BOOK REVIEW ~ Storyline: Finding Your Subplot in God's Story by Donald Miller

Is your life floating by meaninglessly with no purpose or passion? 

Do you long for goals and ambitions that will make a difference in the lives of others? Then this is the book for you!

Storyline: 

Finding Your Subplot in God's Story

by 

@DonaldMiller

I was introduced to Donald Miller's writing about four years ago through Thomas Nelson's Booksneeze program, when I reviewed Searching for God Knows What. Since then I've read a few more of his books all of which I like very much. I've found Donald's writing style to be fresh, friendly, fast paced and fun. And Storyline is no exception. 

As a writer I've been working on my autobiography for a few years. So when I learned about Donald's new project I thought it might help with my story writing skills. Reading Storyline can help me write a better story about my life, but most importantly it will help me live a better story every day. 

These days I'm working on being intentional and committed to the activities and people in my life. Reading Storyline couldn't have come at a better time to help me be more intentional and more committed to the roles, goals and climactic scenes I want to see in my future.

Storyline is a fun and engaging workbook that goes along with the Storyline conference. But it can also be used for small groups or individual study.  No matter your age, gender or season of life, you will benefit from reading Storyline by Donald Miller. 

I'm excited to put what I've learned from Storyline into practice. It has already given me a better vision for my life and a clearer focus on that vision. I believe my story will be much improved because I read this book. 

I hope you will get a copy of Storyline. I highly recommend it!


Click here to watch an introductory video about Storyline.

What is Storyline? from Donald Miller on Vimeo.

Living Life Lessons: 5 STEPS THROUGH TROUBLED TIMES

Where do you run when trouble comes?

Food? Alcohol? Drugs? Shopping? 

These have been my trouble escapes in the past. Let's look for a better way to press through our troubled times.

In the Living Life Lessons column each month I am highlighting specific lessons God has taught me since I turned my life back over to Him in 2004. Over the last eight years I've watched, read and listened to countless messages by Joyce Meyer. Without a doubt her ministry has been one of the most important influences on my life and has shaped who I am today.

One of the best lessons I learned was from Joyce's sermon titled "Double for Your Trouble." When I watched this video the first time in 2006 our life was in turmoil. I was in the early stages of addiction recovery, my husband and I were trying to repair our marriage, two of our three grown children were estranged from us, and my husband was between jobs. We were having trouble most every day. 

Here are the 5 steps I've learned to apply when trouble comes:

1. Stay Emotionally Stable ~ Our first reaction when trouble comes is usually an emotional one. If you're like me screaming and crying were at the top of the list. On top of that after all the screaming and crying was over I'd have a neck-ache, a backache, a headache and worst of all nothing had changed! Getting emotional in times of trouble only makes things worse. The best thing we can do, for ourselves and those around us, is to remain calm.
2. Trust God ~ One of the reasons we freak out when trouble comes is we've lost our sense of control. This sense of control is just an illusion because there is little in life that we really can control. It's amazing how much better life is when we let go of that obsession and give all the control to God.
3. Pray Immediately to Avoid Fear ~ Closely linked to our lack of control is fear. We must remember that fear activates the enemy's power. So it's critical that we pray right away for God to give us the faith we need to walk through the trouble we face.
4. Keep Doing Good ~ When times get rough it's easy to bail out of everything and just hibernate in our pity party. Whatever we were doing before the trouble began, we must keep doing it. We need to stay on a schedule and faithful to our commitments if possible.
5. Expect a Reward ~ God often allows trouble in our lives to stretch and grow our faith. But in the midst of the trials we must be on the look out for His goodness. It's all around us but we will miss it if we stay consumed with emotionally driven fear and worry.

My husband and I have lived according to these principles for the last eight years. We've been through several job changes with moves back and forth across America and worked through family fallout and the consequences of my addictions. Life hasn't always been easy, but by staying faithful to the steps above God has blessed us with many good things!

Every good thing comes from the Father who created all the lights in the heavens. ~James 1:17  

Click here for this week's awesome music video from @TheAfters upcoming album!

Celebrate Discipline : STUDY

Whether college students or students of life, when trying to learn something new we need the discipline of study. It's the same when it comes to our personal spiritual growth. Let's look at how we can become better students of and for God.

Our goal of integrating the Spiritual Disciplines into our lives is to transform our total person; to re-place old destructive thoughts and habits with new life-giving ones. Today we'll learn four steps that will help us make the most of our valuable study time. But first let's look at our definitions for this week:

SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES: habits that nurture spiritual growth; exercises unto godliness.

STUDY: application of the mind to the acquisition of knowledge.

The Bible tells us that we are transformed through the renewal of our mind. And our mind becomes renewed as we apply the things we've learned in new habits. Some of us have naturally good study habits but many of us need help in this area. 

Here are four steps that I learned from Richard Foster's book Celebration of Discipline:

• REPETITION ~ channels our mind in a specific direction by ingraining thoughts. Whether rereading, re-writing or reciting material aloud, repetition always works for me.

• CONCENTRATION ~ our brain's natural ability is enhanced by centering our energies on our subject of study. Remove distractions and find a quiet place where you can focus. Again key for me.

• COMPREHENSION ~ understanding what we are studying is not always an easy task, but when we put the previous steps to work, comprehension is more achievable. Before we know it we have that light-bulb moment!

• REFLECTION ~ once we have defined our subject through comprehension we are ready to bring significance to what we have learned. With reflection we can now apply what we have learned to our life.

Whether listening to audio books, studying nature on a daily walk,  or doing an intense scripture study, there are many ways we can become attune to the message of God's love in our lives. 

One of the most important things I've learned from Richard Foster these last several years is don't get stuck reading only current books or publications. By alternating classic Christian literature into my reading, more depth has come into my spiritual learning experience. Now the classics are my preference.

If you are unfamiliar with Christian classics I encourage you to check out Spiritual Classics by Richard Foster. This excellent book contains excerpts from many of the greatest books ever written. It's designed like a devotional or can be used as a small group study. 

Whatever your do turn off the TV, put down the smart phone and pick up a good book. You won't be sorry!

What's your favorite Christian classic book?

Click here to watch How to Study the Bible with Joyce Meyer and Rick Renner.



RESOURCES:

Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster
Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald S. Whitney
Spiritual Disciplines Handbook by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun

The Road to Recovery :: STEP FOUR

STEP FOUR: 

We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

Let us examine our ways, test them, and return to the Lord. ~ Lamentations 3:40

PRINCIPLE FOUR of Celebrate Recovery: 

Openly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God and to someone I trust. 

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. ~ Matthew 5:8

Step Four begins the growth steps of our recovery journey. We are now ready to come clean, to dig into the areas of our life where we have been blinded by denial.  For our moral inventory it's very important that we stay balanced. We should make a list of our not only our weaknesses but also our strengths.

Grab a pen and paper as we follow Celebrate Recovery's suggestions for processing our Spiritual Inventory. Let's start examining various areas of our life:

• Relationships: 

Who has hurt you? Who have you hurt? Are you seeking revenge / holding grudges?

• Priorities 

What are your priorities? What is good / bad about them? Who do they affect and how?

• Attitudes 

Are you grateful, complaining, sarcastic, anxious, fearful? Do you blow up easily?

• Integrity 

Are there times you have been dishonest? Pretended to be something you aren't?

• Mind 

How do your guard your mind? Do you fill it with unhealthy movies, books or magazines?

• Body 

How have you treated your body? What habits or physical activities do you have?

• Family

How do you treat family members? What family secret are you denying?

• Church 

Have you been faithful to church in the past? Are you discouraging your family from church?

There is much more that we can talk about when it comes to our inventory.  It's my desire here to provide a jump start for your recovery. Please know this column isn't designed to take the place of a 12 Step program. If you aren't already attending a group I encourage you to go to the Celebrate Recovery website: www.celebraterecovery.com  to find a group in your area.

Also, if you don't have an accountability partner yet, attending a CR group will help you to find someone to help you work through your inventory list.  Remember, the road to recovery is not designed to be traveled alone!

I pray God will reveal just what you need to see as your courageously take this step.

Blessings... Tamara

Click here to watch / listen to our Road to Recovery theme song: The Serenity Prayer.

Resources:
Celebrate Recovery Leader's Guide
Celebrate Recovery Bible
The Twelve Steps for Christians
Life Recovery Bible