When/Then (A Confident Heart...Blog Hope Thursday)

We all sin.  Romans 3:23 tells us that; if we have ever been around a 2 year old we know we are born with sin; seeing the pain we've caused to others reminds us of our sin.  One of my sin issues is pride.  And the chapter we did in our A Confident Heart online Bible study this week opened my eyes to it even more.  Renee Swope says on page 52: ".....(we who) find ourselves in the shadow of doubt often get there because we are seeking our validation in people's opinions...."  Ouch.  You know many of us have no problems recognizing our sin; it is in the correcting it that we struggle.  We know that we cannot change by ourselves and that the Lord and His Word can transform us.  But sometimes I struggle in applying that and simply find myself stumbling over and over again with the same thing.  That is how it is with me and this issue.  I've known for a very long time that I have struggled with this.  That is why I was excited that at the end of chapter 3, Renee Swope offers a tool to help turn from the temptation.  They are called "When/Then" statements.  I like the name.  It isn't "if/when", because it isn't "if" it happens again; it is "when" it happens again.  Here is one of the "When/Then" statements I wrote for myself this week.

When I start seeking validation from other people's opinions, I will remember what the Lord says about me.  "Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you."  Isaiah 43:4a.  I don't need no one else to validate me.  I am a child of the Lord.

I would love to make a poster of these statements for my kitchen.  That probably won't happen, so for now my journal is spread open on my counter to remind me "When...."  "Then". 

A Saturday

I pulled out my camera yesterday and documented our day.  We started out slow as we only had one football game to attend and it wasn't until 2pm.  John decided to build a castle with the blocks and Nathan pulled out the pizza from the night before for breakfast.

John's masterpiece

Are you awake Ashley?

Nathan enjoying his pizza...shhh...don't tell dad I'm eating on the chair or mom that I am using her blanket!

Friday night I went and got my first deer tag EVER.  Yes, I am going to sit in a stand and try to get a deer this year.  I have already started praying for good weather.  Joe got me a gift...a harness.  When I saw the harness I started second guessing my decision to sit in a tree.  Is this really dangerous?  Maybe I should have checked out the height of the stand before I invested in a tag.  Joe has promised me that I will be completely safe....just make sure to wear the harness that looks like it could save me from rock climbing Everest.

My new safety harness...yikes!

 First fire of the season!!!!  I LOVE fires in my fireplace.  I think it looks even better now that our fireplace is a nice shade of black rather than a brassy gold that shouts "look at me! I'm an ugly fireplace!"

I am obviously not a food blogger.  Food bloggers take fabulous pictures of food.  I took several pictures of this delicious white chicken chili that I made and they all make it look like chicken mush.  It actually tasted really good...so good there was none left last night.  I also made a big pot of regular chili.  There is nothing like chili on a brisk, blustery day.  And, yes, it was brisk and blustery yesterday.

After a warm-up lunch, we went and hung out at the football field.  Wow...the pics may not show it, but it was cold.  No, it wasn't raining and no, it wasn't snowing, but wow it was cold. 

Pretty tree to look at while we watched the game

John's team waiting for their game to start

taking the field

John is on the end with the yellow mouth guard hanging out.  If the pic had audio you would here him leading the warm-up counts

John blocked #15 most of the game.  It was tough because the guy was half his size. You could tell he was struggling to figure out where to grab him.   His team won 41-12.  John's team basically had their second string guys in most of the 2nd half.

We ended the day stacking firewood in our new firewood stacker thing (I know there is an official name of what it is called....I just have no idea what it is at the moment.)

We ended the day by the fire, eating chili and introducing the kids to National Treasure.  They're hooked and are ready to watch the 2nd one.

And now this native Hoosier is going to sit back and watch my favorite quarterback play my favorite football team.  Go Peyton!  Go Colts!