one of my brothers - the one with 5 kids - is coming for a visit tomorrow. YAY!!! i'm excited to see them and just hang out. they'll only be here until sat afternoon & then have to finish the drive back home to MI but it will be a blast no matter how much time we have. :-)
their visit has "motivated" me to get unpacked (yes, ALL the boxes are gone!) and to actually hang pictures and really MOVE IN. i've live here since september and just haven't ever quite finished. the REALLY crazy thing is that this is the most "moved in" i've been anywhere since sept 2001 when i moved from sandy springs and bought my townhome. there are 8 million reasons why that's the case .... and i won't even start that list here .... but i will say that i'm LOVING my place and excited to finish off a couple last things.
our gaggle started basic training last night. nope, we are not in the military! it's a class based on the beautitudes (ya know - "blessed are the poor for they will inherit the earth ... " and all that). it's a HARD class for me to sit through - it's 2 hours of mostly sitting & listening AND the guy who teaches is great but sometimes i feel like he's speaking in a different language than i do.
it' s my 2nd time in the class (no, i did NOT flunk out the 1st time!) and i'd forgotten how challenging it is for me. TRUTH: a huge part of why the class is challenging for me is that it CHALLENGES me. it makes me think about my heart, my head and my soul and the connection between them all. YES, i do believe there IS a connection.
it's not easy for me to examine those places .... really truly examine ... because it means acknowleding my imperfections. actually, i know i have imperfections (no comment required here!) so the real TOUGH part isn't in seeing them but in DOING SOMETHING to work on them.
letting the door to my "ugly side" swing open so that light can shine on it - OUCH!! and then asking Christ to help me make something beautiful - something like him - out of that darkness. THAT is the part that's really really tough. that's the part that challenges me and in many ways, simply brings me to my knees both figuratively & literally.
the part that AMAZES me in all of that is how Christ uses that process to draw me soooooo very close to Him. it's like He's nudging me along, whispering encouragement to me and then hugging me BIG as i inch closer and closer to Him.
incredible awesome amazing and wonderful GOD!!
oh and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to ...
john hallam - the BEST brother in law EVER!!
and gary delaney - one of the nicest, funniest & coolest guys i know!
LIVE BIG today!
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Monday, April 9, 2007
The Message in The Message
so i just finished reading a part of the bible i never really thought about before and WOW was it ever worth the read! the intro to "the message remix" talks about an ancient practice called "lectio divina" or spiritual reading. it caught my attention so i kept reading ...
there are four components that make up lectio:
*read * think * pray * live*
there's a couple pages about all this and it's actually really good, meaty (yet easy to read) stuff. i was reading along, nice & relaxed and then i got to the LIVE part. it challenged me. what if i do the reading, thinking & praying and never allow all that to change my life? then i miss the whole point - ugh!! here's the part that really kicked me in the belly ...
"not only is the sin that you leave in place ugly & damaging, but it stands in the way of your relationship with God - in a much bigger way than something hanging off your face. for God to share His mind and His heart with you, only to have you do nothing about it, implies more than a self-destructive choice. instead of doing what God says, you have chosen yourself as master, as God."
YIKES! i soooo do not wanna do that but i do - every day - and it's only with God that i can stop. (philippians 2) so reading God's word means that He becomes more and more and more a part of me. just like every human relationship forever changes us & impacts me, my relationship with God does that same thing on a much grander scale. WOO HOO!!!
"Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." (Matthew 11:30)
oh how that statement just feels refreshing. like my load is lighter already. like someone cares.
today, i'm thankful for The Message translation and the fact that God pointed me to that little thing called "Intro".
there are four components that make up lectio:
*read * think * pray * live*
there's a couple pages about all this and it's actually really good, meaty (yet easy to read) stuff. i was reading along, nice & relaxed and then i got to the LIVE part. it challenged me. what if i do the reading, thinking & praying and never allow all that to change my life? then i miss the whole point - ugh!! here's the part that really kicked me in the belly ...
"not only is the sin that you leave in place ugly & damaging, but it stands in the way of your relationship with God - in a much bigger way than something hanging off your face. for God to share His mind and His heart with you, only to have you do nothing about it, implies more than a self-destructive choice. instead of doing what God says, you have chosen yourself as master, as God."
YIKES! i soooo do not wanna do that but i do - every day - and it's only with God that i can stop. (philippians 2) so reading God's word means that He becomes more and more and more a part of me. just like every human relationship forever changes us & impacts me, my relationship with God does that same thing on a much grander scale. WOO HOO!!!
"Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." (Matthew 11:30)
oh how that statement just feels refreshing. like my load is lighter already. like someone cares.
today, i'm thankful for The Message translation and the fact that God pointed me to that little thing called "Intro".
Thursday, April 5, 2007
day 2 - kinda
so i missed a day but after gaggle i had to eat and then just got lazy. or maybe i was just pondering the great many thoughts to blog about. (way too easy to get LOST in my own mind!)
gaggle was fun last nite. they are officially the 1st people to hear about my blog. we finished up (almost) our study on living victoriously and sheila brought a rob bell dvd that ROCKED and summed up that study better than anything else could have.
check out www.nooma.com - we watched RAIN last nite and they are all super great!
i had lunch yesterday with the high school director (inside out) and i guess it's OFFICIAL that i'm moving UP with my girls. YIKES!! i'm excited and scared all at the same time!! i try not to think about the fact that it's another 4 years with the girls.
i'm praying that God will show me exactly who the very best co-leader would be & that He'll lay that call upon their heart so it's HIM doing the convincing & NOT ME. (that's gonna take some serious prayer!) :-)
hanging out with a couple of the girls tonite - yay!! also talking with one of the moms at some point today. her daughter is new to my group and there's a lot of stuff playing out in this family so i want to be a good listener & also have discernment about how to encourage my 8th grader in the midst of what's going on in her world.
i'm thankful thankful thankful for gaggle!! i love that God let's us get to know Him more by getting to know others and seeing Him through their eyes and their hearts.
my devo time today was on forgiveness and i am SO THANKFUL for that precious, amazing gift!! really & truly, where would i be without forgiveness??? from God, from family, from friends .... and what a perfect devo for the Easter weekend coming up.
ttfn!
gaggle was fun last nite. they are officially the 1st people to hear about my blog. we finished up (almost) our study on living victoriously and sheila brought a rob bell dvd that ROCKED and summed up that study better than anything else could have.
check out www.nooma.com - we watched RAIN last nite and they are all super great!
i had lunch yesterday with the high school director (inside out) and i guess it's OFFICIAL that i'm moving UP with my girls. YIKES!! i'm excited and scared all at the same time!! i try not to think about the fact that it's another 4 years with the girls.
i'm praying that God will show me exactly who the very best co-leader would be & that He'll lay that call upon their heart so it's HIM doing the convincing & NOT ME. (that's gonna take some serious prayer!) :-)
hanging out with a couple of the girls tonite - yay!! also talking with one of the moms at some point today. her daughter is new to my group and there's a lot of stuff playing out in this family so i want to be a good listener & also have discernment about how to encourage my 8th grader in the midst of what's going on in her world.
i'm thankful thankful thankful for gaggle!! i love that God let's us get to know Him more by getting to know others and seeing Him through their eyes and their hearts.
my devo time today was on forgiveness and i am SO THANKFUL for that precious, amazing gift!! really & truly, where would i be without forgiveness??? from God, from family, from friends .... and what a perfect devo for the Easter weekend coming up.
ttfn!
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
can i really do this?
the debate in my head wont stop so i can go crazy or just get busy with the blogging business. i have NO idea what to expect. i just know i want an outlet for the random thoughts running through my brain and i type faster than i write.
i guess this will be part blog, part journal, part conversations with God and hopefully, i'll get here just about every day to make a quick record of the things i'm thankful for. probably way too ambitious but hey, dream BIG!
today i'm thankful for blogging & getting started. i'm thankful for time spent with quim. for my friend cindy who always makes me laugh. for my dog who is THE sweetest & most lovable dog on the planet.
OH!!! i can't forget that i'm WAY thankful for my family and the SUPER FUN voicemail that i'm going to have 16 niece/nephew types by christmas 2007. WOW!!!
so that's day 1 blog. how fun!!!
i guess this will be part blog, part journal, part conversations with God and hopefully, i'll get here just about every day to make a quick record of the things i'm thankful for. probably way too ambitious but hey, dream BIG!
today i'm thankful for blogging & getting started. i'm thankful for time spent with quim. for my friend cindy who always makes me laugh. for my dog who is THE sweetest & most lovable dog on the planet.
OH!!! i can't forget that i'm WAY thankful for my family and the SUPER FUN voicemail that i'm going to have 16 niece/nephew types by christmas 2007. WOW!!!
so that's day 1 blog. how fun!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)