What's On Your Mind '09? is the first blog carnival I've ever participated in. It was started by Shane at Heart Reflections to challenge writers and encourage conversation. If you'd like to participate, the hostess this week is Surviving Motherhood...
The topic is....
"We have all heard from God when we read our Bibles, listened to sermons at church, or gone to Bible study, right? But is God limited to our “spiritual” activities? Or does He show Himself in the middle of our everyday activities, too? Share about a time when God spoke to your heart in the midst of the ordinary."
Here is mine - I've always thought of church as Happy Hour. We put on our happy faces while we're in the midst of other believers and sing, clap, and welcome the Word of God with our on-time Amens. As soon as we walk out the church doors, there is an application test awaiting. It may be as soon as we're in the car or maybe before we get in the car, we're stopped to engage in 'spiritual conversation'. Sometimes the test awaits us at home when we cross the threshold of our home. If only our church family could be a fly on the wall!
It's a little hard for me to share a story of a particular time when I hear God in the midst of the ordinary since I no longer attend the Happy Hour Services. I strive on a minute by minute basis to live in the Spirit. Yes, it's hard, but my children challenge me to be a little better every day. Being at home with them everyday challenges me to live a do as I do lifestyle. Being a Christ-controlled Mother is my everyday goal. My sons watch me as I work, they listen to me as I speak on the phone or directly to them, they watch how I treat their father and how I interact with neighbors and strangers, they watch what I put in my temple, they watch me exercise my temple or NOT, they see me pray and praise throughout the day, they notice if I read my Bible daily, and they watch me respond and react to everyday life. So, since I've turned in my Happy Hour Club Membership, every activity is a spiritual activity and every moment is an opportunity to be a witness. Hard? Yes! Impossible? No. God's grace and mercy? Gotta have it - morning by morning, minute by minute!
