Ingenue Mom

(Need to catch up? I wrote about Chapter 1 here .) Chapter 2: Magnificent Monotony Quotes in italics are Brennan Manning's words from the book This chapter is all about how big God's love is. It begins with a discussion of the perfection and majesty required to create a universe like ours. Looking at the world around us, it is easy to acknowledge that majesty, but Brennan Manning argues that we have a difficulty attributing that same majestic quality to the depth of God's love. We find all sorts of ways and reasons to make His love smaller. This is another thing Brennan (I refer to him by his first name now because I feel like we're friends) talked about in the video I posted with Chapter 1 - the way we allow God's love to become as small and judgmental as we can be. The God of the legalistic Christian...is often unpredictable, erratic, and capable of all manner of prejudices. When we view God this way, we feel compelled to engage in some sort of ma...

Continuing with the scripture memory that I talked about previously, I have been really loving how much it impacts me on a daily basis. Just memorizing a scripture causes me to be thinking about it regularly throughout the day because I repeat it to myself so that I can memorize it. 2 Corinthians 12:9, being about God's grace in my weaknesses, has been particularly helpful because I feel like I am constantly reminded of my weaknesses. Repeating the verse to myself helps me remember His promises. So I thought maybe I could utilize this strategy with Isis. We've been having trouble lately with her having outbursts of frustration or anger. She's 3 1/2 and she is fiercely independent, which I really believe is a wonderful thing. I am excited to see how this grows in her personality. I think she will be a very confident teenager and adult - at least that is my prayer if we can help her to develop healthy boundaries.  Lately, we've been really trying to focus with...

I've been memorizing 2 Corinthians 12:9 after reading Chapter 1 of Ragamuffin Gospel . I mentioned before that I haven't memorized scripture like that since high school. I just haven't made it a part of my daily practice. Well, just in the last couple of days, it's made a huge difference!  First I looked at some strategies for memorization & here are the ones that really stuck out to me: 1 - Memorize the Reference This way you can go back & look it up if you forget. 2 Corinthians 12:9 2 - Memorize the Theme or Main Idea This way you know generally what that verse was referring to. 2 Corinthians 12:9 is about God's grace and His power even through my own weaknesses and imperfections. 3 - Focus on the Key Words Again, just a strategy to remember the overall important points and to help you kinda put it together like a puzzle. 2 Corinthians 12:9 important words: grace, sufficient, power, perfect, weakness, boast, gladly 4 - Put ...

First of all, watch this video because it is the reason I wanted to read this book...     I am one of those people who tends to put this list before God of all the reasons why He shouldn't really love me the way His word says He does. I have this running tally of reasons why I'm not good enough, why I'm unlovable. Just reading the back of Ragamuffin Gospel was like, "Oh wow! Someone else like me!" It talks about grace and love, even if we are ragamuffins - dirty, bedraggled and beat up. He still smiles at us, still sees us as the object of His "furious love." I need to read more about this.   Chapter 1: Something is Radically Wrong (quotes from Ragamuffin are in italics) The American Church today accepts grace in theory, but denies it in practice....The emphasis is on what I do rather than on what God is doing.    Right off the bat, he has struck a chord with me in terms of the issues I've always had with the American...

It's been a rough year for some people around me. I've been thinking a lot about it lately and often find that writing helps me sort through it. I'm not even sure yet if I will post this publicly.    A good friend of mine lost her dad this year extremely unexpectedly. Another good friend of my family was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Neither of them were prepared for the fight they've been experiencing the last several months. I don't think we're ever ready to fight like that. But they're fighting. I've been having such a problem with guilt ever since finding out about both of them. How do you do enough for someone you love in those situations? How do you do anything? I feel like I tend to feel so overwhelmed and helpless and I have a tendency to retreat. My friend with pancreatic cancer doesn't live in Lexington, so just finding a way to visit her has been my struggle. I have such guilt for not being there. And then not being there, I...