Category Archives: Abby King

Beautiful Things

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Abby| 18 Comments

By Abby King

…but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Mark 4:19

Sometimes I feel it so strongly, the worries of this life crowding in. It’s not just my own concerns, but those of the people around me and the world in general. The disappointments, anxieties and injustices of life can weigh in heavy, choking the hope right out of a soul.

You make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of us

A flicker of hope appears around the edges of my mind, starts to seep into my soul.

You make me new, you are making me new

Maybe it’s ok if all is dust and ashes right now, because we know the One who makes beauty from ashes, and creates new life out of chaos. Maybe if I’m still for long enough, I will begin to hear His song again. Maybe the silence will begin to heal and retune my heart so I can join in with it, and sing it out to the world, to myself.

You make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of us

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Posted in Abby King, Hope, Journey, Patience, Power to change, Trusting God

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The only thing we really need to remember in the new year…

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Abby| 2 Comments

By Abby King

One of the more unique gifts I received for Christmas was this:

It’s a ‘make-your-own Christingle kit.’ The Church of England use these things as symbols around this time of year to help us remember what is really important.

The orange stands for the world. The candle symbolises Jesus, the Light of the World.

The red ribbon (or strawberry lace, in this case!) reminds us of the blood Jesus shed.

Finally, the dried fruit and sweets are symbolic of God’s provision and creation.

And there it is, the Christingle. A simple, yet profound reminder to keep Jesus, His light, love and provision, at the centre of our world.

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Posted in Abby King, Advent, Holidays, Hope, Love

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Win Some Crazy Love!

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Abby| Leave a comment

Over the last couple of days, Lanie and Niki have talked about how they were inspired and challenged by a book called Crazy Love. 

If you enjoyed their posts and are tempted to read it for yourself, you have the opportunity to do so, courtesy of Completely Devoted. Winning a free copy couldn’t be easier…

First, make sure you have entered your email address to your right to sign up as a subscriber, so you can receive updates when we post something new. Second, get commenting! This month’s book winner will be the subscriber who leaves us the most comments between now and January 1st.

We’re excited to see who wins! It could be you!

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Posted in Abby King, Book of the Month, Love

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Coming Up in December…

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Abby| Leave a comment

Welcome to December at Completely Devoted! 

First, we are sending congratulations to Sarah C, who was the subscriber that left the most comments last month! She wins a copy of Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts.

Our theme this for December, unsurprisingly, is Advent and this season has inspired some thought-provoking posts from our writers which I know you will enjoy.

In the meantime, if you haven’t seen it already, be sure to check out our Advent Calendar with a difference, for suggestions on how to help your whole family celebrate the true meaning of the season.

As the nights have drawn in now, and all seems dark (at least in the northern hemisphere) we hope we can serve you by lighting your way a little. We look forward to sharing your company and your wisdom as we reflect on this Advent season together.

Abby

 

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A Sacrifice of Thanksgiving

Posted on November 24, 2011 by Abby| 2 Comments

By Abby King

“To bring the sacrifice of thanksgiving means to sacrifice your understanding of what is beneficial and thank God for everything because He is benevolent.

A sacrifice of thanks lays down our perspective and raises hands in praise anyways – always.

A sacrifice is by definition not an easy thing.”

Ann Voskamp

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Posted in Abby King, Gratitude

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How to really celebrate Advent

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Abby| 15 Comments

By Abby King

The countdown is about to begin. We buy Advent calendars every year to mark off the days until Christmas, but what is it we’re really looking forward to? The food we are about to eat? The gifts we are going to get? The break from work? The children’s Christmas performance? The family time?

The true meaning of Christmas can sometimes get lost in all the busyness and preparations and demands this season makes. So to help us remember the One who is the real gift we’re celebrating we have put together below this Advent Calendar with a difference. For each day of Advent there is a suggestion for how we might give, to reflect the character of God the Father, who loved us so much He gave His only Son.

The activities have been designed especially with children in mind, so that the whole family can be involved. But even if you don’t have kids, don’t let that put you off joining in and really celebrating Advent in the style of your heavenly Father!

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Posted in Abby King, Advent, Giving, Gratitude

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Choose Life: The Great Divorce, Chapters 13 & 14

Posted on November 14, 2011 by Abby| 4 Comments

By Abby King

Chapter 13 continues the conversation between the Dwarf Ghost and the Lady, in which the Lady tries to persuade the Dwarf to let go of the Tragedian he is chained to and stay and experience true joy with her, but he refuses. His perspective is summarised later on as:

The demand of the loveless and the self-imprisoned that they should be allowed to blackmail the universe: that til they consent to be happy (on their own terms) no one else shall taste joy: that theirs should be the final power; that Hell should be able to veto Heaven.

Have you ever felt like that? “Until this, or that happens, until things go my way, I refuse to be happy, and will resent anyone else who is. ..” 

We must let go of this self-pitying attitude before it diminishes so much of us that there is nothing left.

However, the opposite is also true. If we choose joy, it enlarges us to the point where nothing can outweigh it:

All Hell is smaller than one pebble of your earthly world: but it is smaller than one atom of this world, the Real World…

It seems big enough when you are in it, Sir.

And yet all loneliness, angers, hatreds, envies and itchings that is contains, if rolled into one single experience and put into the scale against the least moment of the joy that is felt by the least in Heaven, would have no weight that could be registered at all. Bad cannot succeed even in being bad as truly as good is good.

The Great Divorce closes with the  wise warning of the Teacher: ‘do not ask of a vision in a dream more than a vision in a dream can give,’ and the Dickensian-style awakening of ‘Jack’ back in his own room, realising that he has been dreaming.

While we are cautioned not to draw too literal a meaning from the book about Heaven and Hell, a theme which clearly comes through the whole text  is that how we behave and the attitudes we have are the things which end up defining us.  When we consistently choose to focus on negative things, who we are is diminished – we become smaller and smaller until there is nothing left of the real us to make choices any more. But when we choose to live in the light, when we choose love, joy, forgiveness, when we choose to focus on Jesus and not ourselves, we are enlarged – we grow and grow until we become the Real us – the person we were truly created to be. And in our Real state Hell is not big enough to contain us, and all our sorrows are swallowed up in joy.

This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. Deut. 30:19-20

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Posted in Abby King, Book of the Month, Joy, Power to change

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We are what we love

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Abby| 7 Comments

Thoughts from the Great Divorce, by C. S. Lewis, chapters 9 & 10

By Abby King

Two characters from these chapters particularly stood out to me. The first is the lady who grumbles so much she has turned into a grumble:

 …it begins with a grumbling mood, and yourself still distinct from it: perhaps criticizing it. And yourself, in a dark hour, may will that mood, embrace it. Ye can repent and come out of it again. But there may come a day when you can do that no longer. There will be no you left to criticize the mood, nor even to enjoy it, but just the grumble itself going on forever p. 78.

The second is a painter, frustrated that he can only see the beauty around him, but not paint it. The accompanying spirit reminds him:

You’re forgetting…  Light itself was your first love: you loved paint only as a means of telling about light… Every poet and musician and artist, but for Grace, is drawn away from love of the thing he tells, to love of the telling… p.85

Both characters got drawn away from what was really important by solely focusing on themselves. And reading about them, it struck me afresh that what ends up defining us, who we end up becoming, is determined by what we give our energy and attention to. In other words, we are what we love. Sometimes it’s important to stop and ask, what am I regularly engaging in? What attitudes, thoughts, words and activities fill my life? Are those things forming God’s kingdom in me, or drawing me increasingly further from it?

Whether we fall into the habit of being negative, or tend to have all our attention swallowed up by our own creative enterprises, gratitude can be the thing which keeps us in check. It’s a small but powerful practice that tempers complaints and reminds us where our gifts came from in the first place. It’s certainly a habit worth cultivating.

What about you? What antidotes have you found to either complaining, or focusing on the gift instead of the Giver?

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Posted in Abby King, Book of the Month, Kingdom of God

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Treasure Hunting

Posted on October 21, 2011 by Abby| 11 Comments

By Abby King

Did you ever imagine being mentored? Maybe you dreamed of being invited into the kitchen of an older, wiser woman for a cup of something warm and soothing and a tasty home-baked treat. She would feed your soul with words of wisdom, nourish your dreams with her faith in you and gently guide you into being more like Christ, without ever making you feel guilty for not being good enough.

There have been seasons in my life where this has been a reality for me. I’ve been blessed to have women close by who could nurture me in my faith. At other times I’ve felt more isolated as there has been no one around to fulfill that role. So what about then? What happens when we’re feeling like there’s no one about to help or encourage us?

I’d like to suggest that this season might be a time for treasure hunting…

Valuable things are often tucked away out of sight, so perhaps we might need to find a fresh perspective on the women already in our lives. Maybe there isn’t one woman who possesses all the wisdom we need, but lots of different women who have a little part of it. Ask God to show you who might have something (anything) to teach you and go and spend some time with them. Don’t wait to be invited – maybe her kitchen is messy and she doesn’t like baking, but would love to hang out with you anyway! If you seek for treasure in any of God’s daughters, no matter their age, stage or situation, no matter their similarity to, or difference from you, I guarantee you will find something precious and beautiful to learn from.

We also need to remember the greatest treasure we have, our beloved Holy Spirit, the most brilliant mentor of all, who promises to guide us into every truth. Perhaps this season is a time for you to mature as you develop your dependence on Him alone. Perhaps it’s also a time for you to give out to someone the very thing you lack. As you spend time discipling other women, you will find the Spirit coming alongside and teaching you, enriching you with treasures you couldn’t have imagined.

Jesus promises  that if we seek, we will find. Let’s be women who hunt for treasure in every place it might be found, so we may find the riches God has for us in all our seasons and circumstances.

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Posted in Abby King, Focus Fridays, Mentoring and Discipleship

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September’s book winner…

Posted on October 9, 2011 by Abby| Leave a comment

Congratulations! Completely Devoted subscriber, Sarah Curry from O’Fallen, Missouri, USA, won a copy of The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis.

We are currently reading through this classic together as part of our book club every Monday. Please stop by tomorrow and let us know in the comments what you thought of chapters 3 and 4 – it’s never too late to join in!

And don’t forget to enter your details to the right to sign up for free updates when we post – the next book winner could be you! 

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