Classic Words by Kate Aspen

The other day my mom was taking care of my 23 month old niece. They were outside and my mom was working in the yard.

She turned to Kate and said: "Kate, do you want to help Grandma?"

Kate said: "No thanks. I watch."

For being so little she sure knows how to supervise!!

Light House

I just thought my blog needed a little sprucing up and figured a lighthouse might help!

Discipline Part 2: Self-Control

It's been a while since I've given my blog any TLC and I've had a few of you wonder when I was going to post again. To be honest, I usually like to be "inspired" before I post anything, inspired to share some sort of collected and organized thought. But I haven't felt particularly inspired of late, especially since I wanted to continue to address the topic of discipline. To me, that topic hits a little too close to home and may be a little too convicting for my liking, so I think I've been in a holding pattern of avoidance! But, this little desire to avoid the topic doesn't make it any less applicable to my life and so I need to press on and continue to gain an understanding of what it means to be disciplined and how I practically make changes to gain a more disciplined life.

There are various ways that I can be more disciplined outwardly in my daily life. Currently, I am working to improve my approach when it comes to making my meals at home rather than eating out so often, which not only affects my budget but also my cholesterol!! (I know, I should really be too young to be talking about cholesterol!) I'm putting together weekly meal plans rated "easy", "moderate", and "special occasions" so I can streamline my grocery shopping/list making and choose the meal plan that best suits my schedule for that week and provides a little bit of variety! This is just a small way I want to become more disciplined and organized.

But, in what way can I become more disciplined in my spiritual life? What "little" adjustments can I make that will help develop my character? Are there specific goals I should be striving to achieve in my quest for discipline? My last blog gave several definitions of discipline so I thought I'd look at them one by one and develop the idea of discipline in bite size portions.

Being disciplined is to have "controlled behavior

resulting from disciplinary training; self-control."

This particular definition caught my attention tonight because of it's reference to "controlled behavior" and "self-control". It reminded me of a passage I read recently in a book regarding gentleness as mentioned in I Peter 3: 3-6. "...it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight."

"Gentleness, or meekness as many translations have it, isn't weakness or spinelessness or timidity or even niceness. This word in classical Greek was used to describe tame animals, soothing medicine, a mild word, and a mild breeze. It is a word with a caress in it.

Gentleness also implies self-control. Aristotle said that gentleness is the mean between excessive anger and excessive angerlessness. So the person who is gentle is able to balance his anger. He controls it.

Meekness/gentleness is strength under control. The gentle woman is strong! She is in control of her fears. She is as strong as steel."

Biblical Womanhood in the Home

--Edited by Nancy Leigh DeMoss--

The disciplined woman is going to exhibit a meek and gentle spirit. She will be characterized by self-control. To have self-control is to have "control of one's emotions, desires, or actions by one's own will".

But, how does a person cultivate a life characterized by self-control? Our tendency is to pursue our own desires, to seek after our own will, and particularly as women, we often battle to control our emotions. How do we get a handle on self-control?

• To have self-control involves an aspect of selflessness. Wouldn't you agree that to be disciplined is to lay aside selfish tendencies? Think of an athlete...they lay aside the desire for the immediate gratifications of life in order to train and discipline their bodies so that they might achieve a specific goal.

• Above all, in order to have a life characterized by self-control, we must immerse ourselves in the Word of God. "As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue...But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. " (II Peter 1: 3, 5-8)

It is only through time spent with our Savior that we will begin to gain an ability to truly bring our emotions, our actions, our thoughts under the discipline of our will. It is only through time in the Word that we can bring our will under subjection to the will of our heavenly Father. When our own will aligns with His will, that is when we can begin to gain a life characterized by self-control and therefore, discipline!

What does it mean to be disciplined?

I've been thinking about discipline a lot recently. Life gets so busy with chapel activities, work, family and friends...all very important things that all take a lot of time and committment! I've been reassessing and evaluating my schedule from all sorts of angles. There are so many things I want to be a part of ...can I just squeeze them ALL in? Or do I choose? How do I choose which ones take priority and which ones should be laid aside? So I began to wonder, do I just need more discipline in my life to accomplish all these "good" things? Maybe I need to be better disciplined with my time? Or, maybe some things are "good" but I must choose the "better"! Is that part of discipline--to be able to weed out the good to find the better treasure? What does it take to truly be disciplined?

Being disciplined is...

• Being disciplined is a result of training, "training expected to produce a specific character or pattern of behavior, especially training that produces moral or mental improvement. "**
• Being disciplined is to have "controlled behavior resulting from disciplinary training; self-control."**
• Being disciplined is to have "control obtained by enforcing compliance or order."**
• Being disciplined is having "a systematic method to obtain obedience: a military discipline. "**
• Being disciplined is to have "a state of order based on submission to rules and authority: a teacher who demanded discipline in the classroom. "**
• Being disciplined is "to impose order on: needed to discipline their study habits. "**
  

**Definitions from Dictionary.com

I think the thought that most impresses me as I look at the definition of discipline is that it has to do with order. It means that we are taking a systematic approach to whatever goal we are wanting to achieve, whether it is to run a marathon or to improve a character trait or to manage a better schedule. It means that we have a plan on how we are going to achieve our goal and that we are going to abide by that plan. Discipline does not reflect an easy path. Discipline involves enforcing, controlling, imposing, submitting. To become disciplined requires hard work but I think we would all agree that the end results from discipline are well worth it when we achieve our goal. And, our highest goal is that "we might be found to praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." (I Peter 1:7b) We can not accomplish such a goal without learning in the process what it means to be disciplined.

Kate Date

Kate and I had a date on Sunday afternoon...just the two of us! It was so much fun! First, we played at home with her dollhouse. When you ring the doorbell she says "Come in!" When you open the door she says "Hillo" Then, we made sure to have the mommy doll sit at the table to eat her french fries...always an important part of the day!

We also went to the mall and ate a cookie and "talked". I'm still not sure what all of our conversation was about but she sure got a lot of chuckles out of it! We also rode the carousel...auntie Kelly was a little squeamish after that ride so we chose to play on the slide for a little bit! Boy, was that fun! We had to learn that you can't try to climb UP the slide when other kids are coming down, but thankfully that was not a long lesson!

Then, we went shopping for Baby Zach! Kate helped me pick out a cute outfit...she is a GREAT shopper!! After all that fun we headed to Wendy's for some fries and chicken nuggets!! What fun! We even got a little train engine in our meal! Boy was that exciting! Then, it was back home to Mommy and Daddy and baby who missed her very much! When we got home, she promptly sat down to more dinner...yogurt and steak! You would have thought I forgot to feed the child while we were out!!

All in all, we had a great time and it was some special time with Kate. I've been thinking about the roles I play in the lives of the children around me...especially, in the little lives of Kate and Zach. I pray that they will each become a woman and man of God and that they will honor Him in their lives and that I might influence them for the things that are good and upright in the eyes of God.

I've been thinking about King Jehosaphat lately and how he was a king who walked in the ways of God. But, he also aligned himself in battle on numerous occassions with King Ahab, who most certainly did not honor the Lord and did evil all the days of his life. Jehosaphat's son, Jehoram, had the example of a father who honored the Lord but also saw his father siding with Ahab. Jehoram ended up marrying Ahab's daughter and walked in the ways of Ahab, doing evil.
How did Jehosaphat's actions affect the decisions that his son made? If Jehosaphat had not aligned himself with Ahab, would his son have turned out differently? Would he have married a woman who honored the Lord and encouraged him to honor the Lord in his reign?

What about my actions? Am I walking in such a manner that I can be confident that if someone were to follow in my footsteps that they would also be walking in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus? Someone is always watching what we do...do my actions and responses reflect the Savior? Or do they reflect my own selfishness and desperately wicked heart? What sort of example am I leaving for others to follow?

"Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. "

Philippians 3:12-14

Our Highest Priority

Have you ever noticed that when you purpose in your heart to do things for the Lord, such as being consistent in devoting daily time to the Lord, that all these obstacles fly up, trying to prevent you from achieving what the Lord so clearly desires for you? I've been determined to not let these obstacles keep me from my time with the Lord. Nancy Rollinger once talked about how she had such great anticipation each day to spend time with her Savior and how she treasures those moments above all else. She conveyed such love, joy and longing for that time. I pray that we will also have such a deep longing for the things of God that our hearts might be renewed and changed and that our time with our Savior might be protected, as a great treasure.

On Rachel's recommendation, I've been reading "A Place of Quiet Rest" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. This book is focusing on finding intimacy with the Lord through our devotional times, reminding me not to look at these times as a requirement from the Lord to appear "more spiritual" or another task to check off my To-Do List for the day but as a time to sit at the feet of the Lord, to really get to know Him and to be changed because of it.

"I must make a conscious, deliberate, daily choice to sit at His feet, to listen to His Word, to receive His love, to let Him change me, and to pour out my heart's devotion to Him.

When I get into His presence, the whole world looks different. When I draw close to His heart, I find mercy where I know I deserve judgment; I find forgiveness for all my petty, selfish ways; I find grace for all my inadequacies; I find peace for my troubled heart; I find perspective for my distorted views. In Him, I find an eye in the midst of the storm. Oh, the storm around me may not immediately subside; but the storm within me is made calm.

And so the Father-Lover heart of God continues to call us into a relationship with Himself. He is seeking lovers. He is always thinking about us, always desiring our company and our fellowship; He longs to hear our voice and see our face.

Not until we make pursuing Him our highest priority and goal in life will we begin to fulfill the purpose for which He created us."

--Nancy Leigh DeMoss--
A Place of Quiet Rest

How old are you??

I had the following conversation with my 3rd grade Sunday School student:

Student: Kelly, how old are you?
Me: How old do you think I am?
Student: 30.
Me: You're close. Why did you guess 30?
Student: Well, you're too old to be a "young adult" and you're not old enough to be "middle aged."