A Net in Time

Curriculum and book reviews, faith, homeschooling and more!

Book Study

Lord, Don’t You Care?

By 10 Comments

Today I am reading from “Having a Mary Heart in a Martha Word”.  This week chapter two “Lord, Don’t You Care?”

I have to admit, when I read that title I have to think back to a conversation I had via email with a gal this morning.  She mentioned she’d been struggling with health needs lately and wondered in God even heard her prayers anymore. And it’s hard you know?   To be struggling with a health issue and seeing no end in sight, with doctors that are stumped about what is going on.  Dealing with the pain and frustration, sometimes it seems as if God doesn’t really care.  That he’s too busy minding everyone else to notice the difficulties you are having.  So have that on my brain as I enter into this chapter.

You know what popped out at me?    Our desire as people that Life be fair.  That everyone shares the same load, pinches in to get the work done, that suffering is equalized… or at least not something that “I” as individual doesn’t have to worry about.

And when life doesn’t seem fair… it’s easy to get angry or bitter or spill over with sour grapes at the “unfairness” of it all.  Becoming self-focused, taking our eyes off God and putting them on ourselves.  It’s a great way to not see the bigger picture isn’t it?  It’s a great way to start asking “but God, this isn’t fair.   Don’t you care about me at all?”

Be mindful of the three D’s that Satan uses to accomplish this situation: Distraction, Discouragement, Doubting.

Distraction: Something that draws you away from what’s most important.  What is it that distracts you from God and learning more of him and living it out?   Figure it out and find out how to minimize it, to refocus your attention back to where it should be,  

Discouragement: When you are distracted from what should be the main thing, it’s really easy to get discouraged, to become fearful and downhearted, to start saying “poor me”. Just as God came to help Elijah when he was downcast in Spirit and helped him, God will help us as well.   He gives us Needed Rest, A Different point of view, A Renewed Sense of Patience, People to encourage us, and Time.  …. that last one eh?   Sometimes he does it all at once eh?  

I remember so often in my life when I was getting too stressed or too busy or whatever and God would allow something to happen… an accident with the car (TWICE!), a sick dog or something that would just make me have to stop, refocus, talk to God, and take some time.. and you know what… every time something like that happened I’d have something to talk about with people… and be able to gain some perspective on life again.  A good thing to do eh?  That’s God, caring for his folks. 

What is always comes down to is this… do we trust God?  Do you?  Do I? 

Do I trust God enough to realize that even through the hard stuff God still cares.  He still listens.  He still minds us full well.  Even when life is hard, situations are challenging, health is suffering, and so forth. Do I trust him?   And if I trust him…. what difference does that make in my life eh?   Ah… it means if I trust him I see his goodness more clearly.  Did you know that?  It’s a cool side-affect of trusting God.  If I know that he has got the situation covered, I am better able to cope, I am better able to see how God has blessed me and allowed me to see needs in others more clearly and oh… his terminal, everlasting goodness to me.  It blows my mind sometimes how this works.   It really does.  God is so good.  We just have to keeping looking at him and for me and seeking him out in everything.. even in our pain, even in our busyness, even in the sorrows… He’s still there caring and loving and being mindful.

Want to follow along?   Amazon Link.

Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World: A Tale of Two Sisters

By Leave a Comment

 38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But
Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and
said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?
Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”  (Luke 10:38-42)

Author Joanna Weaver takes this story and draws us in, describing to us the conflict we feel as women.  Needing to work and to mind our jobs and our families and yet, desparately needing to spend time in the word, time with our Lord and Saviour, learning and growing in him as well.   But sometimes that just feels like yet one more thing to add to our list of things to do.  

Here we find Martha, hard at work, caring for 13 men, minding the servants, the meal prep and all that needed to be done, feeling frazzled and looking for help, and what does she find?  Her sister, apparently chilling out, just sitting there listening to the men talk.  GAH…how frustrated she must have been, so frustrated in fact that she appealed to her guests to get her sister to help her with her work, and then she is told “Mary has chosen the good portion”.

Oh… I can just see Martha’s heart.  So frustrated, so needing help, and she’s told that she hasn’t chosen correctly.  That her layabout sister has done it.

How hard that would have been for her to hear eh?

But do you notice something…that’s not what Jesus said.
All he said was “Mary has chosen a good portion and it will not be taken away from her.”  He didn’t say that Martha had done wrong.  He didn’t.

Ms. Weaver goes on to tell us that Martha had this choice as well. To choose to stop and listen, to take in the words of the Lord.  She had that choice, perhaps not an easy choice, but a choice none the less.  Her service was NOT discounted… HEAR THAT. 

Therein lies the dichotomy though eh…that ying yang.  Knowing that sitting and listening is  GOOD PORTION, but that doesn’t negate the service we do. BUT that serving and doing that we do and that comes so easily, doesn’t negate the necessity of the listening and learning that we need to do as well.  

So the question is this: How do we find that balance?  How do we make time for that good portion?   Even when it is so hard to do so.  HOW?

Put first things first.  Get off the performance wheel.  The “I need to do this thing”.  Seek after the Lord, see the importance of learning from him first.  God wants us to “be still and know that he is God”.

Remember that salvation is about what you do…it’s all about what Jesus did.  That’s what it comes down to.   If we remember this truth, it will help us to stop and be still and know God. 

So come and rest.  Come, sit, listen, learn.  Do the right thing first.

This post may contain affiliate links – using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool – thank you!

©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time . We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites

Writing … is it your Identity?

By 4 Comments

On Being a Writer asks me this question:
What is my identity?   Do I identify myself as a writer?

I have to admit, I find that a hard question to answer.  


On p 19 I found this line
“If you demonstrate the intent and effort of a writer day after day yet hesitate to refer to yourself as such, take time to reflect on your journey.  You might realize you’ve crossed a threshold, or identified a moment, or experienced an event that affirms you in this role.”

And then on p 20
“If you haven’t felt it or said it, it’s time. Say it: I am a writer.”

GAH…I have such a hard time saying that.
I can easily say I’m a poet.  Writing poetry comes to me as naturally as breathing, so that I can do.  I can say I’m a poet.  

So why I ask, why is it so hard to extend that thought and call myself a writer? 

I’ve had an article I wrote I did published in a small book. I write on my blog almost every single day.  I love to put words to paper and I love to let word prompts spill out of me in the form of poems and thoughts.  It’s FUN!

You know what it comes down to?  
I read what others write and I think…boy… they did a great job on that.  I could never match that.  Never.  See how they put that turn of phrase, see how they made the character come to life, and WOW..they had an awesome introduction to that review product..makes me want to go right out there and get it!    

And I don’t see myself that way you know?
I don’t see anything I do as particularly awesome.   Sometimes I see it as well done, or I conveyed what I hoped to.  But nothing something that might inspire someone else in their writing journey.

Now…if I could inspire someone in their faith journey.. that would very cool indeed!  Wouldn’t that be just the very best thing?  Perhaps if I knew I did that…then just maybe I’d see myself as a writer.  

Until then maybe I’ll just be content to call myself a poet..who also puts together reviews, devotionals and other bloggy posts.  🙂

If you’d like to know more about this book On Being a writer, you’ll be pleased to know that Amazon.ca   or Amazon.com sells it.

This post may contain affiliate links – using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool – thank you! ©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time . We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites

Book Study Choices

By 2 Comments

So here’s the scoop, you know how I went to a writers’ conference?  Had fun, bit overwhelming, but overall it was FUN!  And…. I’ve recently finished reading A Pearl Seeker and have been wondering what my next book project should be.  

I picked up a writing book there (Writing Tools) and  recently Raincoast sent me a book called “Pep Talks for Writers” and then I have a book that I got called On Being a Writer.  I looking through these books I thought, hey…might be fun to do a series on writing.  


Thought maybe, I’ll do it on Thursday, and just kinda skip around bit. I’ll learn something, you’ll learn something and that’s a wonderful thing is is not?  Should be fun especially when I was looking through Pep Talks and came across this line that I like

Neat line eh? It spurs on my thoughts, about writing how I want to write and not doing what others expect.   It’s good to have that self-assurance eh?  Can’t say I’m completely there yet, but ah… I want to be!  🙂

Of course a bit of a monkey in the wrench is this book: Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World. This book is tugging on my heart strings as well…so it’s honestly really hard to decide what to do eh?   

Maybe, ah, just maybe I’ll have to just share from whatever book grabs my fancy each week?  Hard to decide, when I have so many options to choose from eh?

This post may contain affiliate links – using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool – thank you! ©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time . We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites

A Pearl Seeker: To Know God is Real

By 2 Comments

The other morning friends of ours stopped in for a bit.  I dearly love this lady and her hubby, they are sweet people with a strong heart for the Lord God.  It is always a good thing to spend time with them.   We can easily talk about the things of God, as well as the things in our everyday lives (I’m not trying to make them sound different or separate) it’s just that sometimes it’s easy to have friends that are only in one aspect of your life and not in both.  This couple is very real and know that God is real too.  

Anyways, the opening section of this chapter made me think of them, about our need to see the realness of God.  How we can’t know him, if we don’t take the time to understand him, and learn about him and spend time with him.   God needs to be real to us.
AND if God is real to us, we aren’t content to just let him slip through the cracks, we find ourselves wanting to spend more and more time with him. If God’s reality isn’t as clear to us, it’s easy to skate by with the bare minimum… not attending services, not studying his word, not doing most anything.  BUT the more we spend in the word, the more we want to know God’s goodness and grace and favour and see more and more how we can better live for him.   It’s actually pretty amazing how that works out. 
Remember these words from Colossians 3:16:
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
Let the word dwell in you.. live it out.  Show it, sing it, work it out, Let it dwell in you.  Christ’s word, all it’s fullness and richness. 
Be an adult Christian, not baby fed.  Seek out God’s truth, be active in your faith.  It’s important.  Know who God is by looking for him in the word that he has given us.  LOOK for him.   Don’t accept the tidbits others offer you…but really LOOK.

This post may contain affiliate links – using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool – thank you!

©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time . We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites

A Pearl Seeker: Seek to be Ready

By 2 Comments

Women, help each other. The preamble to this chapter talked about the need for women to mentor each other.  To be willing to love each other, step into each other lives, to be to others what we would have them be to us. 

Matthew 25 reminds us to always be ready. To be ready for the Lord to return.   Seek always to be ready. 

It’s an active readiness you know…not one that counts on someone else to be ready, you need to be ready yourself.  No leaning on others readiness, it’s one of your own preparedness.

You need to be prepared for it taking longer than you expect, or coming sooner than you thought. 

So stay alert, be ready, don’t be sleeping.   The Bridegroom is a coming!

This post may contain affiliate links – using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool – thank you!

©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time . We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Pearl Seeker: The Hands of Time

By 2 Comments

My life is but a weaving
Between my God and me;
I cannot choose the colours
He weaveth steadily
  (part of a poem quoted by Corrie Ten Boom)

Time.

The essence of this chapter is time…use it or waste it.

God gives us all this time. What are you doing with it?  
Wasting away or … using it for his glory?
This is the question we need to keep asking ourselves.
What is our purpose?
What are we doing with the time God has alloted us?
If we don’t mind it, when we turn around we’ll have fritted it away on meaninglessness. 

Do you want that?

If not.. MIND you time!  Don’t waste it.  Further God’s kingdom!

This post may contain affiliate links – using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool – thank you!

©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time . We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites