You CAN Pray Consistently

If I can pray consistently, then you can too! Again, this is one of those things that I'm not perfect at. Sometimes I'm on track and sometimes I'm not, but I keep striving for improvement.

I'm not talking about saying grace before a meal, praying when we're sick, praying for someone as we're asked to - most of us do at least that much regularly. I'm talking about a longer, focused daily prayer time.

I posted earlier this year about how I came up with a list of things to pray about each day and a catchy way to remember it all. Here's a Fallish colored version of the list. It really does help me to just get started praying and to make sure that I've covered almost everything in a week. I don't know about you, but the easier something is, the more likely I am to do it.

The sweet Mandy Scarr at From Lukewarm to Zealous Pursuit {I've met her in person and she is amazing and lovely, inside and out.} has a post about another way to pray consistently for family members and friends. She also has a free printable.

I also found a site called Echo Prayer Manager. You build your prayer list online and have them e-mail or text you reminders to pray for specific people or things at specific times. Seems like a good idea! {I can't vouch for the site as I haven't actually used it - have only looked at it.}

Making consistent prayer easier can be as simple as writing prayer topics down in a journal or even just creating a peaceful spot in your home where you like to pray. It doesn't matter what time of day you do it or whether you spend just 10 minutes or 30 minutes in prayer - try for consistency. Find a way that works best for you.

You CAN pray consistently!

Do you spend time in prayer consistently? Do you struggle with a way to remember everything that you want to pray about? Have you found a great tool to keep you on track? Share in the comments!

Day 16 of #31Days. Find all the posts in this series by clicking the pic...

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Have a blessed day friends!
 

You CAN Blog About Your Faith

If I can blog about my faith, then you can too! Obviously, if you have a specifically Christian blog, then you'll be talking about your faith all of the time. But what if you have a mommy blog, or a humor blog, or a deal blog, or a food blog? Do you keep it all business and leave your faith for your personal side of things or do you let it show and risk losing some of the readers that help you build your base and reach your goals?

You have to decide what works best for you and your blog, of course. Even though my blog is not a "Christian" blog, I am a blogger who is a Christian. I blog about Life and my blog represents me. So I am comfortable occasionally mentioning my faith and sharing Scriptures because that's part of my life. It helps that as I get older, I am more accepting of the fact that no matter what I do, not everybody is going to like me {sigh}. I may lose a few non-Christian readers along the way, but a lot of them stick around as they still enjoy everything else I have to offer. {Waving hello to the few non-Christians actually reading this post!}

It's about learning what works for you and what feels right on your blog. Don't be what you're not! If you're an enthusiastic Christian and can't wait to share a devotional post every day - do it! If you're like me and not gifted in the devotional type of posts, then share your faith when you feel led to do so. When I feel led to share about my faith, or a Scripture, or a blessing, or a desire to pray for my readers - I just do it. I let God handle the rest of it. I don't have an in-your-face style as I'm very non-confrontational, so I think that helps!

You CAN blog about your faith!

Do you blog about faith? Have you been scared to post Scriptures for fear of losing readers? Have you found a way to write about your faith that works well for your blog? Share in the comments! 

Day 12 of #31Days. Find all the posts in this series by clicking the pic...

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Have a blessed day friends!
 

The Spring Garden Within

Some of these thoughts were originally published in a post way back in 2008!

I love Spring {I know, you think it's Summer because we had Memorial Day weekend, but official Summer starts in June} with all the fresh starts, new growth, cleaning, organizing, and beautiful sunshine. I know many of you have planted gardens. We did plant a teensy bit of a garden, but I haven't done much tending to it, other than watering. Sometimes I forget to tend to our little garden and sometimes I forget that I also need to tend to the garden of my soul!

Sometimes we need a little help to keep on growing!

When I spend time in the Word, the sun begins to shine into the garden of my soul - bringing back to life the sleeping fruits and flowers of faithfulness, joy, and love, and making clear to me the weeds of sin that grew in the darkness so that I can tend my garden.

I love to see sunshine in the morning - it makes me feel refreshed and renewed. I know that the garden of my soul needs a lot of tending and I can only see to work in it if the light of God's Word shines in. My garden needs to be refreshed and renewed every day!

Isaiah 61:11

For as the earth brings forth its bud,
As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth,
So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

I hope you feel motivated to let the Son shine in this week so you can tend to your own garden!

Have a blessed Spring day today friends!

National Day of Prayer ~ Can I Pray For You?

Today, 5/2, is National Day of Prayer. There are many different events around the country. My son's Christian school is even doing something special today to observe it.

Of course we need to pray every day! Prayers aren't more special today, but it's a wonderful opportunity to gather together and reach out to others. I'd like to reach out to you today. Can I pray for you?

I'll spend some time in prayer in general for my lovely readers, but if you have a specific prayer request I'd love to pray for that too. You can leave your requests in the comments - and feel free to pray for others who have left comments. If you prefer to keep your request private, you can e-mail it to me {info is in the Contact Me tab at the top} or just leave a comment saying you need prayer for a private matter.

May the Lord bless you today friends.

Dare *Not* To Compare

There have been many wonderful posts written about making sure we aren't comparing ourselves to others in a way that makes us feel inferior, but I feel like it doesn't hurt to be reminded one more time. It used to be just magazines and television, but now with the internet at our fingertips all day long, it's so easy to be lured into thinking that we just aren't measuring up.

Thoughts enter our heads, like:

She's reading the Bible in 90 days? I can barely manage to read mine once a week.

I don't know how they get up so early every day - I can hardly get out of bed.

I wish I could be creative enough to decorate my house like that.

That dessert looks fabulous. My family is probably sad that I don't make fancy desserts.

Why can't I be successful at something? Nothing I do really matters or gets noticed.

I can tell you that Satan loves putting those thoughts into our heads. And the more we look around, the easier it is to believe in the negativity!

I just want to remind us all that everything, EVERYTHING we see on the internet is simply an edited snapshot - not a full picture of a life. Will you let that sink in for a minute? That gorgeous picture of the decorated living room isn't showing the overflowing closet or the struggles with misbehaving kids or the battle with depression. The successful 90-day Bible reader may have unsuccessfully tried the challenge 5 times before. The blogger with the amazing food photo might be heading through the McDonald's drive-through right now because there's not enough time to stop at home between activities.

If we remember to look upward instead of inward, we'll realize that we are successful - in the things that God wants us to be successful in {with His help} - even if it doesn't seem like it's ever noticed. We each have our own gifts in our own seasons and thankfully, we are unique! Why compare? Don't let blog challenges or Pinterest pics get you down - enjoy them, let them encourage you or give you a new idea to try, realize that maybe they don't match up with your season right now which is OK and move on.

These thoughts struck me a few months ago as I took a pic of a dessert {Pumpkin Pie Pudding with Maple Sugar Nuts & Cream -yum} for a guest post. Now, my pics are certainly not professional as I am far too lazy to do more than use my automatic camera in bad lighting and get a close enough shot that I don't need to bother editing in any way. But my goal is to make the food look good enough to make you want to try the recipe. Here's the pic:

 

When you see this pic, I want you to think: Oh yum, I want to try making that and I bet I can do it if she can do it! Or - Mmmm...pumpkin, that reminds me - I should make that pumpkin bread my family likes. Or - I have some similar dishes and maybe I can serve some fruit in them for dessert.

What I don't want you to think: Wow, she always makes such fancy desserts - I could never do that. Or - She puts everything together so nicely - my family is too chaotic to even try to present something like this. Etc. Don't. Really.

Because let's just zoom on back from that cute little photo:

 

See what I mean? I hope you get a good laugh or a sigh of relief from this pic. Why, WHY are we comparing ourselves to only one little piece of a much bigger puzzle? It just doesn't make sense. Let's stop and just cheer each other on for the little gifts or successes experienced in a day. Dare *not* to compare, my friends!

Please take a moment, close your eyes {OK, well you can finish reading this sentence first - LOL}, and think about something that you've done well this week or this month or this year. Virtually pat yourself on the back and thank the Lord for blessing you with that success and making you unique. Take a deep breath, find your smile, and go on with your day. You.are.awesome.

If you feel led to share your thoughts on comparisons or a success you've experienced, no matter how big or little - I'd love to hear it all in the comments!

This post gladly linked to:
 ~ Life In Bloom at Denise In Bloom
 ~ Thriving Thursdays at Serving Joyfully
 ~ The Weekend Brew at My Freshly Brewed Life

Thank you for stopping by and reading today! Have a blessed day friends!

P.S. Day 4 finished of my 22-post challenge {don't compare if you're having trouble blogging - use it as a little nudge to get you posting again even if it's just once a week}. Also - if you want to join in the blogging challenge for the rest of the month - you can post whatever number of times you want. I've added a linky to the original post. Link up your blog if you want to challenge yourself to increase your posts for April and let us come cheer you on!