“Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice! Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually! Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgments he uttered, O offspring of Israel his servant, children of Jacob, his chosen ones!” (1Chronicles 16:9-13 ESV)
Happy new year dear friends! As I start this year, there are a couple of things God seems to be teaching me, things I want to work on with His help this coming year:
1. As the steward of my soul, I am responsible for taking care of myself. At times, I have been passive about the care of my body, soul, and mind, maybe afraid to be selfish. But I’m learning in the book Boundaries by Doctors Henry Cloud and John Townsend** that “appropriate boundaries actually increase our ability to care about others. People with highly developed limits are the most caring people on earth.”
While it’s God’s plan for me to be in community and depend on and support others, only I know how my life feels and how it affects my heart (see Proverbs 14:10), so I am the one ultimately responsible for its care–as I abide in Christ. I want to better care for my life so that I can be used by God in the lives of my people around me.
2. I must be face my weaknesses. I read in my devotional (New Morning Mercies by Paul Tripp**) yesterday morning that when we fail to face our weaknesses, we are basically saying, “I don’t want to be who I am or face who I am.” I certainly don’t like facing my weaknesses. I want to be able to do it all, and do it well, and for everyone to be happy with me, but this is not the life God has called me to or given me strength for!
Tripp writes that “the great danger is your delusion of strength, because if you think you’re strong, then you don’t seek the help that you desperately need from the One who is the ultimate source of strength of every kind.”
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV)
These are the lessons I’m learning right now. One outcome is that we have enrolled our girls in the local public school and taken a break from homeschool. It breaks my heart a little to give it up, but the girls came home happy and excited from their first day yesterday, and God has given them the sweetest teachers. This is one way I am trying to establish healthy boundaries and accept my weaknesses this year.
I am dreaming of things to create and share with you this coming year. I hope you’ll follow along! For now, I’m sharing this hand-lettered phone screensaver of 1 Chronicles 16:11. What better way to enter a new year than to be determined to “Seek the Lord and his strength [and] His presence continually“?
To download, click on the image below and save to your device!
Books in this post (clickable links):**
*I’m so happy for you to enjoy my coloring pages and printables for your personal (not commercial) use! Use for Bible studies, church groups or events, and Sunday school classes are all fine! If you’re in doubt, I’m happy to answer any questions. All artwork and photos are copyright Marydean Draws. If you share this, you’re awesome (!), and as a courtesy, please link back to this post and not the PDF file. Thank you!!
** “We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.” Bascially, if you purchase something using these links, I get a small portion of the sale. It’s a small way you can support the blog if you’d like. Thanks!
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Thank you! Looking forward to following along with you.
Yay, thank you!
Good for you, dear friend. I'm inspired by your strength in weakness, your listening attentively amidst the noise of life, and your tending your fence so you have a place to healthily invite others in.
Thank you Aaron!!