Brenda Rodgers

Category: Just Me

  • Focus :: A One Word Revelation

    Five Minute Friday

     It’s that time again! Five-Minute-Friday with Lisa-Jo where we write for five minutes – no edits, no revisions, only pure thoughts streaming for five minutes! Thank you for joining me here today!

    Back in January I joined the “One Word” movement that swept over Twitter and blog-world. It may be a movement that has been around for years, but for me it was new, and I enthusiastically jumped aboard.

    I don’t even remember the original One Word I chose and then changed only a few days into the new year. But now, eight months in, I see clearly why God told me that word just wouldn’t fit this time. Maybe next year, but this year my One Word was supposed to be Focus.

    Button made by my talented friend, Melanie, at Elegant Custom Blogs!

    And from that moment on the word Focus came to me time and time again through sermons, Bible passages, conversations, motivational talks, and even through Five Minute Friday.

    When I hear God so clearly I get all “Wow, He really does talk to me!” inside and then realize how deep my unbelief. He has definitely shown that His goal for me this year was to do just what He said all those months ago: Focus.

    I expected Him to show me how to Focus my time, my energy, my passions, and my purpose so that I would be intentional for Him, striving not after my self but after His plan for me.

    What I didn’t expect was Focus into the deep parts of my soul that need to be dealt with before He can use any of the above fully.

    He has Focused my eyes on negativity that has invaded the deepest parts of my being for a while now. Then there is the pride and the anger, too.

    One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Psalm 139:23-24:

    “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

    This year Focus led me down a way everlasting.

    What is something that you need to Focus on more in your life?  

     

    And did you hear? 31 Days of Peace-Filled Singleness is now an eBook being released in October! Sign up for email updates so that you don’t miss any of the details including a chapter overview and a free chapter you can download!

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  • What It Takes to Make Your #OneWord365 Stick

    There’s a community on Twitter that I’m just joining this year.  It was probably around last year, but this year is my year to join.

    The #oneword365 community. One Word. One Year. One Theme.

    Deciding on my One Word wasn’t difficult.  I quickly thought of a word that I wanted my life to represent in 2012.  And it was good.  Maybe a little cliché, but definitely solid and admirable and something I need more of.

    On New Year’s Day I woke up early which is nothing new for me.  I’m an early bird more than a night owl any day of the week.  I poured coffee into the five-inch, wide-mouthed mug and sat down with my new 365 day Bible in my lap and my prayer journal on top.

    As I began to read and pray and study, the #oneword365 that I had chosen seemed exactly what I thought about it days earlier – a little cliché.  As I sat and listened a little longer a new word came to my mind.

    And so my second #oneword365 for 2012 was born.  I accepted this as the word God had given me.

    When John woke up I excitedly told him about my second one word for the year. He already knew about the first one.  He just looked at me with a look that had words painted right onto his face: “We’re not even seven hours into the new year and you’ve already changed your one word?  And you changed it to that?” And honestly, it was a little ironic.

    Sitting in church two hours later the pastor said, “Today we’re going to talk about Focus!”

    John and my eyes darted to each other.

    Focus.  My #oneword365!

    What It Takes to Make Your #OneWord365 Stick:

    1. Direction from God in choosing it.

    2. Wisdom on how to incorporate it into your life.

    3. Discipline to keep it in the forefront of your mind.

     

    What is your #OneWord365?  How did you choose it?

  • College Football . . . Around Here, More than a Past Time

    When I met my husband four years ago, this is how he introduced himself,

    “Don’t bother inviting me to a wedding on a Saturday in the fall because I won’t be there!”

    And this is exactly what he meant.  This statement was actually the source of our first big fight as a married couple when my best friend got married that year, in September, during one of the biggest games of the season, but that’s a story for another day!  With that one exception, in the fall we always block off the weekends to watch our beloved Georgia Bulldogs! 

    John grew up going to the Georgia football games and spent many days in the front yard pretending to play football in Sanford Stadium.  We both went to the University of Georgia (now a long time ago), and we got married in the chapel on campus.  So for us it is more than football, it is more than a team, it is more than a school.  It is a central point from which so much of our lives originated.

    So today begins college football season for the Georgia Bulldogs!

    The Menu:
    buffalo chicken dip
    buffalo wings
    sliders
    chocolate chip cookies

    The Decorations:
    black table cloth
    red Carnation bouquet
    Bulldog plates and platters

    The Game:
    In The Georgia Dome in Atlanta
    8:00 PM
    (for us – in front of the T.V.)

    Does your family have a past time that is more of a representation of who you are than just something to do for fun?