Day 15: Purge Your Pantry of Harm

In today's world we have too many choices.  I think we can all pretty much agree that the choices we have to make some days can be absolutely overwhelming.   Food for our family can be one of those areas. Today's families are constantly on the go and often convenience comes before healthy choices.  Realizing that God really cares about what is going into my body and what I am putting in my family's bodies really gives me a new found perspective on this subject. Some times it will be easy to make the healthy choice and other times we need to ask God for the self-control and knowledge to make the healthiest decision.  For those of you who struggle with this along with me, let's make a conscious choice to go the extra mile to fill our temples up with the quality foods God has provided and go the extra mile to "bring food not harm."  Does anyone have any healthy suggestions or recipes they would like to share? 

Proverbs 31:14-15

She is like the merchant ships,

    bringing her food from afar.

She gets up while it is still dark;

    she provides food for her family

    and portions for her servant girls.

Day 12: Be Diligent

No more snooze buttons for this group.  "This is the day that The Lord has made.  I will rejoice and be glad in it."  Our feet have hit the ground and watch out world!  The women of the Proverbs 31 study are up, ready to take on this day, this world and everything it has to offer us in the next 24 hours.  Lord we will seek you again tomorrow to fill us up with your living water and renew our Spirit but we will use everything you have given us for this moment and this day to help serve those you put in our path today. We are choosing to be positive, helpful and trustworthy women.  Are you starting to feel refreshed by what you are learning in this study?  What has been the most helpful for you? 

Day 10: Devote Yourself to Prayer

Can you imagine spending 2.5 hours in prayer a day? It becomes a greater possibility when we hand everything over to God in prayer throughout our day.  Give it all to Him, the good, the bad and the ugly.  God already knows what we need, He wants to hear from us and He is patiently waiting. Don't forget prayers of thankfulness for those things that make our day a bit brighter and a little easier to handle.

Did you get a chance to ask God what His priorities in your day are?  Not surprisingly His list and mine were quite different.  Live today keeping God and everything He wants for us in the front of our mind in everything we do or say.   I can only imagine the things I will want to change in myself by the end of today to become more like Christ.

Day 9: Stay Planted in the Word of God

Heavenly Father, today I pray for each of us that we are able to stay focused on our own life's blooms rather than being tempted to compare ourselves to our neighbors.  We ask for encouragement to persevere when the results of our faith are not as instant as we would like them to be.  Father, we ask the Holy Spirit to show us how to sink our roots deeply into your word and allow us to become the version of the Proverbs 31 woman you seek for each of us.  Help us be patient in order to prosper in the season you will provide for us to flourish in strength and dignity.  Lord, today I pray today's affirmation over each of these women to study your word so their lives are fruitful and full of prosperity.  

Day 8: Become Consciously Selective

Every day we are bombarded with unlimited choices with varying significance on our life.  I didn't realize how many of mine personally are made mindlessly until I really sat and thought about the ones I make on a regular basis.  After rating myself in the 9 areas listed I realized I have some work to do in becoming more selective in many areas of my life even beyond those.  It's so easy to let time get away from us with the constant distractions around us and live in a constant state of mindlessness.  These days technology can influence so many of the decisions we make in every area of our lives and we don't even realize it.  Our Heavenly Father wants us to be consciously selective in every area of our life because everything we do matters to Him and He wants us to fill our bodies and lives with good, God honoring, things.  I am ready to allow the Holy Spirit to heighten my awareness to every choice I make.  Do you feel like you already live "consciously selective" in areas of your life and what do you do to make those choices more consciously? 

Proverbs 31:12-13

She brings him good, not harm,

all the days of her life.

She selects wool and flax

and works with eager hands.

 

Day 5: Choose to Focus on the Positive

Most days are anything but peaceful for me and by the time bedtime rolls around for my kids I am ready to find some rest from my day.  While there are days I like to feel just a little sorry for myself.  I never find that does me (or anyone around me) any good.  In our world it's easy to get caught up in the negative.  Just watch the news, it's enough to bring anyone down no matter what kind of day they have had.  As women of God we have a choice each and every day before our feet even hit the floor.  We choose what kind of day we are going to have and that choice is going to influence every person in our family and every person we walk past, drive past, look at or bump into.  Let's reprogram our minds to see the glass half full and what is right in the world that surrounds us and allow God to speak His truth through the Word of the bible into our hearts.  What kind of things have you done in the past to reprogram your mind towards the positive or what are you going to try in order to shift your thought process?

Day 4: Be a Woman Worthy of Confidence

Knowing and understanding our weaknesses is so important. Is there something holding you back from becoming the woman God has called you to be? First and foremost we need to make sure we are blessing God with our thoughts, words and actions. What better way to do that than to bless those around us, our family, friends, co-workers, the cashier at the store and who knows who else.  We have the ability to help God touch so many lives each day, let's be an asset to God bringing good to this world.  Is there something little that God encourages you to do each day that has made a big difference in your life and has made an impact on the lives of others?

Day 3: Meditate on God's Word

Let's allow the Holy Spirit to transform us with the Word from the inside as we let it purify our thoughts ultimately bringing us closer to our Heavenly Father.  I don't know about you but I am ready to store an abundance of God's word in my heart so I can tell the enemy just how wrong he is about my God and I.  What a liar he is! Each day he tries to convince us of new hurtful and deceptive lies.  Let us all renew our commitment to the Word as Donna Partow suggests.  Let us delight in it, meditate on it and store it up in our hearts so when we need it God's Word flows freely and naturally from our mouths.  Do you have a go to scripture? Please share it with us.

Day 2: Commit Yourself to Time Alone with God

As women, each day we are pulled in a thousand different directions.  Everyone around you is demanding your time and attention approximately 99.9% of your day.  Well, maybe not that much but some days it can sure feel like it.  We do our best to make everyone around us thriving but normally we put ourselves on the bottom of the list and sadly God also finds himself there quite often.  We would all like to believe that we can skip out on our time with God and pick up where we left off.  Besides, he knows how much we have on our plate, right?  We need to ask ourselves if our earthly relationships would flourish if we didn't take the time to nurture them regularly? The answer will always be, no.  The same is true for our relationship with God.  He is ready to meet us where ever and when ever every single day.

I don't know about you but I'm ready to to get my priorities straight and set the tone for my day before I hit the ground running.  God is ready and waiting to bless each of us in this time we devote to him every day.  I can't wait to hear the creative oasis ideas.  Please share where and when will you be meeting with God each day?

Proverbs 31:10-11

A wife of noble character who can find?

She is worth far more than rubies.

Her husband has full confidence in her

and lacks nothing of value.

 

Day 1: Place Your Full Confidence in God

I don't know about you but I am personally better at picking out my personal flaws than something complimentary or unique to me.  If you struggle with this ask a couple people who know you best to get you in the right frame of mind and ask God in prayer.  After all, who knows us better than our Heavenly Father?  Feel free to share your two unique qualities with the group so we can be amazed by the diverse group of women God has brought together in this study.

What You'll Need

I'm not sure if you've received your copy of Becoming the Woman God Wants Me to Be or had a chance to look it over.  Just in case you haven't there is a list of items you will need during this 13 week study when we begin this Monday:  

• a daily planner/organizer designed to hold 5.5" x 8.5" paper.  If you can not afford a professional organizer Donna Partow suggests a three-ring binder.  
• 5.5" x 8.5" filler paper
• monthly calendar
• five blank tab dividers
• pocket pages (some with and without zippers)
• single-hole punch or a hole-punch specifically designed for your planner

When picking out your organizer out be sure it's something you feel comfortable carrying with you everywhere you go for these next 90 days.  If you have any more questions regarding these items and how to assemble them please reference page 19 of your book.  We will be putting most of it together as we journey through this study. 

Week one we will build our Faith Foundations.  We will learn how to place our full confidence in God, commit to alone time with Him, meditate on His word, build our confidence as women, focus on the positive, complete our weekly checkup and reflect on our week. 

Enjoy your weekend and we look forward to hearing about your personal growth and any comments or questions you may have.  We pray that God blesses you abundantly through this study.

Welcome

Over the next 90 days we will be studying Becoming the Woman God Wants Me to Be and are excited to embark on this life-changing and life-challenging journey with you.  Beginning Monday, June 16 we will begin to discover the women God has called each of us to be. Donna Partow will help us explore our faith, family, fitness, personal appearance and fashion, finances and retirement planning, household management, ministry, business and self-management. While some subjects may sound intimidating and others intriguing we can all become more spiritually healthy by devoting a part of our day to God.  We look forward to hearing what you take away from each day or even if you have a question or two.  Please invite anyone who you think might be blessed by this study to join us in going through this 90 day Proverbs 31 Life challenge.  God bless you in these next 90 days, we pray that they are life changing!