My Favorite Coffee
People are always asking me what coffee to drink. One more time drinking large amounts of it does not make me an expert, but here's my favorites just for you :)
Starbucks: Sumatra, Christmas Blend, Shade Grown Mexico, and Pike's Place
Door County Coffee: Highlander Grog and Country Morning
Innkeepers: Java Estate
Coffee Times Coffee: Cinnamon Nut Graham
For the record, the reason people get so addicted to Starbucks coffee is because they roast their beans just to the point of burning them a little bit. You get used to that kick and everything else either isn't strong enough or tastes funny by comparison. Smart marketing technique starbucks :)
To coffee!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Book of the week
I love to read (surprise!), but I especially love when a book comes from nowhere and consumes your life for the moment. I love when it speaks right to where you are on the journey and encourages you to keep going. Someone mentioned to me the other day that I should read The Indwelling Life of Christ by Ian Thomas. I'm sure I've seen the book. I just never paid any attention to it. But I love a good book recommendation so I read it. And then I read it again. I'm currently on take 3 and it may not be the last time. I cannot tell you how this book is right where I am right this moment. I LOVE WHEN THAT HAPPENS! I'm going to post next week in great detail about what this book and some other teachings by him have meant to my life, but until then, I think you should read it and let it transform your thinking about "Christ in us the Hope of Glory." It's my book of the week. Enjoy! (9781590525241 )
My dearest friend
I started blogging for me. I love to have an outlet to write and share my life with family and friends, but it really started just for me. In my heart I'm really good at journaling. In my real life I hardly ever do it. Typing 90 words a minute makes journaling easier by keyboard! But I secretly would love to be 80 years old and have an office surrounded by years of recorded excerpts of God's faithfulness. Maybe someday.
Occasionally I get a comment on my blog that makes me know it's worth it. Sometimes I think all any of us really needs to know is that someone, somewhere is willing to walk our pace to get to our destination. We don't need advice. We don't even need a shoulder to cry on that often. What we need is to know that people will be there if we need them. A safety net. Someone you can call at 3 am even if what's incredibly burdensome at the moment may not even matter by 9 am! Someone you can honestly say to, "I know God is in control but right now it doesn't seem like it!" and know that they will drop everything to take your concerns to the Father on your behalf.
I'm so blessed to have a person just like that in my life. It boggles my mind that we've been friends for 14 years. I'm sad a little every day that we live exactly 988.80 miles apart (some days it feel like more!). We're nowhere near the same age. Our lives do not mirror one another. There's really no reason we should be friends. But God knows better than we do. We have walked every spiritual step of the last decade and a half together. I cannot tell you the literally hundreds of times God has put one of us on the other's heart only to find that something significant is going on in our spiritual journey. It reassures me every time that God loves us and cares for us in this life. I haven't lived anywhere near her for 12 years, but our relationship in the Lord could not be stronger.
And we always pick up right where we left off whether it's been a minute, a day, a month or several months. Aren't those relationships the best? I got this e-mail from her today and just had to share it. Not because of me, but because God can take our little offerings and turn them into something that can bless someone else. All the glory to Him for sure.
Kathy Fillman-you are the best thing that ever happened to my spiritual life. I could talk about the Lord with you continually until He returns and it wouldn't be long enough. Thanks for always encouraging me to live for Him. Let's live MUCH closer in Heaven!
Brenda,
Just had to drop you a quick note and let you know how much God is putting you on my mind lately .....physically, spiritually, and mentally. Your blog of 12-30-09 on "the kind of solace of surrender" -- WOW!! ---for us to be 30 years apart in age and still experiencing the same thing---you just put it in words what all my feelings have been -- God does not see us as we are He sees us as we will be with Him in eternity. "To look within ourselves now and be discouraged is to miss it all. God, you look at us in your tomorrow and rejoice over us as one finding great spoil."
I am in the fifth week of Beth Moore's new study on Breaking Free -- 10 years ago she set me free and she is doing it again -- in session 4 she ends the tape with a very emotional response to God -- she said "Won't it be wonderful when we meet God face to face in eternity and He says to us -- "WE MADE IT! WE MADE IT!! You and I WE MADE IT! I want to stand firm and not let Satan's lies deter me from the truth God has for me. I am going to walk this out with Him and you Brenda -- you Brenda --have enlightened me so many times with your blog. I am so glad God has journeyed our paths together.
I am also praying for your mind as you journey through each of these days -- God has many plans for you -- you are a faithful servant of Him ....
All my love to you Brenda -- stand tall --you are a precious, chosen Daughter of the King!!!
Hugs, Kathy
Hugs right back to you sweet friend.
Who in your life needs to know that you are blessed to be walking beside them on this journey of faith? Tell them!
Occasionally I get a comment on my blog that makes me know it's worth it. Sometimes I think all any of us really needs to know is that someone, somewhere is willing to walk our pace to get to our destination. We don't need advice. We don't even need a shoulder to cry on that often. What we need is to know that people will be there if we need them. A safety net. Someone you can call at 3 am even if what's incredibly burdensome at the moment may not even matter by 9 am! Someone you can honestly say to, "I know God is in control but right now it doesn't seem like it!" and know that they will drop everything to take your concerns to the Father on your behalf.
I'm so blessed to have a person just like that in my life. It boggles my mind that we've been friends for 14 years. I'm sad a little every day that we live exactly 988.80 miles apart (some days it feel like more!). We're nowhere near the same age. Our lives do not mirror one another. There's really no reason we should be friends. But God knows better than we do. We have walked every spiritual step of the last decade and a half together. I cannot tell you the literally hundreds of times God has put one of us on the other's heart only to find that something significant is going on in our spiritual journey. It reassures me every time that God loves us and cares for us in this life. I haven't lived anywhere near her for 12 years, but our relationship in the Lord could not be stronger.
And we always pick up right where we left off whether it's been a minute, a day, a month or several months. Aren't those relationships the best? I got this e-mail from her today and just had to share it. Not because of me, but because God can take our little offerings and turn them into something that can bless someone else. All the glory to Him for sure.
Kathy Fillman-you are the best thing that ever happened to my spiritual life. I could talk about the Lord with you continually until He returns and it wouldn't be long enough. Thanks for always encouraging me to live for Him. Let's live MUCH closer in Heaven!
Brenda,
Just had to drop you a quick note and let you know how much God is putting you on my mind lately .....physically, spiritually, and mentally. Your blog of 12-30-09 on "the kind of solace of surrender" -- WOW!! ---for us to be 30 years apart in age and still experiencing the same thing---you just put it in words what all my feelings have been -- God does not see us as we are He sees us as we will be with Him in eternity. "To look within ourselves now and be discouraged is to miss it all. God, you look at us in your tomorrow and rejoice over us as one finding great spoil."
I am in the fifth week of Beth Moore's new study on Breaking Free -- 10 years ago she set me free and she is doing it again -- in session 4 she ends the tape with a very emotional response to God -- she said "Won't it be wonderful when we meet God face to face in eternity and He says to us -- "WE MADE IT! WE MADE IT!! You and I WE MADE IT! I want to stand firm and not let Satan's lies deter me from the truth God has for me. I am going to walk this out with Him and you Brenda -- you Brenda --have enlightened me so many times with your blog. I am so glad God has journeyed our paths together.
I am also praying for your mind as you journey through each of these days -- God has many plans for you -- you are a faithful servant of Him ....
All my love to you Brenda -- stand tall --you are a precious, chosen Daughter of the King!!!
Hugs, Kathy
Hugs right back to you sweet friend.
Who in your life needs to know that you are blessed to be walking beside them on this journey of faith? Tell them!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
How To Reach Your Full Potentail for God by Charles Stanley
(Thomas Nelson Book Review)
I would love to think at the end of my life I will stand before the Lord and He will say, "You did everything I planned for you to do - to perfection." I don't know if from a human point of view we can ever get this life 100% right, but I sure would like to get it a little more right a little more often.
I love to hear Charles Stanley speak and I find his books simplistically life changing. He has answers we probably somewhere in our heart already know, but we need to hear it again. I found so many comments in the book convicting. "You are not here by accident. You are not on the earth merely to live a certain number of years, months, and days and then die. You are here to accomplish a job that God assigned to you from eternity past." I loved the reminder that our purpuse is four fold: God has a plan for us, we have the gift and talents we need to fulfill that purpose, nobody else can do it, and we must establish firm committments in order to find our purpose. "If you truly want to reach your full potentail, you must have a clean heart, a clear mind, and a balanced schedule."
I read the seven areas of ongoing renewal and promptly put them on my bathroom mirror.
1. Continually reaffirm your committment to the Lord (I am committed to being obedient to the Lord no matter what)
2. Continually reaffirm your priorities
3. Reestablish your disciplines daily (say yes to the right things and no to the wrong things)
4. Reaffirm your desire to do your best
5. Rekindle your enthusiasm
6. Continually refresh yourself in the Lord (daily quiet time, prayer, meditation)
7. Revisit the vision God has for your life (choose to want what He wants)
In God the best is always yet to come and our potential for Him is still to be reached.
I would love to think at the end of my life I will stand before the Lord and He will say, "You did everything I planned for you to do - to perfection." I don't know if from a human point of view we can ever get this life 100% right, but I sure would like to get it a little more right a little more often.
I love to hear Charles Stanley speak and I find his books simplistically life changing. He has answers we probably somewhere in our heart already know, but we need to hear it again. I found so many comments in the book convicting. "You are not here by accident. You are not on the earth merely to live a certain number of years, months, and days and then die. You are here to accomplish a job that God assigned to you from eternity past." I loved the reminder that our purpuse is four fold: God has a plan for us, we have the gift and talents we need to fulfill that purpose, nobody else can do it, and we must establish firm committments in order to find our purpose. "If you truly want to reach your full potentail, you must have a clean heart, a clear mind, and a balanced schedule."
I read the seven areas of ongoing renewal and promptly put them on my bathroom mirror.
1. Continually reaffirm your committment to the Lord (I am committed to being obedient to the Lord no matter what)
2. Continually reaffirm your priorities
3. Reestablish your disciplines daily (say yes to the right things and no to the wrong things)
4. Reaffirm your desire to do your best
5. Rekindle your enthusiasm
6. Continually refresh yourself in the Lord (daily quiet time, prayer, meditation)
7. Revisit the vision God has for your life (choose to want what He wants)
In God the best is always yet to come and our potential for Him is still to be reached.
Book List
Okay, I failed miserably at keeping up my book list from last year. And now I wish I had done better because I want to one year have a list of the books I've read for the year. This year? Maybe. Here's a start:
Reading Now:
Burn by Ted Dekker
The Help by Kathryn Stockett (book club)
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis (book club)
How to Reach Your Full Potential for God by Charles Stanley (for Thomas Nelson)
Still to read: (In no particular order)
House Rules by Jodi Picoult
Picture Perfect by Jodi Picoult
The Tin Can Tree by Anne Tyler
Saint Maybe by Anne Tyler
Noah's Compass by Anne Tyler
Maggie the Dog who changed my life by Dawn Kairns
The Guernsey Literary by Mary Ann Shaffer
Darkness Visible by William Styron
Night, Dawn, and Day by Elie Wiesel (some of the best books I've ever read)
Voluntary Madness by Norah Vincent
Losing My Mind an intimate look at life with Alzheimer's by Thomas DiBaggio
There ya go :) It's a start. I'll try to update more than....well....never :)
happy reading!
Reading Now:
Burn by Ted Dekker
The Help by Kathryn Stockett (book club)
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis (book club)
How to Reach Your Full Potential for God by Charles Stanley (for Thomas Nelson)
Still to read: (In no particular order)
House Rules by Jodi Picoult
Picture Perfect by Jodi Picoult
The Tin Can Tree by Anne Tyler
Saint Maybe by Anne Tyler
Noah's Compass by Anne Tyler
Maggie the Dog who changed my life by Dawn Kairns
The Guernsey Literary by Mary Ann Shaffer
Darkness Visible by William Styron
Night, Dawn, and Day by Elie Wiesel (some of the best books I've ever read)
Voluntary Madness by Norah Vincent
Losing My Mind an intimate look at life with Alzheimer's by Thomas DiBaggio
There ya go :) It's a start. I'll try to update more than....well....never :)
happy reading!
Saturday, January 2, 2010
2010
You crown the year with Your good blessings, and You leave abundance in Your wake. Psalm 65:11
I rang in the new year with friends in a low key, hang out and watch fireworks evening by the lake. It was wonderful. And I spent New Year's Day doing absolutely nothing. I had planned to be a bit more productive, but it didn't happen. Exactly what I needed. I finally got out of my pajamas at 4 A.M. this morning when I got called into work. I think I slept 20 hours in 24 and I don't even feel a little bit lazy about it :)
I always kind of hate for New Year's to be over because then the holidays have officially come and gone. But, I always love it too because we can get back to real life which in it's own mundane way is comforting.
I love new beginnings. I love the opportunity to start again at any point. And I love most of all that Jesus welcomes us to leave what has been behind and press on to what He has in store for us in Him. We don't have to be what we've always been. We don't have to do what we've always done. We can be better. We can be different. We can be more faithful and more focused. We can step into all that the Lord has for us in this moment, this day, and this year.
I don't know what God has called you to in these 12 months, but I do know that we are closer to eternity with every breath we take. Knowing our days were numbered and planned before the foundation of the world, it makes no difference whether we are 20, 60, 80, or somewhere in the middle. We could be living our last moments on the earth even now. How are you living them in preparation for eternity? Personally, I don't want this day to be wasted. I don't want these moments to be thrown away and completely miss the opportunities God has placed in my path for such a time as this.
I certainly believe in a balanced life, but I feel like God is calling me this year to be much more focused on Him and what He is doing in this life. I guess if we're going to be "out of balance" it is better to lean a little more towards Him! I'm excited about the opportunities that are presenting themselves to grow in my relationship with Him.
-I'm super excited to start Beth Moore's Bible Study the updated version of Breaking Free with some of my very favorite people January 12th. I have done this study twice before. It's amazing, wonderful, painful, and breath taking. One of my favorite thoughts from it is that God did not intend for us to manage our strongholds, but to be free of them. I think freedom in Christ is difficult to grasp and even more difficult to maintain, but it is certainly God's best for us.
-I love the bible study I'm in on Tuesday mornings on Systematic Theology. My favorite parts of college were those classes that didn't just teach the bible, but debated topics that were not so black and white. It's one of those bible studies that you think about all day and then at like 3 p.m. you think, No way! That is so neat! Almost as if God has everything figured out. Maybe that's just an ongoing revelation to me :)
-I'm looking forward to some opportunities for accountability. I really, really don't like the whole concept of accountability, but my relationship with the Lord has grown and prospered over the years with accountability in ways I could never produce on my own. And being keenly aware of this, I'm jumping in with both feet believing that growing in my relationship with the Lord is more important than anything else.
-I'm not going to read the whole Bible through this year or read the Bible in 90 days both of which I have done and loved. But I am planning to stay in the Word, and listen to the audio version of The Message this year.
-One of my favorite things of last year was reading books for Thomas Nelson and blogging about them. What's not to love about free books? I have read some life changing material and some not so life changing material both of which I really enjoyed. I'm looking forward to reading much more for them this year and along with my own blog book club having some great conversations about books.
And with that we embark on a new year filled with adventure. Praying that you wouldn't miss a single blessing God has in store for you and that by this time next year with have fallen more deeply in love with the Lord than you are today.
I rang in the new year with friends in a low key, hang out and watch fireworks evening by the lake. It was wonderful. And I spent New Year's Day doing absolutely nothing. I had planned to be a bit more productive, but it didn't happen. Exactly what I needed. I finally got out of my pajamas at 4 A.M. this morning when I got called into work. I think I slept 20 hours in 24 and I don't even feel a little bit lazy about it :)
I always kind of hate for New Year's to be over because then the holidays have officially come and gone. But, I always love it too because we can get back to real life which in it's own mundane way is comforting.
I love new beginnings. I love the opportunity to start again at any point. And I love most of all that Jesus welcomes us to leave what has been behind and press on to what He has in store for us in Him. We don't have to be what we've always been. We don't have to do what we've always done. We can be better. We can be different. We can be more faithful and more focused. We can step into all that the Lord has for us in this moment, this day, and this year.
I don't know what God has called you to in these 12 months, but I do know that we are closer to eternity with every breath we take. Knowing our days were numbered and planned before the foundation of the world, it makes no difference whether we are 20, 60, 80, or somewhere in the middle. We could be living our last moments on the earth even now. How are you living them in preparation for eternity? Personally, I don't want this day to be wasted. I don't want these moments to be thrown away and completely miss the opportunities God has placed in my path for such a time as this.
I certainly believe in a balanced life, but I feel like God is calling me this year to be much more focused on Him and what He is doing in this life. I guess if we're going to be "out of balance" it is better to lean a little more towards Him! I'm excited about the opportunities that are presenting themselves to grow in my relationship with Him.
-I'm super excited to start Beth Moore's Bible Study the updated version of Breaking Free with some of my very favorite people January 12th. I have done this study twice before. It's amazing, wonderful, painful, and breath taking. One of my favorite thoughts from it is that God did not intend for us to manage our strongholds, but to be free of them. I think freedom in Christ is difficult to grasp and even more difficult to maintain, but it is certainly God's best for us.
-I love the bible study I'm in on Tuesday mornings on Systematic Theology. My favorite parts of college were those classes that didn't just teach the bible, but debated topics that were not so black and white. It's one of those bible studies that you think about all day and then at like 3 p.m. you think, No way! That is so neat! Almost as if God has everything figured out. Maybe that's just an ongoing revelation to me :)
-I'm looking forward to some opportunities for accountability. I really, really don't like the whole concept of accountability, but my relationship with the Lord has grown and prospered over the years with accountability in ways I could never produce on my own. And being keenly aware of this, I'm jumping in with both feet believing that growing in my relationship with the Lord is more important than anything else.
-I'm not going to read the whole Bible through this year or read the Bible in 90 days both of which I have done and loved. But I am planning to stay in the Word, and listen to the audio version of The Message this year.
-One of my favorite things of last year was reading books for Thomas Nelson and blogging about them. What's not to love about free books? I have read some life changing material and some not so life changing material both of which I really enjoyed. I'm looking forward to reading much more for them this year and along with my own blog book club having some great conversations about books.
And with that we embark on a new year filled with adventure. Praying that you wouldn't miss a single blessing God has in store for you and that by this time next year with have fallen more deeply in love with the Lord than you are today.
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