Guest Post: Work as Ministry

Hi everyone, I hope you're enjoying all my lovely friends guest posting. Today we have Kelli from A Deeper Joy. She's written about a subject that I really struggle with-work as ministry. I hope as I find a new position, I will use my job to really live out God's word in the work place. Thanks so much Kelli for being here today!

Hey lovely Bound by Love readers!  I'm thrilled to be guest posting for Lauren today - thanks for letting me take over your space, friend!

This is such a huge topic in my life!  Just to give you a little background...I am a CPA.  I work in the tax department at a commercial real estate company with six other women.  Yep, seven accounting women all in one area!  Sounds like drama, right?  This might surprise you, but it's really not.  We do talk about life and such, but we don't hang out outside of work and we don't take things personally.

Work As Ministry

If you are a Christian and have been one since you were young, you might have experienced what I have.  I grew up in a Christian family, attended church camp, was a leader in the youth group and then attended a Christian university.  Shoot...even if you didn't grow up like me, it's likely that you have heard this as well.  I feel like it was engrained in my head that to achieve the ultimate status as a Christian was to "work in ministry".  Many Christians receive this as a calling and I think that is awesome!

What do we define as "ministry"?

Usually ministry is a position in the church such as a pastor, children's pastor, youth pastor/worker, domestic or international missionary, Christian counselor, or working for any type of faith-based organization.  While I believe that ALL of these positions are WONDERFUL and so glorifying to the Lord, I think our view of what is "ministry" is far too restricting.

Aren't we ALL called to ministry?  Whether you're a teacher, a construction worker, a social worker, a lawyer, an accountant, work in retail, work in hospitality, a mother, a father, a student, an administrative assistant, a blogger, a writer, a recruiter or a food server, YOU are in ministry.  Aren't all places a work (with the exception of jobs outright involving sin like prostitution) a place of ministry?

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters." ~Colossians 3:23

We are called to work as if working for the Lord.  Working your hardest at whatever you do brings glory to the Lord.  THIS is a ministry!  If you prepare tax returns (haha...me!), prepare them with the best accuracy and diligence that you can.  If you teach children, teach them important information and discipline them with love.  This applies to all areas of work.  

How can you work as if working for the Lord in your career?

Relationships

Be a light for the Lord in your workplace.  Your coworkers are observing you and if they know that you are a Christian, they are developing an opinion of God by your actions.

"Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven."

~Matthew 5:16

We are a reflection of Christ.  I know this is tough because you are human and you are sinful.  You won't be perfect but you can strive to live a Christ-like life through your words and actions at work.  Be open about God's forgiveness but strive to be a good example.  Someone may come to know Christ through you but could also be hindered by your behavior.  I daily have to remind myself of this.  I am often tempted to gossip and complain at work.  Then I remember that it isn't Christ-like and I want my coworkers to see God's love through me.

I know this can be awkward - I know!  I try to develop relationships with my coworkers.  I want them to know that I care about them not just as coworkers, but as friends.  We often talk about personal stuff without getting too nosey.  This can be a tough road to walk but such a rewarding one!  I pray often for my coworkers and am there for them to talk to if they need it.

This has honestly been what has kept me in my profession.  Sometimes I hate the actual work (and have to remind myself of Colossians 3:23) but knowing that so many professionals would never come in contact with a believer otherwise, motivates me to stay there and love them.  It is definitely a mission field!

How can you better show the love of Christ to your coworkers?

Guest Post: Book Recommendations

Continuing with my guest posts, we have Carly here today from her blog Carly Blogs Here with some book recommendations. As I've brought my kindle with me while I'm on vacation in New Hampshire I'm anxious to get started on some of her recommendations. Thanks so much Carly for guest posting. Take it away...

I'm so happy to be guest posting on Lauren's blog today! While I share a pretty wide variety of posts on my blog, some of my favorite posts revolve around books. I thought I would share a small selection of some favorites and recommendations.

 

 Me Before You is a recent read that I fell in love with from the very beginning. It's a story about friendship, love, and family. It will make you smile and make you cry and you'll be sad when it comes to an end. The Gifts of Imperfection is the perfect book if you need a little bit of encouragement or inspiration. It's one of those books that you want to highlight the entire thing because it's so relatable. Sloppy Firsts will forever be a favorite book of mine- I believe it's classified as new adult and is book one of a five part series. You can't help but love Jessica Darling and the rest of the very realistic set of characters. An Invisible Thread is the true story of an 11-year-old panhandler, a busy sales executive, and an unlikely meeting with destiny. I've been a huge fan of Sarah Dessen for years and recently read Along For the Ride and adored it! If you're a fan of young adult books it's one you don't want to miss! The Great Gatsby is the perfect classic to read or reread this summer. Fitzgerald makes us all wish we could attend a West Egg party! What are some of your all-time favorite books? Any recent reads that you've loved? A huge thank you to Lauren for letting me post today! Feel free to stop by Carly Blogs Here for more book recommendations!

Guest Post: The Ingredients for a Perfect Saturday

Hi guys! While Dave and I are off on vacation I have some amazing girls guest posting. We're going to start off with one of my favorite blog friends turned real friends, Cassie. 

Hello Bound by Love readers, it's me again- Cassie from Sage! I am so happy to be with you guys today while Lauren is off enjoying her vacation. I am a newlywed, west coast transplant living in the Midwest and attending graduate school. I like to think I am pretty interesting, but that could just be my self-serving bias... oops. Anyways, I hope you will stick around!

I'm not going to lie. I have had this post in my own drafts for some time. I can be indecisive, and I have about a million things to talk about so it was difficult to narrow down my thoughts. HOWEVER, I am here to save the day because I have FINALLY put together a list of the ingredients for a perfect Saturday. At least my perfect Saturday!

1. SLEEPING IN. Now, this doesn't always happen, especially because my cats think that the best time to wake up is 5:30am. Also, our idea of sleeping in is like 8am, so if I make it to then I am pretty stoked.

{omg is that even for real? Cassie I want it!!! Makes my heart melt}

2. Breakfast in bed. My husband is amazing, he is always up before me on the weekends cooking breakfast for us. I don't hate it.

3. COFFEE. Literally- it is not a Saturday without coffee and cat cuddles. It's just not. 

6. More coffee and quiet time. 



5. A nice long bike ride. We are big cyclists and love to get out for a long ride on Saturdays together. Sometimes we even venture out of our introvertedness and ride with friends.

6. Netflix & a nap. Because who doesn't love both of these things? And after a long ride this is just about the only thing that sounds appealing.

7.  A homemade dinner. Since we are trying to save money by not eating out, a lot of the time we eat at home, even on the weekends. I don't mind because I really love cooking, especially since it is summer and I can convince my husband to grill!

8. Out early for drinks and sometimes even dessert. 

8. A bonfire in our awesome backyard. Our backyard recently got a facelift so we really love to spend time back there lately.
 

9. Getting to bed early with a good book. Because relaxation, duh.

What are your ingredients for a perfect Saturday?

Thanks so much Cassie! Aren't her cats adorable?

Summer Bucket List- LINK UP!

I wrote here about my summer bucket list and have crossed a few things off but haven't made as much headway as I would like. Dave was gone all last week so when he's not here I'm unmotivated to go out and have all this fun without him. I love that Florida is hot pretty much year round but the summers here can get really hot. I still enjoy being outside but would prefer to be by the water with the breeze when we do go out. I have things I keep adding to my summer list but with our big upcoming trip I would rather save money for that. So I may have to tweak my list here and there. Below is what we've crossed off the list so far.

Add your link below and I'll be checking in again at the end of July to see how you're doing on your list!

 

An InLinkz Link-up

pansy

Saturday I was supposed to drive to a blogger meet up, but I chickened out. Even with encouragement from my sweet friend Katie (because she knows me so well) I still stayed home. I'm bummed I did because I think I missed out on a great opportunity to meet fellow bloggers and form new friendships. I tried to make excuses by saying that I needed to stay home and catch up on sleep. Which is partly true because I was exhausted from work and taking care of Finley on my own all week. But it was just a poor excuse to not go.

I don't know what it is that takes over sometimes and immobilizes me with fear, but I don't like it. People tend to think I'm this outgoing person, and I can be, but usually I am shaking with fear when it comes to putting myself in new situations with people I don't know. I'm hoping that I will learn from this and next time I have the opportunity to do something outside of my comfort zone that I will.

media

via the art of simple

I wasn't going to join Cassie's In the Word Tuesday link up because my thoughts weren't forming, but this morning one of the blogs I was reading I saw the picture above, and just like how He does, the Lord took two very different things and connected them in my mind.

Recently in our No Other God's study we focused on lies.  Kelly Minter wrote, " But loving is very different from putting ourselves in the way of messages that opposes His truth." The things I think about when I read that was the media and what I'm inundated with every day. Like Cassie, I don't know where I stand on this topic of cutting things out of my life but at least I'm starting to think about it. Kelly also wrote, "To think that we are unaffected by what we watch, read, or listen to is deceptive thinking." and I agree. I have been drawn to juicy and overly sexual tv shows instead of quiet time with God, or even quality time with my husband. I have chosen that over things that are better for me.

What I took away from the print above was that what I want MORE is a relationship with God. A firm foundation for the rest of my life, so maybe even if I want to fill my mind with media that speaks lies to me (I'm not thin enough, I'm not smart enough, I have no purpose etc., ect.) I can be reminded to choose the more important one-God.

Clearly I'm still working this out in my own mind but it's something I wanted to share. I want everything I do to reflect God and that is definitely a hard thing to do.

What are your thoughts?

No Other God's thoughts

Cassie and I started the No Other Gods Bible study and it's something I'm really struggling with. I'm enjoying it, but it's really pushing my comfort zone right now. It's a study about idols, but let me first shatter your (mine too) old age thoughts on the typical biblical idol term. I typically think of an idol (in the Christian sense) as the golden calf, an inanimate object to worship, but it's so much more than that. Kelly Minter explains that we have a PROFESSED god and FUNCTIONAL gods. The difference is that a "PROFESSED god is who or what we say is our god"-for me it's God himself. "A FUNCTIONAL god is who or what actually operates as our god."(Minter, Kelly,  No Other Gods, pg. 15)

Some of my functional gods would be: Dave, the desire for a baby, tv, etc. Basically what a functional god is, is something you desire too much. Something or someone that takes the place of God. It doesn't mean I'm praying to these things or worshiping them, but it does mean that they are taking my focus away from God or taking the place of Him. Make sense?

Kelly Minter says it more eloquently and explains is so much better. "...It could also be something incredibly good that has only turned bad by virtue of how much it consumes you."

Guest Post: public furr-ination

Happy Hump Day friends. I've asked my sweet blog friend Christa from over at Forever Young to guest post today. I'm always so jealous of all her pictures of her sweet golden going everywhere with her and her husband. I constantly text her about what stores we're allowed to go into with Finley so I figured I'd ask her to write about it for me. I think Finley may be a little too rambunctious now to take places but it's good to know for the future; once he gets all the puppiness out of him. I'm so thankful for Christa, she really got me through the phase of not liking Finley when we first got him. She encouraged me and promised that it would be worth it, and it is. I love that little fur ball more than anything. In case I didn't say it back then, thank you Christa, so very much.

 

On that note, take it away Christa (and Thatcher)....

{Thatcher....Christa's beautiful Golden}

Hello new friends! I am Christa and I blog at Forever Young. I am so happy to be taking over Lauren's space for the day. Isn't her little Finley adorable? A few weeks back, she asked me to post about traveling with our dog. He's a huge part of our lives, so of course I was excited to share our experiences.

A little over 3 years ago, my husband (then boyfriend) and I got our little fur-ball, Thatcher. He also answers to Mr. T, Thatch, and Tigger. We travel with Thatcher a lot. We take him on vacations, trips from D.C. to Alabama, weekend beach trips, and shopping excursions. When we got married last August, it was never up for discussion that Thatcher would be a part of our wedding (photo above). It was assumed that he would be there for our big day. Perhaps we are those crazy dog people... Leaving that up for discussion.

We routinely take Thatcher along to (in addition to all pet stores):

Pottery Barn

Apple

Vineyard Vines

Anthropologie

Banana Republic

Gap

Small boutique stores often allow us to bring Thatcher in as well. Just ask if you aren't sure. You'll be surprised how many places will let you bring your dog in. They'll let you know if they don't want the pup in their store. It never hurts to ask!

Side note: Thatcher is a very well-behaved dog. We got extremely lucky. He's very laid-back and lazy—read more about that in this post. I completely understand why some stores are not pet-friendly as it can be dangerous for others in the store as well as their merchandise.

We also do a lot of over-night traveling with Thatcher. I've found that BringFido.com is the best resource when searching for a pet-friendly hotel. The list sometimes needs to be updated, though. Be sure to call to confirm that they're pet-friendly before booking a room. A lot of boutique hotels are often pet-friendly, too.

A lot of our best memories involve Thatcher. He's a well-traveled pup and fashionista (from tagging along on my shopping trips). I wouldn't have it any other way–he's the best companion.

Does your pup tag along with you?

Thanks for having me, Lauren! 

Pop by and say hi sometime. I'd love to hear from you!