Month: January 2026

Posted on in Book quotes, Challenge, Faith, Just do it, Obedience, Prayer, Rest, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Trust, Yield

Are You Practicing the Way?

I just realized I never posted this to let you know I was taking a week off. Oops. Well here is this blog entry very late!!

John Mark Comer has written a phenomenal book entitled Practicing the Way. I have been devouring it and trying to live into it. There is also a website that I found only recently https://www.practicingtheway.org/

Even if you have no intention of purchasing the book or borrowing it from your local library, I would encourage you to look a these materials. At the website practice materials are offered freely. Of course, there are also ways to contribute to the effort of getting the materials out.

There was a saying years ago that if you aim at nothing you are bound to hit it! That is especially true of our spiritual walk.

There are one or more areas where we might ignore the teachings of Jesus. The materials help guide us in contemporary ways to apply the teachings and grow in our own walk. I was familiar with the nine practices, but had never applied some of them to my walk consistently. In the New Year I hope to take this material and use it as my own. Hoping for a more fulfilling, God-honoring, lifestyle by bringing the practices into focus in my own life.

As we wind down 2025, I hope you will take some time to rest. We are truly a driven society and rarely allow our Shepherd to lead us into rest and solitude.

I will be taking the first week of January off from writing. I will also be studying materials for Stephen Ministry as I venture into again becoming a Stephen Minister. May your New Year celebration be blessed and warmly celebrated as we begin again to follow the Lord.

Start 2016 with a practice of resting in Christ. I did take that time off. Now I am back at writing, continuing to study Stephen Ministry materials and planning to work on two separate writing projects. All prayers appreciated!

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Book quotes, Challenge, Faith, Nature, Obedience, Rest, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Trust

Phrases that Catch Your Attention

I get a message from the Daily Liturgy Quote. This one was addressing grief, but I apply it to my overall life.

“Be nearer now, O Christ, than I have ever known.”

Don’t we all need this to pursue our walk with joy? I need God every hour. The hours I do not think of God are the ones in which I am most likely to wander.

I was given Amazing Grace Devotional by Stephanie Sample as a gift this Christmas. So far, I am enjoying the entries immensely! She wrote a morning and evening devotion using the same Scripture verse. The entry for January 3 especially caught my attention when she said, “Like a sponge in the ocean, at once saturated and contained by his vastness, our lives are forever connected.”

As a sponge, we can soak up everything around us. We as Christians can choose which source we absorb from.

Sponge harvester

Thinking about natural sponges that are harvested from the ocean, I found they are being grown and harvested even today across the world. Looking up on Sponge on Wikipedia they wrote, “The sponge is an aquatic invertebrate with a soft porous body. There are as many as 18 species of sponges, with the wool sponge being the most desired because it is soft, durable, and not susceptible to odors or mildew. The yellow sponge is less durable, lasting a year, while the wire sponge is abrasive and often used for manufacturing. The bay sponge is known as the flowerpot sponge and grows a plant or seed.”

Wool sponge

Remembering back to when I used a synthetic sponge in the kitchen for almost every cleaning job, but especially washing dishes, I would get so angry when it turned nasty with moldy odor and mildew. I never knew until now that this natural sponge is not prone to mold and mildew!

Am I willing to become like a wool sponge this year? Like the most desired of all the variety of sponges? Sponges are still harvested and sold at Tarpon Springs , Florida, and sold as well at many other places. There is a road trip that would be fun for shopping!

But more in keeping with the devotional thought, “Like a sponge in the ocean, at once saturated and contained by his vastness, OUR LIVES ARE FOREVER CONNECTED. We are influenced and changed by God in us. We are protected through residing in him.” Thank you Stephanie Sample for reminding me I am protected through residing in God.

“Be nearer now, O Christ, than I have ever known.” And make me more conscious of your indwelling and purpose for my life throughout 2026 I pray. Hold me close and help me reside in you always. Amen.