I decided that when I have kids I'm going to "Christianize" all the children's book I read them. This ephiphany came after reading some children's books to Shelley for her class on literature (she's going into elementary education). Some examples from stories (my additions in italics):
"Baby Sam is sick! We should pray for him!"
"I'm going next door to meet the new girl and invite her over for peanut-butter cookies and teach her about Jesus!"
"Hi! I'm Alice. I'm a Christian. What's your name?"
And last but not least...
One fish
Two fish
Red fish
JESUS fish!!!
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Shower Conversations
Friday morning while rushing through my shower to make it to work on time, I overheard this conversation. Oh the joy of living in the dorms with 50 other girls! (mostly freshmen)
(Names have been changed)
A & B are roommates...
A: I don't remember anything from last night. I got so wasted!
B: Yeah, I know! It got crazy...
A: Yeah, this morning I woke up and rolled over in bed and was like, 'who the f*** is in B's bed?!'
B: Oh don't worry. Nothing happened.
I love WSU! :-)
(Names have been changed)
A & B are roommates...
A: I don't remember anything from last night. I got so wasted!
B: Yeah, I know! It got crazy...
A: Yeah, this morning I woke up and rolled over in bed and was like, 'who the f*** is in B's bed?!'
B: Oh don't worry. Nothing happened.
I love WSU! :-)
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Humility
This might get deep. The other day I was spending some quality time with God (which was very much needed) and I felt really convicted. Pride is an issue that I struggle with a lot. I think many of us could agree that it is definitely a tool used by the enemy in our lives to put a wedge between us and God. I was prompted to read in Jeremiah 29. Verses 11-14 really stuck out to me. As I read them I felt God calling to me from the Word. He has plans for me. He wants to give me a hope and a future. If only I will continue to seek Him with all of my heart then I will find Him. After digesting these verses I journaled, "Sometimes I shrink back from what God has called me to. I shrink back because I don't think He is really calling me...I don't feel capable. Well, if God is really calling me to something then I need to step up and do it. Because if I don't, He'll call someone else. The cry of my heart is to serve Him which means that I need to serve Him by doing what He says, what He calls me to...."
This doesn't stop here. Then I picked up the book Drawing Near by John Bevere. The chapter was on humility. It talked about the three aspects of humility: obedience, dependence and one's view of oneself. All three hit right at home, but the one that really hit me hard was dependence. In it, Bevere used the example of Joshua and Caleb entering the promised land and encouraging the Israelites that they can take the land after all the other elders were afraid. I felt like I tend to be one of the other elders. I'm a realist. Too much of one. Instead of doing what God has called me to (knowing full well that all things are possible through Him) I look at my own abilities and situation and say, "surely this is not what God is asking me to do." [see excerpt from journal above] I almost feel humble when I discredit myself. However, that is not true humility. True humility is recognizing God's directives as better than our own (obedience), following through even though we don't understand (dependence) and knowing full well that on our own, apart from Him, we could never accomplish it but through Him we are more than conquerers (view of oneself). That is true humility. When David went to the battlefield to meet his brothers they called him arrogant for calling them out for hiding from Goliath (2 Samuel 17:28). David was considered arrogant! What did he do? He went in the power of God and killed the giant. God lifts up the humble. He exalts those who are humble and brings down the prideful. I'll end with a quote from Drawing Near (pg 133):
Keep in mind, Scripture shows repeatedly the dwelling place of God is the high places, and the dwelling place of demonic forces is the lower parts. You will see over and over throughout Scripture pride and rebellion associated with the low, and humility and the fear of the Lord with the high. To be lifted up is to dwell with God in intimacy!
This doesn't stop here. Then I picked up the book Drawing Near by John Bevere. The chapter was on humility. It talked about the three aspects of humility: obedience, dependence and one's view of oneself. All three hit right at home, but the one that really hit me hard was dependence. In it, Bevere used the example of Joshua and Caleb entering the promised land and encouraging the Israelites that they can take the land after all the other elders were afraid. I felt like I tend to be one of the other elders. I'm a realist. Too much of one. Instead of doing what God has called me to (knowing full well that all things are possible through Him) I look at my own abilities and situation and say, "surely this is not what God is asking me to do." [see excerpt from journal above] I almost feel humble when I discredit myself. However, that is not true humility. True humility is recognizing God's directives as better than our own (obedience), following through even though we don't understand (dependence) and knowing full well that on our own, apart from Him, we could never accomplish it but through Him we are more than conquerers (view of oneself). That is true humility. When David went to the battlefield to meet his brothers they called him arrogant for calling them out for hiding from Goliath (2 Samuel 17:28). David was considered arrogant! What did he do? He went in the power of God and killed the giant. God lifts up the humble. He exalts those who are humble and brings down the prideful. I'll end with a quote from Drawing Near (pg 133):
Keep in mind, Scripture shows repeatedly the dwelling place of God is the high places, and the dwelling place of demonic forces is the lower parts. You will see over and over throughout Scripture pride and rebellion associated with the low, and humility and the fear of the Lord with the high. To be lifted up is to dwell with God in intimacy!
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Where I've Been
Lately I haven't really been home. My sisters notice. Kelly reminds me every time I come back home how I'm never here. But it's hard to be home after being gone for a year. It's hard to try and put up with being a part of a family again. Not that I'm "putting up" with them in a bad way, it's just different. Hopefully some of you know how that is. The girls are at that age where everything turns into a fight, including with me. Most of the time it's fun when I'm with them, but then in a split second the tables turn and someone is mad at someone else. So, this summer I've wandered a lot. Fun wandering though, to visit friends and have fun elsewhere. There were weddings to go to and people to see. I can't believe how fast this summer has gone. I thought I would see more movies than I have. I've only been to two. Crazy, huh?
So now I'm getting ready to go back up to WSU. I've been cleaning out my old room so Kelly can move in completely. Going through all sorts of clothes and stuff I forgot I had and boxing it up so five to ten years from I can unpack it and wonder why I kept it. You know, the fun stuff. Kristen and Katie switched rooms too, so we've been moving them in and out and reorganizing. The upstairs is a mess. Mom keeps telling me to finish going through all my stuff, but it's so overwhelming. I get distracted easily and would much rather go and watch TV than sort through another box of clothes from High School. But it's getting done. I'm almost ready for school.
School. Yes, it's that time of year. August. I'll head up to WSU to join my freshman roommate next week. Yes, freshman roommate. I feel sorry for her, having to live with me. It'll work out. Hopefully soon I'll have a single. I'm excited to start school. A little nervous too. Not sure exactly what to expect. I know it will be a good year. My last year in college. Nine months from now I'll be graduating. Hopefully by then I'll have figured out what I want to do for my life (or at least the next 2-5 years). It's scary to think about really. I've been a student for so long I can't imagine life without school. I'll just continue to pray and trust God with that. Eventually I'll figure it out, and whatever it is I'm sure I'll be excited about it.
So now I'm getting ready to go back up to WSU. I've been cleaning out my old room so Kelly can move in completely. Going through all sorts of clothes and stuff I forgot I had and boxing it up so five to ten years from I can unpack it and wonder why I kept it. You know, the fun stuff. Kristen and Katie switched rooms too, so we've been moving them in and out and reorganizing. The upstairs is a mess. Mom keeps telling me to finish going through all my stuff, but it's so overwhelming. I get distracted easily and would much rather go and watch TV than sort through another box of clothes from High School. But it's getting done. I'm almost ready for school.
School. Yes, it's that time of year. August. I'll head up to WSU to join my freshman roommate next week. Yes, freshman roommate. I feel sorry for her, having to live with me. It'll work out. Hopefully soon I'll have a single. I'm excited to start school. A little nervous too. Not sure exactly what to expect. I know it will be a good year. My last year in college. Nine months from now I'll be graduating. Hopefully by then I'll have figured out what I want to do for my life (or at least the next 2-5 years). It's scary to think about really. I've been a student for so long I can't imagine life without school. I'll just continue to pray and trust God with that. Eventually I'll figure it out, and whatever it is I'm sure I'll be excited about it.
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