shout out to the boundless blog.

For a few years now, I've been reading TheBoundless Line blog. It's been a great resource for spiritual encouragement & faith, being single, dating & courtship, and marriage & family.
I poured over its courtship and dating resources around the time Ryan and I became an item. I owe a lot to Boundless for helping teach me my role as a woman being pursued by a godly man.

The blog is written by Focus on the Family and targets young adults in the single years between leaving home for college or a career and starting their own families. But its more than that really. They have a lot to say about abortion, politics, college, faith, entertainment, sex, children, ect.

Although I'm no longer in my "single years," I still find it helpful. Today's featured webzine article on being a servant in the Kingdom of God is great: The Glory of Little Things. Read it if you have time. Or check out the blog. You just might get hooked.

Here's the main page: www.boundless.org

deborah 13

Saw this on Josh Harris's blog.



This is part of a BBC documentary. There are several other videos of Deborah to make up the whole on youtube.

Read more:
the rebelution blog
deborah's blog

Read This Book!

Lately I've been a bit discouraged in my spiritual life, falling into the (untrue) thinking that I have not performed well enough for the Lord and He must be getting irritated at me, especially for my sins of omission. Of course He is not, He deals with me based on the finished work of Christ but I tend to slide into this thinking wrongly without realizing it, and it makes for some kind of misery!
So on Sunday, after listening to a wonderful sermon by my pastor on grace (which is really every Sunday) I realized how deeply my false thinking was affecting my relationship with the Lord. I scanned our book table at church and read the back of Transforming Grace by Jerry Bridges:

Funny how the exceeding riches of God's grace seem to run out the moment we're saved. From then on, we tend to base our relationship with Him on our performance rather than on His grace. Of course, God continues to deal with us on the basis of His grace, whether or not we understand it. It's just that when we don't, we forgo the abundant freedoms that come from not having to measure up.

Exactly what I needed. Funny how we so easily "forget" the gospel of grace. I try to remind myself of it daily but it's nice to have someone else 'preach' it for you. This book has done just that! I highly recommend it. Sometimes I think my problem is that God's grace, kindness and mercy is so amazing that it's hard to believe that it is really true! Anyway, snag a copy of this good book! I'm positive it is one I will read and re-read for years to come. Click on the picture of the book for a link!

a highly recommended gift

...be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ... -Eph 5:18-20

ryan and i have been waiting anxiously patiently for this to arrive in the mail. we finally received it and listened to this cd together tonight, and it was a great tool to spur us on to worship and adore Christ. if you're in need of a christmas gift, this is a great one.

Click here to get it: Together for the Gospel Live