August 15th Memory Verse

Hello All.

It is good to be home. It has been raining quite steadily since yesterday around lunch. So happy not to be camping or trying to pack up our stuff in rain. We have been enjoying our last two days of holiday relaxing inside, doing laundry, playing wii. We have been outside basically for two weeks and the weather was just amazing. Very humid but we were close to water and showers. We used both a lot! We were probably the cleanest campers around! It has been years since we camped at Falcon Lake (our destination for the second week). In fact I think it was in our first few years of marriage! Maybe the third year. I don't remember the campsites looking like they did. Either they have changed or I just have a faulty memory. Besides the beach, they have things like mini golf, tennis, lawn bowling, trans Canada bike/walk trail, a few shops, a full sized grocery store and a good bakery.
We did go mini golfing and both Alexander and I got a hole in one! Alexander got his after we finished the coarse. He was getting the hang of things and just thought he would start over again. As he was running away and we were trying to tell him that "no, actually we are to return the equipment or pay for another round. He had already, on the run, hit the ball and "ting" it hit the flag and popped in. We laughed so hard! He was pretty pleased to end the game that way! We called Megan the "rocket". We really should take her to a driving range. Her golf balls just flew! As you can tell, we haven't mini putted a lot. We were teaching advanced math concepts such as parallelism, and angels of reflection, degrees of effort relative to distance...
A few highlights for me personally were having down time with my family away from home. Having time to read, run/bike, and play games together. Another was being able to read Francine Rivers new novel, "A Mother's Hope." She is one of my favorite Christian fiction writers and she didn't disappoint. The sequel is to come out in Fall. I'm very excited about that.
Another highlight was being able to talk about "building incarnational community" with our friends Cam and Shawna Priebe. Taking time to share the risks and fears involved in following the call of God as we seek ways to share Christ with our neighbours, our friends, our families and our churches. We both moved back to Winnipeg at the same time last year and had years ago left Winnipeg around the same time! We have been friends since college and now circumstances and interests continue to bring us together. It is a good situation and our kids love being together. A gift from God.

I came on here actually not to reminisce about the holidays but to mention that I am going to spend a bit more time on the verses I picked for August 1st. I would be moving on prematurely if I picked a new set. I will write them out again.

2 Corinthians 4:8 - 9 (NIV)
We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed but not in despair;
persecuted but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed.

Love you all.
Nicole

Scripture Memory - August 1st

I am going to continue on in the passage that I started with on July 15th. I have been dealing with a lot of pride issues this year. This refining process is not easy but God is good and what He does is good! Psalm 119:68. The sermon series at church on Joseph has given new meaning to these verses - put a living example to the passage!

Here are the verses:

2 Corinthians 4:8 - 9 (NIV)

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed;
perplexed, but not in despair;
persecuted, but not abandoned;
struck down, but not destroyed.

Reflections on Psalm 119

Good Afternoon!

Megan and I are heading out to camp in a few hours. We are just at the waiting point now - although I need to make some sandwiches yet. I think I need to nap too before I go. I sound pretty wimpy but I haven't driven 41/2 hours by myself for awhile. I asked if Megan's friends could drive out with us - also campers as I thought it might help keep me awake!!!

Just was wanting to offer a spot to reflect on our journey through Psalm 119. I would love to talk through what you have taken with you from this study. I especially want to draw your attention back to pages 130 and 131 in the study guide. Take some time to reflect and share the following:

1. What is one priority area of application, one place where you can intentionally submit to His spirit to align your life more with his Word. Think in specific terms. (taken directly from page 130)

2. Does something you learned about God or His Word from Psalm 119 thrill you? A truth, perhaps, that you will begin to live more and more in light of and bring to bear increasingly in the tough situations of life? Record it as briefly as possible. The shorter it is, the more likely you will be able to remember it. (Taken from the last words on page 131.)

I'm not sure if I will have internet access or not but look forward to hearing your heart on this and encouraging one another to continue our growth - the good work that God has started in us through this study.

So thankful for this family time together,
Nicole

Scripture Memory - July 15th

Leanne and I thought it would be neat opportunity to stay in the Word together by memorizing scripture together. We'd love for you or anyone in your families to join us!

We will "meet" at the blog on the 1st and 15th of every month and share the verse(s) we are memorizing. Let's plan on sharing a bit of history around the verse personally and/or some commentary based on any research you have done on the verse(s). We have two weeks between each post. Be sure to post your verse right aways and then follow that up by responding to THIS post with updates on your learning and meditation.
Also, you may have chosen a longer portion of scripture that will cover a couple of posting periods. Feel free to repost.

When you post your memory verse record the reference, the translation and write out the verse.

Scripture Memory

Good Friday Afternoon!

We are just having an amazing day here in Winnipeg. It has been such a beautiful week too. What a great and refreshing way to start our summer holidays!

Just wanting to check in to see how the scripture memory is going? I recited the passage to Dave on Monday and had a few blips memory wise so I recited it again to Megan today and whoo - hoo!! I think it's good. It is a good passage to pray and meditate on. Thanks for the accountability in this.

If anyone wants, I choose a new verse on the first and fifteenth of each month - we could post our scriptures here on those days to remain accountable to each other? Let me know if you are interested?

Love doing this with you,
Nicole

Week Six: Ready for Every Tomorrow

I know most have you have been everywhere but home this past week and so your thoughts might feel similarly. I am wanting to divide the last weeks work into two discussions if you are game? I thought maybe this post could be more specific to the final 4 stanza's that we looked at this week and I will put up another post to help us summarize our thoughts based on the comments Pam has made on pages 130 - 132.

So for now;
1. Have you experienced the reviving power of God's Word in your life? Explain. (page 123)

2. I thought it might be neat to share when we have experienced peace in someone else's life - their godly example. How was it perceivable? What impact did it have on you? (page 127)

3. Do you ever fear messing up your life? (page 127) Having studied 175 verses of the psalmist's devotion to God and His Law, what do you make of verse 176? (page 128)

Love you all,
Nicole

Week Five: Finding Security in Unstable Times

I'm posting this a few hours before the scheduled day. Our kids our home from school tomorrow. The boys are in the tent and Lauren is in bed with me tonight. We are both pretty early to rise so I am not sure how the morning will go and didn't want to miss out on this post.

Leanne, it might be just you and I starting out the discussion this week and I know that today is a very special and busy day for you. Here are some ideas to get us going.

I'd love to hear what parts of these stanza's resonated with you this week.

Is there a discovery from "Digging Deeper" or " One Step Further" that really spoke into your life right now?

Look forward to talking this through further with you!

Love,
Nicole