Ministry at Home

The challenge of ministry in our home

is that we do not always feel very “spiritual”
when we wash our dishes.

It hardly feels significant to scrub our toilet. 

We can feel that we are truly ministering when the Lord

uses us to communicate a word of wisdom to someone,

or He provides an opportunity
to share the gospel with our neighbor. 

That seems like real ministry.

And that is real ministry to be sure! 

But no more so than when we are wiping runny noses
or cleaning the bathroom.

That is because we have a very narrow view of true spirituality...

The Lord wants to help us see the significance of ministry at home.

~Carolyn Mahaney, wife of C.J. Mahaney

One Thousand Gifts Winner!

I'm sorry I'm a little late posting the winner, but I was sick and then dealing with sick family members. The winner of a copy of One Thousand Gifts is Lisa!! Congratulations, Lisa! I will be mailing out the book today. You should receive it before the beginning of the year since it usually only takes 1-2 days to go to your area.

I truly wish I had a book to give to everyone who entered. If you didn't win, I highly suggest still getting a copy and reading it!

To see what the giveaway was, click here.

Still Learning to be Thankful

107. Reading out loud to the girls
108. Ovens
. . . . . .
114. Snow
. . . . . .
119. A working vacuum
120. Essential oils
. . . . . .
124. Brownie crumbs
. . . . . .
131. Restored relationships
. . . . . .
136. Visits with friends
. . . . . .
142. Puke buckets
143. Norwex cloths
. . . . . .
149. Used flannel sheets
150. Sewing machine

I'm still learning to be thankful in all circumstances and will continue recording my "gifts" at least until I reach 1000. I may decide to continue even after that because I am sure it will be a life changing experience.

Don't forget about my giveaway of Ann Voskamp's One Thousands Gifts. You can enter to win up to four times--just don't forget to leave a comment telling me each thing you accomplished.

Learning to Be Thankful and Giveaway!

When One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp came out, I was told by numerous people that it was a good book. I wanted to read it, but didn't have the money to purchase my own copy. After a few months, I discovered I had a friend who had the book and would let me borrow it. I devoured the book. I want to learn to be more thankful in my life and I want to learn to have joy (which only comes from being thankful). I knew that I would need to read the book more than one time so I kept my eye out for my own copy. I have now gotten a copy for myself so I can read it again and I am working on coming up with my own thousands gifts. Here are a few of what I have already written down.

2. Quite time with God in the morning
. . . . .
6. Laundry to wash
. . . . .
17. Fruitful womb
. . . . .
33. Prayers of others
34. Praying for others
. . . . . .
48. Hair to braid (my girls')
. . . . .
64. Dirty dishes (because it means we had food to eat)
. . . . .
75. Bills to pay (because we can pay them and we are fortunate enough to be able to have things like electricity, phone, etc.)
76. Indoor plumbing
. . . . .
89. Cloth diapers
. . . . .
97. Hand-smudged windows
. . . .
101. Spontaneous songs of praise by my girls
. . . .
104. Muscle testing

I will share more as days go by. I still have a long way to go, but I have to say that it is getting easier and easier day by day to find the joy in life just by simply giving thanks. Many people might call that a "Pollyanna" view of life, but it is God's view of life.

I was also able to secure a copy of the book at a great price just this past week and I want to pass it on to one of you! The giveaway will be open until Christmas day. I will draw a winner the day after and get it mailed out so that hopefully whoever wins it will have it for the new year. Wouldn't giving thanks and finding joy be a great New Year Resolution?!

For your chance to win a copy of One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp, simply leave a comment telling me one thing you are thankful for and an email address where I can contact you (please feel free to leave a broken address if you wish--example: memoriesmama @ netonecom . net or memoriesmamaATnetonecomDOTnet)

For extra entries:

• Follow Gracious Daughter of the King
• Share this giveaway on your blog (make sure to include a link back to this page)
• Share this giveaway on Facebook (again, make sure to include a link back to this page)

For any of the extra entries, please leave a separate comment on this post.

Good luck and be thankful!

Gifts From God--A look at chapter 4 of Be Fruitful and Multiply

"Scriptures reveal that children are God's gifts to us." I love how this chapter starts! She goes on to list some of the scripture that reveals that truth to us.

How should we receive  a gift? My thoughts are that we should receive it thankfully and graciously. Campbell goes on to explain that the Greek word for receive means "to accept a gift deliberately and readily; to receive heartily; reaching out eagerly to receive something; looking for; waiting with earnest expectation." Do you "receive" your children (and possible children) like that?

Scripture also teaches us that conception is a visitation from God. Many times when the scriptures is telling us about when someone had a baby, they had been visited by God (Genesis 21:1 and 1 Samuel 2:20-21 are two great examples).

Campbell points out the reasons why God gives us children. According to Genesis 1:28, it is to procreate the earth. Jeremiah 30:19b tells us it is to honor us through glorifying God. God wants to do something good for us through the gift of children according to a number of different scriptures. Children give us joy and delight--"Happy is the man who has his quiver full of children" (Psalm 127:5). Another reason we are gifted with children is for service to God. The more children Christians have, the more warriors for God! Children are also a gift to the nations. Just think about the differences children make to our country.  Psalm 127 also tells us that children will defend and protect us against the enemy (Satan). Children help us; many hands make light work. While I know that for most people it isn't the case, but children are supposed to take care of their parents when we are older. A number of scriptures point this out; unfortunately, not many people (Christians included), follow this command. And the ultimate reason why God gifts children to us is for Himself! When we raise our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, He receives all the glory!