Some of you reading may know my favorite holiday is Valentine’s Day.  I love it! I start celebrating and decorating and preparing for Valentine’s Day weeks beforehand.  My office is completely decorated in handmade hearts and positive notes.  I work making valentines and the presents I can give to others to hopefully make them feel loved on Valentine’s day.  Then delivering or sending them in the mail is my absolute favorite part.  The night before I am very busy making my treats I can bring to work and putting the bags or the presents together I can present to my friends.  

My love for Valentine’s Day started at a young age.  My mom would give me sweet little gifts to celebrate the day.  They were probably not the extravagant gifts she put a lot of time into like she would with my birthday or Christmas.  They were probably not the gift she thought would stand out to a young girl.  But, one year she gave me a little ladybug, or as it was called, a little lovebug. It was the smallest little ladybug charm ever.  There was also a poem accompanying the little ladybug.  It was a sweet little thing to remind me she loves me.  The ladybug charm stayed in a special place all throughout my growing up years.  My grandma was pretty impressed I never lost it.  Granted, it did have to be replaced after it was lost in the move my parents made while I was at college, but I am going to blame my parents for that one. 🙂

I felt loved on that particular Valentine’s Day. I felt special and cared for.  After that, I wanted to make others feel loved on Valentine’s Day.  It also helps that Valentine’s main colors are pink and red, which I love, and hearts which are pretty and easy to decorate with.  Making a valentine is easy.  Cut out a heart, add some pretty decorations to it and then write a sweet note.  How simple, yet effective. 

This year, I was asked to do a special task.  I was asked to make 61 valentines for a church group I am a part of called, “Christ Love in Action,” or CLIA for short.  These valentines were being sent out to the widows and widowers in our church along with a gift card to a restaurant in town.  This group wanted to make sure these members of the church felt extra loved on this special day.  I was so honored to be asked to make all of these valentines, and I do really hope these put a smile on many of these member’s faces.  

We are commanded many times throughout the Bible to love our neighbor, love the people in the world, and just love others more than ourselves.  Romans 13:10 is one example which says, “Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”  The Bible is sometimes considered to have a lot of laws and rules, but at the base of all of these laws is love.  Love for God and love for your neighbors is the core of being a Christian and following God to the fullest.

 I am reading a book for my Quiet time with God in the morning called, “Gaining by Losing” by J.D Greear. This is all about how we as a church and as followers of Christ are being sent out to preach the good news and the love of Jesus.  We are all commanded to love others and to share his good message.  One quote from this book really struck me which was, “He blessed you to be a blessing.”(Greear, Gaining by Losing, page 50)  This is so true.  Anyone who is a Christian has been blessed with the love of God and has been blessed with the knowledge of Him.  Now we are commanded to show that love to others.  

My challenge for you this week is to spread love to others around you.  Yes, for some this may be for your significant other.  But I also wanted to challenge you to spread love to someone else in your life who maybe doesn’t always receive love on a regular basis.  This can be a friend you haven’t reached out to in a long time, this can be a family member you know is going through a hard time, or this could be a coworker who has been really helpful to you in the recent days.  Just spread the love.  I truly believe Valentine’s Day is more than a day for a significant other.  It is a day to remember our loved ones and a reminder to spread the love we have for them.  

Josiah was a very good king of Judah.  He was considered to be one of the best kings to come out of Judah.  He cared a lot about God and he cared a lot about being a good king to the people in his kingdom.  He is very much an encouragement considering a majority of the kings I had been reading about had fallen far away from God’s grace and laws.  They have not been considered Godly and they have often fallen into the camp of believing in other gods and goddesses.  

Something really exciting would come out of Josiah’s reign.  The Book of the Law was discovered.  The book was discovered by Hilkiah the high priest and Shaphan the secretary when they were in the House of the Lord.  The Book of the Law was brought and read for the king, Josiah.  Upon hearing God’s Word, Josiah actually tore his clothes. He was so emotional and so impacted by the words he was hearing from God.  He also knew the people and the kingdom as a whole, had not done a great job of following these precious words.  The people of Judah had forgotten their God many times throughout the years.  They had not honored or revered his words at all.  This broke Josiah’s heart.  He also knew there was a potential of God’s wrath because of the way the people have acted. 

The great thing about Josiah was that he didn’t stop there.  He didn’t get disappointed in himself or in his kingdom.  He didn’t wallow in self-pity, and he certainly didn’t decide to go back to the thinking he had before he heard the Book of the Law.  He let the words he heard from the Book impact the actions he made.  He did this through many different actions.  First, he went in front of the people in his kingdom and read the book of the Law or the Book of the Covenant for all to hear and pledged his own covenant with the Lord.  He decided he wanted to spend the rest of the days following all the laws (to the best of his ability, of course) that were written down.  All of the people in his kingdom agreed.  They then got rid of all the altars to other gods such as Baal, the sun, the moon, constellations, tore down the altars made for prostitution, and he got rid of all the priests he knew were not leading people towards the Lord.  

I don’t always let the words from the Bible impact my actions, specifically when it comes to how I talk about God’s Word with others.  Sure, I can do a fairly good job about reading and reflecting and spending time in prayer.  I try to be better with my patience and I try to be more focused on making God’s decisions, but I don’t always spend time speaking with others about what I have been learning in the Bible.  I don’t always let the words I hear in the morning impact how I talk to others throughout the day or to how I act throughout the day.  

Two verses I want to highlight about this topic from the Bible are from 1 John chapter 5, verses 2 and 3, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments and his commandments are not burdensome.” I love these verses.  It is a good reminder to love God’s commandments and the words in the Bible.  When we really spend time loving God and his words, we show we are the children of God.  I also love the part about these laws not being burdensome.  They are not supposed to take the joy out of living, as we often think when we think of rules.  They are not supposed to suppress us or create a deep desire in our hearts for more.  Following God’s laws and commands frees us from a lot of other hardship that would otherwise be found in the world.  

This is one of the reasons I do love this blog.  This is really the only place where I really let what I am learning go to other people.  This is where I do spend a good amount of time thinking over the words I read from God and live it out in my day-to-day living.  I try to be aware of the impatience I can often show, the bad words sometimes come out of my mouth, and the bouts of jealousy and bitterness occurring inside my head.  I am also aware of the items or the habits that would be better off getting rid of in my life even though I have kept them in because I like having them around.  

This week I have a big challenge.  My big challenge is to spend time in prayer about what you have been learning in the Bible or church with one person.  This can be a friend who goes to church with you, a coworker who you are close to, or a family member.  I always want to let what I have learned stay with me, but now I need to know I need to speak these thoughts out loud and speak these words of wisdom to everyone who is around me.   I am challenging myself to do the same as I am challenging you.  

P.S. I do want to say that if you do read my blogs a lot, the last couple of weeks have been about the kings of Judah and Israel.  I know I have mentioned it, but I do really want to highlight the work done by Lysa Terkeurst in her devotional study book, “Trustworthy; A study of 1 and 2 Kings.”  It really has been a good study for me these last few weeks.  I have learned so much about the kings, yes, but also about how it applies to my life and how it can apply to every Christian’s life.  I do want to give a high recommendation to do this study sometime.  This can be done either in a small group or by yourself, like I am doing. 

I live in Iowa, and I have lived here my entire life.  Because of this, I have definitely been used to the moments of extreme cold weather.  I am talking, of course, of days sub zero degrees with the windchill even lower.  This is so cold, a person shouldn’t have their exposed skin out for too long, or it will otherwise have frostbite.  This last week was definitely one of those extreme cold weeks.  Most of the days were incredibly cold, so cold that one day it was 15 degrees outside, I would have almost called it warm.  

With those cold days, it can take some motivation to go outside.  I go outside, but it does take a long time.  However, I have noticed one big thing.  When the sun is shining, it is so much warmer than it is without the sun.  If the sun doesn’t necessarily make the degree higher, it certainly makes a person feel as though it is warmer.  It also makes the whole day seem brighter and more beautiful, even with the freezing temperatures.  Granted, a person should still cover up accordingly and still not stay outside too long.  

This reminded me of a book I had read a long time ago about women’s health and the importance of Vitamin D. I read this book called, “Roar” by Dr. Stacy T. Sims.  This is all about how the female body is different from the male body, there are certain foods we need more of, and there are certain exercises women should do for optimum health.  Some nutritional pieces, though, are essential for both men and women.  One of those is the importance of Vitamin D which helps with bone health.  There has been a lot of study on the essence of Vitamin D and the increased lack in overall bodies.  “Turns out many of us aren’t getting enough (Vitamin D) from any source.  In fact some researchers have gone so far as to call Vitamin D deficiency a pandemic.”  (Sims, Stacy T; Roar, page 235). This really shows in the increased issues many have with their weaker bones such as osteoporosis that is really prevalent in older women.  

Vitamin D is often described as the sunshine vitamin.  A person receives a lot of Vitamin D when they sit in the sunlight, as well as from some foods such as fish, certain cheeses, and eggs.  Besides helping with bone health, Vitamin D also helps with muscle growth and energy throughout exercise or strenuous activity.  When a person is surrounded by the sun’s rays, we are given so much more nutrition than when we are choosing to stay inside.  This got me thinking, while maybe not the most perfect metaphor, Jesus is like our Vitamin D.  He is the Son after all.  It is important we don’t have a deficiency from him, just as we should avoid a deficiency in the actual Vitamin D.  

I know I can sometimes live my life without as much of the “Son” the Lord, then I should.  I sometimes assume I can make it through the day by myself and through my own strength.  This can work for a while, until I get really down or until something really hard happens.  Days can be hard.  Days can be long and dreary.  There can be very hard days.  However, the Lord as the Son in our lives can make those days so much brighter just as the sun outside can make the freezing cold less bitter.   It doesn’t necessarily mean that no bad thing will ever occur, but it does help remind us that God will be there every step of the way.  

Psalm 27:13-14 says, “I remain confident of this, I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” There is goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  There will be even more goodness in the land of the Lord in heaven.  We can remain confident in this because God has made promises to us and for us.  Yes, he does tell us we are going to have trials and tribulations and bad times.  However, we are going to be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.  

Because of all of this, I have realized that just like people can become Vitamin D deficient, we can also become Son deficient in regard to how much time we spend with God.  Similarly, when we spend time outside with the sun’s rays on our body, we get our good helping of Vitamin D. It is just as important when we spend time in prayer or reading our Bible, then we get more of our Son, our time with the Lord.  

I have two challenges for you this week.  The first one is a health related one.  If you do ever find, especially in the winter months, you struggle with your energy and feel a bit sadder, I do recommend looking into having more Vitamin D.  Personally, I do take Vitamin D supplement pills, but foods like eggs and fish include Vitamin D as well.  The second challenge is to spend time with the Son, Jesus Christ.  Make it a goal to put aside at least one hour in your week, to spend time in prayer or in reading your Bible.  Spend time talking with him and really get your helping of the Son needed for your days.  

A few weeks ago, I recapped new lessons I learned through the kings of Rehoboam and Jeroboam.  However, I am going to recap one more big life lesson I have learned from this story.  Rehoboam was a king easily influenced for the worse.  He was Solomon’s son, and he was chosen to be king over all of Israel.  Solomon had made work really hard for the people of Israel, and they were forced to complete a lot of labor.  However, he was asked by the people of Israel, with the help of Jeroboam, to ask for their burdens to be lightened.  

Rehoboam had a decision to make.  Does he weaken the load of his people?  There is a lot of work necessary in the country and if jobs don’t get done, they look to the king for the solutions.  What if they are being lazy and want to get out of work completely?   But on the other hand, maybe he really should listen to what his people are telling him.  Rehoboam goes to two different sources for advice.  He goes to the older advisors in the country.  They advise him to listen to his people.  Rehoboam honestly didn’t seem to completely agree with this answer, so he went to the younger people for advice as well.  The younger people told him to make the people’s burdens harder and their loads heavier.  Rehoboam decided to listen to the younger people and initiated harder jobs for his people.  

   From the reading, I would guess Rehoboam would rather be a hard and intimidating king.  He would rather the people do a lot of work, so his kingdom can be run proficiently.  It shows he was very willing to listen to the peers of his own age for advice.  I would say this shows he would rather listen to the people who tell him what he wants to hear as opposed to what he maybe really should hear.  

Throughout this devotional, I can see there are many other instances of the kings of Israel following bad advice and following bad people to their ultimate bad decisions.  One of the worst kings of Israel was named Ahab.  Ahab was the king during the time of the prophet, Ezekiel.  However, he would not choose to go to him for any advice.  Instead he would listen to his wife named Jezebel.  Jezebel was a very devout follower of Baal, another popular false god.  Because his wife loved and worshiped this god, Ahab would become very devout and would create altars for him throughout the land. 

However, there would be another example of a king who would be impacted by the people around him in a positive way.  Jehoash, or sometimes written as Joash, would become king at a very young age.  However, his young age did not make a difference in this instance on whether or not he would end up becoming a good king.  He was hidden by his aunt in the temple with many different priests. Because of this, he would be very positively impacted by the people in the temple and the priests he was surrounded by.  He would go on to be one of the best kings of Judah, and would be a king that would follow the Lord till the end of his days.  

I have definitely been in situations where I go to people for advice but in reality, I have my own ideas of what I believe should be done or how I should best handle a certain situation.  I may go to people, but really I want to do what I want to do, and I am just seeking advice from others, so they can confirm my thoughts.  Proverbs 13:20 says, “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.”  It is important to remember to avoid bad counsel and fight against the people who are making unwise choices.  It is also important to seek advice, not just “yes people” who will tell you what you want to hear.  

I have definitely been a person who has been inspired and impacted by both positive and negative influences.  I have known people who have sometimes seemed to pull me more in one direction, but then I have had other people who have pulled me back in the right direction.  Luckily, I grew up with family members who helped me grow closer to God and to have a desire to really learn about God’s goodness.  However, I have definitely been led astray through peer pressure.  It is important to be constantly reflective on where one is getting swayed at different points in one’s life.  

I am not trying to suggest we shouldn’t seek to know people who we may think are making poor decisions.  We have definitely been called to love people of all different walks of life.  We have been called to be the salt and the light to all people.  However, we should be very aware of where our heart is leading.  Do the people in our life help lead us?  And if they do, where are they leading us towards?

My challenge for you this week is to reflect.  Who are the top five people you regularly talk to?  Who are the people you first go to when you are feeling down?  Who do you seek advice from?  Then reflect on whether these are the people you should be seeking advice from.  Are these people helping you make wise decisions or are they leading you towards the path of destruction?  I hope through this reflection, you will find the people you really can go to, who will lead you toward a life filled with God’s goodness, just as the king Joash of Judah.  

I was recently doing a Bible Devotional study over 1 and 2 Kings by Lysa Terkeurst.  I have already learned a lot, and I appreciate diving into two books of the Bible I often try to avoid.  I never had much interest hearing all about these kings and them fighting other countries and making mistakes.  However, Lysa gives us a great message that the kings of Israel and the first and second king books in the Bible serve as a reminder for us to be trustworthy of God.  

Recently, I was learning about Jeroboam.  Jeroboam was a man who did not start out as a king.  Actually, he was originally called to speak for the Israelites to Rehoboam because the Israelites had a huge amount of labor thrust upon them by Solomon, Rehoboam’s father and the king prior.  They were dealing with heavy burdens and they looked to Jeroboam for help.  Jeroboam did speak for the people well.  He had the will of the Lord on his shoulders. Rehoboam decided to do the exact opposite of what the people requested.  He decided to make their yoke and their burdens heavier.  He didn’t want to weaken their load, but rather he wanted to add to it.  Because of this, over half of the country, as in 10 out of the 12 tribes of Israel left his kingdom.  This is where the Kingdom of Israel and Judah were split.  After the split happened, the 10 tribes left Rehoboam and decided to make Jeroboam king.  

Jeroboam had great intentions of being a good king.  He wanted to be there for the people, just as he did when he spoke for them.   However, he then becomes influenced by the world like all the other kings.  Even though Jeroboam was king over 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel, in order for the people to worship in the temple of God, they would need to travel to Jerusalem in the tribe of Judah, underneath the rule of Rehoboam.  He was fearful that as his people started traveling, they would believe the other empire was better and Rehoboam was actually the better king.  He was fearful the people would leave him, and he would be taken off the throne.  In order to keep the people, close by and to appease them, he made two golden calves and the places of worship around them, so the people could choose to worship there instead.  He started to trust his own thoughts and his own plans more than God’s.  Because of this, he would also deviate the other people being ruled under him.  

Lysa’s chapter on Jeroboam did help us reflect on our intentions.  Sometimes we as people and Christ followers have great intentions or motives starting out good, but then they turn out to not be the best.  One quote from this study says, “Here’s the dangerous assumption: because our initial motivation is good, our motives will always stay pure.  Sadly, that’s just not the case.  It’s good to keep checking our motives and to be honest about our present intentions.”  (page 65).  We can go into something for the right reasons, but then get blinded by society and start to focus on the results more than the following well of the Lord.  

Sometimes I have had mixed intentions around my Dressember fundraiser.  I love doing my Dressember fundraiser.  I love getting the opportunity to raise funds and awareness to end Human Trafficking.  I love being creative in my outfits and in the dresses I wear every day for the month of December.  Yes, towards the end, I am tired of wearing dresses, but I also know it is for a good cause. My intention is to do this fundraiser to help people and to raise awareness to end Human Trafficking around the world.   However, sometimes I become way too concerned about my own pride and my personal fundraiser to make myself look good.  I want to meet my fundraising goals, so I can feel good about myself.  I need to be very aware of my attitude and intentions all throughout this fundraising event.  

My challenge for you this week is to remember this verse wherever you go into anything in your life.  Make sure to use this verse as a way to examine your intentions.  Proverbs 21:2 says, “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord ponders the hearts.”  People tend to look at the things people do, and maybe how successful they are.  People may look at the actions of others and how appreciated and admired they are by the people around.  However, God looks at the people’s hearts.  He looks at how well they are focused on the glory of God and how well they are depending on the Lord. My challenge for you this week is to focus on the glory of God with every single intention and motive you have.  This may take some double checking of your motives on a regular basis.  

I have recently started a book called, “The Pursuit of God.”  The book overall is short, and the chapters individually are short, but they are filled with so much truth.  This chapter in particular I read today, was all about our real faith in God, not just faith in the mere idea of God, but really believing in the God who loves and cares about us.  

There are many people who I know, but I don’t really “know.” I have met them, and maybe even know their names, and what they do as a career, but I don’t know their true personality, at least in different circumstances than the one I currently see them in.  I don’t know their favorite color, or the foods they like, or even what they like to do when they have free time.  There are many ways we can treat God the same way we look at those acquaintances.  We don’t really know Him, but rather, we just know of Him. 

There are many people who I know, and most likely you know, who really do know a God exists.  They believe there is a spiritual world beyond the world we are in.  They may even pray every once in a while, and they may go to church here or there or even on a regular basis.  However, they maybe really don’t “believe” in God, the way God deserves to be believed in.  They don’t believe He is the only true one who can save us from our sins or don’t believe He is the one who is in control of our lives.  

One quote from “The Pursuit of God,” says, “…but for millions of Christians, nevertheless, God is no more real than He is to the non-Christian.  They go through life trying to love an ideal and be loyal to a mere principle.”  (The Pursuit of God,A.W Tozer) This really made me think a lot.  There are many people who are dedicated to a principle, to a theory or to a creed of God, but they maybe really don’t truly know God.  They don’t know His personality or the devotion He wants from his followers.  

The next chapter in this book was very similar in its messaging.  This chapter was a reminder for all of us, that God really is omnipresent. He is around everywhere.  He can be everywhere and anywhere we are.  However, even though we can know He is all around, we don’t necessarily act as though he is always around.  We can remember his presence in the church building or in the Bible group, but what about our homes and what about our jobs, or what about when we are doing our hobbies or spending time with family and friends.  Or even when we are struggling, or we are in a place we really don’t enjoy.  

God actually does want to know us, and he wants us to know him.  He wants us to know what he likes.  He wants us to want to spend time with him, not out of obligation or because of a general belief, but because spending time with Him brings us great joy and love.  It can be awesome to think about a God who is all powerful and a wonderful creator, but it is more amazing to consider a God who is full of love and care for all of us. 

A few weeks later, I was doing my new Bible Study of 1 and 2 Kings written by Lysa Terkeurst.  She was breaking down every king of the nation of Israel.   She discussed David and Solomon and how they had a similar sin and downfall, but they had very different reactions.  Both David and his son, Solomon would be tempted by women that were not their wife.  David had the affair with Bathsheba resulting in a pregnancy and then the killing of her husband, Uriah.  This was a bad moment for David, but then there is Solomon who would take many, many, many wives, like in the hundreds.  What made these two men different?  Well, David repented from his sin, and he strived to never depart from God again in this manner.  However, Solomon never repented.  He would be completely led astray by his many wives.  He eventually started worshiping other gods along with them.  

1 Kings 11:4b describes this heart of Solomon.  “And his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.”  The sad thing is, Solomon was the one who created God’s temple.  He had a “relationship” with God, at least in part.  However, Solomon didn’t fully trust or know God.  He was following a principle when he created God’s temple.  He was following and believing in the God of his father, but not the God over himself.  He didn’t care about knowing God to his fullest ability. 

I can definitely be a compartmentalizer.  I can put my Christian beliefs and thoughts in one area of my brain I save for when I am at church, or I am doing my Bible Study but then quickly forget everything I have learned in the Bible study when I go to work.  I can forget about reading about patience and forgiveness quickly when something very inconvenient comes up. I can feel I am a very dedicated Christian, but maybe there are just times when I am really just dedicated to the very principles of Christianity.  

The challenge for this week is to remember to really pursue God.  It is to spend time reading the Bible and praying to really think about who the Lord is.  What is God really trying to tell us after we read a particular passage?  What does he want us to learn about Himself?  Why is this particular passage in the Bible, and what does it reveal about God? Hopefully through that time, you will have a deeper understanding of God as a God, and more than a principle.  

This year was a big year.  I would say it has been one of the biggest years of change for me personally.  It is maybe second to the year of 2014 which was the year I graduated from high school and started college.  This year, I finished my fourth year of teaching, and I started a new job at a local nonprofit in Cedar Falls.  I moved the boxes in my Buffalo Center apartment to my new Cedar Falls apartment.  I packed up my classroom and my lesson plans and moved to a new place where I now write financial literacy plans for all grades as opposed to my Spanish plans for high schoolers. 

I went to college at the University of Northern Iowa (Go Cats!) which is in Cedar Falls, Iowa, so even though I had lived in this town before, I wasn’t very involved in the community.  I was too busy being involved in my college community.  The nonprofit I work for, mostly serves Waterloo families, which is a city connected to Cedar Falls, so I have also tried really hard to get involved in that community as well.   I try to be involved when I am working, but now I have also gotten really involved in my church community, enrolled in a community choir, and am volunteering in other organizations throughout the area.

I knew when I graduated college that I had a passion and a dream to one day work in a nonprofit full time.  I am glad this dream has come true.  It was scary.  I knew the students at my school, I knew my coworkers, I knew people that were friends in the area I was in, but I also knew I really wanted to move on and try a different path.  I have learned so much and developed so many different skills through this job.  I have become more creative in lesson planning and in other ways to problem solve.  I love this job.  I really love the kids I get to serve.  I love getting to know and work with the families, and I love going out in the community of Waterloo.  I am very happy I made this switch in 2023.  

The other big moment for me in 2023 was writing and publishing my devotional book. This had been a lifelong dream of mine.  I had always wanted to write and publish a devotional book.  When I was a young child, I would take a blank journals and write devotions for my family and friends to read daily.  I had forgotten about that, until my friend Tiffani reminded me she had one of those devotional journals from me from many years ago.  She had kept the journal this whole time.  The book published this year is called, Psalm 66: Praise Amidst Hardship and Joy. 

The low point of this year was saying goodbye to certain jobs.  Specifically, I am very sad I had to say goodbye to my athletes in cross country and I didn’t complete another summer at the Bridge of Storm Lake.  I had worked there for seven summers, and the Bridge and the community of Storm Lake meant so much to me.  I missed the summer being with the kids and some of my absolute best friends that are there.  Goodbyes are hard, and the months of May and June were both exciting, but also incredibly hard for this reason.  I don’t need to have the stress of moving and the tears over moving away anytime in the near future. 

While this year has been awesome, I do know there are many things I can work on for this next year.  I have been struggling a bit with insecurity and jealousy at times throughout my life.  I am constantly working on this and am trying to improve.   I also can sometimes get too focused on achieving items on my checklists as opposed to really focusing on the people around me.  I have been working harder at making sure not to overfill my schedule, so I actually can focus on the people in my life, but in the year of 2024, I really want to meet with others on a regular basis to really care about them and talk with them about their lives and their relationship with Christ.  I just need to make sure I am focused on them, and not the other items going on in my life.  

I always want to encourage others to spend time reflecting on their previous year.  Being able to reflect on what good happened, maybe some bad, achievements, and things to work on, can only help improve you for the next year.  It can also be a way to stay constantly reflective and believe in yourself enough for future growth.  I also know sometimes we as people need to practice gratitude and joy.  It is important to make sure we remember our joyful moments from the year we just had.  

Now I want to end this blog post with my verse for the year of 2024.  This verse is Jeremiah 17:8, “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.  They will be like a tree planted by the water, that sends out its roots by the stream.  It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.  It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”  I really love this verse for many different reasons, one being about having trust in God, but another is because I love the idea of looking to the year of 2024 as a tree.  The nonprofit I work at and have fallen in love with has a main symbol of a tree.  This symbol will hopefully be one to help me focus on growth for the year of 2024. 

I am reading a book called, “Revealing Revelations,” by Amir Tsarfati.  I was hesitant to read this book initially.  I didn’t know if I wanted to read a book centered around Revelations in the Bible.  However, I am really enjoying it.  I am really learning new perspectives about the book of the Bible that people try to avoid the most.  I am looking at this book in the way Tsarfati tries to show us, which is as a love letter to those who are in the church.  

One of the first chapters of the book breaks down the seven main churches such as Philippians, Ephesus, etc.  The churches back then were struggling through problems that many churches have struggled through recently.  The church of Ephesus was struggling through forgetting the importance of spending time with God, or as Revelation and Amir reminds us, “To remember our first love.”  Remember the love that God has for us and the love that you need to have for Him.  

The problem that Ephesus would also struggle through was that they would often try to show the best ways they were prospering without really going deep into their faith.  They were going “ten miles long, one mile deep” as the common phrase can describe some churches of today.  They were not investing into their personal relationships with God.  One quote that comes from this book is, “If service is not built on a foundation of close daily time with God, it becomes inevitable that bitterness, anger, territorialism, and wrong motives will creep in,” (Tsarfati, “Revealing Revelations, pg.57).  

Tsarvati reminds us that sometimes people can become very involved in the church, but then don’t actually care about their personal relationships with God.  Service in a church is very important and very good, but it is not the end all be all of being a Christian.  The church does need those who are very willing to serve in the church.  However, similarly to the idea that a person when faced with a plane losing altitude quickly needs to apply their own face mask on themselves before they help apply the masks onto others, Christians need to make sure they are investing in their own Christian walk before they can truly serve others.  I personally can get into the habit of caring more about serving at church for the routine and for the feeling of importance over the reasons behind it.  

One verse that highlights the importance of spending time with God is Joshua 1:8 which says, “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”  This verse is a good reminder that one needs to keep the Word of the Lord close to their hearts and minds.  This way we may be successful and prosperous, specifically in our Christian walk and with the way that we feel.  We may still run into struggles with the things of this world, but we will be continuously close to God.  

I have found a better routine in the last few years by starting to do the time alone with God in the mornings.  I have found this is the most practical for me to really focus on what I am reading in the word or in Bible Study.  However, I have found that I do sometimes struggle to really remember what I have learned in the morning for the rest of the day.  I sometimes will quickly become impatient immediately right after I finished the Bible devotional time.  I definitely need to find a better way to remember the importance or the main objective from the lesson before I move on for the rest of the day.  

The challenge for this week is to spend time with the Lord on a regular basis.  I would find either a Bible Study or a book that you really want to dive into this week.  This could be any book that is in the New Testament, specifically a Gospel.  It is currently the Christmas season, so a good way to start is to read a Gospel, starting with the Christmas story and how Jesus came to this earth as a little baby boy.  Please seek to always remember your first love.  Remember the love that God has for you that began for you the minute you were conceived. 

I love reading.  I love books.  I love stories.  I love being able to learn something new from the book I am reading, and I love getting to think about something in a new way.  I am a passionate reader though.  I am a reader that wants to, at one time or another, throw my book across the room (I don’t, just an FYI).  I can get so passionate about what others are doing in the story, and I can really become vocal when I believe they are not doing the right thing or are hindering their progress. 

I am currently reading a book about two sisters who are experiencing the grief of their father.  They are both processing this grief in very different ways, and through this they are in many ways, unintentionally hurting one another and many others around them.  As a reader, I am screaming at the book at times because I just want to yell at them, “Why don’t you understand how the other person is feeling?”  It is so obvious.  Then I realized it may not be so obvious to the characters in my book.  They are not reading from another person’s perspective.  They aren’t seeing what the other person is doing when no one else is around.  They aren’t in another character’s mind like I, as the reader, am.  

This realization made me stop and think.  Oh, how I have misjudged other’s perspectives at many different times.  I can’t see from their headspace as much as I can see the characters in my books or my stories.  I need to be better at looking at other’s perspectives to the complete extent. Just because I can’t get into other people’s heads like I can when I am reading, doesn’t mean I can’t seek out their opinion or their thoughts as much as possible.  I shouldn’t just assume I understand everything from where they are sitting.  

I am often a person who can get really frustrated by others.  I have been working on this, but it is still a struggle for me.  One example I am sure many others have experienced is road rage.  There are many times when people can be slower than I would prefer.  However, then I can think of the experiences when I have been confused about where I was going, or maybe it is more slick or there is an issue with the car.  I have been in situations when I did not feel confident driving, and I know I am angering others, yet I can be very quick to become impatient with others when they are driving. I have no idea why they are choosing to be slower.  Maybe it could even be a new driver on the road or they had a flat tire yesterday, or they are not confident on the round-a-bouts, or they are trying not to spill a crockpot full of spaghetti.  (That was an example from my personal life).    

There is a verse that really captures the thoughts we should have when it comes to other’s perspectives.  Philippians 2: 3-4, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”  I have brought this verse up many times in blogs, but it still serves as a great reminder to get out of our own heads and focus on other people’s thoughts and what is in their heart.  We can be so focused on our day to day, when we easily forget that we have been called to focus on one another’s lives more than our own.  

I do want to point out that it is perfectly reasonable to get into disagreements.  It isn’t preferable for most people, but it is going to happen to every one of us from time to time.  Sometimes disagreements can really be beneficial because it will help solve issues that may have been hidden before.  It can bring about those different perspectives some people never bothered to think about previously.  I am definitely not suggesting to never bring up your own issue that you may have with something because you are trying to see it from another person’s perspective.  A person can definitely try to look at another person’s perspective before they bring the issue to another’s attention, but then it is perfectly acceptable to speak your thoughts and peace, respectfully.   

My challenge for you this week is to reflect on where you don’t see other people’s perspectives.  This could be in your work environment or class environment, on the road, when talking with your family or friends, or even in a church setting.  There are so many times we as people can disagree with one another.  This week, really try looking from the perspective of the person of whom you may not always get along.  You may learn quite a bit from them.  

One book I have read recently is called “Sisters of Mokama,” by Jyoti Thottam.  This is a book describing the women, specifically Catholic Sisters who moved to India in order to create a hospital and serve the people of India.  These women had to work hard.  These women served the people of India for any illnesses, and they also brought other young nurses, even nurses from India to their hospital to become trained as a future nurse or doctor.  This started in the 1950s, so they as a population were also fighting other big issues after World War II affected many countries around the world including the United States and during the Apartheid that really affected India.  They were also choosing to be women professionals in the medical field during a time where that was not the most common for women.  

One problem that arose was people coming in with leprosy, and they would notice those patients really struggled.  There were a lot of people who suffered from this disease, but they also had a troubling stereotype looming over their head that many people had when it came to those suffering from leprosy.  They thought those people were dirty and were often shamed. They would have to be sectioned off, so others, especially from those of whom were sick with other ailments so they would not catch their disease.  In order to serve so many fighting this illness quicker and to keep more people safe, they created a Leprosy care clinic every Wednesday.  The people were to come and get their diagnosis, their medicine and vitamins for the next two weeks and come again for another round.  

I enjoyed reading about this section because first, it showed how inventive these women were.  They were problem solvers, and I appreciate reading about people so dedicated to their mission that they will spend time changing something to serve as many people as possible.  However, I also loved this section because it really showed the care these women had for all the people of India.  When this clinic first started, there was really only one patient for the first few weeks.  However, the doctor and nurse named Crescentia  stationed at the clinic did not close down in discouragement.  They continued to serve him to the best of their ability.  It was only later when they were growing in great popularity that they soon had to have many more nurses and ques set up to achieve success for everyone.  

One quote from the book is “On the first day, there was only one patient.  His name was Ram Dham, a man in the later stages of the disease (leprosy).  For weeks, he was the only patient. But he kept coming, and that alone gave Crescentia the courage to continue.” (Thottam, Joyti, “Sisters of  Mokama,” pg. 156).  I loved reading this.  I am definitely one that can become discouraged too quickly,  and therefore impatient to continue a project.  If I had done all this work and planned on helping many others, and I only had one patient, I would have been so heartbroken.  I would have continued for another week or two, but then I would have forfeited this plan for a different one. It is so amazing they chose not to stop because there would soon be so many people helped by this clinic.   

I think this is a good reminder to do a lot of work even for one person.  It is important to put the same amount of energy into one person as you would a big group.  This can be in all areas, whether it is Bible Study, teaching a class, having an appointment or meeting, or an event.  Matthew 25:40 also describes this thought process well.  “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did it for Me.”  God wants His people to really care about those in the world.  He wants His people to spend time working for those the world will often ignore or those that don’t always see love.  He wants them to be remembered, even if they are the only ones around.   

The challenge for this week is to reflect on how you act among a small group to the individual people as well as the big group.  Do you put as much care and thought into the individuals you are in contact with?  Do you spend time really thinking about the separate individual when you are in a big group?  What can you personally do for one personal individual this next week?  I also want this to be an encouragement.  Even if you are spending a lot of time caring for only one or a small group of people, as long as you are doing this with your whole heart, you are still doing God’s work.