"Its (not that) Complicated" a book review

The cute cover caught my eye; the convicting words caught my heart. 


   The book, "It's (not that) Complicated" by sisters, Anna Sophia and Elisabeth Botkin, is marketed as a guy-girl relationship book, which it is, but the well thought-out and Biblically sound principles that they bring to the table, go far beyond this single area of relationships.
   It's most basic premise is a call to love our brothers-in-Christ more than we love ourselves, but I found myself being convicted more over the way I loved, (or, more accurately, did not love) my family members, close friends, and even God.
    In short, this book broke me. It broke my pride, my self-conceit, and my hypocrisy. It held a mirror to my face, and bid me see what manner of person I truly am, and not what manner of person I think I am. Hard on the flesh? Definitely. But oh how glorious for my soul!
   I would encourage anyone struggling in their relationship with God, friends, family, or even guys, (since, that is, in fact the main theme of the book) to get their hands on a copy of this book and then buckle up, because you will never be the same. 


*You can purchase the book, by clicking on the link above, which will take you to the Vision Forum website. 


** The Botkin sisters, have written one other book, and have many audio resources, but I'm not sure that I would not recommend them. Most of what they write and say, seems quite biblically sound, but there are some things, that I'm not sure I can completely endorse. So, if you are inclined to study more of their works, please use discretion.

Abide in Me

God has been revealing many great Truths to me over these last several weeks, and as much as I long to share them, I feel like I need to hold them to myself a little longer, until my grasp on them is better. So, it may be pretty quiet around here for awhile. I do still want to get posts up, so I may be leaving you in the hands of much older and wiser people for a while, and today I want to share with you an excerpt from an incredible book by two of my heroes, Eric and Leslie Ludy. Enjoy!
  " In John 15, Jesus gave His disciples what may be the most profound and beautiful command in the entire Bible... He summed up the essence, the granderur, the mystery, and the marvel of life in but a few life-altering words. He said to them, 'Abide in Me.'
   What did He mean by that?
   He meant, 'Find the meaning of life in Me. Find your value and confidence in Me. Find your purpose and direction in Me. Find the source for all spiritual achievement in Me. Find the strength to live each moment in Me. Find the wisdom to navigate the many turns for life in Me... Find the most satisfying life for all of eternity in Me.'
   To abide in Christ means to allow His Life to possess us at all times and in every situation life brings. To abide means saying to God with the inhaling of every breath, 'Not my will, but Yours be done.'...
   God created us to abide in Him. It's that basic. Abiding in Him is our life's purpose. Abiding in Him is what we were created for. Abiding in Him is why we are here."
                                            -Eric and Leslie Ludy in "When God Writes Your Life Story"

Hello Again!!!

Hello everybody! I'm sorry for the unannounced and unexpected hiatus, June was just a super busy month. But now I'm back and I've got alot of things to share with you all! First, me and my mom started a business, Made Wright At Home, and we are really excited about that. Next, I've gotten on Pinterest and created some boards with really great resources, that I would love for you to check out! And finally, God has just been teaching me alot this month. He has been breaking and humbling me, and I can't wait to see how He is going to bring me out in the end. I will hopefully be sharing with you some things He has shown me, and your prayers would be appreciated!

In His Presence

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?

-Psalm 139:7

   As I have been reading "Loving God with all Your Mind:, I have been learning to think on what is true (Phil.4:8), and to apply that to my life. I'm not very good at it yet, but today as I was memorizing and meditation on Psalm 139:7, I realized that this is a very important Truth, one that should impact every moment of my life. The Truth is this: God is with me every moment of every day. Yikes! That is a scary reality, as I think of all the things I have done, that I would never think to do if I knew that I was in the presence of the King of the universe. But how am I to act now that I know? Since I found this Truth in the Psalm's, I decided to look at a couple more that dealt with living in the presence of the Lord. After my quick search, I found three verses that  I think lay down some good guidelines. 

   The first one is: "... come before His presence with singing," Psalm 100:2b. Even though we are always in His presence, I think this is a good practice to have in the morning, as we consciously enter His presence at the start of our day. Isn't the first sound we often hear in the morning, the singing of the birds? 

   The next verse I found is: "...in Thy presence is fulness of joy..." Psalm 16:11. This one is one, that sometimes I just have to believe, even when I don't feel it. It is a Truth that is often hard to understand, but since the Bible says it, I just have to believe, that God will supply the joy that He says is found in Him.

   Finally, I found Psalm 31:20, which I think is one of my favorites: "You shall hide [those who fear You] in the secret place of Your presence...". I love it! He hides us and shelters us in His presence! What a wonderful Truth to have tucked away, ready to throw at the enemy. 

   I know that there are many more Truths to be found, but I don't have enough time or space to get them all down, so I will let you mine for the rest. I hope that this verse has challenged you as it has me, and that you will keep it in the back of your mind as you go throughout the day. 

"We ought to try to live so we would feel all right if we should find Christ walking with us someday."

-a character in Grace Livingston Hill's book, "Cloudy Jewel"

Memorable Monday

Ok, I don't have as many pictures of last week as I would like, because my photographer has been sick, and the holder of the other pictures does not live at my house, so I will have to steal them when they post them on facebook. (Which, by the way, you can 'like' me on by following this link.)

On Thursday, me and my Mommy got to go to Little Rock so I could get my new Bible stamped and I could get some graduation presents for my friends. While I was there I picked up a wonderful book my Elisabeth George. (one of my favorite authors!!!)

I have been reading this slower than I read most books, because it is so practical and inspiring, that I have to take extra time to soak it in. My mind wanders very readily, (my kindergarten teacher can attest to that!), and I always assumed that  since that's the way I am there is nothing I can do about it. This mentality has let in alot of worry, fear, and discouragement, that truly does not belong in the life of a child of God, and through this book Elisabeth George has shown me  the weapons that I need to fight this. It has truly been incredible, and I am already seeing results!

Then on Friday, I went to the graduation of my best friend! (you can find pictures of her, and a sweet post about her on my sisters blog.) She had 620 people in her graduation class, so it was reallllllllly long, but totally worth it!

Then on Saturday, we got to see some wonderful friends that we haven't seen in months, and my graduation invitations came in. Yay!!!

Also a fun part of the weekend was getting to try out the new target my Daddy bought for me and Lacey to use.

Lacey checking to see how she did.

                                             
                          Getting ready to do it again!

Then of course, yesterday was Mothers Day! I love my Mommy!
Here are some pictures of her card. (Nothing but Snoopy will do!)

Hope you all have a wonderful week!!! 

Memorable Monday!

The first memorable thing that happened last week, was on Thursday, when Snoopy Lucas came to visit!

  He is a little boy, I got to baby-sit for several months last year, and we just love him. So when we got a chance to watch him Thursday, we jumped on it!

                         
       He got to come early for breakfast, and this is his chocolate gravy mustache. Hehe!                    

             He and Lacey decided to pretend that they were going to the beach, so they dragged all of their props out in the dining room. This was their set-up.

They also played a rousing game of 'Fight the Bad Guys' and Lauren managed to get this video of him telling me about it. (You might have to flip your head around a few times to get a good view of this!)

Then on Saturday, we got to baby-sit our youth pastors son, and after me and my dad  poured the concrete for some steps, we got to play on the trampoline in the sprinkler. I haven't had that much fun, in a long time! :)

This is all of us playing Ring Around the Rosie, Grant insisted! I'm the one in the purplish shirt, Lacey is next to me in the green (she got really brave of the water!) Katie, my best friend, has her back to the camera, Lauren is next to her, and Grant is the little boy in blue.

Lacey and Grant enjoying the water.

                                                                           
           After this, we (the older girls) all got cleaned up, and Daddy took us to the movies to watch "The Avengers".  I really wasn't sure if they could live up to the expectations everyone had for the movie, but I believe they managed to pull it off!

                                                      

     The real highlight of my week though, was last night, at the special service for graduates. Bro. Bobby, our youth minister, shared the fruit of the spirit he thought described each of our lives the best, then he presented each of us a brand new Bible, from our church family. My Daddy sang the song "Cinderella", and I tried not to get too misty. ;) Then a girl from our youth group got up and told a little story about each of us. It was a beautiful service, and I am so thankful that God has placed me in the church family, that He has. It truly is more like a family than anything! Hope you all have a wonderful week!

“God never witholds from His child that which His love and wisdom call good. God's refusals are always merciful -- "severe mercies" at times but mercies all the same. God never denies us our hearts desire except to give us something better.” 
― Elisabeth Elliot

Miscellaneous

   This post is pretty much just a bunch of things that I want to tell you, not really anything dreadfully important. So, here goes:
1) I feel sometimes, like some of you don't know me very well. I mean, you get all of my deep (maybe?) , thoughts without really seeing what my life is like for real. So I want to start having Memorable Mondays, where I can tell you all about some memorable things that happened to me the week before, along with pictures taken by my wonderful photographer sister! Also, I would like to include a memorable quote from a great Christian of the  past. Sound ok?
2) I'm going to tell you this, because if I do, then I have to do it! I am going to read the whole Bible through in the next 90 days! Ok, not really, I'm starting now, because I want to be finished by the end of the summer, and my schedule for some of the months is so crazy, that it will be impossible for me to do the entire days reading that I need to finish in 90 days. So, it might be more like reading the Bible through in 120 days! I decided on this plan, because I've tried the read through in a year plans, but the time seems soooo long. I'm hoping that by reducing the time, it will keep me more motivated longer.
3) That is all I wanted to say... I think.... I will let you know if I think of anything else. Have a great day!!!