Mountain or Molehill?

• She looketh well to the ways of her household... 

(The mountain pictured above is a "real" mountain, Mt Shasta, in northern Cailifornia)

Have you ever had one of those tasks on your "to-do" list that you dread doing so much that you just keep putting it off over and over?  You transfer it from one "to-do" list to another because you know you need to do it, but you just really don't want to do it--I mean, you want it done, but you don't want to have to actually do it to get it done?

Cleaning out my freezer has been one of those for me.  My parents raise their own beef, and they generously share with us when they have a butchering done, so we usually get a fairly large quantity of it all at one time.  Last time they had meat done, my son and I went with them to the processing plant to pick it all up, then helped them sort and store in freezers at their house.  When we brought ours home, instead of unpacking the bags, we just shoved them into the freezer to be unpacked and sorted later. 

Well, as you can guess, "later" never got here, so I have been digging through bags of frozen meat for months, trying to find what I was looking for, until the whole thing was just a mess.  I knew I needed to pull everything out, sort it, and organize it so I would know what I had on hand.  But who wants to do all that??

Then this past week, as I was digging through the freezer for something to thaw to cook for dinner, I decided to pull out just the packs of hamburger and put them in the door of the up right freezer.  Then I pulled out the frozen vegetables and sorted them.  Then I started emptying the bags and sorting the rest into their types.  And literally in a matter of minutes, it was done.

I wonder how many other molehills we have in our lives that we make into mountains in our minds?  I was reminded of the 10 spies from the children of Israel who went into the promised land to spy out the land, and when they came out, they told about how great the land was, but the people, they said, are giants.  "And we were as grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in theirs." 

Maybe my mountains aren't mountains after all, maybe I'm just too small in my own sight.

I hate to admit, at least publicly, how many things I have on my "to-do" list that I've been putting off and putting off until they've become like mountains, always looming in the back of my mind.

Blogging has become one of those.  I love blogging, I really do.  But I don't have internet at home, so the logistics seem insurmountable.  And every so often I do one of those "I haven't been blogging for awhile, but from now on, things are gonna be different" kind of posts.  And then if I don't get right back on, the silence looms larger and larger, until it seems I have to have some wonderful, larger-than-life, perfect post to break the ice with.  Again.

But I've decided that if I can take one mountainous job and whittle it down to a do-able molehill, I can do it with others.

Like I stated, I have way too many of those on my "to-do" list. 

But I have one two less than I used to. 

Until next time...

Back to Blogging, Day 3--My Favorite Titles

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

For Day 3 of Back to Blogging, hosted by the SITS Girls community, and sponsored by Standards of Excellence, Westar Kitchen and Bath, and Florida Builder Appliances, our task is to republish a post with a title that we especially like--whether it's funny or creative or sentimental. Looking back at past archives, my favorite titles by far are:
(click on the title to read the posts)

My Husband Likes Crunch Peanut Butter

Merry Chrisamerry

Very Bad, Awful, Aggravating-but-Ultimately-Good Day at Walmart

Walmart--the Good, the Bad and the (not) Ugly

Where, Oh Where Can She Be?

I'm so glad I decided to participate in this event, I've had a good time reading some of my older posts. Yes, some are truthfully cringe-worthy, but some make me sit up straighter and say "Wow, I wrote that?"

Until next time...

Back to Blogging, Day 2

For Day 2 of Back to Blogging, hosted by the SITS Girls community, and sponsored by Standards of Excellence, Westar Kitchen and Bath, and Florida Builder Appliances, our task is to republish a post that we wish more people had read, and why it's important to us.

I have a lot of posts in that category, most all of my more serious posts. I often feel when I write these that I'm pouring out my heart and soul, but in many cases I get few, if any responses to these kinds of posts.

• What Does "Virtuous" Mean?
• Lord, Teach Us to Pray
• Making Prayer a Priority
• and any of my posts with the label "reflection" .

My most recent "I-wish-people-would-read-this-one" is below:

• Who can find a virtuous woman? her price is far above rubies
• She looketh well to the ways of her household...
• She eateth not the bread of idleness...

This has been a busy week, and I am, once again, behind on my Bible in 90 Days reading. Surprise!

One thing I've realized along the way, though, is that the Lord speaks to me through His word every week, and then I get some reinforcement from elsewhere--something may come up in conversation, or I may read something some place else. This week we made a trip back to the Explorations in Antiquity Center, where the settings of the Bible are brought to life, and once again, I had much food for thought.


Part of the exhibit in the garden area includes these representations of ancient altars; the one on the left is rough and crude-looking, and the one on the right is much lovelier and more refined in appearance. The rough looking one is patterned after the Israelite altars, and the smooth, pretty one is patterned after a Canaanite altar. At first glance it doesn't seem to make much sense--Canaanite society was fairly primitive, and Israel was, after all, led directly by the Lord. wouldn't it stand to reason that the Lord would instruct them in building a more attractive altar?


I got so excited when I saw these again this past week--because it hasn't been long ago that I read the Lord's instructions to Israel through Moses--the altar they built was to be of unhewn stone--stone of God's creation, not man's design. The object of worship is not to be the altar...

...but God Himself.


How many times have we done what was right in our own eyes--just as Israel did during the time of the Judges...



...instead of following after the Lord's instruction?

Did he not tell Moses to be sure to build the tabernacle according the pattern that He showed him?

Did He not tell Saul that to obey is better than sacrifice?

And didn't Israel turn their backs on the ways of the Lord over and over again, whether out of

rebellion...

or disobedience...

or ignorance?


I wonder how many times I've built an altar of my own design

or offered up fire of my own making

or ignored clear instruction out of my own rebellion,

or disobedience,

or ignorance?

Monday is a travel day for me, I'm taking our son home to begin the fall semester of college, and moving most of our personal and household goods back to our house in Louisiana. Changes are coming, and I don't know what the future holds for me. It's often tempting to offer up sacrifices of my own making, and then wonder why the Lord doesn't seem impressed with them.

Many years ago I was getting ready to speak at a Women's Ministry event and I was really seeking the Lord--I wanted to really wow them with something really new and fresh and different. And as I was praying one day I felt the Lord speak distinctly into my heart--"Why should I give you something new when you aren't walking in obedience to the things I've already told you?"

Ouch.

I really hope that once I get moved and unpacked and settled in that I have take the time to get caught up on my Bible in 90 Days program. But even if I don't catch up with program, I want to continue to read straight through the Bible from front to back. Doing so has blessed me so much, and I find that the Lord speaks to my heart and my life to my needs every week, no matter where I'm reading--it always seems to be at just the right place.

Until next time...

Back to Blogging--The First Post I Wrote

As a new member of the SITS (Secrets in the Sauce) Girls community, I've decided to participate in Back to Blogging this week, designed to get everyone back in the habit of regular blogging and commenting. One lucky blogger will win a fabulous Electrolux washer and dryer in teal blue (nicknamed Thelma and Louise!), sponsored by Standards of Excellence, Westar Kitchen and Bath, and Florida Builder Appliances.

Task one of our week-long event is to re-publish our first post so we could see how our blog has evolved. My first post was the full text of the virtuous woman passage from Proverbs 31, so I'm going to re-publish the first post I actually wrote, originally published October 2, 2008.

• Who can find a virtuous woman? Her price is far above rubies

I don't remember exactly when I first discovered the virtuous woman found in Proverbs 31. I do remember how taken I was with the qualities and virtues extoled by the writer of these scriptures. The whole passage reads like poetry to me---"Who can find a virtuous woman? Her price is far above rubies...the heart of her husband safely trusts in her...she is like the merchants' ships, she brings her food from afar...she girds herself and strengthens her arms...she considers a field, and buys it, with her own hands she plants a vineyard..she is not afraid of the snow for her household, for they are clothed with scarlet...she stretches out her arm to the poor and needy..her clothing is tapestry and purple...she opens her mouth with wisdom and kindness...she looks well to the ways of her household...her children rise up and call her blessed, and her husband praises her...give her the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her".

 A beautiful passage of scripture, one that has been the subject of many Mother's Day sermons and Women's Ministry devotionals. One that has no doubt been the source of both inspiration and guilt for many woman through the ages. One that is the topic of many books, as well as websites and blogs. So, you may ask, why another one?

That's a good question.

Like I stated earlier, I can't remember when I first started reading about the virtuous woman. Trying to imitate her. Loving her. Hating her. Feeling guilty about all of the ways that I fell short. But as I started really reading and studying, I found so much there that I hope will bring insight and blessing both to my life and I hope to yours.

Having a website/blog of this sort is a new endeavor for me. There is so much that I want to discuss and share that it seems overwhelming and exciting at the same time.

New content will be added quickly, so please check back often. If you would like to subscribe through a feeder or become a "follower", please see the sidebar.

I wonder how I got so off-track of my original goals? I've done some of what I set out to do, but missed the mark and gotten distracted on too much. Interesting to see where this week-long re-evalution takes me!