Think and Grow Rich

I was reading the Bible while travelling on public transport this week.  Some major catch up reading in Jeremiah, as it turned out.  The person who sat next to me was also reading.  His book was called Think and Grow Rich. 

His book was about growing in personal riches in a thoughtful way.  So was mine.  I thought his book, at least from the title, was a bit sad and without lasting hope.  I hope he was doing some reading over my shoulder.

But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,

whose confidence is in him. 

He will be like a tree planted by the water

that sends out its roots by the stream. 

It does not fear whe the heat comes;

its leaves are always green. 

It has no worries in a year of drought

and never fails to bear fruit. 

Jeremiah 17:7.8

Status Report: November

Aghast!  Is it really November?

Eating:  Nothing.  But ate chicken poached in masterstock with rice and veg for dinner.  Delicious.  This has hit high rotation on the menu in our house this year.

Drinking:  Tea.  Of course.

Reading from the Bible:  Jeremiah, the early 100s Psalms and Romans

Reconsidering: my earlier plan for next year of changing from this Bible reading plan, which I've been using for the last couple of years, to the M'Cheyne Bible reading plan.  It seems the M'Cheyne plan is best read at two different times of the day - either two of the chapters with your family and two on your own, or two in the morning and two in the evening.  Sometimes I read my Bible twice in a day.  Mostly I read in one sitting.  Realistically that's how it's going to continue.  And I think spreading myself across four sections of the Bible in one sitting is just going to get too bitsy.  So I think I'll stick with the plan of the last couple of years.  Which has been great.

Reading: Knowing God by JI Packer.  Fantastic.  Will blog about it when I have finished it.  But speaking of Bible reading, my eyes were on stalks when I read this bit from Knowing God in his chapter on wisdom:

Again, it is to be feared that many today who profess to be Christ's never learn wisdom, through a failure to attend sufficiently to God's written word...William Gouge, the Puritan, read fifteen chapters regularly each day.  T.C. Hammond used to read right through the Bible once a quarter. 

Wow!

Delighted: to have received a letter back from Diana Lynn Severance.  I wrote to thank her for writing this book and tried to express how moving and deeply encouraging I found it.  Was glad to find that I had drawn out all the themes she was endeavouring to convey - which was encouraging for both of us.  Have I mentioned how good this book is? 

Over: my irritation.  It is a well known fact that you will hear me exclaim, in too loud a voice, "That's outrageous!" when I catch my first glimpse of Christmas paraphenalia in the shops.  This year's little outburst was heard by those standing anywhere nearby in our local KMart on 28th September.  And really, because of my eccentric behaviour, it has just become funny.  But when I walked into our local shopping centre about ten days ago and saw that they had put up their Christmas trees, lights and decorations in all the malls I was just plain irritated.  For about a week.  I'm OK with it now.  It's November.  It's now remotely close to Christmas.  But it wasn't in October.  Just saying.  And will stop now.

Excited: to be flying in a plane NEXT WEEK!  It's been at least four years since I've been on a plane.  Going on a three day trip interstate to spend some precious time with precious friends, deepening the reservoir of memories we already own together, and sharing in some good times of prayer (and probably quite some tea and coffee), before they head off to do development work overseas for a year or more.  I suddenly realised that I may not see them for a very long time and decided I just had to cross the border, albeit very briefly.

Thankful: to my lovely little family for letting me go.

Realising: that I only have five more Scripture lessons with my three classes at our local school for this year.  Feeling glad that I wished there were more lessons left and not counting down the lessons until they are done.  And wishing that I had more lessons left.

Thinking: about evangelism quite a lot at the moment.  There is a post brewing there.  About finding the freedom to relax into evangelism, about...  Well, I'll write that post some time.

Also thinking: that it's time to finish this update.

Knowing God Vs Knowing about God

I've been wondering what to read next.  I'm going to work through Come Thou Long Expected Jesus again during Advent but wanted something to fill in the weeks between now and December.  So I went to my husband's bookshelves and settled upon Growing in Christ by JI Packer.  I started in on the introduction to read that Packer himself described Growing in Christ as the companion volume to the classic Knowing God.  And I read no further. 

It is time to read Knowing God.  It's one of those books on everyone's list of top ten MUST READS.  I've tried to read it in the past without success.  Now is the time.  I'm three chapters in and it is brilliant! 

Here's a bit I read a couple of days ago.

One can know a great deal about God without much knowledge of him.  I am sure that many of us have never really grasped this.  We find in ourselves a deep interest in theology (which is, of course, a most fascinating and intriguing subject - in the seventeenth century it was every gentleman's hobby.)  We read books of theological exposition and apologetics.  We dip into Christian history, and study the Christian creed.  We learn to find our way around in the Scriptures.  Others appreciate our interest in these things, and we find ourselves asked to give our opinion in public on this and that Christian question, to lead study groups, to give papers, to write articles, and generally to  accept responsibility, informal if not formal, for acting as teachers and arbiters of orthodoxy in our own Christian circle.  Our friends tell us how much they value our contribution, and this spurs us to further explorations of God's truth, so that we may be equal to the demands made upon us.

All very fine - yet interest in theology, and knowledge about God, and the capacity to think clearly and talk well on Christian themes, is not at all the same thing as knowing him.  We may know as much about God as Calvin knew - indeed, if we study his works diligently, sooner or later we shall - and yet all the time (unlike Calvin, I may say) we may hardly know God at all. 
                                                                   
Knowing God by JI Packer.  Chapter 2 page 26

These words were ringing in my ears all the day after I read them.  And I woke up the next morning still thinking about them and feeling slightly ill.  Deeply convicted, I've prayed and I've pressed on.  And I've been challenged and convicted, and yet nurtured and fed.  All in three chapters.

Knowing God along with Come Thou Long Expected Jesus will see the year finished well.  Thereafter I hope to go back and read beyond the introduction of Growing in Christ and then tackle John Owen's Communion with God, thanks to Jean's recommendation. It's been good advice to read short and well - a few short minutes, say fifteen, every day from well chosen titles - which can see you through a handful of good books each year and greatly enriched as a result.  Thanks Jean Williams and John Piper for the good encouragement.

A better prayer

When friends have babies I often pray that the newborn would never know a day in their life when they don't know that God is their loving Father in heaven.  I have prayed that prayer many times.  And not only for newborns.  I continue to pray this for various children, including our own boys and our godchildren.

I have been reflecting on how I became a Christian lately.  And I have heard my husband talk about his journey as a Christian a couple of times during the last week as well.  We share quite similar stories.  At one level there was a defining moment for me.  It was 13th August 1987, about 4pm, sitting by the river.  Ironically I skipped a lecture, the only lecture I EVER skipped at university*, to sit by the river to talk to God and give my life to Him.  I remember it as clear as day.

Yet despite this very particular moment, I have always know God as my Father in heaven.  I cannot remember a time when I did not acknowledge and love God.  My parents didn't go to church but they did send my sister and I to Sunday School each week.  And God in His providence always surrounded me with people who loved Him, even after the days of Sunday School - teachers, friends - there was always someone there asking a hard question, keeping me thinking, encouraging me along and as I now know, praying for me.  As a child my relationship with God was vibrant.  In my teenage years that relationship lost some of its vibrancy.  But I never lost a sense of God.  It was more a case of Him being in heaven and me being here in my life on earth.  Distance...but I never turned away.

And as I have heard my husband say twice in the last week of his story, while I can pinpoint an exact moment when I put myself under God's authority, it is actually hard to discount the nearly twenty preceding years when God continued to be very real and it was only my (I now understand) sinful pride that kept me from fully apprehending what it means to be a child of God.  I still had a relationship with God and He was very much at work in my life, even if I didn't fully grasp it.

I realised this week that during my first 20 years I lived the very prayer I pray for newborns.  There has never been a day in my life that I didn't know that God is my loving Father in heaven.  And for that I am deeply thankful.  But it took 20 years, a handful of faithful people who prayed for me and kept badgering me and also a series of events that gradually eroded my confidence in the things in which I had previously placed my security to understand that that God is my loving Father in heaven and Jesus is my friend, Lord and Saviour.  And I need both, not just the first.

So this week I am praying a better prayer for our boys and for our godchildren and for the various other children who are often found in my prayers, that they would never know a day when they don't know that God is their loving Father in heaven and that Jesus is their friend, Lord and Saviour.  This seems to be a better prayer.


* I went on in that particular unit to fail a mid-semester test - the only assessment I ever failed at university - and barely scraped a pass for the subject - the only subject I ever came close to failing.  Ah, Sociology of Education.  It should have been so interesting...

Status Report: October

Eating...nothing.  But looking forward to corned beef with bechamel sauce and veg for tonight's dinner.

Feeling hungry...because the corned beef smells delicious!

Drinking...water.  Just did an hour or two of weeding and now I'm a bit thirsty!

Reading...Isaiah, the 80s Psalms and Acts from the Bible.

Also reading...The Help by Kathryn Stockett.  A friend gave me a copy for my birthday WAY back in January.  I tried to read it during the summer but just couldn't get on with it at the time.  I think I had just finished with the Nancy Guthrie books at that point and nothing was going to be satisfactory after that.  But I am LOVING it now.  It's on at the movies.  If I get to see it that will be a bonus but I'm enjoying the written version immensely.

Between Feminine Threads and The Help I also read Daughters-in-Law by Joanna Trollope.  I was given a copy of it at exactly the same time Wendy reviewed it here and having been so thoroughly captivated by Feminine Threads, I knew from experience (ie. from my summer experience with The Help!) to follow that experience with something a bit lighter.  I've read Trollope before, including The Rector's Wife!  She spins a good story - always an enjoyable read if you just want to enjoy the story and don't want to have to concentrate too hard - and she is a master of characterisation.   

Listening...to John Piper's sermon "Holding Fast to the Word of God in 2010" once again.  I've listened to it a couple of times in the last month, more for the joy of listening to Piper read all of Philippians out aloud at the beginning.  But the sermon that follows, on the importance of daily Bible reading, is wonderful too.

Wondering...if it is time to put an audio version of the Bible onto my MP3 player?  I'm a visual learner.  I usually don't find just listening to the Bible all that satisfactory.  But having pulled out the John Piper sermon (above) to hear him reading out  Philippians, I am wondering if I'm entering a new phase?

Interested in...some new sermons to download. I have been enjoying John Piper and Tim Keller this year. Has anyone listened to anything really great lately that they can recommend?

Enjoying...the view outside my kitchen window.

Also enoying...the school holidays.  Term three was very busy at lots of levels so it is nice to slow down for a while.  And making a mental note to self to never start a month by saying, "This month should be fairly pedestrian."  We managed a week of pedestrian at the beginning of September before we found ourselves transported from the footpath to the freeway.

Looking forward...to celebrating three birthdays in the family this week.  There would have been a fourth but he and his family find themselves celebrating his birthday in Paris this year.  The rest of us will enjoy a delicious lunch and a browse at the Book Caffe. 

Thanking God...for His goodness and remarkable care of us this last month in so many ways.  Also thanking Him for the adults who genuinely love our boys, not because they have to by association, but because they really do love them in their own right.  And speaking of those boys, so very thankful to God that they are growing up to be such interesting, wonderful young men.

Looking at the time...and realising it is time to hit PUBLISH so that I can make my bechamel sauce and prepare some vegies. 

Proverbs 24:3,4

By wisdom a house is built,
and through understanding it is established;
through knowledge its rooms are filled
with rare and beautiful treasures.

Long haul prayers

When praying for someone long-term, such as a family member, get into the habit of praying for small victories in the form of today's spiritual influence on them. This will prevent vain repetition, as well as get specific and will help you develop eyes to see the answers to these small victories.

This was recently written by Josh Etter on the Desiring God blog here.  

When I first read it I thought this suggestion was REALLY helpful.  I find praying for people/issues over the long term difficult.  I don't think it's a matter of not trusting God to answer those prayers.  It's just plain hard work, it becomes tedious at times and then it drops into the realm of the autopilot. This advice breathes new life into long haul prayers.

Then as I reflected on the advice I began to wonder whether it was a case of modern management practices taking over the things of faith once again.  You know...set a goal, break it down into its component parts, tackle it one small step at a time until the goal has been reached.  This is a helpful model in so many settings.  But is it relevant here - when praying for the big issues over a long period of time...for someone's salvation or for their ongoing health and wellbeing, for the life of one's church or for ongoing gospel opportunities within our communities?

And then I remembered...

Give us today our daily bread.
Matthew 6:11
and
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:34

As a Christian I am exhorted to live one day at a time under God.  Yes, I need to keep my eyes fixed on the end of the race.  But for today I only need grace for today.  And yes, I need to keep my unsaved friend or relative's long term need for a saving knowledge of Jesus in my prayers but they too need specific grace to see God at work in their lives in a way that is specific to today.

So yes, I am very encouraged by this suggestion.  And the added benefit of cultivating gratitude can only help to keep us spurred on in the hard but good work of praying over the long haul.

Pastoral Care

Cathy recently wrote a brilliant post about pastoral care.  Here is a large chunk of what she had to say.

Pastoral care is rejoicing with the joyful and sharing the sorrow of the sad. It's about bearing each others' burdens, while maturing to bear our own. It's helping each other change, in these waiting days, into the likeness of Jesus. This doesn't only happen in a crisis. A lot of good pastoral care will be prevention (training in godliness), and fortifying each other for future suffering.

A lot of hardship, grief and suffering outlasts a brief crisis. Real, long term relationships are what we need.

So perhaps it is helpful to think about pastoral care as all the stuff we all do to help each other persevere and mature, in long term relationships. It's not only what leaders and paid staff of a church do for everyone else, in the crises.

The end of pastoral care is the Day when we see Jesus. The goal of pastoral care is to have people get to that day, loving and trusting Jesus. It's about encouraging each other while it is still called Today, until that day, lest we drift in the meantime.

It's not our job to rescue people and take the mess away (Jesus ultimately does that). Our job is to help them endure through it, leaning on Jesus. Part of that encouragement will be alleviating crises with meals, visits and some solutions. But our care for people in a crisis won't be particularly effective if there is no shared "family" life before and after the crisis.

I really love the distinction Cathy has made between immediate crisis care and the long term pastoral care of helping one another to grow in our maturity in Christ so that we deal with our crises with increasing, God honouring maturity.  I think I am less melodramatic and self-absorbed than I was, say, ten years ago, when a crisis comes upon me.  And I hope and pray that in ten years time I can say the same thing, that I will be less melodramatic and self-absorbed than I am now.  There will always be a place for sensitive practical help for those in tough times.  I know I have been the recipient of many acts of kind and loving care.  But we serve one another well by continually pointing each other to the bigger picture so that we might be better prepared for adversity and then face it when it comes in ways that glorify God.

Feminine Threads - a great book for women and men

I finished reading Feminine Threads:Women in the Tapestry of Christian History by Diana Lynn Severance on Tuesday afternoon.  On Tuesday evening I wrote a letter to Dr Severance to thank her for writing this outstanding book.

Feminine Threads is a church history book.  And there are lots of good reasons to read church history.  If you are a church history novice then this would be a good place to start.  It is a slim volume (just over 300 pages) and it provides a good survey of the history of the Christian church.  There is enough detail to get a sense of the major events and flavours of the various periods of the church, starting with the New Testament era and finishing in current times.  The book was published earlier this year so it's right up to date.

What sets this church history survey apart is that it's told through the stories of the women of the times.  Some of them are the mothers, sisters and wives of famous men in church history.  Others are (or have become) famous in their own right - for reasons ranging from being born a queen through to the powerful testimony of lives well lived despite (or maybe because of) humble beginnings.  

Interestingly, as I turned the pages of this book I observed that many of the women's stories were quite similar.  Don't think for a minute though that this book is repetitive and boring.  What changes is the political, social, economic, theological, geographical and cultural landscape.  And of course each story has its unique blend of personality, relationships and opportunities.  But what is deeply comforting is the repetition of women responding to their enormously varied circumstances with godliness, faithfulness, abiding trust in and dependence upon Him and seeking to bring Him all honour and glory.

It is this that makes Feminine Threads a profoundly encouraging book for women.  I found myself convicted ever more deeply to be praying for those in my midst and I feel warmly encouraged to press on with the humble activities that fill my week, walking in the footsteps of those who have, by faith, gone before me. 

And what's in this book for men?  The opportunity to more fully apprehend God's good plans for women as set out in the Bible and to see that in action time and again through history in order to encourage and build up the women in your own lives who are seeking to live in ways that please and honour God. 

And of course men and women alike get a good dose of church history along the way, which is always edifying. 

Millions of women in following Christ have followed the New Testament pattern of Christian women - lifting up the needs of others in prayer, mentoring other Christians, supporting church leaders, showing hospitality, fellow-labouring as missionaries, supporthing their husbands in Christian work, instructing other women, evangelising and sharing the Word with others, teaching children, and helping those in need and distress. These Christian women were from the poor and rich, from every class of society, and from every continent of the globe. They were not perfect, but they have obtained a good testimony through faith in the One who gave His life a ransom to redeem them for God. They are the feminine threads in the rich tapestry of Christian history

That is the final paragraph of Feminine Threads: Women in the Tapestry of Christian History by Diana Lynn Severance. It summarises the content and essence of this clearly, eloquently and beautifully written book. I can't commend it to you highly enough.  Put it on your Christmas list.  At the top.

Status Report: September

Eating...nothing.  Dinner was not so long ago.  And very nice it was.  Pan fried salmon with vegies and in a rare moment for this household, a dessert of apple and apricot crumble.

Drinking...a cup of tea.  What else?  Only the second for the day.  This one is french earl grey. 

Remembering...a picnic with friends years ago at a botanic park nearby that showcases tulips at this time of the year.  The brief for that picnic - we passed around a picnic recipe book and had to choose something from it as our contribution for lunch.  I made a berry crumble.  Ridiculous picnic food really.  It was dubbed the Merry Berry Crumble.  And thereafter I was dubbed Merry Berry for a while.  That was a special day.  I was remembering that picnic today because I took the boys to see the tulips this afternoon. And these days we only live 10 minutes away. 

About to start reading...Proverbs, the 60s Psalms and John.  Almost finished Job and I think I understand it a little better than last year.  Job truly fears the Lord - and the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.  It seems important to bear this in mind in order to understand what is going on and explains in part why this book falls into the category of wisdom literature.  However I have barely plumbed the depths of it.  There is much more to understand.  In other Bible reading news, I am happy to have caught up on the reading plan.  I was well behind this time last month.

Still reading......"Feminine Threads: Women in the Tapestry of Christian History" by Diana Lynn Severance. I have about 100 pages to go.  It's fantastic.  Stay tuned.

Chuffed...to have collected £2.84 in commission from The Book Depository.  Except they don't send the credit until it reaches £40 so this could take a little while! 

Thankful...for God's blessing of dear family and friends. We were well loved in all sorts of touching and practical ways and were prayed for abundantly during August. Thank you God. Thank you dear ones.

Listening...to a bit of Bruckner.  Mainly his 4th and 7th symphonies, after hearing the latter in a wonderful performance last weekend.  I went with a dear friend who bought me a ticket (and one for herself) to the concert of my choice for my birthday way back in January.  We had fantastic seats and it was really splendid.   Nice to catch up with other friends unexpectedly during the interval as well. 

Excavating...the garden beds from the weeds!  The photo shows last weekend's work, which filled the green wheelie bin.  Blink and suddenly the garden is filled with weeds.  How did that happen?  It did cross my mind that I should have taken a "before" shot but then you can probably tell from the sidelines what it looked like before.  I was so pleased to discover that the plants hadn't been choked to death were alive and well and that there were plenty of earthworms burrowing around.   There are four agapanthus plants in amongst that lot.  Given their good health I am hopeful of flowers this summer, which will be the first time in four attempts at four different houses to get an agapanthus to the stage of flowering.  I know some of you out there think I have a green thumb.  Don't be deceived! 

Needing...to get off the computer and finish preparing my Sunday School lesson for tomorrow evening. 

Copying...Rebecca again.  The Status Report is a fun thing to do.  Sadly there hasn't been much blogging between this status report and the last one.  Not many original thoughts running around my head at the moment.  But life is good.

O Love That Will Not Let Me Go

During the course of our lives there are certain days that will claim extra and special preparation.  I remember one Christmas Eve, I think I was about 14 at the time, when I voluntarily cleaned my bedroom and went so far as to collect jasmine from the garden and place it in a vase on my freshly excavated chest of drawers so that I would wake up on Christmas morning in a room that was beautiful in every way.

That's just one Christmas.  Most Christmases get special attention - practical and spiritual.  Easter too.  There were special preparations leading up to our wedding day and also for the days our sons were born - practical preparations so that these days would go well but spiritual preparations too, hoping that what we said and did on these occasions would maybe whisper the gospel into someone's listening, searching ear.

But what about the day of our death?  A bit hard to prepare for in lots of ways.  Death may come suddenly and unexpectedly.  Or it may come at the end of a long, slow illness or at the end of the gradual process of aging, leaving us too debilitated and tired by the time we get there to do much about it.

But what is death?  For the Christian it is the day we fall safely into the arms of Jesus.  That last breath drawn marks the beginning of glorious, eternal life with our Father in heaven. 

I have recently finished reading O Love That Will Not Let Me Go, the fourth book edited by Nancy Guthrie in a series of collected readings on a given subject.  This one is on the subject of death and bears the subtitle Facing Death with Courageous Confidence in God.  And like the others, it's wonderful. 

It isn't easy reading in lots of ways.  The various writers don't make light of the physical reality and pain of death which makes this book very confronting.  Nor do they make light of the sadness and tragedy of death.  Jesus himself wept when his friend Lazarus died - weeping not just for the loss of his friend but also over death itself, that His Father's perfect creation had become so stained and sullied by sin as to be marred by the ugliness of death. 

For the one who dies loving Jesus, death has lost its sting.  Because when the last breath of life is drawn, the Christian passes away from this life into eternal life with Jesus.  And while this book has plenty to say about the pain of death, it has more to say about the wondrous glory of what lies beyond it. 

But back to the issue of preparing for the day of one's death - because this book is not just about dying well.  It's about living well because therein lies the preparation for death. It is best summarised by the second last paragraph of the book, penned by Richard Sibbes:

Therefore, if we desire to end our days in joy and comfort, let us now lay the foundation of a comfortable death.  To die well is not a thing of that light moment as some imagine:  it is no easy matter.  But to die well is a matter of every day.  Let us daily do some good that may help us at the time of our death.  Every day by repentance pull out the sting of some sin, that so when death comes, we may have nothing to do but to die.

(From "God Reserves the Best for the Last" by Richard Sibbes (page 158) in O Love That Will Not Let Me Go edited by Nancy Guthrie.)

As I said, this book is confronting in many ways.  But it is also rich with comfort, encouragement and hope.  As for all the books in this series, it is definitely worth reading.  And reading it would be time well spent.

Status Report: August

Drinking...a cup of tea. I was recently introduced to black tea with mint. It's delicious. But the weather was too awful to head outdoors for mint leaves today so this is just the usual English Breakfast with a dash of milk.  I've actually reduced the amount of tea I drink lately...and feeling much better for it too.

Thinking...it has been a long time since I posted anything.

Watching...Masterchef and have absolutely loved following the progress of a dear friend's sister competing on it.  But I will be SO glad when Sunday's finale is screened, the tv can be turned off (for a very long time) and the evenings can be reclaimed.  And to the young member of this family who asked if we were going to watch "The Renovators" next, the answer is no.

Figuring...there may be a link between the "Thinking" and the Watching"...

Falling behind...in my daily Bible reading.  (This however is not linked to the "Watching.")  About a week behind at the moment.  Hoping to have caught up by the end of the month.  Currently in Chronicles, the 20s Psalms and Mark.  And loving our current sermon and Bible study series on Deuteronomy.

Wondering...if anyone has used the M'Cheyne Bible reading plan and if so, what you thought of it?  I'm wondering if I will give it a go for next year. 

Reading..."Feminine Threads: Women in the Tapestry of Christian History" by Diana Lynn Severance.  I'm fairly sure I'll be mentioning this one again.

Spurred on...by a post I read about looking to God in prayer for grace for the immediate now and not being concerned with or distracted by the list of things that need to be done by the end of this week or next week.  I can seek His grace for the end of the week things at the end of the week.  It's trying to live out Matthew 6:34. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Anticipating...writing a post on an excellent book I read during the holidays.  Soon.  Maybe after Sunday!!!

Also anticipating...tackling the room in our house dubbed "the horrible stuff room."  It was the room where we lobbed all the difficult to place stuff when we first moved here three and a half years ago.  It has been added to since then, but rarely subtracted from.  I have had the bright idea of giving that room 15 minutes of my attention each week and seeing where I am with it by the end of the year.  Fifteen minutes a week surely won't do me in...

Copying...Rebecca and trying to decide if I will do a status report every month.

When I grow old...

Paul says,

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Don Carson, in A Call to Spiritual Reformation (chapter 11...I've nearly finished the book) says,

Sometimes we can see in elderly folk something of the process that Paul has in mind.  We all know senior saints who, as their physical strength is reduced, nevertheless become more and more steadfast and radiant.  Their memories may be fading; their arthritis may be nearly unbearable; their ventures beyond their small rooms or apartments may be severely curtailed.  But somehow they live as if they already have one foot in heaven.  As their outer being weakens, their inner being runs from strength to strength.  Conversely, we know elderly folk who, so far as we can tell, are not suffering from any serious organic decay, yet as old age weighs down on them they nevertheless become more and more bitter, caustic, demanding, spiteful , and introverted.  It is almost as if the civilising restraints imposed on them by cultural expectation are no longer adequate.  In their youth, they had sufficient physical stamina to keep their inner being somewhat capped.  Now, with reserves of energy diminishing, what they really are in their inner being is coming out.

Since spending time reading A Call to Spiritual Reformation I have been thinking a lot about storing up treasure in heaven...

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 
Matthew 6:19,20

...and where my true citizenship is...

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. 
Philippians 3:20

But before heaven there is the rest of life on this earth.  That will include old age, unless Jesus comes again in the next decade or few.  And to that end, when I grow old I so want to be like the dear folk in the first category that Carson describes, and not in that second group. 

Prayer seems to be important in all of this.  Other things too, but prayer is certainly high on the list.   It's not about duty bound, legalistic, fearful, I'd-better-pray-or-else-I'll-end-up-like-a-cranky-old-person type prayer.  It's about growing a vital prayer life over time, founded upon a deep love of God and a joyful, longing desire to see Him glorified in all of our life.

Do we bring our petitions before God both with a proximate goal (that we might receive what we ask for) and with an ultimate goal - that God might be glorified?  For that, surely, is the deepest test: Has God become so central to all our thoughts and pursuits, and thus to our praying, that we cannot easily imagine asking for anything without consciously longing that the answer bring glory to God?
(From right at the end of chapter 11...there's one more chapter and an afterword to go!)

Vital prayer is definitely a long term project.  Good to be thinking about it now.