Your Attention, Please

I think about my blog a lot.  I write about five posts a day in my head.  Couldn't tell it from my 0.9 posts per week, right?

The problem is that, well...how do I put it?  Remember how I told you about God breaking ground in my life? As a result, many of my beliefs, opinions, convictions, or whatever you choose to call them go against the grain.  And so, for fear of hurting someone's feelings, I don't write anything at all.

Nada.

Zilch.

Which is really frustrating because you either believe something or you don't.  I am not being true to myself or to my readers if I don't write about who I really am and what I think about things.

Things like marriage, submission, feminism, dress, child rearing, education, religion, and the list goes on and on.

Maybe it's because I know most of my readers.  People I went to school with, or to church with, or are family.  People that I see on a somewhat regular basis.  And so, I let fear of what some of you might say or think, rule what I write about.

But.

This is my blog.  About my life.  And I'm purposing to take a very deep breath and write.  Write whatever it is that I'm thinking about.  No matter how controversial the issue.  And if it offends you, please know that is not my intention.  And if you think I'm crazy, well, you won't be the first! 


Now don't be getting worried I'm going to actually publish five posts a day.  Chances are I'll stick to my 0.9 posts per week.  After all, I do have a busy husband, four children ages five and under, homeschooling to do, a dog, some chickens, hu-mon-go-longous mounds of laundry and dirty dishes, dusty baseboards, dust bunnies, piles of ironing to be done, stacks of books to read, and much more.  I'm not sure I could fit the 2.3 hours it takes me to write a post into my schedule.

So now you know.  I've been a big chicken.  Not any longer.  I'm going to throw my neck out there and write with no fear!

Yeah, right.  Who am I kidding?  I'm reconsidering publishing this post.  You can't say I didn't warn you, though......  :)

Breaking Ground

When I was thinking about starting a blog, one of my biggest concerns was the title. I racked my brain trying to think of something that spoke to me. I wanted something that jumped out at you; something that made you think, "Why did she pick that title?" And I also wanted something that was biblically related.

There is a local Christian group (which I love) and their name is "Breaking Ground." And, yes, they have Hosea 10:12 as their title verse. I didn't really copy their name intentionally. It just kind of happened that way.

One night, as I was reading through Hosea, I came across verse 12:

Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

It just spoke to me. I thought it was the perfect title because God has broken a lot of ground in my heart and life in the past couple of years.

For me, the title speaks of personal experience and longing. Longing for the fallow ground of my heart to be broken up so God can rain His righteousness down on me.

Strong's Concordance defines fallow as "freshly plowed land." Land is allowed to lie fallow so it will become more fruitful. When it is in this condition, it quickly becomes overgrown with thorns and weeds. The cultivator of the land must be careful to clear the field of weeds before sowing seed in it.

Charles Finney answers the question of what it means to break up our fallow ground. He says:

To break up the fallow ground, is to break up your hearts, to prepare your minds to bring forth fruit unto God. The mind of man is often compared to the ground in the bible. The word of God is the seed sown there, the fruit representing the actions and emotions of those who receive it. To break up the fallow ground therefore, is to bring the mind into such a state that it is fitted to receive the Word of God. Sometimes your hearts get matted down, hard and dry, until there is no such thing as getting fruit from them until they are broken up, and mellowed down, and fitted to the Word. It is this softening of the heart, so as to make it feel the truth, which the prophet calls break up your fallow ground.

God has exposed so many opinions, views, and beliefs I held that were not in line with what the Bible says. We often form opinions or beliefs about things and never search God's word to see what He might have to say. Culture, society, and even religion shape and mold so much of what we believe and we don't even realize it. Our hearts do get hard and dry to what Scripture actually says about many issues because we aren't willing to examine them in light of Scripture.

How do we break up this fallow ground? Again, Finney says:

If you mean to break up the fallow ground of your hearts, you must begin by looking at your hearts: examine and note the state of your minds, and see where you are. Many never seem to think about this. They pay no attention to their own hearts, and never know whether they are doing well in religion or not; whether they are gaining ground or going back; whether they are fruitful, or lying waste.

To do all this, you must set yourself to work to consider your sins. You must examine yourselves.

Self-examination consists in looking at your lives, in considering your actions, in calling up the past, and learning its true character. Look back over your past history. Take up your individual sins one by one, and look at them.

It's never easy to examine ourselves; our actions, attitudes, and intentions but that's what we must do to prepare our hearts for His word and His work. The breaking process wasn't and isn't easy. I stumble and fall and resort back to old thoughts and patterns daily, but His mercies are new every morning. I'm slowly learning to lean on Him through it all. Learning to recognize areas that I'm trying to go it alone, instead of letting His grace and love lead me.

You see, I want to have a teachable spirit. I want to be conformed to the image of Jesus. I want people to see Jesus in me. For others to see the fruit of the Spirit. If things in my life don't line up with the Bible, I want to change those things. Phooey on the popular trends, latest psychology, or cultural and religious norm. I don't care if every one else is doing things another way. If it means persecution or ridicule, so be it. It's temporal. I need to focus on the eternal, for that's what really matters.

My prayer is that God would reveal areas of my heart that need breaking and that I would allow Him full reign over every area of my life.

Drum Roll Please..........

Ta-Da! My first post on my new blog! Welcome to our little corner of the world. I am Jennifer, married to Austin, and we have three adorable kids: Luke (01-05), Chloe (06-06), and Jacob (04-08). Life is pretty crazy around here these days, but we are loving every minute of it.....okay, most of the time. :)

Six months ago, I didn't even know what a blog was. The term "blog" still sounds funny to me. One day, while doing some internet searching, I stumbled upon a blog about living frugally and now I'm hooked! I have been challenged, encouraged, and inspired through the few blogs I read.

One night, through a few links from one site to the next, I clicked on a blog title that sounded good: Divine Calling. I found out our children were very close in age and we shared the same heart for our families. I was surprised to see we both lived in Georgia, so I decided to drop her a short email. Long story short, we live about 20 minutes from each other and get together often. I consider her one of my dearest friends. God used her blog to answer my prayer for a like-minded friend whose passion was God and family. Isn't God good?!

When Austin suggested I start a blog, I initially laughed it off. "I'm not a writer. I'm terrible at punctuation. What would I write about? No one wants to hear what I have to say." (I think he wants me to jump on my soapbox here rather than when he's trying to go to sleep.) But the more I thought about it, the more the idea intrigued me. I started playing around on Blogger and well- here I am!

Let me be the first to say, we are a normal family with normal struggles. I am a nothing more than a rotten sinner who has been miraculously saved by the marvelous grace of God. He has placed in me the desire to serve Him in all I do. I fall short daily and have to die to self daily, sometimes minute by minute. Sometimes I don't do so well at dying to self-other times, I don't die at all. I am continuously seeking His help and His grace.

Through this blog I hope to share a little about our personal lives, as well as make you smile, encourage you, and challenge you (In a good way!). It is my prayer that at least one life will be helped by something I might have to share. Until next time, here are a few family pictures for you to enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by!

Our little munchkins in their pj's while mommy tries to get pics for the Christmas card.

Jacob stuck under the couch!

Daddy, Luke, and Chloe eating popcorn on our first movie night

"I'd Rather be an Old Time Christian"