A cluster of Thoughts

Yup..I have a cold. It's the most pointless sickness to me because it just drains all your energy but other than that, you're fine. It's so easy to whine about though.

We are slowly packing our house up.. it's not taking as long as I thought, but it's still no fun! The camp sent us pictures yesterday of our new home and it is very small. I was not planning on taking everything with us, but now I think we'll take even less than planned. One awesome thing I noticed is that we have a bathtub! I love me some bubble baths. I am trying to pack by room, for a few reasons. A) So it doesn't seem like such a chore and B) so it goes into the moving truck by room..hopefully easier to unpack. I also dislike unpacking. Maybe I should stop moving so much!! We are praying that this adventure will be the last one for a long time!

Last night at bible study, we were studying James 1. I was so incredibly challenged. I have read that chapter many many times but never broken it out like we did. One part stood out in particular to me; verse 21:

Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. (NIV)

So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls. (NLT)

I like looking up verses in a few different translations, I feel like it helps me understand them a little better. I have verse 19 taped to my computer at work (You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.) because, well, I need the reminder. But, I have never really noticed verse 21. "get rid of the moral filth in your life" .... "accept the word planted in you" these are things that are so equally important as what's taped on my computer. These things require action! Action can be scary, so I think subconsciously we skip over the parts that require action and just remember the passage as a whole; or remember the parts that make us feel warm & fuzzy. This week I plan to take a chunk of time and write out specific ways I see moral filth in my life and actively work on removing them. I know that part of that is surrendering to God every.single.morning. It is so hard for me to do, because I like being in control. But ultimately, I know that when I am surrendered to God, these morally filthy things in my life become a whole lot more noticeable, and start looking more like obstacles in the way of reaching intimacy with my Savior. I think it will be somewhat difficult to admit all the ways I let moral filth sneak into my life. Life is so short though, it will be gone before we know it, and I don't want to look back and wish I had done something to make a change sooner. I have God's word planted in me. How powerful is that? I have no reason to doubt myself!

So as I continue packing up my house, deciding which of my things I need to bring with me, and which to leave behind; I'll also be evaluating what in my life needs to stay and what needs to go.

Do you dislike packing as much as I do? Anyone have some tips to make it a little more enjoyable?

Snapped with my iPhone on my way to work this morning. I couldn't help but share!