by Kimberly | Oct 17, 2017 | 31days, Bible, lavish hospitality
How do you get to know someone? Thankfully in today’s technology-driven world, I think that is easier and harder. Let me explain.
You can get to know people on social media. This is how I love to keep track of new friends and old friends who live in different areas of the country/world.
You can get to know people by running into them at small groups or in church services. Or playing basketball, shopping, being in a creative group together or a book club.
But, I genuinely think that the only way to truly get to know someone is to sit down with them. Talk with them face to face. You may not want to genuinely know everyone – but for those close friends, don’t you want to genuinely know them and sit down with them face to face as often as you can.
With my husband: I can get to know him through texts, through what he posts on facebook, but most I get to know him when we are talking to each other without distractions. Or if we are sitting side-by-side traveling alone together.
WIth my best friends – I want to get to know them while sitting on their porches, sipping coffee together, or grabbing a quick breakfast together (without our kids).
With new people: it is hard to get to know new people at 40. It is. But, I have found it best to just sit down with them, have food or beverage present, and talk. Share. Be open.
That is what God’s Word does for us. Though we don’t have a face-to-face with God, the Word reveals God’s heart to us. He has been hospitable in creating the Word. He was hospitable when He sent Jesus. And He was (and still is) hospitable to us when He God-breathed the Word to be carried down to generations for us, believers today in 2017.
Quote from Noel Piper Treasuring God in Our Traditions
by Kimberly | Oct 17, 2017 | Bible, Books
If you are anything like me, sometimes you get in a rut with your time in the Word. Maybe not, but I know I do. If I always study the Word in the same way, I get stale (not the Word).
So, I thought I would highlight some new(er) Bible study helps. Maybe these will be new to you, maybe you will have tried them and love them.
KJV Know the Word Study Bible. This is a new Bible from Thomas Nelson. I grew u with KJV at my Christian school. The verses that I have memorized over the years are a hybrid of KJV, ESV, NIV, NASB. One thing I love about technology these days is to read the Bible in so many different translations – and the KJV is a good one. This new Bible has topical study notes on subjects: the Trinity, Love, Covenant, Purpose, Church, etc. These are helpful if you are doing a topical study in your Bible study. There are helpful footnotes on the bottom margin so you can access it easily as you are reading. This Bible has book introductions which are helpful if you are doing a read through the Bible, you are getting a brief synopsis and knowledge about the book before you read it. So, if you want a very neutral (not personality-driven study Bible) this new one is a good, basic one.
The Daily Grace Co. Kristin produces Bible studies that I think are ideal for the beginner.
She Reads Truth – this is an easy app that you can have on your phone right when you wake up, get in the Word right away, or you can purchase their Bible studies. Solid material.
What are some Bible study tools that you use?
Thanks Litfuse and Thomas Nelson for the KJV Bible. All thoughts are my own.
by Kimberly | Oct 17, 2017 | 31days, food, lavish hospitality, Uncategorized
We are halfway there. Thanks so much for reading. Can’t wait to finish out the month with yall.
Since becoming a mom, I think I’ve cooked less and less. I prefer simple meals or take out or Publix rotisserie chickens. I’m tried throughout the day. When my husband is home I want to do other things other than just stand in the kitchen and crank out a week’s worth of food.
I know cooking is healthier and easier on the budget for the family – but goodness, tough to get in the kitchen and do. Especially when half of my people around the table may not even eat it.
But, part of my responsibility (in our family) is to cook and make sure we have food to eat. My mister will cook but he is usually at work until dinner time, but he always gets up with the boys and gets them breakfast. I’m extremely blessed – also, with a nearby Publix or Trader Joes.
So, how do I welcome my misters with food? I thought I would be a wife and a mom who always had a homecooked meal on the table. Usually I was that kind of wife, but I’m not that type of mom. I mean, we eat every night. But only a few days a week is it a fresh homecooked meal.
Here are my tips:
Little Caesars Pizza.
Publix: bagged salad mixes, chicken tenders or rotisserie from the deli.
Dollar menu items.
Bagged veggies with sweet potatoes
Instant Pot
Crock Pot
A local food delivery or pick up service (we found a local place that has freezer meals on hand you can pick up. And a friend of mine does this as well).
Cereal.
Eggs, fruit, grits
Trader Joes freezer section.
Hope these items help you offer hospitality to your family by getting food on the table. What are your quick go-to food helps?
Quote from Karen Ehman A Life That Says Welcome
by Kimberly | Oct 15, 2017 | 31days, lavish hospitality, mothering
One of the deals with motherhood is that you tend to get interrupted. Whether you need to change a diaper in the middle of a church service, breast feed in the middle of the night, calm an anxious heart in the wee hours of the morning, get out of bed before your alarm clock goes off because a preschooler wants some juice. It might be to miss out on something you want to attend because you have a teenager who needs to get somewhere.
Interruptions come. That’s just a fact of life. The life of a mother, that is.
And I’ve learned that it usually doesn’t make me smile when I get interrupted. I like to do what I’m doing and that’s that. Whether its making dinner, working on a blog, or running errands, I want to do them how I want to do them.
I need God our gracious Father to show up in my heart and mouth and face when my little boys interrupt me. I need to be ready to color with them, read with them, talk with them about the same topic I’ve already talked about for 4 hours that day, sing one of their songs for the 30th time, and watch the same kids movie with them that they know by heart.
Thanks to Sandra for writing this blog post where I pulled this quote.
by Kimberly | Oct 14, 2017 | Uncategorized
I don’t think I really knew much of pain until after midway through college.
And then it has been full force since then.
The agonizing words of a friend over my appearance and the fact that I was never going to get married.
The words of a man that questioned so much of my future.
The pain of hearing lies.
The loss of a relationship.
The bitterness of my own sin. Time and time again.
Sting of another betrayal.
Being met with judgment and not grace.
Loss of so many friendships – all at once.
And then to have to start to build relationships again. And again.
At 40 it is tough to build relationships with new people. Mommy friends. Couple friends. You know, every one has their own set of friends with not much room for new people. And remembering the hurt of past relationships doesn’t make you too eager to put yourself out there again.
But, that’s what Lavish Hospitality does. Jesus was hurt more than we could ever imagine. I can’t fathom that. And I’ve not been hurt near as much as some. But, Christ took that pain – all of it – and died for it – then defeated death so we wouldn’t have to agonize over the pain any more.
We could feel again. We could love again. We could have broken relationships restored. Because of Christ’s lavish hospitality on us.
Quote taken from Ashleigh Slater’s Braving Sorrow Together.
