Good Friday: Reflections on the Cross

"The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life - only to take it up again.  No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.  I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.  This command I received from my Father."  John 10:17-18

"Put your sword away!  Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?"  John 18:11

"My kingdom is not of this world.  If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews.  But now my kingdom is from another place."  John 18:36

"I tell you the truth, today you will be with Me in paradise."  Luke 23:43

"It is finished."  John 19:30

By No Means the End: Reflections on Loss

"End?  No, the journey doesn't end here.  Death is just another path...One we all must take.  The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass...And then you see it...White shores...and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise."

Sunday night our Sister in Christ, Melanie Sweenie, was relieved of her suffering and taken home to her savior.  It's a hard thing for those of us who are left behind, harder still for her two young sons and her husband, but we can take comfort in knowing that her work was finished.  Right now, she is getting to look upon the face of the savior with perfect vision and hear the words "well done good and faithful servant."  This was no surprise to Him who knows the number of our days and in that I pray we can all find comfort in this time.  God did not look down on Melanie, gasp, and think, "whoops, wasn't paying attention there", rather He was the one calling her home, drawing her into eternal rest.  He is also the One who will comfort her family, and use this to grown and strengthen them as He uses their local church to gather around them.

While we mourn with those who mourn (Romans 12:15), we continue to rejoice that death, eternal death, has been concurred, and say along with Paul, "'O death, where is your victory?  O death, where is your sting?'  The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."  1 Corinthians 15:55-57  By the sacrifice of Christ Jesus, Melanie, along with all who believe on Him, is free from the penalty of sin and now she is completely free from its oppression (2 Corinthians 5:21).  May we take hope in this, no matter the tragedies we experience in this life.

Pasta! More Reflections on Food.

Drying pasta

I love food.  And if you read my blog with any regularity you will know that this is quite the understatement.  I also love to cook and one of my all time favorite people to cook with is the great Kandy Steen.  When I was working at Christ EPC in Houston, the youth staff took a cooking class from her during the summer.  She is a cooking ninja.  We learned to make gourmet macaroni, spatzle, cheese cake, and pasta from scratch, just to name a few and every recipe I have tried on my own and shared with others has been a huge hit.  Today, I got to help her cook all of the meals for this week because she hurt her hand and to be quite honest, I made out like a bandit.  We cooked chicken and andouille sausage gumbo, a rotisserie chicken casserole with amazing white sauce, and home made pasta with Italian sausage ragou.  And of course she let me take some home.

As pasta is pretty much my favorite food to cook on my list of things to request for my birthday or Christmas:  a kitchen aide with a pasta attachment.  YUM!

Now tell me:  What's your favorite dish to cook?  

A Plethora of Pictures

Some of the most delicious carrot cake from a cafe in Fulshear!

The sun through the trees

Marcelina helping us make dinner

Backyard flowers

Tree in our backyard.  At one time we thought it would be a fun place for future kiddos to play, then we discovered there might be snakes.

Flowers

One flower

Gossip: Reflections on Murder

"You shall not murder."  Exodus 20:13

"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.'  But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment...But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell." Matthew 5:21-22

This last Sunday I lead the youth in a discussion about the sixth commandment, 'You shall not murder.'  It seems simple enough in theory.  Most people look at such a command and think, 'I'm doing pretty good, haven't killed anyone recently', and most of the time when confronted with news stories about brutal murders or the issue of abortion, my sense of righteous anger and justice are excited.  How could anyone do x, y, z?  I wonder.  It's so inhuman!

But then, I'm confronted with the words of Christ in Matthew.  He doesn't let me off the hook.  In fact, He digs deeper into the heart and reveals to me just how wickedly sinful I am.  He says that if I am angry with someone, if I call them a name, then I am a murderer in the eyes of God.  Wow!  Hold the phone!  A murderer?  Sweet and innocent Courtney?  (For the record, if you're thinking this you clearly don't know me as well as you think you do.)  The answer to this question of course is a resounding yes.

The fact is, at the heart of my anger and my name calling is a heart that is not valuing human life!  And is that not what murder is?  Devaluing life?  Talk about convicting.

One of the pastor's wives furthered my conviction when she mentioned gossip as a topic heavily addressed in the bible.  I didn't realize this right away, but later on that day I considered the fact that gossip, like hate, is just one more way of devaluating human life!  Gossip has, at its heart, the same sinful attitude as murder.  We cannot escape it.  It puts us first, others second, and maybe God third.  It say, "I am infinitely superior to everyone around me, and I place value on what I will place value."  This leaves absolutely no room for us to think well of ourselves, and that's the point!  That was Jesus' point.  He did not come to the world to raise our self-esteem, He came to the world to give us a new nature, to satisfy the wrath that we deserved, and to grant us a right relationship with God.

It is this kind of grace that knocks the wind out of me and leaves me speechless.  I pray it does you too.

In Tragedy

Amidst tragedy we have a great and good God.  Amidst tragedy we have hope.  Amidst tragedy we can come together as the body of Christ and show the world what it means to be one in Spirit and in truth.  Amidst tragedy the kingdom of God is advanced.  Amidst tragedy we cling less to the things of this world and more to its creator.  Amidst tragedy God is glorified through His people.



http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php

Cowtown Run Photos

These must have been taken near the end of the race because I look pretty wiped, but I'm glad to have some pictures of me running now!

Cant? Or Won't?

Driving home tonight, completely beat and rather wobbily, I could only think of how nice it would be to live less than twenty minutes from Katy. Fulshear really isn't in the middle of nowhere, but often times a twenty minute drive feels that way, especially when you are exhausted. Most of this, admittedly, is my own fault but that realization never improves my attitude and in fact, it typically makes it worse. This of course, was my emotional state when I got behind a five belower. Never heard of one of those? It's a person who insists on driving five below the speed limit when there is no traffic in sight and nothing between them and the open road but some obvious rancor towards you, the exhausted person behind them (you see the problem with my attitude emerging already -- clearly I am the center of the universe and everyone's minds... insert eye roll here___). So I get stuck behind this five belower on a one way road with little opportunity to pass them when a thought enters my mind in the form of a "prayer". It goes something like "Lord, please speed them up, I can't handle this."

Really? Can't handle it? Now in a way, there is some theological truth to this statement. Left to myself, with no outside help, I can't choose to put up with a horrific (read minor) annoyance, and am a slave to my tired emotions. But this, of course, is not the case. As a child of God trusting in the finished work of Christ on my behalf (and on behalf of all those He loves) I am not left to myself. I have a power established inside of me that enables me to do that which my sinful nature would never choose to do! Therefore, when I decide to react badly, sinfully to a certain situation, it isn't that I couldn't act in the right way, it's that I wouldn't. I need to do what Paul encourages in Philippians 1:12-14 and to "work out [my] own salvation in fear and trembling, for it is God who works in [us], both to will and to work for His good pleasure."

It's an odd tension, knowing both that God is the One willing us to do good and that it is our responsibility to work, but it is there very clearly in scripture. Maybe it is a little like eating good food. The nutrients strengthen you to do the work, but if you don't actually get up and run you will never accomplish your goal. All analogies break down at a point but you understand my meaning. Pray for the strength to obey, then go an do it whether you understand it or not.

"Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgements and how inscrutable His ways! 'For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor? Or who has given a gift to Him that He might be repaid?' For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen." Romans 11:33-36

Cowtown Run

This weekend, I headed out to Fort Worth for my first 10K. Around 5:30 in the morning I was up and eating a Cliff bar with little hope of running it in under an hour. For those of you who do not know, a 10K is six miles and as I normal run fairly slow (maybe a 12 minute mile or so) I figured it might take me an hour and a half. Granted, in a race I always run much faster, but I still was not hopeful. This did not depress me of course as I was more than happy to get an 'E' for effort and maybe even enthusiasm, and so I went into the race planning on doing my best and just being glad to finish. By the grace of God I finished in 56 minutes and 2 seconds, just two minutes behind a friend of mine who was running. It was very encouraging and just what I needed to revive my slowly waning running routine.

What was cool was the amount of people of the city who came out to cheer the runners on and it reminded me of a very important Christian truth. One of the reasons why we gather together as Christians, aside from the obvious joy of worshiping together, is so that we can, or at least should, encourage one another. Every time I began to feel as if I could not run much longer, we would pass crowds of cheering people, telling us that we could do it, that there was only a little more to go, and even providing gatorade and water to give us strength. It reminded me that this is what I should be doing for my brothers and sisters in Christ, cheering them on as they press on toward the goal to which God has called them heavenward (Phil 3:14). So I encourage you to encourage others, because we are not in this race alone!

"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." Hebrews 10:24-25

A Night Around the Fire

In the nicer weather we've been having lately, my family has been sitting around our outdoor fireplace to read. The sky was really clear the last time we did this and I practiced a little night photography. Clearly I need to work on it or learn the secrets of the trade or something, but I still think they look pretty cool.

You could see the moon through the trees, but you can't see them in the photos. I'm sure there is some technical way to do it and I'm going to work on figuring it out, but for now I still think it looks pretty neat.

You can kind of see the trees here, but it still doesn't look as cool as it actually was.

A test picture that I thought actually looked interesting.

I love the sunsets out in Fulshear lately, so beautiful.

Food Art

I have never been very visually artistic myself, but I love art in all its forms. Today I went to one of my favorite sushi places and was presented with the coolest shashimi I've personally ever seen. Even the carrots are flowers! They also have the best ginger dressing I've ever tasted, it's even good on the sushi. Shameless plug: Sushi Hana is fabulous.

God Washes Human's Feet: Reflections on Divine Humility

⁵Then he [Jesus] poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him..."Do you understand what I have done to you? ¹³ You call meTeacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. ¹⁴If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet."

John 13:5 and 12-14

It was because He was assured of his divinity that Christ did not demand His rights and that He was able to wash the dirty, stinky feet of his disciples, including Judas His betrayer. How much more should we, then, wash the feet of those around us? We are assured in scripture of our place as co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17), therefore, let us not demand our rights as such, but consider others better than ourselves (Philippians 2:3).

Valentine Sunsets

Through the trees in Fulshear

By the garage, still in Fulshear

After dropping off Amy Simon.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

"A new commandment I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." John 13:34

Reflections on Valentines

⁶For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— ⁸but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. ¹⁰For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. ¹¹More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

I am ashamed to admit that around Valentine's Day I get rather grumpy and bitter. It is a sin that I need to confess and flee from, but a habit that tends to be difficult for me to break. It's a sin because I am grumpy and bitter because I desire to be married and yet it hasn't happened yet. It is a sin because I know that I am loved more deeply than I deserve by the God of the Universe and that He showed me this love by suffering the penalty I incurred with my rebellion against Him. Romans 5 says that scarcely will someone die for a righteous or a good man, yet the Lord Jesus suffered and died for me, the worst of sinners. So going against tradition, I'm making a Valentines resolution. With the help of the Holy Spirit I am going to take captive my thoughts and make them obedient to the Lord (2 Corinthians 10:5) by reminding myself constantly of all He has done for me and in turn show love to the unloved as best I can. So to all my readers, the few and far between, I wish you a Happy Valentines Day. May you be made deeply aware of the love God has for you.

Verse of the Week

"Though He brings grief, He will show compassion, so great is His unfailing love." Lamentations 3:32

God is faithful, good, and sovereign even when things appear black. His plans are not simply good for us, but the best for us. While we all hold responsibility for our actions, He works all things for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). Like Joseph and his brothers and Christ on the cross, great sin can be used for great good by our omnipotent creator. I am thankful that though I am undeserving, He is merciful and gracious enough to love me and work all things for good. Pray that I will have peace and joy during this desert storm.

Sub Days

I am extremely pampered. I have had two sub days this week and they went wonderfully despite my massive anxiety about both. On the first day there was a student teacher who already knew classroom procedures and was a huge help. On the second day, today, there was a tutor working with the class who also was a wonderful help. Needless to say, my expectations were so wrong. The kids were all very sweet (if not a little chatty) and the first teacher mentioned having me back next week. What a huge blessing!

I realize that not all of my jobs will be like this. Surely there will be classes that I will want to strangle and bury under the basketball court, but thus far I am extremely thankful for the well behaved classes I've had, and pray that I'll be thankful for the classes of another kind. Tomorrow and Friday I am subbing for a band class. Thus far I've assumed that there won't be much teaching and that things will be fairly easy, but I'm trying to lower my expectations to avoid disappointment. Thanks to every one for their prayers, I continue to covet them.

As for my teaching certificate, I have three content exams coming up and I ask for prayer for those as well. Thankfully, God is both good and sovereign and I will end up where He wants me to be, which will always be the best place.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Happy Feet

For the record, I've never been a frequent nail painter, but on occasion (mostly when I have some sort of gift card) I enjoy getting a pedicure. Last week I went with a friend and her mom and I just have to say, I never thought nail polish would make me this happy. It sort of makes me wish for summer so I could wear flip flops... might just have to find this color and use it again!

Help My Unbelief

"17But they continued to sin against Him, rebelling in the desert against the Most High. 18They willfully put God to the test by demanding the food they craved. 19They spoke against God, saying 'Can God spread a table in the desert? 20When He struck the rock, water gushed out, and streams flowed abundantly. But can He also give us food? Can He supply meat for His people?'" Psalm 78:17-20

For the last year or so I feel as if I've been living in sort of a desert period. God saw fit to take away a wonderful job and send me to live under my parents roof once more. Since that time I've searched for a job in youth ministry but was unable to find one. On top of that, the population of the church I volunteer for consists of married couples and youth. I have felt extremely lonely and have often despaired of finding a friend my age or ever finding a husband. Eventually, I decided to pursue teaching and I pray that this will not only open up job opportunities but also a new field of ministry. Yet anxiety grips me constantly. It was so bad one night last week that I had one of the worst anxiety attacks I've had since college. Worry about exams, substitute teaching, money, ever finding a permanent job, marriage, etc, etc, consumed me so that I was physically affected. It was the first time such an attack had happened so abruptly and violently. By God's grace I was able to calm down and get some sleep, but those thoughts continue to haunt me.

But as I was reading Psalms this morning, this passage all but shouted at me from the page. Each phase of Israel's unfaithful complaining reminded me of something in my own life. As Israel had despaired of finding water in the desert, I despaired of finding a good friend. Yet, just as God brought His beloved people water from a rock, He brought me a friend in one of the young married women of the church. And though I fear the day when she and her husband might leave to join the military, she is an example of God's mercy and faithfulness to me. So rather than say like Israel, "Well, you brought me a friend but I don't trust you to help me find a job or a husband in suburbia where everyone is already married" (verses 19-20) I should be reminding myself that He is not only good but sovereign, that if He was gracious enough to provide a friend for me He can provide all these other things that I need... and that His plans are what's best for me (Romans 8:28).

I guess the hard thing is realizing that what I want may not be God's best for me. That is way my new prayer is for God to help my unbelief. I know that He is good and can do all things, but I need help to believe just like the father of the sick boy (Mark 9:24). And that's one thing I am certain He will give me.

Template

Can someone help me with my template? I'm attempting to change it and now it doesn't look like I want it to. I know very little about html so any help would be appreciated.

Mad Skill

Did I mention that my mom has mad skills? She made me a pretty apron for Christmas that sort of reminds me of I guess 1960's housewife. All I need are some pearls and a vacuum. Tonight I'm staying warm by making quiche lorraine and wearing my second favorite Christmas present (next to the scarf and bought me... oh and the camera my dad got me, which still needs a memory card). I need to learn how to sew the way she does, it's very impressive.

Guest Photographer

A little known fact is that my dad is an excellent photographer. Here are some lovely pictures of the sky he took for me recently. I believe they are all from Fulshear but I may ask him to bring us some pictures from Algeria when he heads back next month. Thanks Dad!

"This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations; I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh." Genesis 9:12-15

*As always, thanks to Kiki for the idea. Now go visit her blog.

A Sensitive Subject: Reflections on Abortion

I've done posts about this subject before, and want to start off by saying that I approach this subject humbly and with the realization that, like Paul, I am "the worst of sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15-16). The best way to solve this particular problem, I believe, is most likely prayer and assisting and counseling women individually, but the point that Randy Alcorn makes in my humble opinion, is difficult to argue. Thanks to John Ferguson for posting this on his blog:

I’ll never forget years ago when a pro-life candidate ran television ads showing aborted babies, and people were outraged. A CBS Evening News reporter declared the abortion debate had reached a “new low in tastelessness.” Strangely, there was no outrage that babies were being killed... only that someone had the audacity to show they were being killed.

The question we should ask is not “Why are pro-life people showing these pictures?” but “Why would anyone defend what’s shown in these pictures?” The real concern about pictures of unborn babies isn’t that they’re gory, but that they prove the accuracy of the pro-life position.

The Holocaust was so evil that words alone couldn’t describe it. Descriptions of Nazi death camps had long been published in American newspapers, but when these papers started printing the pictures of slaughtered people, the American public finally woke up. If not for the pictures, even today most of us wouldn’t understand or believe the Holocaust.

I visited a college campus where a pro-life group had set up displays of aborted babies alongside the victims of the Nazi death camps, the killing fields, American slavery, and other historical atrocities. Signs with warnings about the graphic photographs were posted clearly, so all those who looked did so by choice. I witnessed the profound effect on students and faculty, including those who didn’t want to believe what they were seeing.

Animal rights advocates argue that in order to make their case they must show terrible photographs, such as baby seals being clubbed to death. If there’s a place to look at such pictures, isn’t there a place to look at pictures of abortions? And if abortion isn’t killing babies... then why are these pictures so disturbing?

Was the solution to the Holocaust to ban the disgusting pictures? Or was the solution to end the killing?

Is the solution to abortion getting rid of pictures of dead babies? Or is it getting rid of what’s making the babies dead?

Forgive the Girl Moment

I've never liked the idea of a strapless wedding dress, but I love this one. Soft, sophisticated (thanks mom!) and maybe not the exact color I would want, but the long lines are extremely flattering, the bow is romantic, and it's not traditional.

Girl moment over.

P.S.

Did I mention that I started doing Roller Derby? I swear, better than therapy.

Skies from Fulshear

This morning, 7:45... or so.

So, this is supposed to be for Friday, but the pictures were too pretty to wait. I need to go get a memory card for the camera a got for christmas, so for the moment I'm using my camera (hence the not so good quality) but phone camera pictures will have to do for now. What struck me so today as I was driving was the beautiful scene spread before me. I was overwhelmed by God's artistry, by the fact that He not only orders the universe to work as magnificently as it does, but that He makes it breathtaking, beautiful.

This evening around 6PM

"For since the creation of the world god's invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." Romans 1:20

Monday Pants!

This is probably a silly post, but the idea amused me, so here it is. Monday is my current day off, the day I don't care so much what I wear and thus, the "Monday pants" were born. Oh they didn't start off that way. At one time they looked fairly presentable, but after years of walking around in (and on) them, they developed many holes and frays. They are the most comfortable jeans I own and I wish I could wear them every day. Alas, this world judges us by what we wear... especially potential employers, therefore, I reserve them for hanging around the house and cooking Tilapia in lemon and caper sauce. I know you're jealous.

More on Living in Fulshear

Ladies and gentlemen, not only do we live in the boonies, but said boonies are low lands. Ever since moving out here my parents have been in an epic battle with the sump pump to try and drain the rain water from our yard. Imagine the scene in Christmas Story where Ralphie's father fights with the furnace... only without all the language and no ugly broken leg lamp. Thus far the score remains sump pump: 2, parents: 0.

This is a picture of our yard this morning after a night of rain. I'm waiting to see the squirrels floating around in little ships reminiscent of Noah's ark with mocking birds, skunks, and snakes lining up two by two. Or maybe even a few of the snails my Jr. High girls harassed the last time they were at my house. Either way, I have thankful for the rain. If anything, it always inspires me to write. More to come on living in the country.

Fulshear Sky

Week two of linking up to Kiki's blog. I took this through my car window (See the little black spot in the corner? Compliments to a pebble I believe) this morning. I love this idea of getting skies from all over. Last week mine was a College Station sky and this week it's from Fulshear. Enjoy!

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands." Psalm 19:1

Who Was Your Favorite Teacher?

Around November 2011, after months of prayer and quite a bit of foolish worry, I made the decision to pursue my alternative certification in teaching. I had been encouraged to do so in the past, but I wanted to make sure that I was doing it for the right reasons. With the realization that God could impact our schools through me, that this could be another form of youth ministry and not just a tent making job, I began training with Texas Teachers. I've gone back and forth between excitement and nervousness, but typically the positive outweighs the negative. My prayers are that:

• If this is where God wants me, that I would find a job for August
• That God would use me when I do find that job
• That I would be able to continue my work at Cornerstone church

I will start substitute teaching here pretty soon to help pay for school and start saving money for an apartment (and to make myself known in the school district) and so I pray that will go well too. I've heard subbing is fairly hard as most students don't tend to treat subs all that well. Please cover me in your prayers. But as I approach this task and the actual task of teaching my own class, I have two questions to ask my readers (all two, haha). It might inform me to be a better teacher and it might just be a good laugh. But here it is:

• Who was your favorite teacher in school and why?
• (For the mother's out there) What would you expect/appreciate from the teacher of your children?

My favorite teacher in grade school was probably a toss up between my senior English teacher, who not only had mercy on my after getting my wisdom teeth out but bought me crackers and sprite during our final because I had a stomach bug and was also a constant beacon as a Christian in our school, and my Junior Spanish teacher who spent countless mornings trying to teach me the proper use of reflexive verbs and didn't take crap from anybody but always made Spanish very entertaining.

In College I LOVED my British History professor, who also had mercy on me amidst a bad stomach bug (I tend to get those a lot for some reason... ) that occurred right before our first exam, and knew soo much about his subject to make it often sound like a soap opera. All of these teachers and professors made their subjects come alive, had good control of their classes, and had mercy when they knew particular students were in desperate need of it. I want to be like that as a teacher, but more than that I want to be a lamp on a stand, to parents, students, teachers, and staff. Pray for me! And pray for all our teachers! They need it!

Hope in the Lord

How do you deal when tragedy comes? The second that horrific news comes all other smaller problems that have been surrounding you seem to shrink in their significance, and suddenly each joy is tinged with the slightest hesitation. You wonder how this could happen, you feel guilty for any moment of happiness, you may even attempt to ignore it entirely, as per the stages of dealing with loss. But eventually you have to face it, and when that happens, what do you do?

The beginning of 2011 has been darkened by such tragedies, both personal and national. Unless you've been living under a rock you know about the shooting in Tucson, the violence spawned by a disturbed and hysterical mind, but I doubt all of you have heard about the illness of my dear friend Lynn Oliphant. I met Lynn when I was probably eleven years old. My family had just moved to Katy and were looking around for a local church to attend. At the time, Lynn was the wife of the Pastor at Cornerstone, Buck Oliphant, and the moment we walked in the doors it was like coming home.

My memories of both Lynn and Buck, who now work at a church in Houston, were always filled with joy and laughter, and to this day she is the one who comes to mind when I think about what it means to be a woman who fears the Lord. Her quiet and gentle spirit has always been inspiring to me, and one of my constant prayers is that I would grow to be much like her in personality and purpose.

Last week, we were told that she has advanced bone cancer. I could hardly believe it when I read the e-mail and I found myself rebelling against the idea. There had to be a mistake, she couldn't have cancer. I'm not sure it has really hit me yet, I may still be in a bit of shock, but just to see how she and her husband have both been reacting to it has been one of the most encouraging things. I pray that God will continue to give them joy and lift their spirits, and that even if He does not heal her by medicine or by miracle, that He would redeem this entire situation.

We may never get answers on this side of heaven. We may simply be left to simply trust that God is both good and sovereign in the joyful and sorrowful things. Keep the entire Oliphant family in your prayers.

"Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:30-31

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." Psalm 23:4

First Post of the New Year

Over at I Still Hate Pickles my friend Kiki is doing 365 days of Texas skies. (Pause for shameless plug)Kiki is an excellent writer and always has wonderful and hilarious pictures of her children and family so I highly suggest blog stalking her. Last Friday, just before I headed out to College Station for my friend's wedding, Kiki sent out a message to have us put up sky pictures on our blogs and link back to hers. My picture is not from Fulshear, where I live, but rather from College Station. The quality is not great because it was taken from my phone, but it was beautiful and reveals the last bit of sun we had before it proceeded to rain most of the weekend. Enjoy and Happy New Year!

Pie in the Sky: Reflections on deliciousness

This morning I used my second crust for a Quiche Lorraine. It was fabulous and I've had to exercise an extreme amount of self-control not to eat the whole thing by myself. It's a fabulous recipe and as promised, here it is.

Ingredients:

Pastry for 9-inch pie

8 slices of bacon, chopped

4 green onions + spinach

2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Gruyere or Swiss cheese,

divided

6 large eggs, beaten

1 cup whipping cream

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Dash of red pepper

Dash of ground white pepper

Ground nutmeg

Instructions:

• Fit piecrust into a 9-inch quiche dish; trim excess pastry around the edges. Prick bottom and sides of pie crust with a fork. Bake at 400 degrees for 3 minutes; remove from oven, and gently prick with a fork. Bake pie crust for 5 more minutes.
• Cook bacon in a skillet over medium heat until browned; add chopped green onions and spinach and cook one more minute. Drain well, and sprinkle evenly in pastry shell. Top with 1 cup cheese, set aside.
• Combine eggs, whipping cream, salt, nutmeg, red pepper, and white pepper. Pour mixture into prepared crust and top with remaining cup of cheese. Sprinkle quiche lightly with additional nutmeg.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until set. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Shakespeare said it best: A Reflection on Love

Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove:

O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark,

That looks on tempests and is never shaken.

Shakespeare, Sonnet CXVI

What true and beautiful words. I've been in romantic love, I think, three times and none of them have ever come to fruition. But one thing I know for certain, that after the initial sparks of fireworks and light and pounding hearts caused mostly by endorphins, a different sort of love must take over if the relationship is to be long lasting, 'til death do you part. This sort of love is not the all consuming flame, but the burning, constant embers. It is a decision, a choice that says, "I am tied to you and you to me, no matter the consequences." To give up and give in when passion has cooled is a sad, sad thing indeed, but to persevere through toil and turmoil from without and within is unconditional, divine. It's a love we tend to share more with our friends and family than with those we have made lifetime commitments to, though we should have it amidst that circumstance as well. It is agape love, the kind of love God alone is perfect at. "Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:7-8. This kind of love is completely dependent on a decision, rather than emotion. If God can love us in this way, while we were still scoffing and spitting at Him, how much more should we love others. I realize I may be off point a little here, starting with the love a man and woman share in marriage, but I think that in the end it is God's agape love that makes it possible for marriage to last. It is His love for the couple, their love for Him, and their agape love for each other. The sparks of romantic love might fade away, but true and lasting love, agape love, stands forever.

Pie in the Sky: Reflections on the Power of Food

One of my favorite things to do in the world is cook. When I worked at a church in Houston, our staff took a cooking class with our very own local foodie and the bonding time was incredible. I have so many great recipes and stories from our time together... and maybe a few extra pounds. The point is, cooking brings people together. It's history, relationship, learning, making mistakes, and of course creativity and delicious food. Yesterday, having heard for a long time that a good family friend made the best pies ever, I went to learn her ways. And here are the results.

Working on her own apple pie after helping me with mine.

Cutting around the edge of the pan.

My left over dough that will be made (hopefully) into a quiche.

The finished product!

S.W.I.N.O.'s

You've heard of R.I.N.O.s, Republicans In Name Only, well, here I'm going to talk about S.W.I.N.O.s, Star Wars In Name Only. For the past few days my dad and I have been watching some of the original Star Wars series, starting with Empire Strikes Back and ending with Return of the Jedi, and, as usual, this sparked much discussion about episodes 1, 2, and 3 (Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith). In my opinion, the best thing to come out of these movies, aside from some cool fight sequences and CGI, was the scathing reviews and a whole slew of jokes surrounding bad dialogue and inconsistencies. These movies are what my family refer to as S.W.I.N.O.s. The main problem with these movies was that George Lucas directed them. True, he directed the original Star Wars, but afterwards gave that role to Irvin Kershner and later Richard Marquand. How can I blame Lucas? Well, consider the fact that both Ewan McGreggor and Liam Neeson are wonderful actors, then watch them as Obi Wan and Qui-Gon Jinn (Yeah, bet you didn't realize that was Liam Neeson's name in the movie. I had to look it up). Both are fairly stiff and lame. Don't even get me started on Natalie Portman and Hayden Christiansen. Painful at best.

But as I was saying, one of the best parts about the movies were the scathing reviews and jokes that developed after each movie premiered. I wish that I still had some of the articles that I read during that time, but suffice it to say I've never laughed so much in my life. What I can share is one of the jokes my family shares in regards to this movie. My personal favorite is a particular phrase that is repeated often in our house hold. After explaining to young Anakan Skywalker about midi-chlorians, we discussed how a normal child would have reacted to this idea. In my mind, I always saw a terrified expression crossing his face as he sprinted back into the house yelling, "Mom, this guys says I got bugs in my blood!" Seriously, what kid would think it was cool to be told that there were critters inside of him that connected him to some strange force. Think about it. Maybe it sounds much more entertaining in person (after all, intonation is rather difficult to get across in writing) but you get the idea.

I hate to be cynical, after all, the original movies are so fun, and I know that if you're looking for logic in sci-fi you're probably barking up the wrong tree, but they are just so fun to poke fun at. So what did you think of episodes 1, 2, and 3? Good? Bad? Ugly? Any funny stories? I'd love to hear them!