Bulls eye - hopefully?

Last week my father gave his old bow to our sons to use for target practice and today my hubby took our oldest son to the archery shop to get the bow strung and get a few arrows. They came home with a second bow, some arrows and other paraphernalia. All of my boys, hubby included, spent a good amount of time shooting at a target. The challenge now lies in keeping them from hurting themselves or anyone else. Life with these boys can be a bit of a challenge for me as I grew up with no brothers and only one sister. I am learning to relax a bit. These modern day Robinhoods are great fun!

What is a Living Sacrifice?

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:1-2 NASB

Since reading In His Steps I have been asking this question of myself. What does it mean to be a living sacrifice? I am still pondering this in my own life.
Webster's New World Dictionary defines sacrifice as: 2) The act of giving up, destroying, permitting injury to, or forgoing something valued for the sake of something having a more pressing claim.
Thus, a sacrifice should cost something. That which is given of our extra wouldn't really be a sacrifice.

God says: Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:5-8 NASB

Jesus willingly gave up everything for us - now that is sacrifice. What am I willing to give up for Him?

Spokane

We went on our first camping trip of the summer this past weekend. We camped at Riverside State Park in Spokane. The weather was wonderfully warm and dry. The park is nice and has many bike trails near by. The photo on the upper left is of the Pitcher and Bowl rock formation - do you see it? The photo on the upper right is of the swinging bridge. We went bike riding and sight seeing around Spokane. We visited the Historic Campbell House and the Japanese Garden in Manito Park. It was a great mini-vacation.

In His Steps

I recently read the book, In His Steps, by Charles Sheldon and it has challenged me greatly. I have had this book on my shelf for years without reading it. It is a novel about a minister in an affluent church that challenges his congregation to commit to doing what Jesus would do in every aspect of their lives. I know that question, "What Would Jesus Do?" has been trivialize and overused in recent years - but have you ever approached life asking it? In the story several people take the challenge and the book follows each of their lives and how they are affected by choosing to do what they think Jesus would do in their work places and personal lives. The ultimate benefit for each was that they grew stronger in their faith. There are also many negative consequences, broken relationships, lost jobs, businesses ruined. This book, although a novel, has caused me to reexamine my life - do I make decisions that honor and lift the Lord. Do I really consider what he would do? What does this mean for me? I highly recommend this book! If you have already read it, you might want to reread it to get a fresh perspective.

Tootlepip

If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them

Well, I decided it was time to jump into the web and join the crowd with a blog. I am not sure how easily I will be able to keep up - but it is worth a try. I have had some things on my heart lately that I hope to share in this online journal of sorts.