tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24352051770031956802024-03-19T00:30:47.123-07:00Transformed and Renewed...in view of God's mercyAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04903203534993642292noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2435205177003195680.post-62716715650447391112013-08-07T07:22:00.004-07:002013-08-07T07:44:56.329-07:00a little less of me, please...<div class="headword" id="headword">
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Grace is big, no matter how small. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Let me be the one who extends "generous, free and totally unexpected and undeserved" grace. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Only through Jesus...</span><br />
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grace </h2>
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<span class="main-fl"><i>noun</i></span> <span class="pr">\<span class="unicode">ˈ</span>grās\</span></h4>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>a</i>: a spontaneous gift from God to man - "generous, free and totally unexpected and undeserved"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">(The New Dictionary of Theology. </i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Dublin: Gill and Macmillan) </span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04903203534993642292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2435205177003195680.post-41837559345454550822013-08-05T14:23:00.000-07:002013-08-07T07:41:05.555-07:00Cornerstone<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Psalm 127</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: small;">The Lord builds the house.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: small;">The Lord watches the city. </span></li>
<li style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Lord gives to His beloved sheep.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">Children are a heritage from the Lord.</span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Young and raising 5 children, I felt as though this home we were making, this work we were doing, these children we were raising were ours, somehow. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The future brings "a knowing" that I hadn't yet experienced.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">It is the Lord who builds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">With love He gives us our children. </span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">They are the slightest ripple of ourselves moving that much further out into life on the same trajectory and path our parents sent us. </span><br />
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Our children speak and act what they "know" and what they have learned, which is the path we've been Given, ultimately by Him, for Him and to Him. </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We are His house.(Heb 3:6)</span></div>
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Psalm 127 says children are like arrows. They go further and experience a wider view than we...</div>
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with eyes we've opened to newness and our falterings </div>
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with hearts we've loved and sometimes failed </div>
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with hands we've held and ultimately released </div>
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they view with their own Faith, for which we've lived and died.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Daring to trust the Unseen, </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">we forget our falterings and failures.</span> </div>
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When the ripple we ride subsides and melds into the vast Plan He has accomplished we are all His glory. <span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">"</span>He is not put to shame when He speaks with His enemy at the gate". </div>
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<span class="text Ps-118-21" id="en-ESV-15891">I thank you that you have answered me</span><br />
<span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text Ps-118-21">and have become my salvation.</span></span></div>
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<span class="text Ps-118-22" id="en-ESV-15892">The stone that the builders rejected</span><br />
<span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text Ps-118-22">has become the cornerstone.</span></span></div>
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<span class="text Ps-118-23" id="en-ESV-15893">This is the <span class="small-caps" style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span>'s doing;</span><br />
<span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text Ps-118-23">it is marvelous in our eyes. (Ps 118:21-23)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In this truth we rest,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">because of Jesus, the Cornerstone. </span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04903203534993642292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2435205177003195680.post-66419182871146001272013-03-20T14:29:00.001-07:002013-03-20T14:29:12.070-07:00God is so big<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Our church has become <a href="http://redeemerhome.com/" target="_blank">Redeemer Church Cedar Falls</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I appreciate the heart of my old (younger than me) pastor <a href="http://www.theologyformen.com/2013/01/29/hand-church-pastor/" target="_blank">here</a>. </span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Courier New;">Brooks shared, and I too can see, that when it is SO different and difficult, these changes are evidence that <u>this is God building HIS church not us</u>. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New;">We are growing, and that is to <u>God's glory because of His Son.</u> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New;"><u>Sacrificially at times, I need to Give myself</u> over to this exciting, scary adventure unfolding before us.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I need to <u>pray. Pray. Pray</u>...through the new and when I miss the old.</span>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New;">As one of our men said this last Sunday, about Kaio, and also about who we have become in Redeemer---"We are a church that begins and ends with Jesus."(by His Grace and with His strength)</span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New;">I am so thankful. May we never be a church built on any other name. </span></ul>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04903203534993642292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2435205177003195680.post-85958293535780161472013-03-18T20:52:00.000-07:002018-02-08T04:34:17.154-08:00Follow up...So yeah, I've been mostly free of "me" but yesterday I caught myself beginning to whine for attention.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04903203534993642292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2435205177003195680.post-16420956505901134302012-07-05T19:56:00.002-07:002012-07-06T06:27:31.432-07:00surprises<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrvLMBexpkRsPr-AFfeoX5Ow-VNpCWc6piyN3tFZ71awfDFUG3UkfBfkRbEQhUZ5L8W6Cty_9l9WAsaJxavzL2jsefssVDuq3mK8ahsf1edNJmlsHjpPXJvlKo6bIwsoXrWHSj1Dx7IHs/s1600/Illustration+-+your+way+my+way+street+signs.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrvLMBexpkRsPr-AFfeoX5Ow-VNpCWc6piyN3tFZ71awfDFUG3UkfBfkRbEQhUZ5L8W6Cty_9l9WAsaJxavzL2jsefssVDuq3mK8ahsf1edNJmlsHjpPXJvlKo6bIwsoXrWHSj1Dx7IHs/s200/Illustration+-+your+way+my+way+street+signs.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">This is undoubtedly God's blessing and His work, not necessarily </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">identified by the difficulties </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">and </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">the way it isn't exactly "easy" but instead, by my giggle ---</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">basically I smile like a fool in the midst of hardship, because of His presence.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I watch myself trusting His plan because I have learned intimately how my plans brought death and despair. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">There is joy where I now experience lack, because I remember how the bounty nearly broke me.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">His ways are not my ways. Why am I always so surprised?</span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04903203534993642292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2435205177003195680.post-86609345146492950812012-04-16T10:57:00.001-07:002012-04-16T10:57:57.858-07:00where next?<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> <blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">"And <sup class="crossreference" value="(<a href="#cen-ESV-27536AS" title="See cross-reference AS">AS</a>)"></sup>he made from one man every nation of mankind to live <sup class="crossreference" value="(<a href="#cen-ESV-27536AT" title="See cross-reference AT">AT</a>)"></sup>on all the face of the earth, <sup class="crossreference" value="(<a href="#cen-ESV-27536AU" title="See cross-reference AU">AU</a>)"></sup>having determined allotted periods and <sup class="crossreference" value="(<a href="#cen-ESV-27536AV" title="See cross-reference AV">AV</a>)"></sup>the boundaries of their dwelling place,<span class="text Acts-17-27" id="en-ESV-27537"><sup class="versenum"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></sup> <sup class="crossreference" value="(<a href="#cen-ESV-27537AW" title="See cross-reference AW">AW</a>)"></sup>that they should seek God, <sup class="crossreference" value="(<a href="#cen-ESV-27537AX" title="See cross-reference AX">AX</a>)"></sup>and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. <sup class="crossreference" value="(<a href="#cen-ESV-27537AY" title="See cross-reference AY">AY</a>)"></sup>Yet he is actually not far from each one of us..."</span></span></blockquote>
<span class="text Acts-17-27" id="en-ESV-27537"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span class="text Acts-17-27">As we wonder about our next dwelling, I love the way He shows me Himself. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span class="text Acts-17-27"></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04903203534993642292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2435205177003195680.post-44959530432621189372012-03-27T06:38:00.000-07:002013-03-18T20:34:31.357-07:00My semester<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Before my 9 am class every Tues/Thur I go to the local Panera for an hour to sit and enjoy myself after dropping off my daughter.</span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I have met the couple whose husband's health is declining and his humor just increases--Always a jolly "hello, this chair is open for you" invitation. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">There is the table of seniors who share life...some married, most not. They pass stories and photographs while enjoying their toast and coffee. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">There is usually a couple of senior guys at their own table, nonchalontly scanning the restaureant while discussing man things in their deep voices. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">And </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">there is the great grandpa with the charming smile who comes over to me each week to flirt with me shamelessly. He brightens my morning with stories of his sassy, great-granddaughters, his troublemaking youth, his German speaking adoptive parents, his rich family life.... </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">He calls me toots, and cutie,and beautiful. He discovered today I was a "frau" not a "fraulein" much to his "disappointment".</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">He mingles expletives, flirtations and hilarious stories with ease. Oh how the girls must have fallen for him and his Irish Catholic charm. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I think I need to take another class next semester! :)</span><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04903203534993642292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2435205177003195680.post-7316227598599728052012-03-16T08:13:00.001-07:002013-03-18T20:36:19.133-07:00Friends/Family/Family of God<div>
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<span style="font-family: courier new;">I know what family is. I know the good of it and the bad of it. I know basically they are stuck with me and I am stuck with them----Whether we like it or not. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: courier new;">Perhaps I thought the family that God brought together was a rosy, glowy, better version of that. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #e06666;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Courier New;"></span><span style="font-family: Courier New;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em><strong><span style="color: #e06666;">"My brother and sister in Christ..."</span> </strong></em></span></blockquote>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">ya know?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: courier new;">The main difference between earthly families and "the Body of Christ" is <u><strong>Jesus.</strong></u> Because let's face it, the family Jesus has brought together is made of the same messy people. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">(Ephesians 4:9-16 ESV)</span></span> <br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">He/Jesus <br /><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="background-color: white; color: purple; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>makes the Body</strong></span>...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">He/Jesus</span><br /><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong><span style="background-color: white; color: purple; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">is the Head...</span></strong> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">And He/Jesus</span><br /><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong><span style="color: purple; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">gave</span></strong> the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, </span><br /><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: red; font-size: x-small;">(why did HE give us these giftings?) </span><u>to equip the saints for the work of ministry</u>, for <u>building up the body of Christ</u>, until we <u>all attain to the unity of the faith</u> and of <u>the knowledge of the Son of God</u>, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the <u>fullness of Christ</u>, </span><br /><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: red; font-size: x-small;">(what does the "fullness of Christ" NOT look like?)</span> so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.</span><br /><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: red; font-size: x-small;">(what does that "fullness of Christ" look like?)</span> Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way </span><br /><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: lime; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>into Him</strong><span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: small;">,</span><strong> </strong></span>who is the Head, </span><br /><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: lime; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>into Christ</strong></span>, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by <strong>every joint</strong> with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up <span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong><u>in love</u></strong></span>. </span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: courier new;">I've learned, when Jesus steps in, gently showing me the way He views things, it is always quite backwards-y. (from my human perspective). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New;">In a recent heartache, the Body of Christ that I am a part of changed and became something very different.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New;">Jesus' perspective makes me dizzy and a bit catywompus, so I am glad He doesn't crash Truth on me in huge doses. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New;">My husband just had a stroke. It crashed in on Him and he said it felt like he was quite outside of Himself and looking in. He saw himself acting drunk (which he's never been). He saw himself having no control which </span><span style="font-family: Courier New;">I suppose is a pretty good description of how it feels when God gives me a glimpse into His Truth. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New;">whoa!! I'm really that "off", God??</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The Body of Christ, that I am a part of, is being shifted </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: lime;"><strong>into Christ </strong></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">like Paul tried to share to the Ephesians.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Courier New;">Not the way I would have imagined, because it involved the leaving of dear ones...with no explanation...with no warning. </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">But srangely enough, we who remain are now experiencing how</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>He</strong></span> is the one who has "joined and held us together". We are learning that </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>He</strong></span> is the one "equipping" us now and "enabling each of us to work properly". And we will continue to watch with great hope because of His faithfulness to see how </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>He</strong></span> will "make this body grow so that it builds itself up in <strong><span style="color: red;">LOVE</span>."</strong></span><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZWtHMpWij4pmy4cumvJu8df90rn-KT290-VCTWcUWOabJvdn4_8uAWpTh4d-veQYy6eLUY_rwF07Y1woqKobEsOQI0CieLZsP6P08WbnycrUbKE5Uuy37Qm4H5Pp1MD940G6lCVpbSTk/s1600/pfo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZWtHMpWij4pmy4cumvJu8df90rn-KT290-VCTWcUWOabJvdn4_8uAWpTh4d-veQYy6eLUY_rwF07Y1woqKobEsOQI0CieLZsP6P08WbnycrUbKE5Uuy37Qm4H5Pp1MD940G6lCVpbSTk/s1600/pfo.jpg" yda="true" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nfl/story/_/id/7658036/2012-nfl-draft-dajohn-harris-says-doctors-found-hole-heart-combine"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">This is what they found in Randy's heart and will be fixing later in March...</span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><em>Crazy medical technology stuff, no? </em></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04903203534993642292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2435205177003195680.post-31197458191340419412012-03-09T08:50:00.000-08:002013-03-18T20:37:03.945-07:00Tests<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Early this week I had a big accounting test, and life of course, is a test. Last time I had an accounting test I studied like crazy...and got a sty in my eye. This time a new sty appeared and I had an ongoing headache and anxiety. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I found out that I got a 96% and instead of relief, I just felt like crying...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Funny how the verse I read that morning was Jesus' words:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><em>Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.</em></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I have so much to learn. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04903203534993642292noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2435205177003195680.post-48561841215921855622012-03-07T12:08:00.002-08:002013-03-18T20:38:11.171-07:00What is ministry?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh99Ns7S8c4fP3Vg7ZaEQ-9WoQoWTNc2513QptKt8k5xGpWzvVQAA5errRef9wTL-FsOL1TIOsEdI5aNHTs3KDCs_IeTkewzxuD6JIWjVf-O67mfwlXdsw1qiQ1yZP-NJXkn6hkLGf562I/s1600/imagesCAJRL5GY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh99Ns7S8c4fP3Vg7ZaEQ-9WoQoWTNc2513QptKt8k5xGpWzvVQAA5errRef9wTL-FsOL1TIOsEdI5aNHTs3KDCs_IeTkewzxuD6JIWjVf-O67mfwlXdsw1qiQ1yZP-NJXkn6hkLGf562I/s1600/imagesCAJRL5GY.jpg" yda="true" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Our </span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">friend and pastor wove Randy's story and his most recent sermon series on Philippians into this beautiful </span><a href="http://www.theologyformen.com/2012/03/06/quick-thought-ministry/"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">blog</span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> entry.</span> <span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Read, be blessed and consider "ministry" anew...</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04903203534993642292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2435205177003195680.post-22529381958381391332012-03-05T06:32:00.000-08:002013-03-18T20:38:55.522-07:001 Cor 13 for my sister's wedding<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: normal; text-align: center;">
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<em><span style="color: blue;">I shared this at my sister's wedding in our home 2/26/2012...</span></em></div>
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<b>Randy and I are going on 25 years of marriage this May.</b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> It isn't because we know more than others whose marriages don't last that long, or we had our crap together more...(anyone who knows us knows that is not true.) We have failed each other and our children. We are not perfect and therefore won't offer advice or words of wisdom on how to "do" this thing called marriage. </span></div>
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But one thing I can say without hesitation...our lives together, our marriage, has been a vehicle to show us each more clearly God's grace in our lives. </div>
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Barb suggested I share the passage from 1 Corinthians on love.</div>
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<span class="s1"><b>"</b></span> Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant<span class="s1"><b> </b></span>or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; <span class="s1"><b></b></span>it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.<span class="s1"><b> </b></span>Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.<span class="s1"><b> </b></span>Love never ends."</blockquote>
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Before this familiar passage, Paul also talked about life without <span style="color: red;">real love</span> --- What's sad is that this type of life can actually look pretty perfect from the outside.<span style="font-size: 100%;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 100%; font-weight: normal;">"If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. (another version says clanging cymbals) </span><span style="font-size: 100%;">If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing.<b> </b></span><span style="font-size: 100%; font-weight: normal;">If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love."</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: 100%;">If I just shared with you about Randy and I and our nearly 25 years together, and left it at that. It might leave you feeling a little empty. Why? Because it is an example of those clanging cymbals Paul mentioned. Honestly, if I just read the passage on love alone it can be clanging cymbals too. </span></div>
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If I pointed to certain things you should "do" to have a successful marriage, it will all go nowhere and end up being just like the sound of a creaky gate...</div>
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<span style="font-size: 100%;">This </span><span style="color: red; font-size: 100%;">love</span><span style="font-size: 100%;"> is difficult... You know why? Because it is absolutely necessary and at the same time absolutely impossible. Wow, thanks Lori! That was inspiring! :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">Well here comes a little more inspiration...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYikUieeyfyel3MEjd5Tpy9sd8j5mP1WiJf8jHtG9PyaDDKJEP3Tblz2MaRjvxx52NLFkSn_TDehMPHXyiE5f7tF4XiVHQealOyvaJnZV9vVegx8k7X6YpFoPy7vpLTVIgonSWMehXgC4/s1600/wedding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYikUieeyfyel3MEjd5Tpy9sd8j5mP1WiJf8jHtG9PyaDDKJEP3Tblz2MaRjvxx52NLFkSn_TDehMPHXyiE5f7tF4XiVHQealOyvaJnZV9vVegx8k7X6YpFoPy7vpLTVIgonSWMehXgC4/s200/wedding.jpg" width="200" yda="true" /></a>Sometime in the future, when everything plays itself out and you go to that naturally selfish place and become ugly towards each other, or when you convince yourselves of how right you are and how much you deserve whatever you think you deserve and there seems to be a big gulf between you instead of this beautiful moment you are sharing today. You will want to know how to experience that impossible kind of love from 1 Cor 13 and <i style="font-size: 100%;">The only true example of this kind of love was God's love for us through Jesus.</i></div>
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<span style="color: red;">Listen to this story that Paul describes and see how it mirrors you when you are at a loss with someone you love. This however, is God's love story to us. </span></div>
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<span style="color: red;">"</span>It wasn't so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn't know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It's a wonder God didn't lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us."</blockquote>
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<b>Instead</b>, immense in mercy and with an incredible <span style="color: red;">love,</span> he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! ...<span style="font-size: 100%;"> Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. </span></blockquote>
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Making up...reconciling is the best! It's a huge weight off of our hearts, right? <span style="font-size: 100%;">God had to deal with our ugliness towards him because there wasn't anything we could do to make it all right. That is why there is hope...not just a lumpy couch to sleep on in the middle of a dark night, figuratively speaking.</span></div>
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So now what do we do with this love God has shown us...In Philippians Paul suggests something not too far from 1 Corinthians 13- </div>
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"If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, <span style="color: red;">if his love has made any difference in your life,</span> if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.</div>
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Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human!<i> </i>Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death.</blockquote>
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I have seen this in action. God's grace shines through Randy....I've even seen it shine through me at times. It is the only way we have experienced true love these 25 years- Him through us. I pray that for you. </div>
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<b><br /></b></blockquote>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04903203534993642292noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2435205177003195680.post-61396870756094868382012-03-04T06:18:00.000-08:002013-03-18T20:38:55.525-07:00Rock in my road<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><em>"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal." Is 26:3-4</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I used to read this verse and think I needed to try harder to have that "steadfast - forever trusting" kind of mind. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm Thanking Jesus today that He is the Rock in my road.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is no trying on my part</span>. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04903203534993642292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2435205177003195680.post-32355460410770583902012-02-29T08:21:00.003-08:002013-03-18T20:38:55.524-07:00oh, how things can change!<span style="font-family:courier new;">Hard to believe that one weekend away my husband Randy and I were having a self proclaimed perfect weekend away. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Courier New;">One week later...4 days ago, Randy had a stroke. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Courier New;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Courier New;">I haven't really allowed myself to feel anything but thankfulness along the way. The initial terror I felt was nearly incapacitating and I sho' 'nuf knew I needed to move my bad self along from that feeling. I have 5 kids after all. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Courier New;">Now, don't think it was anything I did. I just happened to realize I couldn't stay terrified or catatonic and God made Himself very big in the whole situation enabling me to see the next right thing to do and say and provided the strength to do it. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Courier New;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Courier New;">My husband is now home. It seems to me he had the best kind of stroke he could have had.... God placed that clot smack dab in the center of balance and vomit central in his cerebellum and He made it small enough that his symptoms are being overcome daily. He is less weak every day. He is hardly dizzy anymore. He does not see double. He is no longer vomiting. He is able to eat and walk and talk with nearly no slurring. He does have to think about what used to be automatic and everything he does is much slower. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Courier New;">I am going to take him to Physical Therapy today and they will continue to work on him.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Courier New;">I mentioned feeling nothing but thankful...</span><br /><br /><br /><ul><br /><br /><li><span style="font-family:Courier New;">So thankful for my son in law Grant, an ER nurse, being with him and taking care of him when he first fell.</span></li><br /><br /><li><span style="font-family:Courier New;">So thankful for family and friends and practical expressions of love and prayers.</span></li><br /><br /><li><span style="font-family:Courier New;">So thankful for the nurses and doctors. </span></li><br /><br /><li><span style="font-family:Courier New;">My sister from TN, and ICU nurse, was with me to listen to the first visit with the Neurologist. </span></li></ul><br /><br /><p><span style="font-family:Courier New;">It is strangely beautiful to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that in the midst of a storm you and all you love are being safely Held. </span></p><br /><br /><p></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04903203534993642292noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2435205177003195680.post-48299575213266657472012-02-22T08:37:00.001-08:002013-03-18T20:41:55.151-07:00Valentines Weekend Away<span style="font-family:courier new;">Just got back from a weekend away for the first time in two years. My husband and I enjoyed one another on all levels. We went walking in the woods twice over the weekend. I ate what I wanted and what my surgery would allow. I drank good wine, hot-tubbed under the stars, made leisurely breakfasts each morning, visited some great restaurants along the river, watched a movie or two and saw many bald eagles flying over the Mississippi in Prairie Du Chien. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Courier New;">I even came home to a pretty clean house...we have great kids! </span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">So thankful!</span><br /><span style="font-family:Courier New;"></span><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712000775985240002" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1NeR3ndA8lAsAXUcP3VNgkW_2hfmCsY1R8_KXYVBccUKDdfuZDVj61kWOb0e7wX3rCGxux4zRH5_w-l56Tzd5-NNW4ZKnpCmen450yqjUKjkEh4-QkLVb4_0Ztl_BP2tF0ibvnw1Dxr0/s320/vdat2.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712000771102831602" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoLVhKw-jvkZAmAm2YHBy3SdbrPaM91VyXpZLVsD2Zv6PHFiKfJfUksfuL3cxt6OvSpUv6J1L70TqVYNvYYp48X1zLmg6v2zfNRKw4doaBBdKv3ld0KA4ZSb5qi84E_RtAXyRUWtp-Fds/s320/vday.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712000794151123330" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIe73xjJy6S21xEyOudeisKmr1jcdbq8VKd5K-8NkiEGzWs0GHa9I8jOjiynZFCvKxbuBgqwksG9Ydv2KVTWwrcAV9iRJFI6aPC31AfqWIzyjN7cxDzEBocblQn4FjGutqxj36PUGJofI/s320/field.jpg" border="0" /> <br /><div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04903203534993642292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2435205177003195680.post-62888321181632824342012-02-14T15:46:00.000-08:002012-02-16T06:29:05.885-08:00the Sea Inside<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ-RTVNmyXgPJ5N_JdHIM8S8IWzMv1MZtxQ7Jc0vMyMgtBMOmqmS_V_QvPi6eSWBKPkeNaANxf1oVSyKrlo6kb_8_G3VEO6K9C4g-3Eew4KM0L88YcSvq2-pRW8gOTepDBd-DwIBv_tGk/s1600/sea.jpeg"><span style="font-family:courier new;font-size:85%;"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 184px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 273px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709142783954687362" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ-RTVNmyXgPJ5N_JdHIM8S8IWzMv1MZtxQ7Jc0vMyMgtBMOmqmS_V_QvPi6eSWBKPkeNaANxf1oVSyKrlo6kb_8_G3VEO6K9C4g-3Eew4KM0L88YcSvq2-pRW8gOTepDBd-DwIBv_tGk/s400/sea.jpeg" /></span></a><span style="font-family:courier new;font-size:85%;">Recently watched this movie....very profound. I would recommend it greatly!<br />I suppose I should share a bit more....Whatever you might feel about the right to die, I am sure this movie will bring out something from within you that you hadn't thought before.<br />My mother passed away many years ago. She chose to stop taking nourishment through her stomach tube and weighed less than 70 lbs when she died. She was a prisoner in her body, suffering from ALS. Her only means to communicate was blinking out concise messages to convey her needs. She had a sea inside of her...as we all do.<br />I, for whatever reasons, had a life experience where I had to help care for my mom's very physical needs and watch her die while in college. Receiving from her the gracious life lessons one would never wish to have to teach their own child has filled me and made me who I am. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04903203534993642292noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2435205177003195680.post-77015494848519072362011-10-08T06:25:00.000-07:002013-03-18T20:43:28.151-07:00SaviorI have this life...<br />
It's full, it's practiced (I've lived it for nearly 46 years!), it's predictable, it includes different roles--Being a wife, being a mom, being an employee, being a friend, being a sister, being an aunt, being a daughter in law, etc.<br />
<br />
I have this habit...<br />
I naturally think I am the source of all strength, solutions, and sustenance. It's all-encompassing, never ending, and quite stubborn. I "humbly" receive counsel and seek input, knowing later that my judgement will prevail because who knows best, but me?<br />
<br />
I have this God...<br />
He touches on each and every relationship area of my life, in His time and for His glory. It ends up looking and feeling quite a bit like death. Which it is.
<i>"For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body." </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
God has this Gospel---this "Good News"...<br />
<i>"We know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus..." </i><br />
<br />
In small places, indiscernible to the naked eye,<br />
<br />
I have this paradigm shift...<br />
I am weak. Jesus is strong. I can't. Jesus can and did. I am fixed because He did the fixing.<br />
<br />
My pastor and friend wrote:<br />
<a href="http://www.theologyformen.com/2011/09/27/part-time-pastors-close-burning-out-5-refreshing-notes-relax/"><i>"The gospel teaches us that no one fixes anyone; but Jesus paid for the fix with His blood, He does the fixing with His Spirit, and in the end, is still the only one completely fixed this side of Heaven." </i></a><br />
<br />
Jesus completed work is still saving me, my husband, my family, my co-workers, my pastor, my friends. What a Savior! <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04903203534993642292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2435205177003195680.post-13552182097203866592011-09-02T09:00:00.000-07:002013-03-18T20:51:43.667-07:00Reminding myself I'm clean<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Mark 2</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed him. </span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><br /><span style="color: red;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?" And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." </span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I read this recently and it dawned on me that Jesus isn’t speaking of those reclining at the table with him in a disparaging tone…He is, in essence, inviting the Pharisees to join Him, but first they need to realize they are sick too! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I heard Tullian Tchividjian share in his recent series on Grace that we so often think we have to DO DO DO our Christianity (Exactly like the Pharisees). This thinking ends one of two ways…pride (ie: sin) in how well we have done, or despair (faithlessness ie: sin), cuz we just “can’t get ‘er done”. </span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">When will we realize, "It is finished" really means just that? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: red;">Mark continues...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" And Jesus said to them, "Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The message of God’s grace is “new wine for fresh wineskins”. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Attempting to attach True grace to works-based Christianity will only prolong the misleading notion that we somehow have a part in our redemption.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">We tend to forget the order of things concerning our salvation. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">1.<span style="color: red;"> It’s God’s gift</span> (we ALL need it, tax collectors and Pharisees alike)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">2.<span style="color: red;"> It’s not our works</span> (Hello!? We all try to sneak this method by…some for much loooonger than others)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">3. <span style="color: red;">We’ve been created IN Christ Jesus for good works</span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">4. Rinse, repeat. </span><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04903203534993642292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2435205177003195680.post-70423782694877154772011-09-01T07:59:00.001-07:002013-03-18T20:51:43.671-07:00Need a book to read?<img alt="A lesson before dying [Book]" src="http://books.google.com/books?id=cV-gTPZVm8wC&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1&l=220" title="A lesson before dying [Book]" />Wow...I was touched by the restraint the author used to show such profound themes, emotion and character development. Highly recommend this one! Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04903203534993642292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2435205177003195680.post-87912377044699307922011-07-29T09:03:00.000-07:002013-03-18T20:51:43.673-07:00a lot o' LamottAnne Lamott fiction...I think I've read them all this spring and summer. <br />
<br />
Common themes... Raw, honest brokenness. True community. Grace. Humor. <br />
<br />
If I were to write a review...<br />
<em>Her writing deliciously meanders and then she sneaks a breath-taking nugget in the mix. I pause, smile and sip my coffee.</em>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04903203534993642292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2435205177003195680.post-58044414636103068322011-06-08T18:18:00.001-07:002013-03-18T20:51:43.669-07:00"Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church...."My husband "took the shot".<br />He responded to a verbal assault that was directed to us, as a couple.<br /><br />He took the wrath and addressed what he saw honestly and yet with restraint as I could not have done.<br /><br />He Ephesians five, twenty-five’d me and now I can see Jesus in a new and more personal way.<br /><br />God is good to give me such a man who points me to the Savior through word and deed.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04903203534993642292noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2435205177003195680.post-18380864900326483872011-04-21T17:23:00.000-07:002013-03-18T20:51:43.668-07:00I just love this guy!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGhnN8FFs32ABSQ2ou3h4BqH6I8M7MEP2lP7F9A2-UPtLoHyJOQ1cJbOa-d1nYo7aLSN21tjtyZOvyahxQjaYR9y79kf_qAr6qy4Dd1mgUMWpXB7KHO43MGUTuDV-p6TIJZhHrIE3byC4/s1600/luke+invite.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 294px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGhnN8FFs32ABSQ2ou3h4BqH6I8M7MEP2lP7F9A2-UPtLoHyJOQ1cJbOa-d1nYo7aLSN21tjtyZOvyahxQjaYR9y79kf_qAr6qy4Dd1mgUMWpXB7KHO43MGUTuDV-p6TIJZhHrIE3byC4/s400/luke+invite.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598197140926305490" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Luke William Anderson</span><br />Commencement 5/26/2011<br />Open House at Kaio Church 5/22/2011Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04903203534993642292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2435205177003195680.post-58314962337431570592011-01-05T09:15:00.000-08:002013-03-18T21:01:49.914-07:00Epiphany<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The stressful weeks before the wedding lent themselves to easy fear and more than ready concerns making the Spirit's work on the day of their marriage a quiet startle to my heart.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">My heart had been doing a good job of warding off most emotion with exhaustion and busy-ness that day, but the Spirit, BEING the Holy Spirit was able to do His revelatory work, even through my thickness.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">What used to be "What in the world are you thinking about school and career?" and "Why don't you see what I see concerning opportunities and direction?" was all of a sudden, "Oh! That is who you ARE, dear one!" </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Peace indescribable invaded the place that used to be muddied with appearances and approval seeking. </span><br />
<div id="ecxSkyDrivePlaceholder" style="color: white;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I saw her, uncomfortable with public attention - the beautiful bride...yet, when one-on-one and/or by her groom's side greeting strangers, warm and at ease. </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I saw the love her friends had for her as they said their good byes and was reminded at how she, the daughter, can calm this mother's hurt with a warm look and a squeeze of the hand. She is lovely.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Realizations, as only the Spirit can give, washed over me. </span><br />
<br /><span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I see her as part of God's plan being used for His glory--Not a child being forced to become who she's not. </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">He saved her from me. He saved me from the past that ruled my thoughts and actions. </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">He is so good and I praise Him for His miraculous work.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04903203534993642292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2435205177003195680.post-86486890989118387192010-03-12T13:53:00.000-08:002013-03-20T13:56:40.458-07:00Paths<span style="font-family: verdana;">I am now working full time at the place that I worked as a temp for 6 months in 2009. It is a good move. For me. For my family. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Having worked with mentally ill clients for the last 3 months, my eyes have been opened. I will always be changed by them.</span> <span style="font-family: verdana;"></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Maybe someday, when I don't have children at home (needing me to be more than an exhausted lump on the couch) I can go work with these people again.</span> <span style="font-family: verdana;">Maybe I just didn't give it enough time...maybe I would have learned to leave them in their apartments instead of bringing them home with me each night in my thoughts and prayers. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Not sure.</span> <span style="font-family: verdana;"></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">But in the meantime, I am so very thankful to God for bringing me just what we needed at just the right time! He is good!</span> <span style="font-family: verdana;"></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Did I mention Rachel is engaged? :)</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04903203534993642292noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2435205177003195680.post-4157939566630449282010-02-05T08:50:00.000-08:002013-03-20T13:54:59.383-07:00Another Day Another DollarIt is hard to express how a person becomes big in your eyes. It is always personal...it is sometimes about what you value. With the mentally ill clients that I work with it is a little of both. I was trying to "gear up" to meet with a client this morning, feeling a bit resentful at the staff person who visited him yesterday because she took the grocery store run. It is hard to sit with Todd, but that is what he generally wants to do. He asks me at times, "How much time do you have this morning, Lori?" and I want to pull out my schedule and lie and tell him less time than I actually am allotted. I leave his place generally after having listened to his repeated, predictable diatribes on smoking and tobacco, dating older woman, the book of Revelation or alcohol and caffeine and his superman tolerance for each. I always smell like an ash tray and have to assure his paranoid questions that I didn't think anything strange about him the last time I was with him. It's a littany. An unsettled, obscure chant I must sing every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. God showed up this last Tuesday when I visited Todd. I'm learning He tends to show up where I least expect Him. That day, Todd told me over the phone that he had had "projectile vomit" the night before. He mentioned he feared for his life and had gone to the emergency room with his brother's assistance. I, of course, was not even close to wanting to visit him, however he had a follow-up appointment at his family doctor. Vowing to myself that I would drive him the 3 minutes to the doctor's office with my window rolled down so as to not catch his germs, I pulled up outside his bright pink narrow door. As Todd got in the company car he started talking. And talking. He filled that small car with words as I filled it with equal parts fresh air. After his appointment he mentioned he needed to get a prescription at the pharmacy in the next town and, could we stop at Kwik Star to get him some breakfast? Breakfast?! We turned toward Kwik Star as my thoughts raced for solutions. When he climbed in the car with two chili dogs and zero napkins, I told him I would drop him off at his apartment and he could go home to rest with his "breakfast" and I could go get his prescriptions and bring them back. He nodded agreement as his mouth was full; chili and mustard on each corner of his mouth. As I pulled up to his apartment he opened the door with a smear of yellow on the interior and asked in his slow, thick East coast accent if I could come up and help him with the sample of nasal spray the doctor's office had given him when I return. So much for dropping off the medications at the door and running. As I pulled away I couldn't control the hilarious, uncontrollable laugh-whimpers that erupted from me. Thankfully, I had time to gather control on the ride there and back. I prayed and wondered at what was rolling around inside of my stomach, assuring myself there was no way it was the stomach flu already. I climbed his steep, narrow stairs and knocked on the door. He called, "Just hold on, Lori." He opened the door a minute later with bare feet and an explanation of having to get dressed as he'd climbed in bed and dutifully rested. As I walked in the door, I sensed Something come over me. His dark, windowless front room held no invitation for me. Ever. But this time I knew I was not alone with Todd. Compassion entered me. I explained his meds to him and demonstrated his nasal spray. I watched as he guzzled a bottle of water like a pro --The directions did say, "drink plenty of water" after all. As I turned to go, Todd thanked me. "This was really nice of you, Lori." And I told him I hoped he felt better soon and I'd check on him tomorrow. Todd became big to me as I saw how small I was. He was brave and obedient - wanting to do the right thing. He didn't have a mean bone in his body and I was ashamed of my disdain. It is always personal - - these moments when you recognize Truth at work. I thanked God as I walked down the stairway, shaking my head at His great grace in showing up to help Todd in his moment of need. And me, in my even greater moment of need.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04903203534993642292noreply@blogger.com0