Fresh beginnings in a New Year...

New goals,

New hopes,

New ideas,

New plans,

a renewed attitude...

In His strength, I will overcome,

In His grace, I will trust,

In His peace, I will desire,

In His silence, I will obey.

In His love, I will serve,

In His presence, I will praise

...humbly seeking His will, not mine...

Trust in the Lord with all your heart

and do not lean on your own understanding.
~Bring my decisions to God in prayer,
use my Bible as a guide,
& follow God's leading~

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

and He will make your paths straight.
~to receive God's guidance, I must submit to His will~

Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord and and turn away from evil.

It will be healing to your body,
and refreshment to your bones.
~to be in awe, to fall at His feet w/ humble respect

Honor the Lord from your wealth,
and from the first of all your produce;
so your barns will be filled with plenty,
and your vats will overflow with new wine.
~to give to God first will conquer greed,
help to manage God's resources,
& opens us up to receive God's special blessings.~

Proverbs 3; 5-10

PLANTS GROWN UP...

Yay! On our 4th attempt...

and Daddy's green thumb....

and letting Bryson be included in the dirt mixing...
I am relieved to say our GARDEN is finally on it's way....

~PLANTS GROWN UP....

~the title to our new Bible study.

To teach boys to be young men;
and to prepare young men to be a Godly man.

Then our sons in their youth will be like well-nurtured plants
Psalm 144:12

Our garden of life contains 6 amazing plants!

Each one came in it's own season, and brings forth a variety of spice to our lives.

As we continue to be faithful in~

cultivating character,
nurturing enthusiasm & initiative,
to prune trangressions,
transplant knowledge,
& support independence....

we are eager to enjoy the harvest....

of passing God's love onto the next generation

(and of course, enjoy grandkids someday ;^)

*as for our one & only girl whom adds the beauty to our garden;
she is far more precious than jewels.

PROVERBS 31

I have been challenged, er, encouraged, to study this chapter in the Bible. As I read through the entire chapter it seems so overwhelming. An example of the "perfect woman" clearly exposes flaws in me, some that I will cringe to admit. Luckily, Kathi is inviting us to face this one verse at a time....

A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
Proverbs 31:10

This whole chapter is about noble character. What exactly is being noble?

A thesaurus says: worthy, virtuous, honorable.

A dictionary says: high moral qualities.

For me: INTEGRITY comes to mind.
That is... to do what is right even when no one is looking.

I have ideas of what that needs to look like in my own home, and I will be sharing my thoughts on a weekly basis.

You are welcome to follow along my 'reality' journey.

If you would like to participate in this self-study,
please take the time to visit over at Kathi's blog.
She is quite lovely. =)