The List: Shine

Hey friends!

Hope you guys are having a wonderful weekend.  Mine didn’t exactly go as planned, but it is still a great weekend!  :)  I’ll share more with you guys later about that.  

Today, I want to chat about Chapter 1 in our bookclub book, The List by Marian Jordan.  

This book is so eye opening and challenging.   We are loving it here in our group that meets on Sunday night.  So, I’m very excited to share with you guys every Sunday.

Chapter 1 “Shine”.

“To make your season beautiful, become a girl who lives for the glory of God.”

All of us have an innate and natural desire to shine in some way.  We like attention.  We want to be “known”.  It is so obvious in our culture today.  Take for example all the reality TV shows that are constantly on television, or Marian gives the example of the Pussycat Dolls song “When I Grow Up”.  We live in a culture that tells us to “make much of ourselves”.  

However, this is not why we were made or why we exist.  As Christians, we believe that God created us for HIS glory.  Not our own.

I will say to the north, Give up,
and to the south, Do not withhold;
bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the end of the earth,
everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.”
(Isaiah 43:6-7 ESV)

We were created to bring glory to God and to make much of Him.  This is totally different than what our culture tells us to do!!  

Our “Lists” are full of things to be checked off and are consuming us.  To be “happy” we need to check these items off our “Lists”.  Marian tells us that the secret to life is not the consuming of possessions, glory, or relationships, but being consumed by God.  What does this mean exactly??

Instead of exalting our desires and letting them consume us, we exalt God and allow His glory and His purpose consume us.  Sounds pretty easy right??  Ha!

We are at war ladies (and gents)!  Satan knows how much our Heavenly Father loves us, and if he can put doubt into our minds, he will.  We have to battle everyday and fight the same temptation- glorify self or glorify God?  What exactly does that mean?  Well, we can choose to live for our desire and our wants, or we can choose to live for God and for His purpose for our lives.  Marian tells us that, “in seeking our own glory we find emptiness, destruction, and death simply because we are choosing to turn the purpose of life upside down.”

I have great news for you though.. the battle has already been won!  Even though we have to fight the battle every day, God has already been victorious.  Marian couldn’t have said it better!  ”It is in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that the ultimate war for God’s glory is WON!

Paul, the writter of Romans, tells us:

…but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
(Romans 5:8 ESV)

Even though we mess up daily, he chose to die for us.  He chose to set us free from our “Lists”, from sin, from bondage, from shame, and from  the death and destruction that comes from decisions we make.

I don’t think I have ever heard any better news, ladies!  

We have to focus on God, and not let Satan’s lies tempt us to be discontent.  Satan will do anything to try to destroy your joy and diminish God’s glory in your life.  He will whisper lies in your ear.  He will tell you that God doesn’t have blessings in store for you.  He will draw attention to everyone else getting what you want and make you feel forgotten.  Don’t let him do this.  Trust God!

When we fall into Satan’s lies, we become miserable women (and men).  BUT when we choose to believe the truth about God that He is good and he has plans for us, we can surrender our desires and our “Lists” to God.  We can trust that His plan and His timing is best!

We can recieve everything on our “Lists” and still be miserable women (and men) if our “Lists” are all about us.  Why?  Marian says that self-glorification makes us miserable because it is the opposite of our designed purpose!

I don’t want to be a miserable woman!  I want to rest in God’s peace and live our my true purpose in life!  I want to Shine for God’s glory!

Has anyone every felt miserable due to something on your “List”?

Do you relate to anything in this chapter?

Tomorrow is a very special Marvelous In My Monday!  :)

MIMM #6

Happy Marvelous in My Monday!!

If you aren’t familiar with MIMM, head over to sweet Katie’s blog for all the details!  

I hope you all had a marvelous weekend!  We sure did.  I was so sad to see my dad leave yesterday.

Since our family lives in East Tennessee, we don’t get to see them as much as we would like.  That is why we love when we get visitors so much!!  I enjoyed having family around so much that I didn’t even think about taking many pictures.  Whoops.

Friday was marvelous, because my dad and I relax that morning and then ran errands until around lunchtime.  Luvy joined us for lunch, then dad and I relaxed that afternoon.  I had plans for us to go to Huber’s in Indiana to pick peaches, but it was too hot!

The heat kept us in most of the weekend!

Saturday, we went to our friends’ farm for their farmer’s market.

Daddy had fun talking with them about farming and all kinds of things.  

Even though it was sweltering hot, it was a beautiful day!

What was not so marvelous was Sunday came WAY too fast!  Daddy had to go home right after church, and I had to get ready for a full week at work.

Sunday’s are still marvelous, because I get to spend it with these girls for our bookclub.

I love my college/ young adult girls!  

We also had some MARVELOUS eats this weekend, but I’ll tell you about those later!

Hope you have a marvelous Monday!

What is marvelous today?

What did you do this weekend?

The List: Introduction

Hey friends!  Sorry I have been MIA.  I have really been enjoying my time with my daddy.  More on that later.  :)

On Sundays for the next few weeks, I want to talk about The List by Marian Jordan.  This is the book we are reading in our Sunday night girl’s bookclub that we have at my house.  I wish I could have you all over to my house every week, but since I can’t.  We can have a little virtual bookclub here.  :)

I know that most of you don’t have the book, so I will just highlight the major points.  As you all know, I am a Christian.  This book is written to Christians; however, if you are not a Christian this book will still have very relevant things for you as well.  I am open to discussion, and if you ever have any questions about something I post I am happy to answer them or find the answer for you!  Feel free to e-mail me at anytime at delightsanddelectables@gmail.com.

So, everyone get your cup of coffee (or tea), a couple of snacks…we always have snacks, and get comfy!

Okay, so I have to start out by saying that I love Marian Jordan’s writing style!  I feel like I am hanging out with an old girlfriend when I read her books!

The List’s introduction starts out by Marian recounting how she was running from her birthday that year.  She went as far as leaving on a plane and getting away from all her friends and family to try to “escape” her birthday.  On that plane ride, she comes to the realization that in her words, “it doesn’t matter where you go or how far you try to run, your problems go with you”.  Isn’t that the truth?!?!

Why was she running from her birthday you might ask??  Well it has to do with “The List”.  We all have one.

“The List” can go by different names but it comes down to the checklist you have for your life.  Things like graduating college, getting married to your college sweetheart right after college, climbing the corporate ladder and getting that large corner office in your company, etc.

For Marian, her birthday was so difficult, because her “List” was far from being checked off.  In her “List”, she wanted to be married at 24 and have a couple kids before 30.  Marian is single and this birthday just happened to be her 30th.  She states that all our of “Lists” haunt us in some way.

On this plane flight, Marian came to the realization that it wasn’t the time for a pity party.  No, that is how Satan robs us of our peace and joy.  Instead she prayed and ask God to speak to her.  She felt the Lord leading her to Ecclesiastes 3 “Everything is beautiful in its time.”

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
(Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 ESV)

So, whatever you are going through, just know that it is only there for a season.  What if this season just plain… well to be honest, sucks?  How are we supposed to make this season in our lives beautiful when we are miserable?  Well, God wants us to exchange our “List” for HIS LIST.  What is this supposed to mean?

Well, our lists are full of our desires for worldly gains, goals, accomplishments, and possessions.  God knows that none of these things will make us happy.  We can be married to a wonderful man and still be miserable.  We can climb the corporate ladder and feel nothing when we get to the top.  You can check off your “List” and be living your “dream life” and feel like you are living in a disaster.

God wants us to surrender our dreams and desires to Him and allow Him to direct our paths.  We don’t have to wait to get married, have kids, lose 10lbs, or get a promotion to be joyful.  Marian stated, “I’ve discovered that joy i snot found in some future state; it is available now for those of us willing to make the exchange.”

I’ll be honest with you.  There are things on my “List” that I have a hard time giving to God.  I know His plan is best for my life, and I’m learning to trust Him and His plan.

Do you have a hard time giving things to God?

Do you find yourself throwing a pity party instead of asking God for peace?  (Guilty!!!)

Are there things on your “List” you need to trust him with?