8 Jul

C.A.R.I.

Posted by carikelley in Bible stuff.

There’s been a slight change of plans.    I know that I just said a couple of days ago, June 30 to be exact, that I finished reading the bible and said I was going to start again reading it chronologically.  I was even gonna fast track it and read 2 days at a time so that I could read it again by the end of the year.  (I didn’t realize I was such an overachiever!)   BUT, the plan has changed.  Or, I should say, God changed it.

So the next ___ days/weeks will be spent reading from Psalms and spending much more time in prayer and worship.  I don’t even know how long this is gonna take I have to stop reading and just sit in front of God in worship.  I’m so task driven that I enjoyed having  the 10-15 pages a day to read and the goal in mind, but I wasn’t stopping to just BE with God…talk to Him… focus on who He is.  Of course there is value to reading His word, but so much more in the relationship.

So, I came up with this acronym to help me. Thanks, Lord, for the help with this!

Come–simply come to Him

Acknowledge–acknowledge who and what He is in my life. Savior, Redeemer, Counselor, Provider, Protector, etc.

Rest–just sit still before a Holy God.

Intercede–pray for other people

See?  I get to sit still before God and still go through a  checklist.  and it’s easy for me to remember, too!  Can’t wait!!  God is so good!

5 Jul

Come On Over for Some More S’mores!

Posted by carikelley in kids, life.

We’re not much on DIY projects….at least finishing them…    But on a cloudy, rainy 4th of July, we made a Lowe’s run and came home with the makings for a sand pit.  A sand pit?  Yep.  We’ve had a fire pit (actually we have 2 of them) for a while but couldn’t use it because our back patio is completely covered and we did NOT want to burn the neighborhood down by using it in the yard.  Smokey the Bear would be proud of us.  :)   So, after we took down the Easy Set Pool that was MUCH too small for our kids to enjoy, we were left with an ugly brown spot on the yard. (we had staked the center of the circle, in case you’re wondering what that black thing is in the middle)  The spot inspired me.  Doesn’t it look inspiring!?

ugly brown spot

So, we dug…

Digging out the circleand dug some more…notice the leftover pool floaty looking on?

More digging

then flattened out the muddy mess…

stamping and smoothing the dirt

laid down some weed/grass blocker

weed blocker

carefully placed our stones around the edge of the circle…

circle of stonesfilled the thing with sand

sand

and had a camp out!   This was actually the next night—which was perfect, weather-wise.  mid 70’s,  slightest breeze, nearly full moon….hmmmm….it was good.  Cory had a fire going in under 5 minutes, thanks to the mad fire building skills he learned at Camp Dakani earlier this summer. ( Actually, only Cameron and 2 of her friends slept in the tent–the rest of us slept in our beds.)

roasting marshmallows!

So, we’ve stocked up on firewood, graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate!  Come on over!

2 Jul

The pretty birds

Posted by carikelley in Thoughts, feelings and random panic, life.

We have a bird feeder in our backyard that hangs in a tree, strategically placed to be easily seen from the kitchen windows. <insert picture here>  (I would but the home computer crashed and I don’t want to mess with the backup)

Anytime we (usually just me or Cameron) see a bird out there on the feeder we get excited and shout out, “bird!”  Really?  You think that’s true?  Well, not exactly.  The plain jane birds–you know, the brown ones or the black ones–rarely get a comment.  However, the Cardinals and Bluejays…that’s another story.  and I’m pretty sure it’s not just ‘cuz they’re the only ones we know the names of.  They are the rare ones…the pretty ones, the colorful ones….the Noticeable ones.

Why is that?  Why do I not get excited over a plain old sparrow, a robin, or a wren?  It starts me thinking about our culture and our world.  How typical that the “special” birds get noticed and all the others barely get a glance.  It’s really no wonder that people who want to “stand out”, to be “noticed”, are the ones that want to look different.  They spend so much time and money on hair, makeup, and clothes.  They recognize that sooo much of our cultural acceptance is based on appearance.  I’m just as guilty as the next guy–judging by appearance.  I’m trying to change though.

I should have been a psychology major in college–then I might actually know what I’m talking about…or at least think I did.

30 Jun

Hello? Hello? Is it me you’re looking for?

Posted by carikelley in Bible stuff, Thoughts, feelings and random panic, kids.

My vacation got me all out of whack, I guess.  I can’t seem to think in blog posts anymore like I used to.  I’m excited tonight though.  Right now I’m watching the X Men: Last Stand with Cory “THE BOMB.com” Kelley…I have NO idea what’s happening–it’s toward the end of the movie and there’s lots of blowing stuff up.  Apparently, there is a “cure” for the mutants–some of whom want the cure and some of whom don’t. Whatever.  The bright spot in the movie is that Miles Straum (my favorite character from LOST) is in this movie.  He plays some porcupine-like dude.  Oops, he just got evaporated.  Darn.   Cameron’s in her room coughing and sniffling and reading a book.  Dumb allergies.

My mom’s retired now…I’m so excited for her!  I think she’s enjoying it so far.  She’s helping me out getting Cory to and from driver’s ed–yes, I said driver’s ed!–sheesh!

AND, tonight I should finish Revelations!.  Yep, the whole bible in 6 months!  It’s amazing how different it seems when read all together like that.  I’m still wondering why it was necessary to have ALL of the prophets at the end of the old Testament warning Israel about it’s coming destruction???  I mean I appreciate the fact that God sent several people to warn them and urge them to repent, but did they all have to be in the OT?  Was I supposed to get something new and different from each one?

My goal when I started (the reason I wanted to read it in a year) was to know God better. I believed that knowing Him better would help me to love Him more.  True that.   Also, wisdom and understanding-–I need more of it.  Again, I’m not disappointed.

Anyway, I better put this thing down so I can read before I get sleepy!   I’m planning to read it chronologically next…if I can find a resource for that!

11 Jun

new stuff, somewhere else

Posted by carikelley in blogging, relationships.

I’m sorely disappointed in myself.  I go all BIG, guest posting on a leadership blog, getting a conversation going, receiving more hits on my blog in 2 days than I’d had in the last 6 months prior, then…. *crickets chirping*…nothing.

Oh well.  Now that the hubbub has died down and traffic has returned to normal, I thought I’d resurface.  and send you, my faithful reader, to another blog.  Yep.  I don’t have anything to say, but I have been thinking…and reading.  I’m working through a book called Sacred Marriage, based on the idea that the Lord designed marriage not to make you happy but to make you holy.  This requires a paradigm shift for many.

Which lead me to here, which is where I’m sending you.  Take a gander, then come on back.  I promise I’ll have something new soon. :)   and I don’t know why it keeps being in italics…won’t stop.  grrrrr…

2 Jun

My Mind is Somewhere Else Today

Posted by carikelley in blogging.

Go check me out on the swerve blog today!

http://swerve.lifechurch.tv/

Same stuff you find here, different address today!  Leave a comment, please.  It’ll make me feel loved!

29 May

Resolved…now what?

Posted by carikelley in Bible stuff, life.

One more time I need to say, “I can’t wait till this Twilight movie loses some of it’s momentum!”  Two people at church tonight told me I “had to see Twilight!”…”you’d love it!”   Why!?  Why me?  What makes you think I would LOVE it!?  Once I just responded with a quiet smile and a nod…the second time, I mumbled and jabbered nonsense about “can’t”, “I’m weird”, “not being religious…etc” (I should’ve just smiled and nodded)  I just DON”T know how else to respond!   Just smile and wave, boys, just smile and wave.

Do I just hold my breath until it’s popularity fades, and the hype is over?  Then I starting thinking, what about the next one…the next popular movie/tv show that EVERYONE sees and loves.  “oh, it’s so good!”  “it’s love, and sweet, and romantic, and happy ending, and blah, blah, blah”" and “you’ll LOVE it!”

So, here’s my question.  What happens when you take a stand like this? Especially in a world where movies are such a huge part of our culture.  Everywhere I turn…”Did you see this one?”  “We’re going to see that one, wanna come?”  “I’m going to stay home tonight and watch that one—again!”    When you decide to “give up” something completely “normal”….it’s harder than, say…giving up drinking.  If I were tempted by alcohol, I’d just stop hanging out at the bars, right?  It’s seems much harder to avoid this temptation.   But, like the alcoholic can’t just have ONE drink, I can’t just watch one movie and walk away.

I have a sweet little girl at church in the class I serve in that would like nothing more than to tell me about each movie that she’s seen that weekend…scene by scene.  I have to redirect her every week.  Seriously, God, do you know about this?! And you allow it?!  Cut me some slack.  Please?

I have resolved…and this one’s not going to be easy.  Luckily, I’m not in it alone.

26 May

A Strong Warning

Posted by carikelley in Bible stuff, life.

I’ve never re-posted anything before, but I’m reading Isaiah again and ran across this verse again.

The Lord has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does. Isaiah 8:11

These words, spoken by Isaiah early in his years as a prophet of God, reflect the commitment to God that it takes to follow Him wholeheartedly.  To trust in Him alone.

I’m looking for focus and a clear mind.  What do I do?  Shut out distractions.  Turn them off, make a choice.  It also reminds me of:

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will. Rom 12:2

In what way do you need to change the way you think so that you do not think like everyone else?

20 May

Random happy feelings

Posted by carikelley in Thoughts, feelings and random panic, financial wizard I am not, life.

Oh, girls…don’t we always let our feelings guide us?  This can be good and bad, I suppose.

I just wanna share a couple of things that make me happy today.

The perfect egg. I’ve always had trouble making this at home–until now.  I found this little baby pan.  It’s made to cook just 1 egg.  and it does….perfectly.  My mornings are now bliss.  Look at it!   It’s beautiful.

the perfect egg

sunny side up

AND…I cancelled our voice mail with Cox (along with a few other services when we went all ‘gazelle intense’ with Dave Ramsey).  I HATED the voice mail retrieval process…calling myself, pushing 1 to hear new messages, listening to the call back number, and then the message (which was usually some recording from a solicitor!).  It was such a time sucker!  I know that seems silly, but if you know me and I don’t answer at home, you probably have my cell phone number.  It’s what I usually give people anyway if I actually WANT to take their call!   So, anyway, when I walk in the house after being out for a few hours, I remember that “NO, I don’t have any messages” and breathe a sigh of relief.   Ahhhhh….beautiful.   It really is the small things.

Oh, yeah, and I bought an ax…or is it an axe?…today.  Don’t know what for except that I wanted one.  It’s small.  fairly “girl-sized” I thought…(or camp sized, according to the package).   So, if you need anything small chopped up (or down) let me know–I’ll come right over bearing ax.  Maybe I’ll go to the park and…oh, wait, carrying an ax around at the park might not look so good….never mind.

I’ll sleep good tonight.  No messages on the voice mail, anticipating another perfect egg in the morning, with a shiny new ax in the garage.  I do believe I could conquer the world.

14 May

WWJW?

Posted by carikelley in Bible stuff, life.

As a Christ follower, is it OK to participate in activities that are morally wrong, or at least morally questionable?   The easy answer to this question, is “of course not”.   Then, my next question is…is it OK to watch someone else participate in activities that are morally questionable or just downright wrong?  Even if they are only pretending or acting out situations? Please don’t make me make a list, and I hope you’re not just picturing sexual stuff in your mind. (for more reasons than one!)  This could go for anything from sexual sin, to gossip, lying, violence…that’s my short list–I’ll let you define for yourself what is “morally questionable or wrong”.

I really hate to pull out the old “WWJD”, but maybe that’s our best measuring stick.  High standard?  Sure.  Too high?  I don’t think so.  As Christ followers, we are not called to compromise, but to have the attitude of Christ–staying pure, considering our lives nothing apart from God.

You might have guessed already that I’m referring to TV and movies–a recurring theme here on this blog, I’m afraid.  Please understand, I’m not condemning anyone else for their own decisions, but only questioning and processing where I stand on this issue.

The word of God has lots to say about this.  2 Corinthians 7:1 says it like this:

Because we have these promises (that God is with us and for us), let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness out of reverence for God”.   (emphasis mine)

I don’t know about you, but that word everything hollers at me from the page.  It screams commitment, sacrifice, and purity, and it forces me to redefine what is acceptable for me to lay eyes on or put in my mind.  No doubt, what goes in affects the way I think and act.  Garbage in, garbage out.  How much do I care about protecting my spirit and reserving it completely for God?  It means everything to me.

I could read scripture and just lightly brush by some of the more “difficult” commands…but…that just wouldn’t be fair.  I think I would be missing out on some huge pieces of what God has in store for ME.  This is the obedience he has called ME to…not you, necessarily, but ME, definitely.

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