Notes From the Reading Chair~Book Briefs

I think I lost my reading momentum back in June. I've gotten sidetracked with life's circumstances and have been reading books not even on my book list. Lately, I've been camped out in the Psalms for my Bible reading, and I've been devouring books about grief and affliction.

But, here are some thoughts on a few of the books I have managed to finish so far this year. Please remember that a recommendation doesn't mean I agree with EVERYTHING an author says nor everyone the author quotes, but that I do think a read is worthy of your time and effort.

A Place of Quiet Rest by Nancy Leigh DeMoss: Reading Nancy's books is like having tea and conversation with a true friend. She speaks the truth in love and does it well. This book focuses on cultivating a regular time with the Lord in the Word and in prayer.

I'll tell you now that I diverge from the many wise women and Moms who insist there's no need for a quiet time. I'll defend the necessity of this discipline, this habit, whatever you choose to call it, until I die, and this book is a great teacher for beginners as well as for Christians who have cherished their daily time alone with the LORD for years.

Facing Grief by John Flavel: Flavel was a Puritan writer. I bought this soon after my Dad died, and I found it most encouraging, and I highly recommend it with a couple of cautions. This is not the book to give to a mother who has just lost her baby. Flavel, though speaking the truth and knowing well the pain of losing a child, approaches the subject with some rough edges that I think might be discouraging for the newly grieving Mama.

I also don't recommend passing this book along to a weaker Christian who just lost a loved one. But, for the well grounded, mature Christian, Flavel's words will be convicting and comforting at the same time.

For the Love of God Vol. 1 by Don Carson: I love this book, even though I've gotten off track with it since my Dad died. Carson offers the "big picture" of God's Word in this devotional that is a great companion to your daily Bible reading. It covers the Bible in a year, and Carson offers a second volume as well. Highly recommended.

Death in Holy Orders by P.D. James: I read Children of Men by James several years ago, but I honestly couldn't remember enough about it to know if I should try another one of her books. Needing a break from the heaviness of some of my non-fiction reads, I decided to try this book. James is a captivating writer who knows how to tell a tale, keeping you in suspense at every turn of the page. However, there was too much sensuality in this story (and I'm thinking Children of Men was the same) for my comfort. I recommend Dorothy Sayers instead. Her Nine Tailors was an excellent, suspenseful read without the unsavory relationships and details.

Humility by C.J. Mahaney: This is probably my favorite read thus far this year. Highly recommended. We enjoyed this as a read aloud and found Mahaney to be practical, funny, and encouraging. If your family struggles with conflict or lack of unity or you find yourself struggling to find evidences of grace in those around you, read this book.

Making it All Work by David Allen: No, Allen is not a Christian, but when it comes to organizing and scheduling, he's spot on. His Getting Things Done method clicks with me, and I've found his books to be very beneficial, even though I'm a homemaker. I think his system is brilliant! Again, Allen is not a Christian and this is obvious in his writings, so proceed with caution if this might be a stumbling block for you.

The Power of Words and The Wonder of God by John Piper and Justin Taylor, editors: I was greatly encouraged and convicted by this book ,which is a collection of essays addressing the power of the tongue. I found it ironic that Mark Driscoll was a contributing writer, and I was offended by some of his potshots at homeschoolers, but found his essay, overall, surprisingly edifying. Even with Driscoll as a contributor, I recommend this book.

Treasury of David by Spurgeon: This is a collection of Spurgeon's writings on the Psalms, and it is wonderful! Highly recommended. I even sought out a used set because the current publications of this are abridged. I've been feasting on the Psalms for several months now and have found these books to be great companions.

Contentment: A Godly Woman's Adornment by Lydia Brownback: Wonderful book that gets to the heart of our murmurings and disputings. I found her essays so encouraging, I quickly finished this one. Makes a great gift.

The Real Scandal of the Evangelical Mind by Carl Trueman: "What is an evangelical....and has he lost his mind?" Great read worth your time. Be prepared to read it a couple of times. Trueman is brilliant.

Large Family Logistics by Kim Brenneman: Even if you don't have a large family, you'll find this book helpful. Brenneman deals with the practical and with the heart. Encouraging and brief chapters that cover everything from scheduling to pregnancy to feast nights to homeschooling. A great reference to have on hand and go back to again and again.

Read on!

With love,

Perfect Timing

"Surely the Lord of time is the best judge of time; and in nothing do we more discover our folly and rashness, than in presuming to fix the times either of our comforts or our troubles. As for our comforts, we never thinkg they can come too soon; we would have them presently, whether the season be fit or not, as Number 12:13, 'Heal her now, O God'; Oh let it be done speedily. We are in post-haste for our comforts, but as for our afflictions, we never think they come late enough; not at this time, Lord; rather at any other time than now.

But it is good to leave the timing both of the one and the other to him, whose works are all beautiful in their seasons, and who never does any thing in an improper time."
~Facing Grief
John Flavel

The Fusion of a Warm Heart and a Good Matter

I watch him breathe, and I'm unaffected. I see him play sports without that marked breathlessness, and I take it for granted.

Last week marked a year since our oldest son had major surgery. As we listened to the doctor's good words at the one year check-up, I was reminded of my forgetful heart.

All these things that I prayed so hard over the days leading up to the surgery have now become so normal that I easily lose the wonder of it all. Is it not true that when we're waiting on an answer to prayer, the answer seems so BIG, but too often when the answer comes, our minds slowly minimize the grandness of it all?

God poured out on us so many blessings during that time.

There were no complications or infections.
Our pastor stayed with us the entire day and visited every day thereafter.
Friends came with good words and smiles and gifts and prayers.

And Ink was such a good patient. Not complaining or demanding. He took everything like a man. A strong, brave man. I couldn't help but think that he's going to make a great husband to a very blessed bride one day.

Even more impressive to me was his complete trust in the LORD through all of this. What a difference it makes when we are taught from the earliest of our days that God is faithful and sovereign and has a purpose for every path He sets before us. It's a mistake to want to protect our children from trials because it's in the fire that their faith grows, and they learn to call Him, with even firmer conviction, "My God."

We watched Ink heal completely and break free from all medications after the surgery. We marked God's provision with a Rejoicing Feast.

But this journey isn't done. Ink still has two more years to go before the final procedure. Even in this change of plans, this waiting longer for everything to be done, I watch Ink submit, and I'm blessed.

His one year check-up was another Ebenezer to add to our growing pile. It takes us back to God's provision a year ago, and it reminds us to never grow slothful in giving thanks.

I want to be like David, when he expressed in Psalm 71, that desire to magnify the LORD more and more. Let me never settle for my current thanks-giving ability, but ask for the grace to be increasingly skilled at playing my harp with uninterrupted songs of gratitude.

"It is a sad thing with the heart is cold with a good matter, and worse when it is warm with a bad matter, but incomparably well when a warm heart and a good matter meet together. O that we may offer to God an acceptable minchah, a sweet oblation fresh from the pan of hearts warmed with gratitude and admiration."
~C. H. Spurgeon

How's your thanks-giving? Have you grown cold toward the great gift of your salvation? Have you glossed over the many answers God has given to your prayers? May God give us the grace to thank Him most fervently and continuously.

With love,

Thankful Thursday~A Ticket Home and a Bandaid, Too

Two long awaited things have happened this week, and we're rejoicing!

First, my cousin, after almost two weeks in the hospital, arrived home last night. She'll get to feel the comfort of her own bed, delight in the hugs of her children, and savor everything that makes "home" home. I'm so excited for her!

Please continue to pray. She'll return to Utah to begin her stem cell transplant on September 18th. It's another long road, full of pain and loss and maybe even a hospital room. But it's also another journey replete with God's mercies.

The other big news is that after almost 4 months, my Mom's wound from her surgery will most likely just need a bandaid. :) This is a big deal, after months of major wound dressings and changes. Thank you for your continued prayers for strength as she reaches the finish line of at least one trial.

It doesn't end there. Below are many more proofs of God's lovingkindness.

I'm thankful for boys at work, and I LOVE this picture. Look at all the great "manly" stuff in it. The hole in the jeans from the running and playing that boys do. The injury on his arm, a given in a boy's life. And the watch. Telling time. Keeping time. And yet, so unaware of time. I think this one's going in a frame. It just brings me joy!

Reaches Up showed up with sander in hand as well as a can of paint and brushes. He tidied up our flower boxes. Now we just need to pull LOTS of weeds and add the flowers. 

I'm thankful for a daughter who's learning her way around the kitchen. What a blessing it is to wake up and have her cook a delicious breakfast for everyone. She's mastered the Tater Pie as well as our basic frittata recipe.  Great job, Miss Emma!

I'm thankful for boys who surprise me with hugs and kisses, and yet, bring me snakes and lizards. And I'm thankful when the boys carry these critters right back out of the house. :)

Isn't he purty??

I'm thankful for sleeping babies. Not because it gives me a break. Rather, it's such a beautiful thing to behold. The peace. The calm. The soft breathing. You want to suspend time and just linger. Just linger near the sweetness.

Look at those eyelashes. :)

Finally, my heart has been especially heavy of late, and as I sat down to reflect on God's provision, I realized that we often misperceive the giving of thanks, as well as those who are doing the praising.

Perhaps we think that gratitude lists are born from perky people with perfect lives. How untrue!

When David would praise God for His mercies and provision, he was most often in trouble, enduring affliction. The thanksgiving was an act of the will, a choice to remember God's goodness, to declare what he knew to be true of His God, even though his circumstances were desperate.

When you're overwhelmed, go to the Rock that is higher than you are. Go to our God and ask for grace to see the mercies all around you. I promise you, they're there. Soon you'll find that even in the midst of the hurting, your lips and heart can't help but declare the praises of God. 

With love,

The Invisible Fruit of Our Suffering

"It is sad beyond all expression when affliction serves only as an opportunity to vent pride and murmuring as an expression of atheism in men's hearts against the Lord. Men may give God a hearing, but are resolved in their own courses. After affliction, the swearer is a swearer still, and the drunkard a drunkard still. God's day is coming when things will be judged by another standard; not after sight, but as they really are. If the children of God in affliction would sit down and consider the fruit and advantage that God knows how to bring out of their sorrows, this would keep them from undue despondency and dejections of spirit. Do not look at the suffering, but the invisible fruit. This holds up the head, keeps the heart, and makes the soul patient. It glories in tribulation, knowing that tribulation works patience, experience, and hope.
(Rom. 5:3-5)."
~Thomas Case,
Select Works, A Treatise of Afflictions

When You're Impatient

As my Mom approaches almost 3 months since having her surgery, almost 3 months of home health care visits and doctor's visits and everything else that comes with waiting for healing, it's challenging to not grow impatient.

"Please, LORD, heal her quickly!" Of course God's timing is not ours, and His grace is sufficient. These words from John Flavel in his very helpful book, Facing Grief, are a perfect reminder to wait on the LORD and not grow weary and impatient.

"Surely the Lord of time is the best judge of time; and in nothing do we more discover our folly and rashness, than in presuming to fix the times either of our comforts or our troubles. As for our comforts, we never think they can come too soon; we would have them presently, whether the season be fit or not, as Numbers 12:13, 'Heal her now, O God'; Oh, let it be done speedily. We are in post-haste for our comforts, but as for our afflictions, we never think they come late enough; not at this time, Lord; rather at any other time than now.


But it is good to leave the timing both of the one and the other to Him, whose works are all beautiful in their seasons, and who never does any thing in an improper time."

Useful Soldiers

It’s been a long time since Little Big Man had anything to say on our blog, but he shows up with a great quote from his morning Bible study.  

“Even the death of the body puts an end to our opportunity and capacity of glorifying God in this world, and serving the interests of His kingdom among men by opposing the powers of darkness and bringing many on this earth to know God and devote themselves to Him.  Some have maintained that the joys of the saints in heaven are more desirable, infinitely more so, than the comforts of saints on earth; yet the services of saints on earth, especially such eminent ones as David was, are more laudable, and redound more to the glory of divine grace, than the services of the saints in heaven, who are not emplyed in maintaining the war against sin and Satan, nor in edifying the body of Christ.  Courtiers in the royal presence are most happy, but soldiers in the field are more useful; and therefore we may, with good reason, pray that if it be the will of God, and He has any further work for us or our friends to do in this world, He will yet spare us, or them, to serve Him.”

~Matthew Henry, Commentary on Psalm 6

Managing Today

This is for me.  And for you, dear Mama.  And probably a lot of others, too.


So where does today find you?  What are the circumstances of your life?  Are your emotions stretched to the limit? Is physical affliction taxing you or a loved one?  What fires are purifying your faith? Whatever our situation, God calls us to live one day at a time.  Again, quoting our Savior, we are not to be 'anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own' (Matt. 6:34).


Whether your particular challenge is physical, emotional, mental, or a combination, the strategy of preparing, planning, praying, and proceeding will help you manage life's demands--one day at a time.  Then, as you proceed through each day, you will experience God's love in very personal ways as you discover His complete provision.  you will witness a daily miracle as you find God meeting you in the circumstances of your life and giving you the strength you need when you need it.


God does indeed enable us to live according to His instruction to focus on today.  With Him, you and I can successfully climb the mountain of today, leaving the mountain range of tomorrows to tomorrow.  And the peace that comes with knowing that we are following God's guidance day by day, moment by moment, frees us to better love God with all our mind.
~Elizabeth George, Loving God With All Your Mind


I love you, Mom!

The Comfort Known Only by Christians

Believers have comfort to live upon that the world knows nothing about.  We have the comfort of God's promises.  And what do you think is best, to live upon earthly pleasures, or upon the promises of God?  The earthly are yes and no, but the promises are yes and amen.  The earthly are deceitful, but the promises are sure and faithful.  The earthly feed but sense, but the promises fill the soul.  He that lives upon the promises, lives by faith, and the life of faith is the only safe and true life in the world. As the weak ivy secures itself by twisting about the great oak, so are we secure by cleaving to the great God.  The life of sense if full of disappointments like a deceitful brook.  To live on the promises of God is the only quiet life.

Faith fixes the soul upon God and is safe.  We are free from the burdens of sin and trouble.  Faith rests upon Christ's righteousness, and takes off the burden of care by resting upon God's providence.  Ah, my beloved, there is no comfort to be compared to the life of faith.  The life of faith proceeds from God and His never changing promises.  Our comforts may change, but Christ never changes.
~Matthew Mead, A Name in Heaven

The Memory Moleskine

This idea is brilliant!

 Timmy Brister came up with this concept a couple of years ago when committing to memorize the book of Ephesians.  Now there are thousands of Christians on board to memorize Philippians the first part of this year.

However, we're going to use these for all of our Scripture memory, which is usually a chapter at a time.

Last year the children (Reaches Up and up) memorized:
Proverbs 15, Ephesians 5, Psalm 8, Philippians 4, and Genesis 1 (the hardest of all).

We fell a bit short of our goals, but memorizing chapters definitely works best for our family.  (And the concept of the memory moleskine has even convinced me that my brain isn't too old to work alongside the children.  Neither is yours! :))

Right now, the memory work is Romans 5.

Scribe divided the chapter into sections over a period of 5 weeks.  On the page next to the Scripture, there's a place to tally how many times a day you review the passage as well as your thoughts and reflections .

In the front are pasted tips by Andy Davis about memorizing Scripture.

In the back are reasons written by John Piper as to why we should memorize Scripture.

The children are loving this approach, and it's helping all of them be more intentional with their Scripture memorization.

Go here to print out these inserts for your own memory moleskine.

Love,

Three Answers

Many years ago, John Piper gave a sermon in which he asked his congregation to reflect on the past year and examine their spiritual growth.

"If 1980 were the whole of our life, could we say with Paul, 'I have kept the faith.  Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness?'  My guess is that there are people here who can give three different answers to that question."

Years later, Piper's answers are still worthy of consideration.  Which one best describes you?

• One will say, "I fought no fight because I felt no great desire to follow Christ's counsel and trust his promises. Satan and my own flesh got no resistance from me."
• Another will say, "I felt some desire to trust Christ and go his way, but whenever a conflict arose, I was defeated every time. I really didn't fight a very good fight."
• And a third will say, "Praise God, it was a hard but glorious year. The Word of God came alive for me and helped time and time again to overcome temptation and hold to Christ. It wasn't always easy, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord.

"Whichever one of those groups you are in now, remember this: by the grace of God, this day is only a rehearsal of the end. His mercy is opening before you a new life in 1981 (2011), and you can enter it and finish as a victorious fighter if you will declare yourself from your heart as one who now renounces Satan's power and self-reliance and who trusts Jesus Christ for all his word." 

~John Piper

A Sweeter, Better Life

God never places us in any position in which we cannot grow. We may imagine that He does. We may fear we are so impeded by fretting petty cares that we are gaining nothing; but when we are not sending any branches upward, we may be sending roots downward. Perhaps in the time of our humiliation, when everything seems a failure, we are making the best kind of progress. Look on and look up. Lay hold on Christ with both your poor, empty hands. Let Him do with you what seems good to Him. Though He slay you, still trust in Him, and I dare in His name to promise you a sweeter, better life than you could have ever known, had He left you to 

drink of the full dangerous cups of unmingled prosperity.

~Elizabeth Prentiss, Thoughts Concerning the King

Hot Cocoa and Frame

It's just another thing I love about Little Big Man.  He's read through Chosen by God twice. Holiness by Ryle is one of his favorite books, and the first genre of books finished on his reading list was theology/Christian living.

So last week during the big snowfall, he exits the kitchen after lifting up his cocoa in one hand and Frame's Systematic theology in the other and says with a big grin, "Aah, Frame and cocoa!" 

 I wish I could have gotten a picture of the expression on his face!

"Therefore, theology is not just an interest or hobby that we can add to our list of favorite activities and diversions. It pertains to the whole of our lives, and must shape and inform our thoughts and activities in every sphere of our existence."
~Nathan Pitchford & John Hendryx 

Drifting

People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated. 

—D.A. Carson


(HT: Challies)

What You Must Do in Hard Times

 "I will bless Thee while I live...."

Psalm 63:4

When God has set us in hard places, often our first response is to look for an escape while we grumble all the way.  We acknowledge He's sovereign, but we look for a way around it.  "Thy will be done.." is easiest said when livin' is easy and things are going just as we planned.  Sometimes He leaves us in hard places for awhile...we see no end in sight, and discouragement sets in.  Daily giving thanks for all of His mercies, and yes, there are too many to even name, holds us back from walking in those bitter places, and it's our privilege, our duty, to do so no matter where His good and loving Hand leads us.

"Praising God must be the work of our whole lives; we must always maintain a grateful sense of His former favors and repeat our thanksgivings for them.  We must every day give thanks to Him for the benefits with which we are daily loaded.  We must in every thing give thanks, and not be put out of frame for this duty by any of the afflictions of this present time.  Whatever days we live to see, how dark and cloudy soever, though the days come of which we say, "We have no pleasure in them," yet still every day must be a thanks-giving-day, even to our dying-day.  In this work we must spend our time because in this work we hope to spend a blessed eternity."
~Matthew Henry

Love,

Your Family, God's Way

This is the best book I've read about communication in the family, as well as communication in general.  Wayne Mack's writings reflect His love for the Word and a desire to move his readers beyond knowing....he wants to help you actually apply what you're learning.  His writing is clear, and his suggestions at the end of each chapter are very practical.  You don't finish his books inspired and yet clueless about what to DO.  Most of that "doing" requires being in the Word and knowing what the Word says. 

Your Family God's Way is must reading for anyone desiring more Godly communication in the home and victory in taming the unruly tongue.

Chapters include:

**First Things First--The Maximum Husband and Father

**Something's Happened to Sally--The Fulfilled and Fulfilling Wife and Mother

**How to Grow Olive Plants--Insights into Parent-Child Relations

**I Hear What You Didn't Say

**How to Hear What's Not Being Said

**Small Talk:  The Silent Menace

**Enough is Enough and Too Much is Too Much

and many more.

There is no man-centered counsel going on here, and the book is so rich that it might be overwhelming to consider the many aspects of communication.  I simply read the book through the first time and will now go back through the chapters with more depth while completing the exercises suggested.

Here are just a few of the quotes that caught the attention of my trusty highlighter....

"Simply put, the fear of God is the inevitable response to a growing, Biblical understanding of and relationship with the true and living God who has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ."

"Develop the attitude that God is speaking to you as you read the Scriptures.  Read them as you would a letter from your dearest friend...Receive what the Bible says as coming from your heavenly Father, your personal Savior and LORD, the great and awesome God of creation and redemption.  Don't regard its teachings as abstract rules about life--mere duties to fulfill...see everything in Scripture as an invitation to enter into a deeper relationship with your majestic, infinite Father and Redeemer."

"Real personal fulfillment is a by-product of a God-centered life in which a person becomes and does what is pleasing to God."

"The secret of her fruitfulness is not her dynamic personality, her strong will power, her physical beauty, her pleasant situation, her unusual resources, her good training, her natural gifts, or her exceptional husband or children.  Her admirable life stems from her vital and deep relationship with God."

"A God-fearing wife and mother is a family-oriented person.  Psalm 128 says she is a fruitful vine within the house.  Proverbs 31 emphasizes that this woman takes excellent care of her family."

"In your parenting, provide fences, not straitjackets."

"You can't know the needs of your children unless you give them your focused attention.  You've got to study them, listen to them, talk to them, play with them, think about them, and pray over them if you're going to know what provision they need from your table."

"We must realize that we may misread the nonverbal communication of others.  It's one thing to grant that others err in understanding our actions.  But for some reason we are reluctant to take seriously our own potential for misjudging the actions of others.  All too often, we quickly and dogmatically assume that we have accurately heard what the other person didn't say."

"That's double-bind speech!  We slap people with one sentence and then turn around and cuddle them with the next.  The result is often confusion, frustration, and resentment."

"The person who wants their words to be like apples of gold in settings of silver will deliberate over the what (content), the why (motivation), and the when (timing) of their speech."

 Your Family God's Way encourages you to fix your eyes on Him, bringing honor to Him in all the ways you communicate, ultimately resulting in more communicative and peaceful families.  As always, be discerning.  There are a few areas in which Mack and I diverge, but that doesn't dilute his teaching about communication in any way.  I highly recommend this book, and it's already been added to our "You-Can't-Leave-Home-Until-You've-Read-This-Book" list that we have for our children.

Spurgeon on Reading the Bible

"But what poor reading some of you give to your Bibles. I do not want to say anything which is too severe because it is not strictly true—let your own consciences speak, but still, I make bold to enquire,—Do not many of you read the Bible in a very hurried way—just a little bit, and off you go? Do you not soon forget what you have read, and lose what little effect it seemed to have? How few of you are resolved to get at its soul, its juice, its life, its essence, and to drink in its meaning. Well, if you do not do that, I tell you again your reading is miserable reading, dead reading, unprofitable reading; it is not reading at all, the name would be misapplied. May the blessed Spirit give you repentance touching this thing."

A Simple Reminder

I love Rev. M'Cheyne's reminder that the Scriptures read "both for family and private readings, would be greatly illuminated if they were preceded by a moment's silent prayer" of Psalm 119:18.

So, I made this very simple bookmark to help us each remember to cry out for understanding before we read as well as to remember the joy and the privilege of hearing God's voice first in the morning.

Self-Acquaintance

Self-Acquaintance

by William Cowper

Dear Lord! accept a sinful heart,
Which of itself complains,
And mourns, with much and frequent smart,
The evil it contains.

There fiery seeds of anger lurk,
Which often hurt my frame;
And wait but for the tempter's work,
To fan them to a flame.

Legality holds out a bribe
To purchase life from thee;
And discontent would fain prescribe
How thou shalt deal with me.

While unbelief withstands thy grace,
And puts the mercy by;
Presumption, with a brow of brass,
Says, "Give me, or I die."

How eager are my thoughts to roam
In quest of what they love!
But, ah! when duty calls them home,
How heavily they move!

Oh, cleanse me in a Saviour's blood,
Transform me by thy pow'r,
And make me thy belov'd abode,
And let me rove no more.

This is a Must-See Video!

Watching this will take away less than 10 minutes from your life, but it could truly inspire you to rethink the choices you make each day.  Every day the world is telling us what God calls sin is not sin, and Christians like to play with this kind of fire quite a bit.

I love how Pastor Harris emphasizes what God calls us to really know, and it's not all of the details about evil.  It made me reflect not just on my own heart, but also on the hearts of my children.  Am I being as diligent as I should be in turning them away from evil and to good?  Where do all of the daily influences lead?  And what voices am I listening to to determine what is good and evil?  Is it the Word, or do I too easily give in to the thought that other Christians find certain things acceptable and therefore shrug my shoulders and agree that I should, too? 

It's much food for thought, and it's definitely convicting.  As the song says, bondage to sin is most often a "slow fade" as we let our guards down bit by bit.
~Queen Mom