Archives for 2013

The #1 thing to resolve for 2014 is to cultivate your personal relationship with Christ.  The very best way to do this is to spend time every single day reading the Bible and praying.  

Are you ready to resolve this one thing? 

Often people start out the year with grandiose resolutions.  Intention is great.  Ambition is great.  But it’s the day-in, day-out that gets it done.  This is why I’m not so sure you should resolve to read your Bible in a year.

Rather, I’d like to see you resolve to read your Bible and pray for 15 minutes every single day.  Sure, more is great.  But don’t be paralyzed by procrastination and perfectionism.

Reading your Bible and praying every single day is the best habit you can form to get to know Jesus deeply, intimately, purposely.

Don’t treat your Bible like a Magic-8 Ball.  Get a plan and stick with it.  If you need a plan or have questions about this, please email me – cynthiafin@gmail.com.

And before you ring in the new year tonight, collect everything you need (Bible, pen, journal or paper) so that you are ready to kick off 2014 by reading your Bible and praying tomorrow morning.

With a busy household, ministry and work, there is ALWAYS something to do.  I’m guessing your life is a lot like mine.

Although I don’t like to just close the bedroom doors, I’ll do it.  What I have to have is straight public areas.  Not dusted, vacuumed, perfect … just straight.

This means I become the Mommy-Snatcher.  When kids leave their stuff in public areas, it goes in the Mommy-Snatcher Basket.  They can earn it back with chores.  Public areas stay basically straight and I get work from my progeny.  

I have used chore charts and will be happy to share mine with you, if you’d like to see.  Again, just email me and I’ll get ours out to you.

Simplifying day-in, day-out household management helps you focus on what really matters.

Okay, so meals, laundry, and basic straightening are my biggies.  What about you?  

Today’s the day for considering your priorities.  There is one simple question I ask when setting my priorities.  What can only I do?

So that’s the question for you today …

I’m the only one that can be a wife for my husband, mother my children, and do the specific work and ministry to which I’m called.

Sometimes that feels like a lot.  But I think that sometimes we put things on that list that really don’t belong there.  We elevate the urgent over the important.  We do stuff that other people should be doing.  Or we do stuff that just doesn’t matter.

Make a list of the things that only you can do.  Only you can have your personal relationship with Christ.  This is up to you to cultivate.

Reading your Bible is key to cultivating your personal relationship with Christ.  Often, at this time of year people are making the decision to read through the Bible in a year.  It’s a great goal.  And if this is your goal, you may want to check out this post, Should You Read Your Bible in a Year.

Do you think this question helps clarify your priorities?  Leave a comment and let me know.  

Today’s the day for reflection.

Looking back helps you to celebrate, to grieve, and to move forward.  Joyous things and so very hard things have happened in your life this year. Take time to reflect by doing two things.

Count your blessings

What joys have you experienced?  What challenges have you overcome?  What has been super-fun?  Super-wonderful?  Super-amazing?  What provision has come unexpectedly?  What new friendships have formed?  What opportunities have opened up?  Take a few moments and jot down at least 12 blessings for 2013.  And then take a few moments and thank the Lord for these blessings.  

Consider your losses

What pain have you endured?  What suffering have you faced?  Relational? Financial? What have been the really hard things that have happened in your life.  What dreams have died?  What doors have closed?  What hopes have been deferred again, and again, and again?  This may take longer, but it’s important.  It’s important to look realistically at the past to gain perspective, connect the dots, and step toward healing.  If you’d like a bit more on this, check out these three blog posts where I share about my journey.  

• How to Experience Your Own Great Exchange (Part 1)
• How to Experience Your Own Great Exchange (Part 2)
• How to Experience your Own Great Exchange (Part 3)

 What have you learned in reflection?  Would you mind sharing in the comments?  

~Go for a walk
~Read a magazine
~Talk to a friend
~Take a nap
~Light a candle

Folks, this is our family!  We were all together for Christmas Day and it was wonderful.  In addition to us and the kids we had grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends in-and-out through the day.  So much fun!

I love the week between Christmas and New Year’s.  It’s usually a quieter week without too much pressure.  And I value this time to reflect on the past year and plan for the coming one.

Want to join me?

Each day I’ll give you a super-short post with one big idea to help you prepare for the coming year.  Here are the big ideas for each day.

December 26 – Recovery
December 27- Reflection
December 28 – Priorities
December 29 – Choices
December 30 – Organization
December 31 – Cultivation

What do you think?  Are you in?  I’ll post Recovery later on today.  If you are already getting my posts by email, thank you for subscribing!  If you haven’t yet subscribed, please do.  This way you won’t miss a post.  To subscribe, just put your email address in the little box up-and-to-the right.  Thanks!

The day was gorgeous.

David was doing what he loved to do.  And he was right where he loved to be.  Out in the hill country of Judah.

Just him, the Lord, and the lambs.  Here he could think, pray, sing to the Lord.  He had no idea of the drama unfolding back at home.  First a shepherd. 

God had been speaking.  Calling the priest, Samuel, to stop grieving over the death of a dream.  Calling him leave the king, Saul, behind.

Saul had followed the way of the first man and the first woman and taken matters into his own hand.  Refusing to wait, refusing to trust God’s timing, he stepped into the role of priest.  A role that was not his to fill. The consequence was personal and terrible … just as it had been for them.  They lost their place in the garden.  Saul lost his place in the kingdom.

Consequence didn’t come immediately. But the camel’s back broke, not when Saul overstepped his role, but shrunk back from his responsibility.   It was done.  Samuel grieved.  And the Lord regretted he had ever made Saul king over Israel.

Now God has chosen a king, a man after his own heart.  A man who was first a shepherd. And it was Samuel’s job to find him.

Samuel arrived in Bethlehem.  They had heard about Samuel, what he had done to Agag.  And although they, as Israelites, had no reason to fear, still, they were uneasy.  But Samuel spoke peace and called the town to worship.

As Jesse and his sons arrived, one son was missing.  But he was the youngest, a shepherd boy.  Not a big deal for the father, the sons, or anyone else.  The young men were strong and handsome.  Samuel knew that one of these men had to be the king God had chosen.

But as the young men passed before Samuel, God was silent.

Samuel thought, prayed, and turned to Jesse.  “Are all your sons here?”

“Well there is one more, the youngest.  But he’s keeping the sheep.”

“Send for him.  We will wait.”

Out in the hill country David walked among the sheep.  He knew his sheep, and his sheep knew him.  “Beautiful day,” he thought.  “Thank you, Lord.”

Up over the rise he spied a friend from the village running toward him.  “David! Come quick.  The prophet, Samuel, is with us. And he wants to see you!”

David, hurried down to Bethlehem asking questions all the way.  His friend didn’t know much. Only that the prophet-priest Samuel had shown up and now wanted to see him.

David and his friend arrived as the men milled about.  Speculating stopped as Samuel stepped forward to meet David.  He was handsome and strong, but more than that his heart was turned to God.

Time slowed and God spoke.  “Samuel, this is the one.  This is the man after my heart.”

Samuel drew the flask of oil from the folds of his garment.  And as the oil streamed over David’s head and down his still smooth cheeks, the Spirit came upon this shepherd boy.  First a shepherd.  He would be king.

Out in the fields among the sheep, God prepared David.  He drew his heart, taught him to worship, taught him to pray, taught him to protect the sheep, and to trust God when the enemy was fierce.  David would be king, but he was first a shepherd.

A shepherd pointing to the Shepherd, the one who leads, and protects, and woos our hearts.  The one who knows us by name holds us close to his heart.

From creation to the cradle, the tracing of the promise continues.  A Shepherd is coming.

Do you know this Shepherd? Do you need what only he can offer?  Leadership? Protection?  Do you know that he loves you tenderly, holds you close, calls you by name?  His voice is tender.  Listen for it today.

Thank you for joining us for Promise.  We are tracing the promise of Christ from creation to the cradle. I’d love to hear from you — in the comments, or by email at cynthiafin@gmail.com.

What am I doing here?

The young widow, curled up fetal warming the feet of a man she barely knew, shivered slightly as she considered the implications.  The warm smell of the just-threshed grain mingled with that of her fading perfume as she thought back over the events that landed her right here, right now.

Ruth was a foreigner, an alien to these people.  She’d come to them along the avenue of tragedy. Death, poverty, hunger, violence in the land … she was at the end.  There was no where else to go.  She was desperate.  And everyone knew it.

Bitterness.  Her mother-in-law wore it like a garment.  But still, she loved her.  Through the tragedy the older woman talked about Israel, and the Lord.  Something about this held her, stirred her heart, and motivated her to stay close, to never leave, to follow wherever the woman went, and to want her God more than any other.

For hours she had watched Boaz, his friends, his family, his servants from the shadows just beyond the threshing floor.  Days before they had lay the wheat out circular, and then led the oxen over the grain trampling out the kernels.  Now was the winnowing.  She loved this part.  She smiled as she watched Boaz tossing the grain into the air. The chaff blew away and that which held value fell to the threshing floor.

And she thought, “Tonight is my winnowing. My pride has been trampled. Tonight my past will be carried away in the wind.  A new day is coming.”

As the summer breeze swirled and the celebration began, Ruth had eyes for Boaz.  She knew he was a good man, a kind man.  Even more than wealth, this warmed her heart.  He had already proven he would protect her and provide for her.  Tonight she would ask him to redeem her.

The merriment was enlivened by storytelling and drink.  Boaz loved his life.  Loved these people he had gathered around him.  And he smiled in the beauty of the evening.  But still there was a longing.  A longing stirred by the widow who had impressed him with her loyalty, her bravery, her kindness.

Boaz withdrew to the furthest pile of grain as the celebrating continued.  He needed quiet to think, to  consider his options, as he thought about the woman who had captured his heart.

Ruth watched as Boaz nodded off.  The threshing floor, the piles of winnowed grain, the servants who had been so kind to her blurred as the widow fixed her eyes upon this kinsman she was growing to love.  Would he redeem her?

As the moon crept higher in the sky, Boaz’s breathing deepened.  Ruth crept silently around the edge of the threshing floor  and slipped to where he lay.  The widow uncovered his feet.  He stirred, but then settled down as she became his blanket warming his feet with her own body.

As Boaz slept and the merrymakers found their own nests, Ruth worried. “What am I doing here?  Why did I ever think this would work?”

Ruth drifted in and out of sleep, but her senses were on high alert.  A movement in the shadows woke her.  Boaz startled and sat up.  His first thought was protecting the grain, his livelihood.  But that thought vanished when he realized he was not alone.”

“Who are you?” he whispered as he peered through the darkness.

She took a deep breath.  “I’m your handmaiden, Ruth.  Cover me. Be my kinsman-redeemer.”

The moment was pregnant with possibility.

Weeks earlier Boaz had shared with Ruth that he was impressed with her character — how she had left her parents, her homeland, to care for her mother-in-law, and join a people she had never known.  Boaz  had prayed God’s blessing over Ruth.

He had prayed spiritual covering for her.  And now she was asking him to be her physical covering, her wings of refuge, her redeemer.   What would he say?

In the curse, a promise was made.  A redeemer would come.  One who would crush the enemy’s head even while his heel was wounded. One who would come close taking on flesh, becoming our so very near kinsman.  One who would replace a legacy of death, of widowhood, with life germinating in softened hearts. One who would pay the ransom,  the bride price.  One who would do more than cover our debt, but would set us free.  A Kinsman-Redeemer would come. 

Boaz claimed his bride.  And shut the mouth of bitterness.  He brought beauty and life and legacy.  And he set his bride free from death, and poverty, and hunger.  He gave the widow more than she could ever ask or imagine. And through their union would come the ultimate Kinsman-Redeemer.  

In our desperation, our longing, we can lie buried in bitterness or we lift our eyes and welcome the Kinsman-Redeemer.  Can you see the hope of the promise kept alive through Ruth and Boaz?  In the longing of Advent, will you look beyond the presents and parties to the promise of a Kinsman-Redeemer?  

You have joined us for Promise, a 25-day journey from creation to the cradle.  Welcome!  If you like what you’re reading would you help me out by doing two things?  Would you subscribe by putting your email in the box up-and-to-the-right?  And would you share this link on Facebook or Twitter?  Thanks so much! 

A couple of years ago, Bill and I sat in the office of a dear friend who is also a counselor.  He told us something that day that forever changed the way that I look at my schedule, “Bill and Cindy, every single person on the planet has 168 hours in each week.”

Okay, so that’s obvious, right?  But I am just kind of wired to push the limits and try to get way more done in 168 hours that is good.  So, I’ve done it again.  

My hope was to write a blog post everyday from December 1 – 25.  But  there are only 168 hours in the week, and so I just haven’t been able to keep up with it.  Here’s a little of what’s going on:

Curriculum writing

I develop enrichment curriculum for a school system’s after-school program.  It’s great because I get to research, come up with content, and then find hands-on activities that reinforce what the kids have been learning. 

Several years ago I was writing the content and directing a program at one of the schools.  Our theme that semester was “Time Travel.”  So I chose 16 key moments in history for us to explore.  One of these was the signing of the Magna Carta.  At the end of each week, I gathered all the kids (K-4th grade) for review.  I asked the kids, “Who can tell me what the Magna Carta did?”  

A very astute 4th grader said, “Mrs. Finley, King John signed the Magna Carta because the other leaders in England wanted him to stop taxing the English people so much.”   

I said, “That’s exactly right.  But let’s see if we can say that in ten words or less.”
A courageous kindergartener raised his hand and said, “Mrs. Finley, the Magna Carta limited the king’s power.”   

How great is that?   

Right now I’m developing a curriculum, “Come with me to Africa.”  It is so much fun.  The kids will be learning a song that lists the 54 nations of Africa.  They’ll be locating the countries on maps, cooking, making crafts, dancing, singing, and learning about the historical and cultural distinctives of 25 of the countries.  I wish we had time to do all 54, but I only have 18 weeks.   

Anyway, I have a deadline for this to be completed.  So, it has to take priority.  

Banquet

I am helping a local nonprofit that I just love with their annual banquet.  I get to collaborate with stellar folks and play a role in designing an evening that will celebrate God’s work in our community.  Fun!

Wreaths

So, years ago, a pretty amazing friend taught me how to make magnolia wreaths for Christmas.  She had been doing this for several years as a means of adding to her family’s bottom-line.  She had more orders than she could handle that year.  And she knew that she could help our family out by teaching me how to make these wreaths.  

So, this year I took orders and made wreaths.  They are beautiful and I love doing it.  And I’m so grateful for the folks who ordered them.  They just take a bit of time. 

So how do you deal with the reality of 168?  Do you do what I do and try to squeeze more and more into a finite amount of time?  Or are you pretty good at realistically assessing what you can and can’t do?  Leave a comment and let me know!  And if you’ve got any tips that have helped you with this, please share!  

Oh, and I am excited about the next post I’m writing.  I’ve been sitting in the text all weekend and am just blown away but the beauty of redemption that shines through this story.  You can either keep checking back in.  Or, if you want my posts to be delivered right to your inbox, you can subscribe.  There’s a little box up-and-to-the-right where you just put your email address.  Have a great day!