A little glimpse into my joy-filled week:
99. dancing in my car
105. wearing sunglasses on my head
116. mango peach salsa
119. blueberries
123. talking to Carrie who is in Guatemala
126. BIG fluffy white snowflakes
car
Memory Memo
John 3:8 “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
This is the verse I’m mulling over in my head this week. I pull it out at the gym while on the bike. I use it as a book marker for The Poisonwood Bible (I’m finally reading it!). I ponder it in between car rides when I’m not jamming out to some tunes (“More Like Falling in Love” by Jason Gray). I’m letting it sink in and settle it’s way down.
But, now I’m asking you, friend, what do you think of the verse? What’s God telling you through it and what insights have you gained from it? Practical, tangible, vague, undeveloped, hearty, any of the above or any other. Or on the flip side, are you memorizing any verses now? What about those? Let me know, I’d love to hear from you.
Shooting Stars
“Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe 16as you hold out the word of life…” Philippians 2:14-16
Lately, I crave summer: swim suits, laying on the beach, driving with the music blaring and the windows down, fluffy happy books, shorts and tank tops, flip flops, going out on the lake, meteor showers, star gazing, looking at the moon, sitting on the deck or dock, and happy summer music. In response to my craving, I’ve decided that my room is now summer. Basically, I wear shorts and a tank top. Pretend the heater and the sleeping bag are just for fun and look at the happy summer pictures while listening to happy music. My heart is extra happy so all of this fits.
Alright, so by now you may be wondering how the verse above fits into all this talk about summer. Well then, let me tell you a little bit about today. Today the weather was warm, sunny and perfect. I wore flip flops, ate delicious pancakes with mixed berries (I love and miss fresh berries like strawberries and blueberries!), walked around outside and read Gone With the Wind. But the best part consisted of later at night when the stars came out. Tentative plans to watch a movie were thwarted by other events, which turned into new plans to star gaze by the pond. To be prepared, I outfitted myself with my sleeping bag, two pairs of pants (one with stars on them of course), lots of layers, a hat, mittens and even socks (I hate socks, but thanks mom for sending me some…though I really don’t need more…I really hate them!).
Needless to say, God blew me away with His creation. Everything made me smile and soak in the beautiful night. The moon hid away until the right time when we saw its amazing orangish color and sat astounded at its huge size. The shooting stars took my breath away and I got sad whenever someone else saw one, but I missed it. The random conversation took the edge off the rest of the day. And I’m still pondering which names fit the category of a “cuddly” name. Yet, through all of this, I return my thoughts to God to thank Him for a wonderful ending to another day. To ask Him to help me show that kind of beauty and light to everyone around me. To live out the call to shine like stars and take people’s breath away. To glorify His name and live a life full of love in such a way that others see Him.
Because that’s when my heart is happy.
I wish…
I wish…
-I had a car here.
-The weather wasn’t getting cold…and I wasn’t wearing a winter coat.
-Money grew on trees to buy plane tickets.
-I could go dancing
-There was a Target here.
-I could go on vacation and visit Carrie.
-I could take a nap.
-I knew what was next.
-I could eat some good Mexican or Chinese food.
-I could go to Panera.
ht: Carrie
The Year Through Pictures
So…I’m a copy cat. Annie had this awesome post and so I wanted to do the same:
January: Ringing in the New Year–ready for a fresh start
February: A little salsa dancing fun before “real life” aka full-time job-ness sets in.
March: No homework means time to make fun recipes like Cheesecake pops, read lots of books, take a ceramics course, and work out 🙂
April: ” 1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2
May: I said hello to love at first sight
June: Summer nights with friends and enjoying our sweet deck
July: There were a few crashes along the way this year. A few rough spots, but in the end the plastic pops right out and the head lights are millimeters away from being smashed.
August: Spent some time with family. Said “Look at the bull ship,” which was interpreted as “Look at all this bull shi*” (say that 3 times fast and your family will think you are NOT having fun when really you are)
September: Life may be a little messy, but at the end of the day I can always turn to my “church family” for anything I need. I’m going to miss them…
October: “Ransomed” God, theology, podcasts, blogging, life, and everything in between could always be found in our conversations. I miss her already!
November: “But if the bright lights don’t receive you, you should turn yourself around and come on home.”
December: Stay warm with a puppy, lots of blankets and hot chocolate while looking forward to a New Year.
Good-bye 2008. Hello 2009.
I like big books I cannot lie.
Mark Driscoll is hilarious. I could not stop laughing on my drive home when I was listening to his podcasts. Who would think that the subject of spiritual gifts could be so funny?! I sure wasn’t expecting to be driving alone at night laughing my head off. From previous podcasts, I know he uses a lot of humor, but I was still surprised at how funny he made the topic while keeping it relevant and important. I’m sure part of why I found the comments so funny is because I see myself and others as embodying the characteristics.
For example, he talked about the gift of knowledge and some characteristics of those who have this gift. Granted, he did touch earlier in the podcast about the difference between spiritual gifts and natural talents and abilities, but I’ll refrain from going into further depth on that subject (listen to the podcast!). First off, he indicated that this is one of his primary gifts, which also helped the humor.
Definition: “the ability to research, remember and make effective use of a variety of information on a number of diverse subjects”
Evidence:
- You are an information freak.
- You can’t wait for the amazon.com guy to show up
- If you get a book written by a dead guy, you dance a jig
- If you get a book out of print, you immediately run around to anyone in the vicinity showing them the “out of print” book so they too can stand in awe
- “I don’t even believe in the rapture, but if it does happen I’m going to grab my books and take them with me”
- You love footnotes and appendixes
- You like big books and cannot lie.
- What do you do on your day off? Study.
- You love to learn and are not content with surface level knowledge on a topic
- After reading a book, you think: “I know there are other perspectives….I need to get more books to look at all the perspectives. I’m going to look at all of them just because I can.”
- You get frustrated when you hear bad teaching from someone who hasn’t done their homework— example: that’s not what the greek text says
- You are compelled to do long hours of research so that others can benefit
- You love when people ask questions and are excited to share your insight
- You don’t like to be more than arms length away from a book. i.e. You keep books in your car, room, bag, backpack, satchel…basically everywhere
- Reading and knowledge simply make you happy.
Also, Mark Driscoll described his library. Man, I was drooling… I can’t wait to have a house and a library!! He explained how he has a 13 foot desk like the Starship Enterprise and is surrounded by books. The books of course are cataloged in the same way as the Library of Congress and he can search from his computer by date, subject, time, author, ect. Finally, the reminder came that the whole point of study is Jesus. Driscoll called himself a “google for Christ.” Zach Hubert used this gift to create (in his spare time!) a whole website to “help make the Greek New Testament more accessible to the beginning Greek student, the Greek scholar, or to anyone who desires to experience the Bible in its original form.”
In terms of text, Driscoll used 1 Corinthians 12:8 and also suggested doing a character study on Solomon, Timothy and Ezra if you are interested in the gift of knowledge.
*Podcast on iTunes: Spiritual Gifts, Part 1
*Zach Hubert’s website= The Resurgence Greek Project
Cereal…yum!
I love cereal. I literally could eat cereal for every meal of the day. In fact, some days I come really close.
Here are some of my favorites/recent favorites (in no particular order):
- Kashi Wild Blueberry
- Kashi GoLean Crunch
- Cheerios Strawberry Yogurt Bursts
- Honey Bunches of Oats
- Total Raisin Bran
- Life (this used to take up permanent residence in the middle console of my car in high school)
- Special K with Red Berries
- Oatmeal with Brown Sugar
b'ahava 