Are You Starting Well?

Here we are, heading into the third week of January, and I’m happy to say I am. Starting Well, that is. And what I mean by that is I’m following a new blog series called Starting Well, written by Teri Lynn Underwood, and it’s just too good not to share. You can click on the Starting Well banner for an overview of the series.

This first week has been Quiet Time – discipline in my spiritual life. Teri Lynne shares sensible ideas, doable suggestions and helpful resources. But the best part, in my estimation, is that she gives permission to be practical. There are no unreasonable reading plans or directives to spend one hour three times a day in quiet contemplation and I love that. It gives me permission to be human and not feel like a failure when I don’t “stick to the plan”. Heck, I don’t even have to rationalize!!

I’ve listed and linked to each of Week One’s posts below. Check out the main points of the first two, would you?

“God is not interested in your quiet time or devotions or personal Bible study… His interest is YOU.”

“Spending time in the Word is important… but how that happens and for how long on any given day? I’m just not sure that is quite as big a deal to God as it seems to be to us sometimes.”

How freeing is that? Sometimes I think we (translated=I) get so wrapped around the axel of doing it right, like if we don’t spend time with God or in his word this particular way (whatever this is) then we’re doing it all wrong and we may as well not do it at all. Let’s abandon that type of thinking and Start over Well.

• Devotions, Quiet Times, Personal Bible Study. Is it really necessary? “God is not interested in your quiet time or devotions or personal Bible study … His interest is YOU.”
• 10 Tips for a Great Quiet Time “Spending time in the Word is important … but how that happens and for how long on any given day? I’m just not sure that is quite as big a deal to God as it seems to be to us sometimes.”
• Memorize, Meditate, and Meander: Storing Up God’s Word 3 ways to spend time treasuring Scripture
• Tools of the Trade: Resource Recommendations Suggestions for Bibles, study aids, devotionals, and books on spiritual disciplines
• Chocolate, Paradise, and Every Spiritual Blessing Guest post by Kathy Howard inviting us to join her online study, “Growing Up Together: A Study of Ephesians”

My suggestion is that you subscribe to her blog so you don’t miss any of her posts, but in case you can’t for some reason, I’ll link the week’s posts on Sunday for the next seven weeks. And be sure to come back and let me know what you think!