12 Free Dates: December
Art Car Museum
Let me be honest. My husband and I never made it out to do this last date in our series of 12 free dates over the course of 2012. December was a super busy month for us, as I am sure it was for you too. Between Christmas parties, various family Christmas gatherings, gift making/buying/wrapping, and learning how to be parents to two children under two years old, we simply did not go out for a date in December. Gasp! 
I just hate leaving things unfinished. So, for the sake of finishing this series, and for those of you who want another idea of something free to do in the Houston, TX area, I decided to go ahead and write this post.
As a Houstonian, I have heard about the Art Car Parade many times but have never seemed to make it out to the event. Then, I found out they actually have a museum with art cars in it that is open year round with free admission. I figured it would be a great place to go just to strike up conversation with my husband about something other than the kids. I imagine that looking at the strange and unusual will be a surefire way to get us talking.
Have any of you been to the Art Car Museum before? If so, I would love to hear your opinions and experiences in the comments section. My husband and I fully intend to go on this date eventually, so your thoughts would greatly help me to better plan the date.
I hope you have enjoyed this series of 12 free (and almost free) dates. As always, please let me know if you have discovered any unique, free date ideas lately.
My apologies that this post is so late in coming. Better late than never, right? 
Bible in 365: Day 365
Well we did it! Can you believe it has already been 365 days since we started reading through the Bible together? What a journey it has been!
Somehow, I must have messed up numbering my blog posts because we do not have a reading for today, considering how we finished with Revelation yesterday. Instead, I wanted to take the time today to thank you for sticking to it.
So, our Bible in 365 goal may be met, but this is not the end. Imagine this was just a small race run in preparation for the lifetime journey of drawing closer to God through Bible reading, Bible study, prayer, and service. I will no longer be blogging daily about my Bible reading, though I may occasionally post something about it if I just cannot keep myself from sharing.
This year, I will again be sticking to the reading plan that my church puts out as there is something extremely motivating about reading the same things as my small group friends and being able to talk through it with others. We do not have our new plan yet, but I have heard it will be less of a “read through” of the Bible and more of a Bible study. We will be taking an in-depth look at a handful of books this next year. I am definitely looking forward to slowing down my reading and focusing more on studying the passages. I am looking forward to really taking the time to think, question, and meditate on God’s word.
But until the church’s new Bible reading plan begins (I heard it will start toward the end of this month), I will be reading some Psalms and Proverbs and mainly focusing on prayer. In fact, this whole year I want to intentionally focus on prayer. Over the past year, I got so caught up in making sure I wrote a blog post everyday that I must admit my prayer life suffered. I am going to read the book Oh God, Please Teach Me To Pray by Leighann McCoy for inspiration and most importantly, I am going to carve out some time every day to actually spend in prayer. What are your plans for continuing your Bible reading over this next year and growing your faith?
And for those of you who were not doing the reading, thank you for putting up with a year’s worth of blog posts about the Bible. I am glad you are still following my blog. My plan for the blog includes a definite break from blogging every day, but I have set a goal to try to write one post a week.
The posts will probably have to do with lessons my children are teaching me, maintaining my marriage, date night ideas, my recommendations for mothers of small children, books I am reading, growing my relationship with Jesus, cooking adventures, the beauty in the world around me, finding the laughter in the ordinary (and sometimes frustrating) day-to-day events, and really any other thing I feel like ranting about in the moment. I hope you will find my posts inspiring and useful. But most of all I hope you will be encouraged to live a life full of joy, the joy that comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Bible in 365: Day 364
Revelation 19-22
“Worship God!” This simple statement is seen twice in our reading today (Revelation 19:10 and Revelation 22:9). What a great way to end our journey through the Bible: to be reminded of our need to give glory and honor to our Creator.
And how wonderful it will be to worship God on that
day where all is revealed! The Bible compares it to a wedding day. The church (the bride) finally gets united with Jesus. “For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.” (Revelation 19:7)
Just imagine. There will be one day where we actually see the face of God! God’s servants “will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.” (Revelation 22:4)
No song brings this more to life for me than the song “Beautiful” by Phil Wickham. I have probably shared it before, but I feel it sums everything up so well. Worship God!
Bible in 365: Day 363
Revelation 12-18
The Lord wins!
The great thing about the book of Revelation is that we now know the ending to the war. We know that Jesus is victorious over Satan. We know that Christians are on the winning side.
“[The ten kings] will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.” (Revelation 17: 14)
What does this mean for our lives today? Well, we all struggle with a battle inside ourselves. Rest assured that, through Jesus, we have the victory. We have already won!
[Our brothers and sister] triumphed over [the accuser] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” (Revelation 12:11)
Take some time to watch this YouTube video of the song “Overcome” by Desperation Band. It brings to light the victory we have in Christ.
Bible in 365: Day 362
Revelation 6-11
More on worshiping God:
Today we get into some really interesting parts of Revelation, and I am the first to admit that I do not understand it all. Oh yes, I could speculate along with everyone else, but when all is said and done none of us are 100% certain how to interpret these passages.
There are plenty of scholars who have spent years studying these passages and still do not agree on the meaning. At some point I am going to study this book more in-depth and look at what those scholars say.
But until then, I will read this book with eyes wide open and revel in the glory and mystery of God. I will continue to worship my creator as the Almighty and All-Powerful God who is in control of this all.
Just look at the beautiful example of worship we see in this book! “Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!” (Revelation 7:12)
And
“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great powers and have begun to reign.” (Revelation 11:17)
This is true worship. This is humility. This is truth about our God.
Bible in 365: Day 361
Revelation 1-5
There is nothing like the book of Revelation to humble a person. When I read this book, I see God’s majesty and awesome power more than in any other book of the Bible.
Yes, Revelation is complicated and full of imagery and symbolism, but there is no doubt about the bottom line: God reigns above all. Even the heavenly beings proclaim praise to Him.
So as we read through Revelation, be taken aback by God in all his power and glory. We even get a glimpse into the throne room of heaven as we read chapter 4 today!
What about you? Are you singing praises to God today? Need inspiration? Check out Revelation 4:8 and Revelation 5:12.
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.”
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”
These verses find their way into a beautiful song of praise by Phillips, Craig, and Dean. Enjoy!
Bible in 365: Day 360
2 John; 3 John
Today we read an entire book of the Bible written for a woman. Woo hoo!!! 2 John is written “to the lady chosen by God and to her children…” (2 John 1)
She is instructed to be aware of false prophets as being anyone who does not acknowledge Jesus Christ.
The lady is also instructed not to take false prophets into her house, thus aiding the spread of lies. Yet, she is also told to “walk in love.” (2 John 6)
How does this apply to us? Maybe we need to be more careful about who we support, whether financially, with our time, or with our praise. We want to make sure we do not offer support to an organization or person spreading lies about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Instead, we want to make sure our hard-earned dollars and our precious time and energy go toward offering support to those people and organizations that are furthering the kingdom of God.
Do you have any organizations that you love to support because you know they are doing God’s work here on earth? My favorites are World Vision, Compassion International, and Carrie’s Heart. Please share your favorites in the comments section.
