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 The videos from yesterday’s Kingdom Woman Wednesday are now up and working! Sorry about the “techno” malfunction.

 

Here are THREE THINGS for you to think about today!

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It’s that time again for me to share a few things from the blogosphere with you.  We are still hanging out with our focus on the mind, body, and spirit ~ three areas of development based on Luke 2:52. These are the same three areas in which Jesus, Son of God and Savior of the world, had to experience a process of maturation… so it’s OK  if we do too!

We are also commanded in Mark 12:30 to love God in each of those three areas so I think it’s worth our time to explore! If you need to read or review read my initial thoughts about focus on these verses click HERE).

 If you have mastered a particular area or do not need my suggestions, come up with your own!  Then keep your Kingdom Kindreds posted by sharing your journey in the comments!

 

O.K. Kingdom Kindreds.  Here we go!

 

1) The Mind…  Focus Outward Over the last couple of weeks we have talked about how we can grow in wisdom and renew the way we think. In Philippians 2:4-6, the Bible reads, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus…”

I LOVE this thought.  Jesus had me on His mind.  He was thinking about ME when he was “obedient to the point of death” (Phil 2:8) His focus on the big picture, my need for salvation, is the lynch pin for His willingness to stay the course.

Kindred sister, we need to stay the course don’t we?  And the ability to stay and fight is won and loss in the mind. Your mind will quit a thousand times before your body does. So how do we set our minds to win? We focus outward. We focus on the big picture. We focus on the finish line.

What is your finish line?  Are you mothering young children?  Is your finish line to have adult children that love God and love others? That focus can  help you stay the course when you are sick and tired of changing diapers and wiping up spills

Do you desire to keep yourself pure for that man and the wonderful marriage that you are believing God for? That focus will help you stay the course and refuse to lower your standards for the wrong man at the wrong time!

Are you in the middle of a crucial project in your community, your church, or on your job? In the end, who will your efforts bless, serve, support, or encourage?  Keep those people or purposes in the front of your mind when you want to quit.

Maybe you can write your focus point on your mirror with a dry erase marker or put stickies up around your home or office. Or better yet…maybe you can do silly things like I do and leave yourself encouraging messages to stay the course.

However you can make it a reality, train your mind to focus. Focus outward and draw strength to stay the course because you have faith that the end result is worth the effort. What or who will you be focusing on this week to help keep your mind from wandering?  What is your big picture?  What do you believe to be your finish line?

I pray this song from my friend Tamela will encourage you to live each day to the fullest!

The fight to focus your mind is worth it!

 

 

2) The Body… Eat Less Junk 

Last week the goal was to move more. I hope that you did a little something more than you normally would have!  Now hold on to that (and the drinking more water from the week before that) and let’s keep going forward.

This week let’s talk about FOOD.  This topic is so huge and there are so many different things that you could do.  I don’t want to overwhelm you… nor do I want to overwhelm myself! So I will keep it simple and basic. For this week.. Strive to eat less junk.  If junk food is not an issue for you, strive to eat less. I can almost guarantee you that the majority eat more food than our bodies require.

What do I mean by junk.  Well maybe this photo will make it more clear…

junk-food

OK…OK…maybe that stuff is not your thing.  What about this collection of items?

Junk-food candy soda

OK…maybe I didn’t have your particular food in my pictures.  But YOU know what your vice is.  The bottom line is until our next Kingdom Woman Wednesday…

 

No junk food

 

If junk food is not a problem for you, pick another food goal for the week.  Keep a food journal for the week to see how much of what you are actually taking in. Or maybe you could eat more green food. Eat less red meat. Cut your portions in half.  The majority of us can stand to make a small change in our diet even if that change is a small one.  Need recipe ideas?  Check out Clean Eating Magazine or Kalyn’s Kitchen. If you need a little guidance on what a balanced diet looks like, here is a basic place to start.

myplate_green

Whatever food change you choose to make, it’s only for a one week!

Keep your eye out for healthy eating ideas or recipes!  We’ll put those to work next Tuesday!

 

3) The Spirit… Make Prayer a Priority

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This week for our “R&R” includes a whole chapter on prayer.  While many of us do not struggle in this area, I know that many of us do.  We struggle to make time to pray.  We struggle to for what to pray for.  We are challenged sometimes to stay focused during that time of prayer.

So this week, let’s develop our spirits by praying.  Try to pray every day for this next week.  Maybe you need to get up a little earlier to have a few minutes alone with the Lord.  Maybe you can turn off the radio and talk to God while you drive to work. Maybe you need to turn off the TV in the evening so that you have energy at the end of the day to talk to the God of the universe (isn’t that amazing by the way?… that the God of the universe wants to talk to us!)

However you get it in… just PRAY!

Because I know that we are all at different stages of our spiritual journey, I don’t want to assume that everyone knows how to pray.  If you would like to get some general direction on how to pray, please take a look at KSBJ’s brief tutorial for how to pray. If you need direction on what to pray about, check out Focus on the Family’s How to Pray Everyday, and this guide on How to Pray God’s Word for Your Life.

Many of you might regularly spend time in prayer but would like a better system for organizing your prayers so that you remember who and what you’ve said you would pray for and have a record of your prayers to know when God has answered.  I’ve found a few resources you may want to check out for ideas!  Check out A Passionate Followers Journal, From My Own Hands, and Where My Soul Belongs for ideas. Also, Jennifer Dukes Lee has a whole blog post with lots of other resources for you to review! You can find tool for organizing your prayer list You can even pray with your iPhone!

However you do it, just pray! It will make such a huge difference in your week and in your soul!

Lastly, if you need some music to help set the tone for your quiet time… try this song, again by Tamela…

I pray that these encouragements in the areas of your mind, body, and soul motivate, educate, and spur you on to doing new things, reviving old things, or being more consistent with things you are already doing.

 

Recap of the Three Things…

Focus Outward
What’s your “finish line”? Focus your mind and efforts by looking at the big picture.

Eat Less Junk
For one week give up some junk or watch your portion size

Just pray!
Make it your goal to pray each day this week.
If you miss a day, just keep going the next day!
Prayer changes things 🙂

 

Remember…

Twitter Chat Tonight @ 8pm (CST) – We’ll chat it up for one hour.  Search for the hashtag #KWChat!

Q & A – Submit questions on biblical womanhood for myself or my dad, Tony Evans, to answer! Just click on the “Ask Chrystal” button on the menu bar (under “Chrystal”). Each week on Wednesday via video blog, one (or both) of us will answer some of the questions we receive!

The Blog – The main source of information for the journey is on the blog.  Be sure and subscribe so that posts from the blog will go straight to your email box and you won’t miss anything. While you can find me blabbing away on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest, those are optional places to find me or other info, graphics, or FUN on the Kingdom Woman One Month Journey.  The

Comments – Your responses in the comments are your way to make sure that I see your thoughts.  Please pour your heart out there.  I read every single one. Each week you will be invited to share your journey in the comment section.  I hope you do!

Social Media – Make it easy for me to find you!  As you share quotes from the book on Facebook or Twitter or maybe even take, make, and share graphic images on Pinterest or Instagram, be sure and use the hashtag #KingdomWoman.  This way, we can find each other as we share!

The Book – We are reading and reflecting on Kingdom Woman.  It’s not too late to download  an Ebook or pick one up at your local bookstore and join the journey!