Challenge Day 2 (& Why, Personally)

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Good morning, good morning … đŸŽ”

Happy August morning, friends! Today is a new day, and the second day of the Writing Life Challenge. What’s that, you say? A challenge? Yes, for the month of August I decided to post daily challenges in hopes of building an online community of people dedicated to encouraging each other daily and challenging each other to grown in our faith in Jesus. If you’re just coming to the blog—or coming back to the blog after a hiatus—you can read about it in my previous posts, and you can access any of the challenge posts in the August Challenge menu (đŸ‘ˆđŸ» in a computer or tablet, đŸ‘†đŸ»on a phone). I hope you’ll consider joining the challenge. But if challenges aren’t your thing, don’t worry—I’ll still be writing regular devotional posts weekly-ish.

In Challenge Me…, I wrote a bit more about my vision for the challenge itself, but when I prepared for this challenge post I realized I never explained why, personally, I decided to do something like this. I’d like to take the time to explain that here, but if you’re in a hurry and just need to get to the challenge, you’ll find that below đŸ‘‡đŸ».

Besides the fact that I just love a challenge—a fact I wrote about earlier this week—my heart’s desire for this blog lately has been to share how to grow in one’s faith. The easiest way I know how to do that is to think about what has helped me to grow—spending time in God’s word and in prayer on a consistent basis—and take that experience and simplify it to fit in a few minutes of your already busy day. Even if you are already consistent about spending time with God, I’m hoping these prompts will help open your hearts to what God is speaking to you. That, in a nutshell, is the most important reason I decided to start a challenge.

But on to today’s challenge…

Inspiration. Yesterday, I introduced the idea of communication and its importance, whether on a vertical level (individual to God, God to individual) or a horizontal level (person to person). The fact is that God wants to be in relationship and fellowship with us, but in order to communicate with God we have to actually talk to—and listen to—him. That talking to piece is called prayer. (Probably obvious to most of you, but some readers may need to know this so please don’t take offense if it is!) The verse that inspired the first few days of this challenge, then, is Colossians 4:2:

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. (NIV)

Yesterday we focused on that little word thankful. We’ll continue with that today, but add in the natural response when we recognize we are thankful for something: praise.

Challenge. Read one of the Psalms of praise: 18, 32, 41, 95, 96, 98, 103, 104, 106, 111, 112, 113, 117, 118, or 145-150. As you read, consider both what the Psalmist was praising God for, and what about God it is that evoked this praise. In other words, take some time to think about who God is. Then, take a few minutes to pray and acknowledge who God is—tell him that you know this about him, and thank him for it. The very act of acknowledging the truths God tells us about himself is an act of worship.

Purple flower. Photo Text: Challenge Day 2—Praise & Prayer

Participate. Comment below or on the Instagram post (@rhondalorraineblog) and tell us what you read and what it taught you or reminded you about who God is. Or if you’d like, take a photo that represents something you have to praise God for, post it on Instagram using the hashtag #writinglifeaugustchallenge, and use the caption to provide your explanation. (If you have a private Instagram account and aren’t friends with me, I won’t see it but feel free to post anyway!)

Challenge Day 1

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Welcome to August and the Writing Life Challenge! This challenge is designed to be a community of people dedicated to encouraging each other daily and challenging each other to grow in our faith in Jesus. Are you ready to jump in?

Photo text: The challenge is here! Join in the fun! #writinglifeaugustchallenge

Inspiration.
Community does not exist without communication, and as Christians one of the things God asks of us is to communicate with him through prayer. So while we spend a few days building a community within the challenge, we’ll also focus on communicating with the Lord using Colossians 4:2 as our guide:

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. (NIV)

Today’s challenge focuses on that little word thankful.

Challenge.
Read one of the Psalms of personal thanks: 21, 30, 34, 40, 66, 92, 108, 116, 138. Use it as inspiration to take a few minutes to thank God for something he has done recently in your own life.

Small wood crate with the words “Be Thankful” on the side. Photo Text: Challenge Day 1, Thankfulness & Prayer. #writinglifeaugustchallenge

Participate.
Post what you read in the comments below, and then either tell us what part of the Psalm spoke to you or tell us one thing you’re thankful for. Or if you’d like, head on over to Instagram and post a photo of something you’re thankful for and give us the info in your caption. Be sure to use the #writinglifeaugustchallenge hashtag!

Challenge Me…

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I woke up this morning and realized something. It’s almost August.

August!

In all practicality, that means the last month of summer. Not by the calendar, of course, but by the academic calendar, which I have lived by for years—first as a student, then a teacher and parent. Because of that, August almost always feels like the end of something. This year, I decided to make it the beginning of something. Something new.

Something I’ll introduce here. In August, I’ll be starting—Da da da dum (imagine drumroll here)—

THE WRITING LIFE CHALLENGE!

Journal, pen, and Bible with the words “Writing Life Challenge” and hashtag #writinglifeaugustchallenge overlaid atop of them

The Writing Life Challenge will be a community of people dedicated to encouraging each other daily, challenging each other to grow in our faith in Jesus.

Let’s break that down.

It’ll be a community of people. That’s right. I’m hoping it’s not just me creating a challenge—I’m hoping others join in, because I believe this is one of the main elements that make for a good challenge. Let’s face it: We need people. The Bible tells us to “encourage one another daily, as long as it is called ‘Today'” (Hebrews 3:13). I find that belonging to a supportive group of people, either in person or online, helps me to continue on and challenges me to do more than I would on my own. There’s something about being held accountable, and about being able to cheer others on when they have victories.

That same verse also defines the purpose of the challenge: encouraging each other daily—simply encouraging each other to keep the faith. But, like I just said, it’s also about challenging each other to grow in our faith. To do things like reading God’s word. Like praying. Like spending time meditating on God’s word, or deliberately applying it in our own lives.

Interested? (I hope so!) Here are the practicalities:

  1. Beginning August 1, I’ll post a challenge each day on @rhondalorraineblog on Instagram, but I’ll also post it in a menu I’ll add to this blog under August Challenge (it’s ready! Check the blog menu). Each challenge will ask you to do something to do with your spiritual walk, like Spend 10 minutes reading your Bible (or, if this is a regular practice, spend 10 minutes more reading your Bible). I’ll do my best to keep the time required for completing the challenge to a maximum of 15 minutes a day.
  2. I’ll ask you to post a response to each challenge you complete on either the Instagram challenge post (in the comments), in the blog’s comments section under the August Challenge, or in your own Instagram post with the hashtag #writinglifeaugustchallenge. This could simply consist of telling us you did it, but on some days the challenge itself may ask you to generate specific content, like an answer to a question or a photo of something.
  3. I’ll ask you to encourage each other by responding to completed challenges—read the comments and respond! Follow the hashtag #writinglifeaugustchallenge on Instagram and like or respond to those. This is how community forms—with interaction and communication.

So what do you say—are you in? I’d love to hear from you!