Monthly Challenge

Challenge 40
Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
- Matthew 11:28

Let Go: Are you exhausted from the preparations for your move or from having completed a move?

Start Over: Identify those tasks that are particularly exhausting or that you dread doing.

Move Ahead: Make a plan to tackle one or two of the most unpleasant tasks early in the day (or whenever you have the most energy) and reward yourself after their completion with a cup of coffee and a magazine or a walk around the block; whatever your favorite activity. Keep this break to 20 minutes or so and go on to the next task awaiting your attention. Remember to check these tasks off your list as you complete them and enjoy the feeling of accomplishment!
Challenge 39
"Nothing in my hand I bring. Simply to Thy cross I cling"
[Augustus M. Toplady, Hymn: Rock of Ages]

Let Go: Are you starting over? Do you feel as though you have nothing in your hand to bring to your new situation?

Start Today: Cling to Christ. When the familiar supports of friends, family, jobs, church, and favorite places have been removed from your life, cling to Christ.

Move Ahead: Memorize John 15:5, “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” and Isaiah 43:18,19; "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”

Challenge 38
I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back. --Philippians 3:14 (The Message)
Let Go: Is your focus on the home you left behind?

Start Today: A runner cannot win the race, let alone run the race if she is looking behind her. Her focus is forward and her eyes are on the finish line.

Yes, cherish the home and the people you left behind, but do not cling to them in a way that they absorb your focus. God has much in store for you in your new surroundings!

Move Forward: Be alert and be watching for doors that God is opening for you. It could appear in the conversation you have at the grocery store or at your child’s school, it could be in a request for volunteers at your church or community center, or it could be a smile and “hello” that you offer to someone else who looks lonely.

Have you been reluctant to change your driver’s license or paint rooms in your new home because they are acts of commitment to your new community? Do it! Start running forward into your future. God is at your side. No turning back.
Challenge 37
"Have you asked yourself, 'How is this move affecting my marriage?'"
(Susan Miller, After the Boxes are Unpacked)

Let Go: Is the stress of your move having a negative impact on your marriage?

Start Today: Pray about it. Remember, you can't change your husband, but God can!

Move Forward: Love him unconditionally. No strings attached. Show it wih your eyes your smile, your touch.


Challenge 36
...anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it!
2 Corinthians 5:17 (The Message)

Let Go: Are you bogged down with negative thinking and negative patterns of behavior?

Start Today: Ask God for the ability to recognize those negative thought and behavior patterns when they arise. Take those thoughts “captive”: identify them as the “old life”, and ask God to take them and toss them!

Move Forward: In Christ, you are a new creation! Believe it and trust Him for the ability to ACT like it!