Bible Reading

31 May 2011 Leave a Comment

by nataliaria in Bible, God, Prayer

A handful of months ago, it came to my attention that my prayer life is really not all that it should be. I don’t pray as much as I know I should, the depth of my prayer occasionally leaves something to be desired, and I don’t pray for nearly enough “big picture” things. I take immense joy in communicating with God through writing in a prayer journal, the keeping of which is a wonderful practice that I believe anyone would benefit from, but I am not so good at spontaneous prayer throughout the day, or praying for issues outside my relatively limited day-to-day concerns

I’m still plodding my way through the whole prayer thing; sorting out how to grow and improve in this area (which I believe is called “sanctification”) and while I’ve been thinking and praying, another area for potential growth has come to my attention.

Bible reading.

Over the course of last fall, I read a nice fraction of the Old Testament and the entire New Testament. For years now, I have read the Bible most mornings, and more often than not I fall asleep at night with my face in my little leather Bible. Let it never be said that I don’t read the Bible.

But I’m beginning to realize that four minutes in the morning and a semi-conscious five minutes at night does not a healthy Bible-reading plan make.

The Bible- the very Word of God- is a big deal. The entire book is God speaking to us; to me and to you. There is history, narrative, poetry, prophecy, song, lament, and more in the Bible. The accounts are interesting, enlightening, and encouraging. The songs (Psalms) are fitting for just about any occasion you can imagine. The book is full of salvation and hope, grace and love.

It’s an amazing book; the most amazing, actually. And I really have no reason to not be reading the Bible. It is absolutely worth my time to go deeper into the word of God, and God can use (and has used) the Bible to be a huge encouragement to me. So I’m pretty much without an excuse…

~Natalia

Life Right Now {#7}

30 May 2011 1 Comment

by nataliaria in Family, Life Right Now, Little Sisters, Summer, Swimming, Travel

We took a family daycation to Indiana today!

~Natalia

Life Right Now {#6}

28 May 2011 5 Comments

by nataliaria in Food, Life Right Now, Photos


Sometimes, dishwashing soap ≠ dishwashing soap.

~Natalia

Alice is Engaged

27 May 2011 2 Comments

by nataliaria in Art, Blogging, Friends, Wedding

Katherine asked me a couple of weeks ago if I ever imagined how my future husband would propose to me. I told her that I had never given any thought to the matter.

“Really?” She asked incredulously, “Why not?”

I stopped to think for a moment or two; then replied, “Because I want to be surprised.”

And it is true; at least right now, I don’t care where I am, what I am doing, or what I’m wearing when that special someone proposes to me. All I really care about is that I am surprised when it happens. Not sinking-feeling-in-your-stomach surprised, but, I-can’t-believe-this-is-happening-I-am-so-excited-and-I-want-to-call-my-best-friend-right-now-and-tell-her-but-I-don’t-really-need-to-because-she-helped-plan-it-all-out-anyway surprised.

Along with planning how I will be proposed to, looking at engagement photos is something that I have never found incredibly interesting. But this evening, I found myself texting Tiny for the URL of a wedding and engagement photo blog she once showed me, for the sole purpose of perusing the pictures. I clicked through engagement photos with bubbles, balloons, and a handsewn fabric fish. Engaged couples posed as Alice in Wonderland and the Mad Hatter, Allie and Noah from The Notebook, and pretended to go on a road trip. The pictures are beautiful and imaginative, the blog is fun, and I spent a bit of time flipping from photo shoot to photo shoot.

Don’t worry. I’m not planning on becoming engaged any time in the near future, but I am spending a little more time paging through engagement photos online and you may interpret that as you wish.

~Natalia

Info Packet Arrival

26 May 2011 2 Comments

by nataliaria in College, Moody Bible Institute

I received my Moody Bible Institute info packet today. I didn’t actually realize it had arrived until Stevy found the packet on the dining table, and waved it around excitedly.

The packet contains an assortment of information regarding my upcoming arrival and stay at Moody, and while the actual packet is not incredibly exciting, I became increasingly enthusiastic as I paged through the document.

With less than three months until I check in for Orientation, the excitement is definitely building.

~Natalia

Thinking About

25 May 2011 1 Comment

by nataliaria in Blogging, Friends, God, Mexico, Summer, Work

Sometimes I am so full of things to write about that by the time I get my mug of water (actually, tea this evening), set my phone to Pandora, sit cross-legged on the loveseat, and open WordPress, potential blog posts are hurtling around in my head, becoming mixed and jumbled in their haste to be written.

It is those same nights that I straighten my back, sip my tea/water, and realize that the blog post ideas have run themselves ragged in my mind and are now all flat, flimsy, and garbled. I start a post three or four different times, trying valiantly to disentangle the ideas and sentiments from one another, but a post that began with one idea suddenly becomes a mash-up of three different experiences, and I delete the whole thing with one long press on the “delete” button.

I’m thinking about Mancelona, which is in 16 days (Maddie and I counted tonight).

I’m thinking about a fellow swim coach; a friend who I’ve come to know and love over the past several years, who is working her last day as a coach tomorrow.

I’m thinking about how different this summer is from last summer; how this summer seems to be so much better, and wondering if it’s better for all the right reasons.

I’m thinking about people in Mexico. People I miss very much; probably more than I let on.

I’m thinking about how Jesus is not just God to me; He’s my friend. An amazing friend who deserves to be a bigger part of my life than He is at the moment.

I’m thinking about a lot of things, I guess.

~Natalia

Quoted: Inside Information

24 May 2011 4 Comments

by nataliaria in Family, Parental, Quoted

“I see you’ve been communicating with the CEO of the Slackline company.” Mom said to Stevy over lunch this afternoon.
“Yes,” Stevy nodded, “and I see you’ve been reading my emails.”

~Natalia

Life Right Now {#5}

23 May 2011 1 Comment

by nataliaria in Food, Friends, Life Right Now, Photos, TV


Tonight was a spur-of-the-moment dinner at this girl’s house; sitting around the table with a collection of family and friends, eating chicken quesodillas and watching the Bachelorette season premier, laughing and chatting all the while.

~Natalia

Decide Already

22 May 2011 4 Comments

by nataliaria in Church, God, Sovereign, Summer, Travel

If you’re not aware of the summer-missions-trip saga that is unfolding before my very eyes here in Chicago, you can check out this post, then return here, and the rest of what I say this evening will make more sense.

Now that you’ve read that and know what I am referring to… I am going to Alabama this summer.

July 9th through 16th will find me with about twenty other individuals from the church, working to further God’s kingdom through manual labor in Alabama.

One of the things that Katherine and I discussed while hiding sitting in the church kitchen last Sunday was the “proper” way to interact with God’s will. The youth leaders at church have been teaching through a series on God’s will, and their lessons sparked some interesting discussion.

It is great to believe that God has a plan for our lives (which He does) and that we can never do something to screw up His plan (which we cannot), but it is sometimes hard to actually put those beliefs into practice and make decisions. “As long as neither choice is disobeying God or sinning; pray about it, and then decide!” the youth leaders encouraged us.

And while I suppose I could stay in Chicago for the wrong reasons, or go to Alabama for the wrong reasons, I’m not sinning in doing either. I just needed to quit waffling and make up my mind already.

So I did. And I believe that God can use my week in Alabama to His glory.

~Natalia

Life Right Now {#4}

21 May 2011 6 Comments

by nataliaria in Dance, Family, Life Right Now, Little Sisters, Photos

The girls had their dance recital this evening. It was wonderful, and they did a fantastic job.

And they looked unbelievably cute.

~Natalia

Previous Older Entries

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 196 other followers