Summer Reading

The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer is a book that I have known about and wanted to read for many years. Last year I found a copy at the Arc Thrift store for $1.99, so I bought it. Sadly, it sat on my bookshelf, lonely and unread until this summer. As I was preparing to go to Central Asia I wanted to take a book that would be easy to read and yet be spiritually nourishing. As I skimmed the chapters in this book I realized they are small, to the point and extremely powerful, so I took it with me.

What an encouraging book it has been for me right now!

The first sentence in the preface was so stunning and powerful that I thought, "This is going to be amazing!" Tozer proclaims:

• True religion confronts earth with heaven and brings eternity to bear upon time.

It only gets better from there!

• The low view of God entertained almost universally among Christians is the cause of a hundred lesser evils everywhere among us.
• It is impossible to keep our moral practices sound and our inward attitudes right while our idea of God is erroneous or inadequate.

Yes, Tozer, I agree. Thank you for stating it so plainly.

And that is just the Preface.

It is my goal to take one chapter at a time and give you a few of my favorite quotes. As I have read it my awe and fear of God has been renewed. He is Holy and if we are to be holy we must first know the Holy One in all of His attributes.

Go buy it. It is worth every penny.

Because I was Tagged

Dawn tagged me to do this! Here it goes!

Rules: You must answer the questions using only one word. Then tag four others.

1. Where is your cell phone? Purse
2. Your significant other? Jesus :-P
3. Your hair? Curly
4. Your mother? Friend
5. Your father? Huggable
6. Your favorite thing? Bible
7. Your dream last night? None
8. Your favorite drink? Water
9. Your dream/goal? Travel
10. The room you’re in? Office
11. Your hobby? Reading
12. Your fear? Meaninglessness
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Home
14. What you’re not? Perfect
15. Muffins? Bran
16. One of your wish list items? Laptop
17. Where you grew up? Colorado
18. The last thing you did? Eat
19. What are you wearing? Skirt
20. Favorite gadget? Camera
21. Your pets? Never
22. Your computer? None
23. Your mood? Expectant
24. Missing someone? Dawn
25. Your car? Isuzu
26. Something you’re not wearing? Hat
27. Favorite store? Cheap
28. Like someone? Yes
29. Your favorite color? Purple
30. When is the last time you laughed? Yesterday
31. Last time you cried? Today

I tag: Darrah, Cheryl, Ann Marie and Dale

Alive

Yes, it is true. I am alive and well.

At about 2PM today I hit a wall of tiredness from jet lag and I am ready for bed. It is, after all, 3AM in the place where I have just spent 2 weeks. ::YAWN::

There is so much to say about life, missions, ministry, dreams, convictions, happenings and fears. I am sorry that I have become so lazy in posting. I really do miss writing and communicating my thoughts to whoever reads my blog. Maybe if I wrote more often people would read what I have to say.

God has been teaching me a lot about what it means to walk in confidence. People have always said I was a confident person- from the time I was a little girl. Those that know me well love and appreciate my confidence in who God is, what I believe and who God has made me. Those that do not know me well call it arrogance and pride. There is a temptation inside me to buckle under their criticism and question my God-given confidence. The enemy wants me to believe that my confidence is pride.

And I know that there is a fine line between confidence and pride, so please do not go, "see she is arrogant!" As I have learned about confidence I have also come to understand true humility. People have told me that I need to be more humble and others have said that I am the most humble person they know. Both of those statements are from God and are given to produce humility.

God has also been teaching me much about leadership. As I led the trip overseas I was faced with many times where my ability to make decisions was stretched. It was soooo good! Leaders have to make unpopular decisions. Leaders are able to encourage people when they are frustrated. Leaders have to trust that God knows what He is doing. Leaders have to remain steadfast when the people are complaining.

Leadership, confidence and humility are inseperable. All three are gifts from God. All three feed well off of the others. You cannot be a good leader if you are not confident. You cannot be confident without humility. You cannot be a good leader without humility. Leadership produces humility because you leave yourself wide open for criticism.

Ahh, there is so much more. I praise God for what He is teaching me. Hopefully I will find more time to write in the weeks to come now that so much is behind me. :-)