Michelle Wegner

Submission

On my Bible study blog about Spiritual Disciplines, Further up, Further In, we have begun a discussion about submission.  I thought it would be cool to post it here too to get some more thoughts and input about this. Feel free to leave your thoughts and comments.

I appreciate the way Valerie Hess writes about submission.  So often when I hear that word, I automatically think of submitting within the context of a marriage or in church.  I have no problem with either, but I am glad she broadened the use of the word and the discipline. 

I think the area of submission within church and marriage and  has been talked about to death.  In studying submission this week, lets try to think outside of those two boxes.  Lets think of submitting to God in other areas of our lives.  Some examples might  be submitting to God by:

• Giving up the need to be right
• listening to and accepting criticism from others
• Not speeding
• Not littering
• Being on time for events

Those are some of my ideas.  What are some of  yours?

The Light of Life

 

This is my Maddie.  These few photos capture the essence of her so well.  This photo in particular captures her.  Her eyes are so seeing.  She sees in insightful ways that a lot of adults don't.  Her perception of the way things are is incredibly mature for a 9 year old.

She is free spirited and funny at the same time.  She adores her little sister. 

I love the lighthouse photo.  Since Maddie was about 4, her favorite Bible verse has been, "Jesus said I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in the darkness but have the light of life."  John 8:12

Maddie is light and life.  She brings both to everyone she touches

~photos by Rob

The B-I-B-L-E

My parents sent me to a private Christian Reformed school for 4 years when I was growing up.  I so appreciate the education I got from that school, especially the Bible knowledge.   It is kind of morbid though, that the Bible stories I remember the most clearly are when someone drove a tent peg through someone else's head and nailed them to the ground, or when the whole earth shook, opened up, and swallowed up the Hebrews who were complaining against God in the wilderness.  This is all food for an 9 year old's soul, I guess.

I also went to Moody Bible Institute for a while, and I am forever grateful for all the Bible knowledge I gained while I was there.

Since I was around 13 years old, I began practicing the Spiritual Discipline of daily Bible reading and prayer.  I'd venture to say that out of the past 10 years  I haven't missed more than a total of 30 days (and that is a high guess) of spending time reading my Bible.

I say all of this NOT to brag, but to challenge.  God's word is my rock, my foundation. 

What do you do to study God's word?

Peace

I'm really good at forgetting stuff while we are on vacation...doctors, bills, taxes, homework, dusting, to name a few examples.  I pretend they don't exist for a while.  Perhaps this isn't the best plan.  I get home and am slapped down to reality by a 10 foot pile of mail, 7 bags to unpack (we left with 5...not sure how that happened.)  Not to mention our crazy dog that has ran circles around my feet for the past  almost 24 hours since we've been home.  He thinks he is human.  It is hard on him when we leave him behind.

So, here we go!  Back to early mornings and fast meals, and homework, and babysitting, and the joys that go along with regular days.  I'm well rested.  Relaxed.  Yet, overwhelmed at the pile of mail and all it implies.  Praying that Jesus guides me through these days with the Peace that passes all understanding.

Two of my favorite passages from the Bible when I start to feel this way:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.-Proverbs 3:5-6

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,  present your requests to God, and the Peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.Phillipians 4:6-7

Deep Thoughts on the Wilderness

I've been reading and studying the lives of Moses, Joshua, and Caleb.  Here are some thoughts I have been working through as I read about their struggles and victories as they wandered through the wilderness. It was a rough and barren place where they had to depend on God for their every need.  Ever been there?  I have.  God's been teaching me a lot about this.  Forgive the randomness of my thoughts. 

• Some things have to die in the wilderness
• Some things can only be born in the wilderness
• God has provision I know not of, more than I can ask or imagine.
• His provision does not always look how I thought it would look, or choose for it to look
• The wilderness is a place to look ahead to the fulfillment of God's promises
• The Lord has commanded us to Be strong and Courageous
• The Lord has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to sin in the camp.  Sin that is idolatry, and sin that takes the glory away from Himself.
• The Lord teaches us to hear his voice in the wilderness because we can seldom hear anything else when we are there.
• The wilderness is a lonely place, even though it can be crowded.
• God's provision is enough
• Learn to trust
• Don't forget Whose journey you are on
• You've come to far to lose your way
• stay strong.  The work is almost done
• Did you forget Whose you are?

The Highway

  Take time to read about what my Dad had to say about Isaiah 35.  It certainly put my life, my pain, my issues into perspective today.