Ephesians 4:7-10

But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift.  Therefore He says:  "When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men."  (Now this, "He ascended" - what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?  He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)

Ephesians 4:4-6

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Ephesians 4:1-3

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

weekly questions

I struggled to come up with some questions this week, but here we go!

1.  I had a dream a couple of weeks ago that challenged me to think about what I would do so now I am going to challenge you!  Here's my dream:  the law firm where I used to work at before staying home to care for our kids gave me $10,000 to donate it to any local organization(s) or give it away however I saw fit.  What would you do with the money?

2.  If you could re-live one day in your life, what day would that be? 

3.  If you could eat all of your favorite foods in one day, what would you eat?  (List for breakfast, lunch, supper, and, since a snack is essential in our home, one for snack time too) 

Happy Sunday to you all!

Week 6: {Reflection}

Is it really Saturday already???  Well, then, it's time to reflect over the week.  How did you all do with your walks with the Lord? 

Here are the 3 points to reflect on over the next couple of days:

1.  One important lesson I want to remember from this week's reading would be: __________

2.  I feel God wants me to learn: __________

3.  I am going to put my faith into action by: ___________

Have a blessed weekend, ladies, enjoying the snow outside or from the window looking out!  :)

Ephesians 3:20-21

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.  Amen.

Ephesians 3:19

...to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:18

...may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height-...

Ephesians 3:16-17

...that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,...

Ephesians 3:14-15

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,...

vacation questions

Since it is the start of vacation week for most of the schools here in New England and since my family and I are actually ON vacation (FINALLY), I thought I would ask a few vacation-y questions!

1.  If you could go anywhere (all expenses paid, of course) in the United States (including Alaska and Hawaii) to visit/vacation, where would it be and/or what would you like to do?  (pick up to 3 places)

2.  What 3 places in the United States would you care less if you ever got to visit?

3.  By what means would you rather travel...walking, bicycle, car, train, bus, boat, or plane?

4.  What 3 things can we ladies be regularly praying for you about?  (If there is something too personal that you simply do not want to write it here, you can just refer to it as an "unspoken request."  We don't have to know!  God will know about it as we pray for you!)

Thank you everybody for your prayers and concern and offers to take care of my family in our time of sickness and just not knowing what to do.  We truly are blessed to have all of you in our lives and to call all of you friends!

I hope you all are enjoying a time of rest today!

Week 5: {Reflection}

It's that time of the week again!  Reflection time!  Take some time over this weekend to reflect on what you've read and studied this past week with these 3 points in mind:

1.  One important lesson I want to remember from this week's reading would be: __________

2.  I feel God wants me to learn: ___________

3.  I am going to put my faith into action by: ____________

Have a great weekend, ladies!

Ephesians 3:12-13

...in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.  Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

Ephesians 3:10-11

...to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,...

Ephesians 3:7-9

...of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.  To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ;...

Ephesians 3:4-6

...by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets:  that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel,...

Ephesians 3:1-3

For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles - if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already,...

valentine's questions

To get our minds ready for Valentine's Day (it's this Tuesday, you know!) and since we are all married, I thought we could share a little about our love life!  (*gasp here*)  Oooooooooooo!  (BUT, don't worry, we won't get that personal!)  he he!

1.  Tell us about your very first date with your now husband.

2.  What are your 3 favorite romance (love story) movies?

3.  What is one of the nicest things your husband has ever done or does do for you?

4.  Describe a perfect date.  (Date as in what you would like to do or where you would like to go with your husband in a romantic sort of way, not like the "blond joke" (which by the way I don't like one bit!) :) where you describe a guy or think of a specific date on the calendar.)  ;)

I couldn't decide which 3 questions out of the 4 I thought of to post so I'm asking all 4 questions!  Have fun! 

Hope you all are having a great day of worship and rest with the Lord, enjoying your families, and/or catching up from this past week!

Catch you all tomorrow!

Week 4: {Reflection}

Week 4 of our study has come and gone!  Ladies, we have prayed over, read, and studied the first 2 chapters of Ephesians!  TWO whole chapters!  Yeah! 

I must be honest...this week was a tough week for me physically.  On Wednesday, I was thinking all day that it was Friday or at least it felt like Friday!  Oh, how I desired it to be Friday for the next days after that too!  Ugh!  I felt as though I would be zapped of all energy by about 8 PM quite a number of nights this week.  I left my kitchen a mess for 2 days in a row (2 days' worth of dishes from a family of 5...YIKES!) and then again another night and many, many loads of laundry left unfolded.  (This is a big deal for me as I have a goal for the end of each day in our home to always have whatever laundry needs folded to be done and to have the dishes done and the kitchen in order before I sit down to relax and definitely before I go to bed no matter how late I have to stay up, and if it doesn't get done, I usually wake up cranky and not fit to be around.) 

BUT...

On the other hand, I can look back over my week and see that I didn't have as many meltdowns, and I had such peace, patience, and joy in my life as a wife and a mother even when everything around me was messy and not in order.  It has been a long time since I have felt that way, and I can only credit the Lord for working and producing these qualities in my life this week!  Praise the Lord!

This accountability blog has taught me so much and has been such an encouragement to me!  I have learned how much I desire and crave to be in the Word each morning and how much I have missed setting aside a specific time in my day everyday to spend with the Lord.  I am encouraged to see how the Lord is working in each of you ladies' lives as well.  I am learning so much from what the Lord is teaching me as well as all of you and find it so neat that we sort of all learn different things or have a different way of putting our lessons learned into words. 

As you may have noticed from last Saturday's post, I didn't do a comment highlights section mostly because I was too lazy and ran out of time.  This week, I have a little more time, but we ladies are just getting so long in our comments, and ALL of them are so good and encouraging and teach us so much!  It is exciting to see that the Lord is using our special quiet times to show and teach us so much and that we are so excited to share it with our fellow sisters!  I would encourage you to go back through and perhaps re-read them as you reflect on this past week's verses.

To remind you all, the reflection questions are:

1.  One important lesson I want to remember from this week's reading would be: _________

2.  I feel God wants me to learn: _________

3.  I am going to put my faith into action by: ________

Also, do you remember the challenge question posed at the beginning of the week:  How can we get better at being "one in Christ" with our fellow Christian brothers & sisters? 

Any thoughts?

I hope you all have a great day today (and weekend) as you reflect over what the Lord has taught you throughout this past week, as you spend special time with your family, and as you prepare for celebrating the loves of your life. 

Ephesians 2:21-22

...in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Ephesians 2:19-20

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,...

Ephesians 2:16-18

...and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.  And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.  For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

Ephesians 2:13-15

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,...

Ephesians 2:11-12

Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh - who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands - that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

question time!

I don't know about you, but I have been enjoying getting to know you all a little better with these fun little questions every Sunday!  Here's our next batch:

1.  Who do you think will win the Super Bowl?  (For those of you who may not know, the Super Bowl is TODAY!!!)  AND, in case you don't know who is playing...the New England Patriots or the New York Giants?

2.  What book are you currently reading at your leisure?

3.  What is one of the most embarrassing moments that has ever happened to you?

I hope you all have a great Sunday with the Lord, your families, friends, and perhaps some football! 

Week 3: {Reflection}

You know the saying...if you do something for three weeks, it becomes a habit. For three weeks, we have been setting aside time during our day to pray for each other and to lift up the joys and burdens on our hearts and to read and study the Word. With the Lord's help and a little accountability from each other, look at the habit we just created or rekindled or continued! Great work, ladies! Keep going!

What a week it has been! We have gone from being DEAD in our sinful, selfish lives to ALIVE in Christ Jesus to receiving the FREE GIFT of salvation through the grace and faith that He provides and now being HIS WORKMANSHIP...HIS MASTERPIECE! What did we do to deserve all of that? NOT.A.THING! God does it all! God loves us so much! GOD is LOVE!

As you reflect on this past week, think on these 3 points:

1. One important lesson I want to remember from this week's reading would be: _________
2. I feel God wants me to learn: _________
3. I am going to put my faith into action by: ________

Enjoy your weekend, ladies!

Ephesians 2:10

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:8-9

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Ephesians 2:6-7

...and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.