We're sorry, but eCampus.com doesn't work properly without JavaScript.
Either your device does not support JavaScript or you do not have JavaScript enabled.
How to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Need help? Call 1-855-252-4222
Note: Supplemental materials are not guaranteed with Rental or Used book purchases.
Purchase Benefits
What is included with this book?
The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.
The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.
Chapter One
Part one:
the joy of life's
little moments
I would like to believe that I have a heart like Mary's, one that stops to listen to God whenever the opportunity arises. I am afraid though, that I probably come much closer to being like Martha. Hurrying about, planning, preparing, fixing, organizing, making lists, and worrying. Will it all get done ? "It" can be my grocery shopping, the laundry, the meal for the potluck supper later on, the Bible study lesson, my latest craft project, etc., etc., etc.
These thoughts can overtake me during church, while having my devotions, in the midst of prayer--almost anywhere, the still, small voice of the Lord can get drowned out by the shouts of living in the sunset of the twentieth century
I still believe that the planning, preparing, fixing, and organizing is important. I believe it is important to God. After all, I am trying to be faithful to do well the tasks He has set before me. I need to remember, though, that by far the most important thing I can do is to take the time to sit at Jesus' feet and really listen .
Mary Hampton
Tea and Inspiration
Promises to help you
savor each moment
Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its trouble.
* Matthew 6:34
We do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
* 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Oh taste and see that the Lord is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints!
There is no want to those who fear Him.
The young lions lack and suffer hunger;
But those who seek the LORD shall not
lack any good thing.
* Psalm 34-8-10
Savoring each moment
To experience happiness we must train ourselves to live in this moment, to savor it for what it is, not running ahead in anticipation of some future date nor lagging behind in the paralysis of the past. With wholeness and sensitivity we must live in the here and now. "But what if I don't like the here and now?" you ask. "What if my present moment is one of disappointment or impairment or heartache? How then do I savor that moment?" Good questions. And the answers' reside in the first and most profound principle for the art of savoring life: Pleasure lies in the heart, not in the happenstance. Our circumstances may be dreadful and riddled with reasons for discouragement or sorrow, but that doesn't mean those moments are utterly devoid of happiness.... Those special savored moments of fun, reflection, happiness, and pleasure give us a tiny taste of what eternity with Christ will one day be like.
Luci Swindoll
You Bring the Confetti
Promises to help
you recapture joy
When wisdom enters your heart,
And knowledge is pleasant to your soul,
Discretion will preserve you;
Understanding will keep you,
To deliver you from the way of evil....
* Proverbs 2:10-11
Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.
* Matthew 5:5-7
Therefore be imitators of God as dear
children. And walk in love....
* Ephesians 5:1-2
Recapturing joy
Is celebrating really that important anyway?
Yes, it is!
Life today is difficult. Problems challenge us and we worry about our children's futures. It's easy to fall into the trap of taking ourselves too seriously of worrying about success, jobs, acceptance, parenting, illnesses, and so on. It's easy to lose our ability to laugh. It's easy to forget the simple ways of purely enjoying one another. Celebration keeps us balanced in a difficult world, renews our perspective, and enables us to recapture joy. It provides us with an easy means of building friendships within the family A real benefit of celebration is that it can be very simple and yet the dividends are so great.
Susan Yates
A House Full of Friends
Promises to help you look for beauty
He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice and to do good in their lives.
* Ecclesiastes 3:11-12
One thing I have desired of the Lord,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord,
And to inquire in His temple.
* Psalm 27:4
Give unto the Lord the glory due to
His name;
Worship the Lord in the beauty
of holiness.
* Psalm 29:2
Looking for beauty
There is so much beauty around us, if we will only take the time to notice it. You can make a conscious effort to look for the essence and therefore develop an appreciation for the beautiful things in life. Your days will seem a lot less harried, I promise you. Beauty has a way of totally capturing our senses, making us forget the fact that the car stalled on the way to work this morning, that the kids spilled chocolate milk on the carpet, that the workload keeps piling up. For a few brief shining moments, nothing else seems to matter. And the wonderful thing about beauty is that we can store it in our minds to be played over and over again.
Promises that
encourage you to
celebrate victories
I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart;
I will tell of all Your marvelous works.
I will be glad and rejoice in You;
I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.
* Psalm 9:1-2
Behold, this is our God;
We have waited for Him, and He will save us.
This is the Lord;
We have waited for Him;
We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.
* Isaiah 25:9
I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever;
With my mouth will I make known Your
faithfulness to all generations.
* Psalm 89:1
Celebrating victories
It is important in our lives and work that we celebrate our little victories as they come. If we wait for something major to celebrate, we will miss much of the potential joy in our lives. I believe it is the overworked, under-rewarded men and women who reach midlife and look up one day to ask, "Is that all there is?"
A songwriter's work is completed long before the release of the album. By the time the record and printed product are released, I am deeply involved in another project, and the edge is off the celebration mood. So I have learned not to wait to celebrate the completion of my work. When a musical is recorded and I have a rough mix of the album in my hands, I rush home to Mobile, ready to gather a few good friends for a celebration. That is when I'm weary from the work, excited about the results, and elated by a sense of accomplishment. I have learned that is the time to celebrate.
Claire Cloninger
When God Shines Through
find fulfillment
My soul shall be satisfied as with
marrow and fatness,
And my mouth shall praise You with
joyful lips.
* Psalm 63:5
Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
* Psalm 37:4
As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness;
I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.
* Psalm 17:15
Finding fulfillment
Are you in a rut? Do you feel trapped by your circumstances? Would you like to break out and do something totally new and different? Every woman feels confined at one time or another in her life. She may feel stagnant in her job, tied down to young children, locked in a bad marriage, or obligated as the caretaker of a chronically ill relative. There are many difficult circumstances that cause women to be unable to live a carefree life, and you may be in the midst of one....
As a woman of adventure, I have lived a life of extremes and know the exhilaration and pain of tent camping alongside the road in all kinds of weather to living in a nice, warm, and comfortable suburban home. And I have learned that a life of adventure is not limited by circumstances or money. Women of adventure have conquered their fates and know how to live exciting and fulfilling lives right where they are. They have learned to reinvent themselves and find creative ways to enjoy the world and their place in it. They know how to take mini-vacations, stop and smell the roses, and live fully in the moment.
Barbara Jenkins
Wit and Wisdom for Women
find joy in your work
In all the work you are doing, work the best you can. Work as if you were doing it for the Lord, not for people.
* Colossians 3:23
I can do all things through Christ, because he gives me strength.
* Philippians 4:13
Those who work hard make a profit, but those who only talk will be poor.
* Proverbs 14:23
The Lord gives strength to his people;
the Lord blesses his people with peace.
* Psalm 29:11
Finding joy in your work
Work should always be associated with joy....
The story is told of three women washing clothes. A passerby asked each what she was doing.
"Washing clothes" was the first answer.
"A bit of household drudgery" was the second.
"I'm mothering three young children who someday will fill important and useful spheres in life, and wash-day is a part of my grand task in caring for these souls who shall live forever" was the third.
Ordinary work, which is what most of us do most of the time, is ordained by God every bit as much as is the extraordinary. All work done for God is spiritual work and therefore not merely a duty but a holy privilege.
Elisabeth Elliot
The Shaping of a Christian Family
Copyright © 1997 Word Publishing Inc.. All rights reserved.
