Bridget A. Thomas
Every day is a gift!
Breathing Room
Do you give your soul any breathing room? We live in a fast-paced world where we are always going, going, going. And even when we sit down for a moment, we are bombarded by our devices or the television. There is noise everywhere we turn. We have emails, texts, social media, the nightly news, and much more vying for our attention. It can be overwhelming.
Author Emily P. Freeman has a podcast called The Next Right Thing. She is often talking about “creating space for your soul to breath.” Well, she gets a lot of questions about that. Many people want to know how to do that and what that looks like. So in a recent podcast episode – Episode 90: Start With This Simple Routine – she gives an example. She has a routine each morning in which she:
- Prays
- Reads from the Bible
- Writes in her journal
- Reads from another book. Not the Bible this time, but rather a non-fiction Christian book.
- Prays again
Emily’s point in this episode is to say that giving your soul room to breathe can look different for everyone. You don’t have to follow her specific practices. Just come up with a routine that works for you.
Now some people cringe at the word “routine” because they think having a routine is boring. Yet other people thrive on routines.
However, I believe that in this case, having a daily routine is vital for everyone. If we don’t intentionally set aside time for the Lord every day, then there will be days when we forget. One day will lead to another day, and then over time our souls will reap the consequences.
For me, I make reading my Bible a priority each morning before I leave for work. And I can tell you it makes a huge difference in my day. It allows me to feel anchored and at peace. If I happen to miss this one activity, my day feels off. So that is my way of giving my soul some breathing room.
In my Christians Read blog post from last Thursday, I touch a bit on this same topic of giving the soul some breathing room.
So what about you? How do you give your soul breathing room? I would love to hear!
A Comforting Promise
Happy Monday! I hope you had a lovely weekend. I just wanted to drop a quick line to share a post I wrote for the Christians Read blog last Thursday.
And I wanted to give you a word of encouragement. No matter what you are going through, no matter what you are facing, you are never alone. God is always there, if you’ll have Him. In James 4:8 it says, “Come near to God and He will come near to you.” What a comforting promise that we can hold onto today!
The Mystery Blogger Award
I am so excited to tell you that I have received The Mystery Blogger Award!
I would like to thank The Eclectic Contrarian for the nomination! I encourage you to check out this blog. You will walk away feeling inspired and thoughtful, and perhaps humored as well!
The Mystery Blogger Award is an award for amazing bloggers with ingenious posts. Their blog not only captivates; it inspires and motivates. They are one of the best out there, and they deserve every recognition they get. This award is also for bloggers who find fun and inspiration in blogging, and they do it with so much love and passion. The award was created by www.okotoenigmasblog.com.
Here are the rules:
-Put the award logo/image on your blog
-List the rules
-Thank whoever nominated you and provide a link to their blog
-Mention the creator of the award and provide a link as well
-Answer the 5 questions you were asked
-Tell your readers 3 things about yourself
-You have to nominate 10 – 20 people
-Notify your nominees by commenting on their blog
-Ask your nominees any 5 questions of your choice; with one weird or funny question
-Share a link to your best post(s)
I’ve been asked the following questions….
1. What is something that almost instantly inspires you to write?
Reading my Bible gets me thinking a lot! And I usually read my Bible in the morning, when my brain is fresh, so that helps as well.
2. What gives you hope?
Reading my Bible and seeing that the people in those pages were not perfect. (Except for Jesus, of course.) But seeing imperfect people who were still able to be used by God gives me hope.
3. What kind of heart would you say you have?
I hope I have a heart for serving the Lord and for helping other people.
4. What would you say about the sun and the moon?
It’s crazy because we see them every day, yet I always want to take pictures of them. The beauty God created seems to mesmerize me.
5. What about a cup of coffee could inspire you to write?
The first thing that came to mind was a cappuccino I had a few months ago. It looked like there was a small heart on top. I like to think this was from God, reminding me of His unfailing love.
3 Things About Me:
– I don’t like talking about myself. (So I am glad I only have to put 3 things. LOL.)
– I went to the same college as Sandra Bullock. (Not during the same time though.)
– I have been in 39 American states.
My Best Posts:
I really enjoyed my thirty posts from The Gratitude Challenge last November. And I am looking forward to my thirty posts for The Redeemed Challenge coming up in September.
Nominations:
The “F” Word. (Faith, Family, Food.)
My Questions to the Nominees:
1 – What habit has helped you reach your goals?
2 – Are there certain things you like to do in the morning to start your day off on the right foot?
3 – What is your favorite book?
4 – What is on the top of your bucket list?
5 – When you were a child, was there something you collected? Or as an adult, is there something you collect now?
Lessons from Flowers
Happy Sunday! I hope you are having a restful weekend!
I wanted to share my Christians Read blog post in which I talked about a lesson learned from a Blue Moon Rose. I hope you enjoy it!
Yesterday my husband and I were in Lowe’s. We go to that store quite often. (In fact I was just informed that we will be going back later today!) Hubby likes to joke that it is one of my favorite places, but it’s really one of his favorites. Although we have been in there so much, I am usually able to save us time by knowing where to find whatever it is we happen to be looking for. Yesterday we wanted to purchase some new hummingbird feeders because some of ours were on their last legs.
We also meandered through the garden area. I’m sure you know you can find a wide variety of plants and flowers in Lowe’s. But on this particular day it had me thinking about how many different trees, plants, flowers, bushes, fruits, vegetables, and so on that God created. All in what appears to be a short period of time, He thought up countless types of plants. And even when you narrow it down to, let’s say tomatoes, there are still numerous different types of tomatoes. Yesterday as I looked at the flowers, I noticed that distinct blooms on the same plant looked slightly unique from its neighbor.
And the same is true with you and me. Almost all humans are born with ears, eyes, a nose, a mouth, arms, and legs. Yet we are all different. Even so-called identical twins have their differences. God made us all unique and special. We all have our own quirks, personality traits, gifts, and talents. How amazing that out of billions of people, you cannot find two who are exactly the same. What an illustration of how our loving Father took His time in crafting each one of us.
It’s funny that my pastor usually speaks about things that have already been floating around in my head. One of the things he mentioned this morning was how we are all unique. He said that in today’s culture you will find many people who try to be the same. They want the same haircut, the same clothing, the same style, etc. But God didn’t want us all to be the same. We are unique and should cherish our differences.
So I wanted to leave you with that thought today. Remember how special you are. Instead on criticizing yourself for your quirks, celebrate your uniqueness. God created you and He doesn’t make mistakes!
Happy August
Can you believe it is August already? The changing of the months is a great time for reflection. Yesterday author Annie F. Downs posted on Instagram, mentioning that she made a list of all the blessings July held for her. I thought this was a wonderful idea! What a fabulous way to end each month. One blessing in my July was a trip to the mountains. What about you? Did your July hold any special moments? I hope so.
I also wanted to share what I posted on the Christian Reads blog today. I hope you enjoy it!
And just for fun, below is a picture of how the sky looked last night. God’s beautiful artwork!
Coming Soon
I have something fun to share with you today. During the month of September I will be hosting The Redeemed Challenge. To join in you will want to grab a copy of my book You Are Redeemed, read the corresponding chapter for that day, and then meet up with me here or on social media. You can expect to find a short post from me each day in September. I hope and pray we all get a lot out of reading (or re-reading) through this book. I chose to host The Redeemed Challenge during the month of September because You Are Redeemed will turn one year old in September! I can’t believe my second book has almost reached its first Birthday!
I am also trying to spend most of my spare time working on my third book. But I do have a full time job, so that means I don’t have a ton of spare time. But I will squeeze writing in whenever I can. Because of that, I might not be posting on the site as often over the next month.
However, I will still be posting every Thursday on the Christians Read blog. So I will try my best to share those with you here over the next month. Here is my post from this past Thursday in which I shared wildlife pictures from our recent trip to The Smoky Mountains. You will love them, I promise!
Dying to Self
Some people may not like the title of this post. But it’s an important topic in our Christian journey. In Luke 9:23, Jesus says, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.”
Let’s break this down…
1 – If any of you wants to be my followers: I hope if you are reading this, then you are or you want to be a follower of Jesus. When Jesus said these words, He was seen as a spiritual leader. Many people in His day wanted to follow Him in order to learn and grow. We too should want to learn and grow. But that’s not all. The people who Jesus was talking to didn’t yet know that He would die for their sins. Since we have this knowledge, that alone should make us want to be a follower of Jesus.
2 – You must give up your own way: We must learn to set aside our own desires and wants, in order to align ourselves with God’s desires and wants. This might be a painful process and could even cause us much grief. But in the long run, the outcome will be beautiful.
3 – Take up your cross daily: Back when Jesus walked the earth, a person who was being executed had to carry their own cross to the place of execution, just as Jesus Himself did. So I believe in this statement, Jesus is telling us we have die to ourselves. Note the word “daily.” This means every single day we have to make a conscious decision to lay aside the things that our flesh will want.
4 – And follow me: When we become Christians, we gave our hearts to the Lord. Our number one goal in life should be to follow Jesus. It’s not something that is done once, but moment-by-moment, throughout a life-long journey.
When our flesh reads this, it might be tempted to rise up with pride. We might think of all the things we want that we have to give up. But there is good news about the things we are giving up. One of two things will happen. We might truly give those things up for the rest of our lives, which means that it wasn’t good for us. God had a better plan in mind. This could be something we know is bad, like doing drugs. Or it could even be a big dream we had, like having children. Whatever the case may be, if God does not bring it to pass, then He have to trust that He has our best interest in mind.
Or the second route is that God still might cause that thing to come to fruition anyway. Let’s stick with the “having children” example, but feel free to insert any of your dreams or goals. We have to hold that desire loosely in our hands. We have to put God first. We have to do everything for Him and His glory. But God does care about our desires and wants. It says in Psalm 37:4, “Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires.” So if He sees that this desire is a good thing and will truly be what’s best for us, we still might see our dream come true.
Every day that we walk this earth, God will be molding us. His goal is to make us more like Christ. It says in 1 Thessalonians 4:3 that “God’s will is for you to be holy.” So He doesn’t want us to give anything up out of pure meanness, as some might think. He wants what is best for us. He can see our whole story from beginning to end. He knows what will bring the most fruit in our lives. Dying to self is really based on love – God’s love for us and in turn our love for Him. When we approach it from this point of view, it will make it a lot easier on us, and we will be more willing to take that step.
The Liebster Award
Hi Friends! I am so excited to tell you that I have been nominated for The Liebster Award! I want to thank Perth Girl for this nomination. I am truly honored! Perth Girl is a blogger who writes about faith, family, and food. Check out this fabulous blog when you have a moment. You will be sure to walk away feeling encouraged. faithfood.blog
The Rules:
- Thank the blogger(s) who nominated you.
- Share 11 facts about yourself.
- Answer the 11 questions the blogger(s) asked you.
- Nominate 11 blogger(s) and make them happy.
- Make up 11 questions and ask them to your nominees.
- Notify your 11 nominees.
11 Facts about me:
- 1 – I love Jesus.
- 2 – I have seen all of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies in the theatre.
- 3 – I love Pumpkin everything.
- 4 – I like to crochet.
- 5 – I can listen to Christmas music all year long.
- 6 – But I most often listen to Christian music.
- 7 – I can say the alphabet backwards (this is something my grandmother had me do when I needed help falling asleep).
- 8 – My great-grandmother, who was from Hungary, was Bela Lugosi’s housekeeper.
- 9 – I love reading classic literature. Usually my sister and I will read (or re-read) the same book at the same time, and have our own mini book club.
- 10 – I worked at the public library when I was in high school and I worked in my university’s library during my college years.
- 11 – I originally intended on majoring in Library Science when I went to college. But when I got there I was advised not to because my university was not accredited. So I wound up with a Business degree.
The 11 questions I was asked:
1 – What Inspired you to start writing? I wanted to write for as long as I could remember. This likely stemmed from my love for reading.
2 – Do you listen to music while you write? No. I do not like any distractions when I am writing. So I usually need to find a quiet place when writing.
3 – In two words or less, how would you describe your sense of Humour? Unpredictable 😀
4 – What is your favourite quote? This is a difficult question. Not because I don’t have a good answer. Rather I have too many good answers because I am a quote lover. I will go with:
God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say thank you? – William Arthur Ward.
5 – What are you reading at the moment? My sister and I are re-reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I am also reading Love Life Again by Tracie Miles.
6 – What do you wish you were better at? Lots of things but I will say I wish I were better at talking to people.
7 – If you could be on a talk show which one would you choose and why? I really don’t watch enough television to know what talk shows are current. LOL. So I am going to go with the morning show on my radio station. That is The Morning Cruise on The Joy FM. I love listening Dave, Bill, and Carmen on my morning commute.
8 – What is your least favourite food? Liver. (And my husband loves it!)
9 – What meal or dish can you make really well? Cheeseburger soup is a favorite at my house.
10 – What is your favourite thing to do when you have time by yourself? Read and write.
11 – What is your favourite trip you took and why? I am not sure about a favorite trip. But my husband and I have a favorite destination, which is The Great Smoky Mountains. We love looking for black bears and other wildlife.
Nominate:
I am supposed to nominate eleven people. But it was difficult narrowing this down to only eleven. So I am opening this up to all of my followers. If you have a blog, and decide to post about this, then please let me know. Or you can also comment here with your answers.
My questions for you if you choose to participate:
1 – Do you have a favorite place to write or read?
2 – What are you reading at the moment?
3 – Would you rather read the book or watch the movie?
4 – If you could eat dinner with anyone in the world, anyone in history, who would it be?
5 – If you could live or visit anywhere in the world, where would it be?
6 – Are you a morning person or a night owl?
7 – What is your favorite book?
8 – Are there certain things you like to do in the morning to start your day off on the right foot?
9 – What is one of your favorite memories?
10 – What has been your favorite job?
11 – What hobbies do you enjoy?
The Wrath of Saul
When Israel was still a young country, they didn’t have a king. Ideally God should have been their King. But unfortunately the Israelites didn’t always follow God with all their heart. It says in Judges 17:6 that “everyone did as they saw fit.” This was a destructive path they were headed down. As a young nation, they saw a lot of turmoil and heartache because they didn’t follow the Lord. Off and on the nation did have different leaders known as judges. But finally one day the Israelites decided they wanted to be like everyone else. They wanted a king to rule over their nation like they saw in other nations.
You might be familiar with someone from the Old Testament named Saul. God chose a man named Saul to rule as the first king over Israel. Saul was a humble and thoughtful man. When we first meet Saul in the book of 1 Samuel chapter 9, he is out searching for some lost donkeys. He was gone so long that he considered turning back so that his father would not worry about him. This illustrates how Saul was a caring and considerate man.
But the servants with Saul prompted him to continue on to meet up with Samuel. Samuel was a prophet and the current judge over Israel. The servants thought Samuel might know where the lost donkeys were. Little did they know, Samuel was expecting them. Samuel already knew that he was to anoint Saul as the first king. One of the first things that Samuel said to Saul was, “And to whom is all the desire of Israel turned, if not to you and your whole family line?” Saul’s answer was one of humility, “But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why do you say such a thing to me?”
After Samuel anointed Saul with olive oil, things looked promising for Saul. We read that the Spirit of the Lord came upon Saul and he was changed into a different person (1 Samuel 10:6) and God changed Saul’s heart (1 Samuel 10:9). One of the first great things we see Saul do was to help rescue the city of Jabesh which had been besieged. Saul gathered 330,000 men to save Jabesh. After the battle, Saul honored the Lord and said, “…this is the day the Lord has rescued Israel” (1 Samuel 11:13).
But things began to change in Saul’s heart. First he allowed fear, impatience, and disobedience to creep in. In 1 Samuel 13, when Israel was up against the Philistines, Saul was supposed to wait for Samuel to meet up with him. But he didn’t. And he even sacrificed a burnt offering to the Lord, disobeying what he was told. When Samuel arrived on the scene, he let Saul know that he had been very foolish. And because he did not follow the Lord’s commands, his kingdom would not endure.
Then Saul allowed pride to enter into his heart. When the Israelites were still in battle, there was one particular day when he forbid his troops to eat anything. He said, “Cursed be anyone who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies.” In the latter part of his statement, he is focused on himself; and he has taken God out of the equation. This almost cost the life of his own son, Jonathan. He had not heard his father say these words and had eaten some honey. Fortunately, due to the great things Jonathan had done in battle, the other men stuck up for him and saved him from being put to death. (1 Samuel 14)
Saul’s heart deteriorates even further. Samuel brought Saul a message from the Lord. He told him to “attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them.” Saul and his troops did attack. But they did not destroy everything as God had commanded. They spared the king and also kept all the good animals and plunder. Samuel went to speak to Saul the next day to let him know that the Lord was not pleased with him. Saul tried to argue with Samuel saying that they kept the good animals to use as burnt offerings to the Lord. But Samuel told him that obedience was more important to God. (1 Samuel 15)
Later on in Saul’s reign we meet David. David would become the next and greatest king of Israel. I am sure you are familiar with the story of David and Goliath. In 1 Samuel 17 we read that the Israelites troops were too scared to fight Goliath, who they say was over nine feet tall. But David knew the power of the Lord, and defeated Goliath with a slingshot and a rock. After this incident, David received a high rank in the army. He was always successful in any battle that he faced, because he relied on the Lord. But one day Saul heard people singing, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands” (1 Samuel 18:7). This is when Saul really allowed jealousy, anger, and pride to take over his heart. Things spiraled downhill fast after that. Eventually Saul’s only goal was to kill David. David had to flee in order to stay away from Saul and his wrath. In 1 Samuel 22 we read that Saul even had eighty-five priests killed because one of them had been kind to David.
Reading about Saul shows us how dangerous it is to let negative feelings live in our hearts. They eventually become toxic to us and those around us. We cannot allow anger, resentment, negativity, bitterness, fear, pride, jealousy, or any other negative emotion to rule our lives. Once we realize we have these feelings in our hearts, we should immediately take them to the Lord. God will always show us the right way and the right path to take when we truly seek Him. Ultimately these emotions can block us from the Lord and all the good things He has planned for us. Saul’s family line could have reigned over Israel for many generations. But that possibility was forfeited when Saul continued to turn away from God.
Take some time today to examine your heart. Are you holding onto any of these negative feelings? If so, pray and ask God to help you restore your heart.
2019 is Half Over!
Happy Weekend, my friends! Can you believe that we have reached the end of June, which means that 2019 is half over?! Time sure does fly. It seems like we were just ringing in the new year. And then we blinked. And here it is midyear. It can be sad to think about.
But instead of letting this fact depress us, let’s use it as a stepping stone in the right direction. Did you make any progress towards your goals? Did you accomplish anything on your to-do list? Did you do any spring cleaning? This weekend is the perfect time to evaluate where you have been the past six months and where you are going for the six months ahead.
I have a blog post I wanted to share here that will help you with this task. As you might recall me mentioning, I write on the Christians Read blog every Thursday. So I wanted to share this past Thursday’s post with you. It has to do with this very topic of a Midyear Reflection. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Bridget A. Thomas 