Category: 31 Days of Quiet

Remember: To Think Of Again


Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love,
    for they have been from of old.
Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
    according to your steadfast love remember me,
    for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!
(Psalm 25:6-7 ESV)


On this 31st Day of Quiet, I had the pleasure of returning to “my garden,” our local botanical gardens, which I joined back in February. I have enjoyed going every so often alone or with a companion to see the seasonal garb. 

Today was an unseasonably warm, yet rainy day. I put on my walking shoes, carried the umbrella and strolled with my camera phone to my favorite haunts. The Victorian garden, the English woods, the Japanese pond and surrounding foliage. And just before I left, a stop at the small Chinese secret garden to sit in the gazebo. 

I take photos to remember. The palette of autumn colors were so rich and varied. For our last day together, I will share the colors I captured and some of the textures, too! Enjoy the quiet and remember to mark the goodness of God in your lives.

I also want to thank Pam Farrel again for giving me persmission to share generously from her book: 30Ways to Wake Up Your Quiet Time. In the last chapter, she reminds us that the Israelites built altars to recall God’s goodness and faithfulness in their lives.

And here are some ideas for us to mark our journey to pass on a legacy of faith:

Consider a yearly tradition of writing a Christmas or Thanksgiving poem.

Make a heirloom gift such as a quilt or…a piece of furniture to commemorate an event…

Plant a tree…

Create a tangible marker like a fountain or a verse etched in wet cement.

She leaves us with this question:

What can you make that  could become a remembrance of your walk with Christ?

©Pam Farrel from 30 Ways to Wake Up Your Quiet Time (IVP). For more devotional books by Pam www.Love-wise.com

 To read all the post in the 31 Days of Quiet series, click here.

Special thanks to the Nester for hosting the 31 Days of Challenge this year!
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Sabbath: A Time for Rest


Return, O my soul, to your rest;
    for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
(Psalm 116:7 ESV)

Trinity Episcopal Church, Van Cleef Lake, NY

What comes to mind when you think of the Sabbath? Do you think of God resting on the seventh day? Do you think of going to church to worship God with other believers? Do you think of resting from work? Words like Sabbath, worship, quiet time and rest, raise expectations that we and others have placed on them.


To be honest I never thought of having a quiet time on a Sunday, because I practice other ways of worshiping God on that day, such as Bible classes, praying together and corporate worship services. Some Sundays, I would like to define rest literally and stay in bed. 


I often take an extra Sabbath on Mondays, since most Sundays are full with church and family gatherings. To me Sabbath is a time to cease regular work and just be with God; no agenda driving the day.

In 30 Ways to Wake Up Your Quiet Time, Pam Farrel surprised me with actual ideas of how to have a quiet time on a Sunday, as well as ways to incorporate the sermon experience into your daily devotions:

Sunday can be a challenging day to have quiet times. Often in the rush of getting to church, we forget to meet with God! 

Try getting . . . early to church. Sit quietly in the pew and pray that God will meet you and the others who come. 

Bring a small gift of encouragement or a card telling one of the ministries at church that you appreciate them and are praying for them.

Sermons can become a springboard for personal devotions.

Use sermon notes for quiet times to review how God might want you to apply the sermon to your everyday life.

During the sermon write down questions about topics you’d like to learn more about or thoughts you’d like to consider in a deeper manner at a later quiet time.

Use the prayer list…to pray for others in your church. Or pray through the church’s calendar.

Use traditional liturgies and prayers…

Allow Jesus to pastor you each Sunday as you connect to him.

©Pam Farrel from 30 Ways to Wake Up Your Quiet Time (IVP). For more devotional books by Pam http://www.Love-wise.com


What does Sabbath mean to you?

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Sense: To Be Aware Of; Comprehend


For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand 
the things freely given us by God.
(1 Corinthians 2:11-12 ESV)


We perceive the world around us with the five senses: sight, touch, hearing, taste and smell. Carving pumpkins is one of those activities where all five senses can be engaged. The smell of the pumpkin when you slice open it’s lid. The feel of the ooey, gooey “guts” cold in your hand. The sound of giggles, as we witness each other’s creative attempt at various faces. Tasting the roasted pumpkin seeds harvested from the “guts.” And the delight of watching the candle light up each face once the sun goes down.

God gave us our senses to engage with His creation. He gave us his Spirit to help us comprehend the things freely given to us, especially the spiritual truths in the Word and in nature. A favorite book that I used to read to my kids around this time of year was The Pumpkin Patch Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs

In 30 Ways to Wake Up Your Quiet Time, Pam Farrel asks us to engage with the Bible using our five senses:

Look through the Bible and note the smells, like Jesus being called the “Rose of Sharon.”

Gather up a few treats from the Song of Solomon…listen to a recording of Hebrew music while you eat.

Watch a travel video of the Holy Land…

Hang a nail from you Christmas-tree branches as a reminder of his death on the cross. 

You might try incorporating a traditional Jewish holiday into your family traditions. Attend a Passover Seder or set up palm booths … and celebrate Purim and read the story of Esther.

Use color to rev up your quiet-time experience. Use colored pencils to mark verses so you can find them more readily. 

©Pam Farrel from 30 Ways to Wake Up Your Quiet Time (IVP). For more devotional books by Pam www.Love-wise.com



Adding color to my quiet times has taken on various forms over the past several years. First, I found the book Praying in Color that encourages you to doodle and color while you pray, giving you focus. Some may think doodling is distracting, but it actually helps me to concentrate. Then after the coloring is done, the image gets imprinted in my memory. When I see the image it reminds me to pray for the person or situation I was concentrating on at that time.

A prayer doodle using a Sharpie pen and  watercolor pencils.


As I have become more interested in mixed-media art and collage, I have been incorporating those practices into my devotional time. The joy of creating and playing with color and texture gives me a more tactile remembrance of my time with God. You could even incorporate Scriptures or a word that describes your relationship with God into your art work.


Dream


Another resource, I just found at a women’s conference, is You are Loved! A Doodle Devotion by Marsha Baker. You can get the journal and read more about her doodling philosophy at Blessinks: Drawing People to Christ


A page from the doodle devotional workbook.



I would love to hear the creative ways
 you engage your senses in your devotional times.
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Germinate: To Come Into Being


Now the parable is this: 
The seed is the word of God. 
(Luke 8:11 ESV)



I love how God’s Word is full of metaphors, symbols and object lessons. One of the most common themes of the Scriptures is the idea of germination; the ability of God to bring into being that which did not exist. After He created the earth and all its inhabitants, He breathed life into a man made of soil. He formed a woman out of this same man. And then He invited them to “be fruitful and multiply.” When they failed to believe God’s goodness, He sent them out of the garden, yet the ability to bear children and to cultivate plants remained part of their lives. 

And in the midst of the curses, God promised a seed, an off shoot who would defeat the serpent. The promise perennially appeared in the lives of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, as God expanded their understanding that the seed would come from their lineage. And the root of Jesse, one of the household of David would come to bring light and salvation to all nations. 

One little seed gave His life to multiply grace across the world, germinated by the Holy Spirit in our hearts.


In 30 Ways to Wake Up Your Quiet Time, Pam Farrel harvests spiritual object lessons from her every day life:

Quiet times are a great time for object lessons. Howard Hendricks in his book Living by the Book points out that everyday items can be used as bridges of application. When Jesus taught a parable–consider this fig tree . . . a man was sowing a seed . . . a woman lost a coin–he was using mundane objects to capture our imaginations and communicate great truths.

In the simple, God’s wisdom can be profound. Ask God to use the everyday to connect you to his heart. Every day.

©Pam Farrel from 30 Ways to Wake Up Your Quiet Time (IVP). For more devotional books by Pam http://www.Love-wise.com
What seed of truth has God been 
establishing in your heart this year?


To read more posts in the 31 Days of Quiet Series click here.

Linking up with the Soli Deo Gloria Party.
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Give: To Enter Wholeheartedly

For from his fullness 
we have all received, 
grace upon grace.
(John 1:16 ESV)



It may seem a bit early to be thinking about Christmas, but the giving and receiving season will be here before we know it. I love gifts. And I love giving them. Finding that special something that expresses my love to my family and friends brings me great joy.

I really like the idea from 3o Ways to Wake Up Your Quiet Time, where Pam Farrel invites us to consider what gift we could give to God as the season approaches and into the next year:

Each year at Christmas I like to take a quiet time and consider what gift I’d like to give God in the next year. Sometimes it’s a monetary donation to an organization that will help the Bible get integrated into people’s lives. Sometimes it’s a spiritual commitment that will help the Bible get better applied to my own heart.

Here is a list of specific ideas, Pam suggests:

Send a gift to the person who led you to Christ or discipled you.

Send a gift to the church(es) that have helped you grow.

Thank a school teacher.

Send a gift to a helping ministry like a crisis pregnancy clinic, a battered woman’s shelter, a rescue mission…

Send Bibles to places and peoples in need.

Send a kid to camp. 

©Pam Farrel from 30 Ways to Wake Up Your Quiet Time (IVP). For more devotional books by Pam http://www.Love-wise.com


What gift will you give God this Christmas?
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