mother of 7, I am a firstborn and a Choleric temperament; I come by my bossiness and leadership naturally.

So who’s with me for the next five days? It’s only five days…we can do anything for five days! Use a spiral, a journal, a couple of sheets of notebook paper, a word document. you can even post your list in the comments of my daily 30 Days of Thanksgiving posts–anything you have to manually get twenty items on your list each day.

And now for some of those daily affirmations of gratitude; print this out and hang it on your bathroom mirror, office cubical or inside your kitchen cabinet where you reach up to get your coffee cup each morning. Wherever you place this printable–use it. Say these daily affirmations of gratitude every single day, preferably out loud. Say them each day and then write your list of 20 people, places or things you are thankful for. I guarantee, repeating these affirmations of gratitude will help you–teach you–to be more grateful. I bet by Friday, it will be easier to see things to be thankful for–if you tell yourself everyday you are a grateful person.