I think that for many years I lived as a thief. Not because I stole an occasional candy bar or lifted jewelry from my friends homes! But, because I neglected adequate self examination. The result of which was a type of robbery.

Here is what I mean.

I suffered from mental boredom. Because my mind had nowhere useful to go, I spent too much time contemplating the bummer aspects of my life. The result? A "poor me" attitude, martyr complex, and bouts of depression. Because I had too much idle mental time, I easily over analyzed everything including my marriage and husband. The result? Lots of fights, unreasonable expectations, despair and frustration.

When I traced my patterns of behavior, I realized that I might need something bigger and better to think about. So, I subscribed to a “talking books library.” I began listening to volumes of books on a myriad of subjects... history, biographies and classics, both fiction and non-fiction.

The result? A whole new world opened to me. Thoughts I longed to entertain... I now contemplated. Places I always wanted to travel to... I visited through the vehicle of the written word. Pictures I always wanted to see... I now looked at in vivid color and texture because of the “word art” of authors like James and Hawthorne. My thoughts were being challenged and mysteries were being grappled with. I was learning. And for the first time in my life, I realized that I had been bored for decades and never really knew it. Without self examination, I would have never come to that conclusion.

To live without really knowing oneself is robbery.

It is in fact, stealing from yourself and those who love you. It is also careless stewardship, taking lightly the life God gave you. After “examining” myself, I discovered that which liberated and explained me. That discovery helped me to be a better mom, wife, friend and follower of Jesus.

Sir Winston Churchill once said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Just as an unexamined body can grow sick and deteriorate unnecessarily, so can an unexamined life.

The biggest challenge for the honest life-liver is to be a “self-examiner” without becoming a “self-obsessor.”

We need to examine ourselves but not meditate on ourselves. If my constant pondering and contemplation is directed solely toward myself, then I am most greedy and destined for misery and self- indulgence. But, if my meditation and ultimate focus is on God, then self discovery will result as the real me is revealed in the light of His truth.

So I think Churchill is right... an unexamined life is really not worth living - because really, it's not truly living. Life is to be felt, thought, and fully exhausted!

Today, my friend, do a self exam. You owe it to yourself, your God, and your world.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord!
Psalm 19:14

Jennifer Rothschild
Author of Lessons I Learned in the Dark (and Light),
and Founder of WomensMinistry.NET
http://www.jenniferrothschild.com
 

A fun and challenging way to encourage women to mingle at an event.

How well do we know the Word of God? This is a simple way to "mix" women up before an event.

What you need: Index cards

Depending on the size of your group you can do this several ways, but the basic idea is to take a scripture verse and write it out on several cards. If your group is very large, you can put one or two words on eight cards to fill a table. If you have a smaller group, divide the verse in half to match up pairs. Whatever works for you!

Write out the verses on index cards ahead of time and put them on the chairs or table where your group will meet.

when they arrive have them pick up the word(s) and find the partner(s) that complete the bible verse. Each group/pair can read their verse to "be sure" that all the verses are indeed correct!

To make the game more challenging you can set a time limit.

Submitted: Nocarrer@ci.camden.nj.us

The Temple, an 11-week video-based Bible studyby Laurie Cole. You are God's temple, and you have the supernatural ability to glo - to reflect the very glory of God. In other words: You glo girl! Learn how to glorify God in your everyday life because you really are... the temple.

Take a minute to revisit last week's sponsor...

• 40-Day Journey of Prayer with Tammy Price
• Deborah Lovett, Speaker, Author and Founder of Women of the Well Ministry
• The Bloomery Retreat Kit by Group Publishing

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Java with Jennifer is an informal monthly ministry update specifically for friends who want to keep up-to-date on what is happening with Jennifer Rothschild's ministry of writing, speaking, and singing.

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Do you have a team meeting with you to plan an event, program, or ministry? Streamline your team efforts by following these tips:

Clarify the position's responsibilities. Provide a written ministry description, including a list of responsibilities, whom the people report to, what kind of authority they have to make decisions, and the expected time commitment. This will help everyone to get the job done and avoid confusion later on.

Schedule all your meetings at once. People are busy and it’s hard for everyone to get together at once. At the very first meeting, get out your calendar and schedule your meetings for the rest of the year. Then if you don’t need to meet, cancel the meeting and everyone will be grateful for an extra time slot.

Pass out big-picture schedules and task lists early on. Create a master calendar with the tasks of each team member for the entire year or even and pass it out at the beginning so that people can know what needs to get done when.

Distribute information in the form of charts, lists, and bullets instead of text. It’s harder to read blocks of text, so break up any information into formats that are easier to digest and follow. Charts, visuals, and lists are great.

Follow up frequently. People are awfully forgetful, so schedule in time on your calendar to follow up on decisions and see if tasks have been completed. If you check early, you’ll keep the entire team and schedule on track.

©2003 Angela Yee, author and speaker on “Organizing for Ministry.” www.summitstarpress.com

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