Yay! We are ready to announce where we will have the first book club meeting. The meeting will be held on Saturday, January 31st at 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM. Remember the book to read before the meeting is Traveling Light by Max Lucado. Beacon of Life Ministries located at 1331 S. Commercial Drive, Suite 3 in Foley, will provide our meeting space. It is located near Gelato Joe's. I have placed a link to Beacon of Life Ministries on the right hand side of the blog or you can click this link to go to their website, http://www.beaconoflifeministries.com/. If you need help with directions please let me know! Coffee and refreshments will be available for a small donation. We would love to have you join us and bring a friend! Even if you are unable to finish the book by the meeting time, please join us for fellowship!
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Thursday, January 15, 2009
Whaddiffs and Howells
As I read the title chapter for this one I can hear in my mind how the voice sounds when it asks of Whaddifs and Howells. Fill in your own blank and I'm sure you can hear yourself saying similar things, "Whaddiff _______ happens?" and "Howell is ________ going to get done?" Max Lucado helps remind us what it means in this part of the Psalm when David writes, "He leads me beside the still waters." He reminds us that God is leading us, not telling us to go ahead without him. It is a comforting thought to know that he has been there already and is ready to give us what we need when the time comes. On page 50 Max states the following, "Meet today's problems with today's strength. Don't start tackling tomorrow's problems until tomorrow. You do not have tomorrow's strength yet. You simply have enough for today." I think that is a worthy statement worth repeating when you feel yourself getting bogged down under the bag of worry.
In the back of the book in the study guide, Max asks a couple questions worth note, “How many of the things you have worried about actually come to pass?” and “What issues that should be dealt with today are you avoiding by trying to tackle tomorrow’s problems?” One of my favorite bible verses is mentioned in this chapter about worry. Look up Matthew 6:34 and try to remember what Jesus said as you find yourself ‘Whaddifing and Howelling’.
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In the back of the book in the study guide, Max asks a couple questions worth note, “How many of the things you have worried about actually come to pass?” and “What issues that should be dealt with today are you avoiding by trying to tackle tomorrow’s problems?” One of my favorite bible verses is mentioned in this chapter about worry. Look up Matthew 6:34 and try to remember what Jesus said as you find yourself ‘Whaddifing and Howelling’.
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Friday, January 9, 2009
Easier said than done.
Are you tired today? Do you feel weary at times from lack of rest? Do you feel like you are constantly going and never stopping? In Chapter 5 Max gives us some interesting statistics about sleep and our problem with actually resting. Interestingly enough we are brought back to our similarity with the sheep. As Max states, for sheep to sleep everything has to be just so and who makes it like that for the sheep? The Shepard, without him they can’t rest. “He makes me lie down in green pastures” The Shepard is the one in control, making us lie down in green pastures. We wonder how things will get done if we stop. I love the way Max states God’s response to our busy lives, “If creation didn’t crash when I rested, it won’t crash when you do.” Let’s all take a minute for Max’s advice and repeat, “It is not my job to run the world.” When you have a chance, go back to page 41 where Max has printed the commandment concerning the Sabbath day. Why do you think God used more words in explaining this commandment than he did the others? Do you think he was already anticipating our excuses?
I know I tend to tote a shoulder bag of busy along with the weary one. Gotta do this... Gotta get that done... I am still working on setting it down completely, it seems to be caught on my elbow or something.... but progress is being made. I pray you are able to make progress too. :-)
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I know I tend to tote a shoulder bag of busy along with the weary one. Gotta do this... Gotta get that done... I am still working on setting it down completely, it seems to be caught on my elbow or something.... but progress is being made. I pray you are able to make progress too. :-)
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Want in one hand.....
Chapter 4 in Traveling Light is jam packed with information on how to be content. We are talking about the part of the Psalm, "The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want." Max has many examples to open our eyes to how much we find ourselves not content. I like the way he tells us that, “Your stuff isn’t yours and it’s not you.” Contentment will not come if we define ourselves by our stuff. Max gives several helpful bible verses to look up for reminders that God looks at our heart. The funeral director story makes a good point that we will take nothing with us but what is in our heart.
And another good Max quote, “What I have in God is greater than what I don’t have in life.” Take a moment and ponder Max’s fill in the blank question, “I will be happy when ____________.” To go a little further fill in your own words, fill in the blank and see if it rings a bell, “We will be okay when _________.”, “Everything will be fine when ____________” and “If this _________ could just come through for us.” I like Max’s response to these statements “If you have the Shepherd, you have grace for every sin, direction for every turn, a candle for every corner, and an anchor for every storm. You have everything you need.”
As I read through this chapter the second time, an old crude saying came to mind. “Want in one hand and poop in the other and see which fills up faster.” So I challenge you to change that saying a little, “Want in one hand and place your blessings in the other and see which fills up faster.” Make a list of all your wants and a list of all your blessings and ponder a moment. Which one is longer? Do your wants even compare to the blessings you have already received? I know my blessings far exceed the wants. Now I just need to remember that list more often as I feel the familiar stressful thoughts come about, “If I could just….”
There is so much to think about in this chapter alone. I will end with a question from after my favorite story in this chapter by Russ Blowers, a preacher, who explains his profession at a convention. Go back and read his description again on page 33 and think about the question Max gives us right after it, “If you can say the same, don’t you have reason to be content?”
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And another good Max quote, “What I have in God is greater than what I don’t have in life.” Take a moment and ponder Max’s fill in the blank question, “I will be happy when ____________.” To go a little further fill in your own words, fill in the blank and see if it rings a bell, “We will be okay when _________.”, “Everything will be fine when ____________” and “If this _________ could just come through for us.” I like Max’s response to these statements “If you have the Shepherd, you have grace for every sin, direction for every turn, a candle for every corner, and an anchor for every storm. You have everything you need.”
As I read through this chapter the second time, an old crude saying came to mind. “Want in one hand and poop in the other and see which fills up faster.” So I challenge you to change that saying a little, “Want in one hand and place your blessings in the other and see which fills up faster.” Make a list of all your wants and a list of all your blessings and ponder a moment. Which one is longer? Do your wants even compare to the blessings you have already received? I know my blessings far exceed the wants. Now I just need to remember that list more often as I feel the familiar stressful thoughts come about, “If I could just….”
There is so much to think about in this chapter alone. I will end with a question from after my favorite story in this chapter by Russ Blowers, a preacher, who explains his profession at a convention. Go back and read his description again on page 33 and think about the question Max gives us right after it, “If you can say the same, don’t you have reason to be content?”
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Wednesday, January 7, 2009
The LORD is my Shepard and I his sheep
“You don’t need to carry the burden of a lesser god… a god on a shelf, a god in a box, or a god in a bottle.” Chapter 2 in Traveling light talks about how much we need our God as who he is and not who we want him to be. Max makes good descriptions talking about how we try to make God like a genie in a bottle or put him in a nice little box. I have heard other scenarios that have the same way of describing how we try to make God into what meets our specific needs of the moment such as a waiter or prostitute. We get what we need then dismiss God. As we begin the Psalm we need the reminder that he is LORD, no less, and we shouldn't want less. Pulling from the Study guide in the back of the book: “Unchanging. Uncaused. Ungoverned. These are only a fraction of God’s qualities, but aren’t they enough to give you a glimpse of your Father? Don’t we need this kind of Shepherd? Don’t we need an unchanging Shepard? How do you answer Max’s questions?” This is exactly the kind of Shepherd we need especially when we are as dumb as sheep.
In chapter 3 Max talks about the burden of self-reliance. He mentions how often we rely on ourselves when really we can’t. He completely opened my eyes to the relationship of the Shepard and his sheep. I always knew that the Shepard took care of the sheep. I guess I just didn’t know enough about sheep to realize how dumb they are and how little they can do for themselves. A light bulb goes off and its’ like “Wow. No wonder David used sheep to describe us!” Max does an awesome job of helping people relate to how much we as sheep need our Shepard. Be honest with yourself and take his simple quiz about self-reliance in chapter 3 and see how you do. I know I did not pass all 4. Throughout the rest of the book Max will mention more of our similarities with the sheep. Another book if you have time to read is, “A Shepherd looks at Psalm 23” by Phillip Keller. After I first read Traveling Light I told Jody Beth how awesome it was and how enlightened I was by our similarities with the sheep. She immediately recommended the Keller book. I thoroughly enjoyed it and learned even more. I hope you are enjoying your reading thus far.
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In chapter 3 Max talks about the burden of self-reliance. He mentions how often we rely on ourselves when really we can’t. He completely opened my eyes to the relationship of the Shepard and his sheep. I always knew that the Shepard took care of the sheep. I guess I just didn’t know enough about sheep to realize how dumb they are and how little they can do for themselves. A light bulb goes off and its’ like “Wow. No wonder David used sheep to describe us!” Max does an awesome job of helping people relate to how much we as sheep need our Shepard. Be honest with yourself and take his simple quiz about self-reliance in chapter 3 and see how you do. I know I did not pass all 4. Throughout the rest of the book Max will mention more of our similarities with the sheep. Another book if you have time to read is, “A Shepherd looks at Psalm 23” by Phillip Keller. After I first read Traveling Light I told Jody Beth how awesome it was and how enlightened I was by our similarities with the sheep. She immediately recommended the Keller book. I thoroughly enjoyed it and learned even more. I hope you are enjoying your reading thus far.
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Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Luggage in Life
If you have read through chapter one I think you get Max’s point about the amount of “luggage” we all tend to tote around. I had heard the saying, “carrying around baggage”, but until I read this I never realized how often we let ourselves do it without even realizing it. We may think that just because it’s not one of the “really big awful heavy ones”, we’re okay, but we’re not. If we are honest with ourselves we all probably put on at least one bag each morning. Regardless of the size of the bag, God wants us to turn it over to him and trust in him. I enjoy the stories Max gives to put things into perspective: about the bride and groom and the jogger. But my favorite is the way he puts the little boy at the baggage claim with the father saying, “Set it down, child. I’ll carry that one.”
I read this book for the first time this past summer and reading it again now I get to re-evaluate myself and think about what I have set down and what I may still need to put down. I hope you take a moment to look in the back of your book at the study guide for each chapter and ponder a moment over the questions in prayer. Max states that Traveling light means trusting God with the burdens you were never intended to bear. As we read through the Book and go through the 23rd Psalm I hope we are all able to take something away from it with us.
I will close this post with this question from Max in the back of the book: Are you taking advantage of Jesus’ invitation in Matthew 11:28-30? If you want to comment or ask a question for discussion please do so!
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I read this book for the first time this past summer and reading it again now I get to re-evaluate myself and think about what I have set down and what I may still need to put down. I hope you take a moment to look in the back of your book at the study guide for each chapter and ponder a moment over the questions in prayer. Max states that Traveling light means trusting God with the burdens you were never intended to bear. As we read through the Book and go through the 23rd Psalm I hope we are all able to take something away from it with us.
I will close this post with this question from Max in the back of the book: Are you taking advantage of Jesus’ invitation in Matthew 11:28-30? If you want to comment or ask a question for discussion please do so!
To comment on this post click on "comments" Type in your comment then where it has the drop down box click on "Name/URL" Type in your name, you do not have to have a URL. Then you can preview and post your comment.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Happy New Year 2009!
Hooray for a new year! What a more fitting book to read at the beginning of this year at a time when so many are making new year's resolutions. We are reading how to travel light so that hopefully what we've learned can help us throughout the year. Traveling Light by Max Lucado has approximately 220 pages. It has 18 chapters, a conclusion, notes and a study guide. Depending on how fast or slow you read, if you would like to pace yourself to the blogging you will need to read the following:
Week 1 =Chapters 1-5
Week 2=Chapters 6-10
Week 3=Chapters 11-15
Week 4=Chapters 16-18+conclusion.
I will be commenting and posting questions from the Study Guide for discussion as we read through chapters. If you want to comment or have questions you would like to discuss, PLEASE do so! If you think of any questions you would possibly like discussed at the meeting please let me know, I would love to have your ideas! I look forward to reading & meeting with you! Happy New Year to you and yours!
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Week 1 =Chapters 1-5
Week 2=Chapters 6-10
Week 3=Chapters 11-15
Week 4=Chapters 16-18+conclusion.
I will be commenting and posting questions from the Study Guide for discussion as we read through chapters. If you want to comment or have questions you would like to discuss, PLEASE do so! If you think of any questions you would possibly like discussed at the meeting please let me know, I would love to have your ideas! I look forward to reading & meeting with you! Happy New Year to you and yours!
To comment on this post click on "comments" Type in your comment then where it has the drop down box click on "Name/URL" Type in your name, you do not have to have a URL. Then you can preview and post your comment.
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