Saturday, October 20, 2007

Ordinary Details of My Life

I was presented with a challenge…. turning another meme into a devotional. In tagging me Carolanne suggested that it might not be possible.

This meme consisted of questions concerning ordinary details of my life.
There are people who compartmentalize their life into neat little boxes and their faith fills one them.
I cannot do something by halves….if something is worth doing I do it wholeheartedly. For me my faith is 24/7. If I am a child of the King then it has to be part of every area and detail of my life.
So I see Carolanne’s meme as a worthy exercise to see if I can even do this meme with God in mind.

The questions and my answers are as follows:

1. What are four places that I have lived?
Since I have lived within a small radius all my life the few times I have moved have been within the same municipality, except for the last two years when I moved one over. Still, not much difference.
All of the places I lived were in the country except for four years when we lived in a subdivision in town. I am not a city girl. I love living where it is quiet – and where I have nature around me to remind me of the God who created all things.
And yet I always remember, I am not a citizen of this world but of a heavenly one. (Eph. 2:19)
I am seated in heavenly places with Christ. (Eph. 2:6)
As the hymn says, “This world is not my home…I’m just a-passing through.”

2.What are four jobs I have held?
All the jobs I have held came out of the creative gifts that God has given me. I worked ‘with my hands’. ( I Thess 4:11) But my earthly jobs, though necessary to meet my material needs, were really only places of opportunity to be faithful in my ‘real’ job…. To serve the King of Kings - “Always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour is not in vain to the Lord.” (I Cor. 15:58)

3.What are four films I could watch over and over?
I watch very few movies simply because I am careful what I put into my mind. The ones I do love to watch are the ones that are wholesome and make a good deposit into my soul --- like Ben Hur, It’s a Wonderful Life, The Ten Commandments, Anne of Green Gables, The Sound of Music.

4.What are four TV shows I watch ?
I like documentaries, nature shows, Medical Miracles, Living Truth.
I love to watch programs that either teach me something or inspire me.

5.Four favourite foods?
God could have created us to be nourished through the air or water, but He wanted food to be more than our sustenance , He wanted the sharing of it to be an opportunity of fellowship and pleasure around the table. And look at the variety of foods He has blessed us with !! I love chocolate, fruit (especially grapes and nectarines) bread (though I can’t eat it anymore) chicken.

6. What are four websites I visit every day ? (not including blogs)
I don’t visit any websites on a daily basis…unless I can count g-mail…. I use web sites to glean information on a given subject I am interested in , and since that changes so do the sites I visit. We are so blessed in our age of technology. I know that everything can be - and is- used for evil but what a blessing to have at our fingertips any bit of information we need and use even our computers to glorify God and honor Him.

7. What are my four favourite colors?
I love pink… and I think God does too. Pink are the blossoming trees that declare that spring has come – the beginning of new life. Also the beautiful sun rise is pink…announcing a new, untarnished day. I also love purple – a royal color befitting the daughter of a King.
Green is on my favourite list… because all growing things are green…and I love burgundy the rich color of my Saviour’s blood.

8.What are four places I would like to be right now?
I would love to be standing before the throne of God listening to or being part of the choir worshipping Him. If I can’t be there I would like to be on a mountain top where God walks…and His Presence is so tangible. Or I would like to be in an underground church service where the worshippers are risking their lives to serve God. Or I would like to be right here where I am…. I am content to be where ever God is.

9. What are four names I love but could not/would not use for my children.
Of course the name I love above all names is the name of Jesus. I also love the names of people I admire like…. King David, the prophet Jeremiah or Malachi.

Instead of tagging four people, I am going to challenge you – my dear reader - to think about the ordinary things that make up your day….
Do you bring Christ into every moment?
Do you consider whether your actions, your words, your reactions honor Him?
Is your faith being clearly seen in any given moment of your day ????

7 comments:

Carolanne said...

Very well done, Julie! I applaud you. :)

I also love the conclusion you came to:

Do you bring Christ into every moment?
Do you consider whether your actions, your words, your reactions honor Him?
Is your faith being clearly seen in any given moment of your day ????

Well done my friend. :)

Nicki said...

Once again very challenging. Making your walk 24/7 and bringing God into every single thing you do is a constant challenge. I'm reading a book at the moment called Stories from around the world (edited by Keith Danby) and one of the things I have got out of it is similar to what you are saying. Standing and putting on some sort of show to tell people about God is often not as effective as living your life for Him and being an example of Him every minute of every day. Being yourself, being real will often give you far more opportunities to share effectively God's love for us and makes it more believable to the unbeliever. God Bless.

Lovella ♥ said...

Well done Julie, I'm so glad that God is interested in the ordinary details of your life.

James Janzen said...

Hardly a challenge at all eh?? You would think people would learn.
The only part i disagree with is to put David on any admiration list. I get real hung up on the fact that he allowed the beauty of one woman to jeopardize everything. Maybe my expectations are too high regarding people as any examples of Christ. They only disappoint. Only Christ can be our true example. Then again who am I to judge?????????????

Anonymous said...

Well done. I most enjoyed the four places you would like to be. At God's feet would be truly awesome, on a mountaintop, been there, done that and still do here in Colorado, I would like the ocean roaring and swirling about and I agree that being content where God has placed me right now, right here is of utmost importance.

Sara at Come Away With Me said...

Well said, Julie, as always.

Demara said...

Aw Julie all of these things I've read of you, sound like the things I would imagine you would say are the ordinary details of you life, but you know I don't think they're that ordinary after all! Anytime we acknowledge our Heavenly Father is extraordinary, right?

(In the Carolanne link you forgot the c for coutsidethebox.blogspot.com just to let you know...When i clicked on it I thought wow has Carolanne changed her blog again??? And to BLACK, wow!?!?!)