Chapters 8-11

"Never let it leave your heart and mind that God is the source of all power and positive motivation." (page 94)


We've all had one of the those kinds of days.  You know, the day where you just don't feel like doing anything!  Maybe you just want to go to bed or wish you had a few hours to yourself.  This feeling makes every task you need to accomplish feel harder and more unpleasant.  And that is normal- we all find ourselves in the middle of bad days with no motivation.


Where you get in trouble is when one day leads to another and another and before long you are in a rut and weariness sets in.  And how do you dig yourself out?  Most people think a lot about motivation or try to talk themselves into being motivated thinking that tomorrow they will wake up and "feel" motivated.  The problem is that in and of ourselves we are not naturally motivated. We are naturally selfish.  We must be connected to God, have the ability to hear his voice and be in tune with His vision in order to maintain motivation to continue HIS mission.  This again reiterates the need for daily planning and execution of our spiritual disciplines.


This also speaks to the way we spend our time.  We must focus and protect our time spent not only on spiritual disciplines, but personal development and times of refreshing as well.  You need to learn what refreshes you.  But be careful not to be deceived that because you enjoy something or it seems to be relaxing that it truly is refreshing.  Honestly, there are many late evenings, after I get the last little one to bed that I simply want to fall on the couch, watch some HGTV or Food Network and not think about too much.  Now there is nothing wrong with relaxing and watching some TV.  However, just because I feel like doing it doesn't mean it's really what I need. For me personally, I am refreshed through reading, times of silence, dates with my husband, time investing in other women and special girl's nights out with my dear friends.  Now again, I am not saying to throw your TV out.  But do not be deceived that down time with your TV will refresh you and keep you motivated in life.


I haven't found many other authors that do such a great job in explaining the role of feelings in our life.  As women, one of the main struggles we will continually have to gain victory in is controlling how our feelings affect our lives.  Dr. Stephens writes the following on page 104: 


"Now feelings are a fantastic gift from God that enhance many life experiences.  Enjoy them.  But God never intends for you to depend on them, any more than you can trust the wind He created.  Feelings are as fickle as the wind.  And if you follow them like most people, you can easily spend your life chasing your tail.  You must put His will as the engine that pulls the train- the one in charge.  Hopefully, Son, you will always surrender your will to the Lord.  So your daily decisions, directions, and discernment are from your will, not how you feel at the moment.  Your feelings can be cool as long as they are the caboose of the train.  They follow.  They line up with your will."


Wow.  Read that again.


Our culture will tell you the opposite.  Every commercial caters to what you want or desire.  Culture will tell you to think about yourself and your needs- after all you deserve it.  All too often our work, our schedules, our clothing, our food, the way we care for our bodies and even our relationship with God all hinges on what we FEEL like.  This is a dangerous place to be and it takes a conscious effort to rely on God and his strength to live our days according to His will for our lives- not what we feel like.  


These are just a few of my thoughts on the many amazing principles in these four chapters.  What are yours?



*Topics discussed from "The Plan of Your Life" by Dr. Chris Stephens

Food, Family and Finances

Well this go around hits three chapters and three very important and vast subjects- family, health and finances!  If you have been around me long, you have probably had a conversation with me about all of these topics.  All three are not only important but absolutely VITAL areas of our lives. The irony is that for generations the Church as a whole seemed to shy away from addressing or these subjects.  At times they were even segregated from even being considered spiritual topics.  People were left to navigate these often tough topics on their own. 


If we have surrendered our lives to God, then EVERY area of our life is spiritual in nature and our decisions become spiritual decisions. Thankfully the Church now currently seems to consistently produced not only relationships, but teaching and resources to help people thrive in these areas.


Thankfully many of you are going through Stewardship so you are learning a great deal about a biblical view of finances.  I would encourage you to never stop growing in this area.


Your health may be an area you have not focused a great deal on.  Or health for you may be centered around how many calories you eat and what the scales says. I can be honest in saying that God has taken me on a journey with health and nutrition that I did not ask to go on.  But as I continue to walk and learn, it has ended being one of the most profound and incredible experiences.  I have grown spiritually in ways that I would have never dreamed of.  We will be going through a book later this year that addresses this topic at a much deeper level and I am excited to see all God does through it!


And last but certainly not least is the topic of marriage.  Dr. Stephens does a fabulous job addressing so many great qualities in a very condensed chapter.  He writes about six qualities that build solid families (Chapter 4, pages 57-65)


An unwavering commitment
Spend plenty of time together
An attitude of gratitude for each other
Constant and clear communication
The ability to triumph in tribulations
Spiritual health

I would strongly encourage to read through each six of these qualities and pray over which area(s) you need to focus on growing in.  Take time commit these to prayers, seek wisdom in areas you need help and make goals to succeed.

I have found that communication is an area that just about every marriage can grow in.  And understandably as a man and woman can have a conversation where they have such a hard time understanding each other that they might as well have been speaking different languages!  So one of my favorite quotes in the entire book is found on page 63.  Dr. Stephens writes, "Communication requires that we put our family members first.  In your communication, if you seek to understand before you seek to be understood, life will be much better."  So simple yet so profound!

*Topics discussed from "The Plan of Your Life" by Dr. Chris Stephens

Day by Day

"Great men aren't made in a day- they are made daily."

"The Plan of Your Life" by Dr. Chris Stephens (page 36)

We make plans, write to- do list, fill up calendars, and create 5 and 10 year plans.  Just take a walk down an aisle at Target and you can find countless calendars and planners for everything from kids chores to exercise.  Planning is not our downfall.  Neglecting to plan the most important things is what holds us back.


Each day I wake up with the choice as to how to use the day.  Will I simply be keeping up with a to-do list, longing for the quiet of the evening so I can escape in a book or fall into the couch to watch a tv show?  Will I be overwhelmed with all I have to do, but at the end of the day wonder what I really accomplished?  Sure there will be days like this, but as a whole I must choose to live a different way.  


If our spiritual life and personal relationship with God truly is the most important thing in life than our days and calendars should directly reflect that.  If we plan everything else, why don't we spend more time planning how to build our foundation in God?  Dr. Stephens so eloquently expresses our need to plan, schedule and quantify our spiritual disciplines.  On page 46 he lays out building blocks of a spiritual foundation. This is a great list of disciplines we should engage in to build our relationship, faith and much more.  He then goes on to lay out his "Personal Growth Plan" or spiritual goals for the year.  I would strongly encourage all of you to pray about this and create your own plan for this year.  I have my own list and will share that in a post soon.  


Another encouragement I have is to press into the disciplines that may not come as natural to you.  If memorization has always been difficult for you, then take time to commit this area in prayer and ask God to give you discipline and the ability to develop in this area.  For others, reading one book a month is a stretch- forget one a week!  But the time we live in allows us to have access to the insights of thousands of amazing Christian authors, current and centuries past.  Personally for me, I must push myself to seek solitude and simply be silent before God.  It does not come naturally or easy for me, but it is equally or possibly even more important than other spiritual disciplines.  There are some things that God desires to do in me that can only come from enjoying his presence in silence with no distraction.


The decisions you make each day will make a dramatic impact on the woman you are becoming.  Dr. Stephens says, "A couple of chapters of Bible reading might not seem like it's doing much for you.  But a daily regimen of it actually begins to change a person's thinking patterns and enlivens the spirit." (page 47)  Start small or continue a great plan you have, but most importantly don't give up.  If you plan anything, plan how you are going to grow in God!

The Plan for April

As hard as it is to believe, we are already more than a week into April!  We are going to be going through "The Plan of Your Life" by Dr. Chris Stephens this month.  It is an incredible book chalked full of practical wisdom.  Before I even finished it I knew it was going on my list of favorite books.  I will be blogging each Tuesday about several chapters.  This schedule should help you be able to stay up and engage in conversation about the topics.

Tuesday the 10th- Introduction, Chapters 1-3 
(Read the intro or you might be lost!)
Tuesday the 17th- Chapters 4-7
Tuesday the 24th- Chapters 8-11
Tuesday the 1st- Chapters 12-15

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