Archive for the 'Practical Christian Living' Category

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So You’re Moving

Published by Nancy Ann on May 30, 2011 in Practical Christian Living. 20 Comments

A friend of mine (who’s moving across the country this summer) asked me to write a little something about moving. I grew up in a military family, and we moved quite a bit the first eighteen years of my life. I learned a few things as a kid, but I’ve learned even more as we have had families move in and out of our community the past thirty years.

The first thing I will say about moving is a little golden nugget I learned from my mom and she learned from hers. When you move to a new place, get to know everyone. Then, choose your friends carefully. Don’t just fall into friendships with the first people you meet. Take your time.

When I was a kid, moving was an adventure. Even if it was a new place, I knew my family would be there, so that kept me from being too scared about it. My parents were my anchor, and they were rock solid, so I didn’t feel at sea. That’s a very big deal for a little kid. So if you are moving your family, pay attention to the little ones. Let them know you Continue reading ‘So You’re Moving’

Preparing for Sunday

Published by Nancy Ann on May 29, 2011 in Practical Christian Living. 3 Comments

It’s no doubt rather late in the evening for most of you readers to think about preparing for Sunday worship. You’re most likely doing some serious preparation right now by getting some sleep (and that is what my wise and weary husband is doing).  But here are some thoughts anyway, and maybe you can apply them next week.

Prayer is always a good way to prepare for Sunday.  So here are some suggestions.

Pray for your pastor. In fact, you can start praying for your pastor earlier in the week. My husband prepares his sermon on Wednesday, so you might find out when your pastor is working on his sermon, and make a point of praying for him that day.

Pray for those who are directly involved in the worship service: the music minister, the choir, the musicians, and for those who lead the congregation in prayer.

Pray for those behind the scenes: those who are preparing and serving the Lord’s Supper, the ones who are doing the set-up or clean-up, and for those who help with the sound system or who print the bulletins each week.

Pray for the congregation. Pray for the parents who are busy getting their children ready to worship the Lord. Pray for the moms and dads who will spend a good portion of the service in the cry room. They need our prayers! Pray that all the congregation will be spiritually as well as physically prepared to worship God robustly.

We are made to worship God. We are at our best when we are worshiping Him. What better thing can a creature do than worship the Creator? And that worship tunes us, re-sets us, straightens us out, and makes us fit to go back out into the world for another week. We had better also pray that our worship, however feeble and distracted, will glorify and bless our Creator God, and make us better creatures, more fit to worship Him next week.

Thoughts on Modesty

Published by Nancy Ann on April 5, 2011 in Practical Christian Living. 4 Comments

Rachel and I were talking about this topic tonight, and here is our conclusion.

Immodesty is a temptation for women. Women need to resist the temptation to be immodest. They often think they are doing the male population a big service by not wearing that tight t-shirt, but the truth is, they want to wear it (and they want to talk about how they almost wore it but decided it would stumble the whole world if they did). Why? Because  it will provoke envy among the women and provoke lust among the men. Women are tempted to be immodest, and they have to learn to resist the temptation themselves.

Modesty is not really about the guys, though I’m sure they appreciate it (some of them anyway). In fact, when you think about  it,  it really isn’t about them at all. Modesty is about the women. God wants us to be modest because it pleases Him and is good for our own souls.

The Flake

Published by Nancy Ann on March 24, 2011 in Practical Christian Living. 13 Comments

We have all either had this done to us or we have done it to others. Here’s the scenario: You said you would babysit Friday night, but then you got invited to do something more fun, so you flaked out, leaving the parents high and dry. Or you said you would help with the set-up for the party, but you got a headache and needed a nap instead. You said you would show up at 2 p.m., but you arrived at 3:30. You said you would bring dessert, but you got too rushed for time and decided you couldn’t do it. You accepted the invitation to the wedding, but then you decided it would make your day too congested, so you were a no-show.

It’s easy to flake. And Christians in particular can do it to one another and presume that fellow Christians will overlook it, be understanding, and let it go. After all, we are commanded to be forgiving, to go the extra mile, and to let love cover it. But all those verses apply to both parties, not just to one.

Flaking means that your word cannot be trusted. “But I was just volunteering. It wasn’t like a paid job.” But that just makes it worse. You offered. You committed. You said you would be there.  You spoke carelessly.

Sometimes moms step in on behalf of their children and flake for them. “Susie can’t babysit after all because she was invited to go to the beach.” But if you Continue reading ‘The Flake’

A Faith That Grows

Published by Nancy Ann on March 23, 2011 in Practical Christian Living. 9 Comments

“Faith is like a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it gets.” I can remember hearing this for the first time from my mother-in-law Bessie who is now with the Lord. She spoke from a long experience of finding her Savior faithful.

What is faith? It’s trusting God and believing His promises. Faith means you let go of worry and give it all to God to sort out. Faith means not looking at the problem, but looking to Jesus. If you recall, when Peter took his eyes off Jesus and started looking at the waves, he began to sink and cried out, “Lord, save me!” And Jesus reached out and took hold of him. When we have faith, we don’t sink; but even when we start to sink, we can still cry out to God. He will never leave us or forsake us. That’s an absolute surety.

Troubles can be a lot like the waves. I can’t imagine a more “insecure” place to be than walking on the waves. If Jesus doesn’t keep you up, nothing will.  Life is full of troubled waves, and you may feel pretty helpless out there walking on them. Remember Who you are with and where to keep your eyes. Don’t get distracted by the troubles and look at them. That’s a sure fire way to start to go down. Keep your eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of your Continue reading ‘A Faith That Grows’

Stewardship

Published by Nancy Ann on February 15, 2011 in Practical Christian Living. 6 Comments

For some reason, when we hear the word stewardship, we automatically think of giving money to the church. But stewardship is a much bigger concept. Of course we are to manage wisely all the resources God gives us. If God gave you a million dollars, your life would suddenly get very complicated. You now have to figure out how to invest, save, give, and spend quite a load of money. It is possible to misuse the money, squander it, and lose it all. Or it is possible to manage it well, in a manner that is pleasing to Him. And if He has only given you a hundred dollars, you must figure out how to be the kind of wise steward who can make it to the end of the month. Both require wisdom and grace.

When God blesses us with healthy years and happy times, we are to be good stewards of the days. The easy days are sometimes easy to squander because we can start to coast. But God wants us to keep good accounts and make wise investments of our time and resources. The easy days may give way to hard times. And we are also to be wise stewards when it comes to the afflictions and troubles that God gives us. We believe that all things come from His hand. Therefore, whatever the trouble, we can believe that it comes from the hand of a very wise and loving Father. Knowing this helps us to believe that this trial is perfect for us. And it also helps us to exercise wise stewardship over the trouble. How do we do that?

We thank Him for the trouble. We consider if His Word has any direct teaching on how to respond to our particular trouble. We submit ourselves to Him and walk through the trial by faith, believing it will bear good fruit and bring good to our souls. We refrain from complaining. We cast our cares on Him. We seek to honor and glorify Him in the trial. All this is good stewardship and will bring a good return. So when you are given a trial, be a good steward of the trouble, and turn a profit on it.