It's T.I.M.E., #2

• Who can find a virtuous woman? her price is far above rubies
• She looketh well to the ways of her household
• She openeth her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness

This week's T.I.M.E. post has been a while coming. The Lord has had me on a journey of discovery--mostly self-discovery.

It all started last Monday--last week's Making Your Home Sing post over at Mom's the Word was about being managers of our homes--treating it as though it were a job (which it is) and as though it were an important priority for us (which it should be). I encourage you to click over and read it in Nan's own words. I've been meditating about it all week--about the implications of being a manager, setting priorities, etc, in several areas, not the least of which is the running of my household.

I spent some time praying for the grandson of a family friend, a young man undergoing surgery to remove a tumor from his brain. He came through the surgery with flying colors, but it certainly made me pause and say a prayer of thankfulness for the health of my own family, and to think about how fragile is this thing called life.

Then I got my hands on a couple of thought provoking books.

The first one was The Present : The Secret to Enjoying Your Work And Life, Now! by Spencer Johnson. The format of this book is deceptively simple; in story format it teaches principles to help us live fully engaged in the present, instead of in the past or future. The past is something to learn from, the future is something to imagine and to plan for, but the present is the place for us to live.

The second book was The Christian Atheist: Believing in God but Living As If He Doesn't Exist by Craig Groeschel. This is one of those books that did not allow me to self-righteously look at the lives of other people that "talk the talk" but don't "walk the walk", it encouraged me to take a long, clear look at the woman in the mirror, something I'm sure we could all use more of.

Both of these books are worth a post of their own, so I don't want to go into too much detail right now, but they engaged my brain and my thoughts enough that I actually took out pen and paper and took notes, something I haven't done in a very long time.

So I've been meditating--"thinking on these things" as Philippians 4:8 encourages us to do--and I'm expecting some changes to take place, as I'm "transformed by the renewing of your (my) mind", Romans 12:2.

What have you done to renew your mind this week?

Until next time...

(Disclosure: If you click on the links above and purchase either of these books, I will receive a few cents commission)