Car Drama

For the past week or so it seems that technology or really anything mechanical has been in rebellion against me. It started with my car, Super Bowl Sunday. I was about five minutes from my parents house in Fulshear when the oil light came on. No big deal. In theory. We took it in the next morning and I borrowed my mother's car. By Tuesday my mom got the car back only to watch as the oil light turned on again. She took it back and after changing the type of oil, we attempted to drive it again. As "luck" would have it, the oil light continued to flash though we had changed the oil twice. After some discussions with mechanically minded guys I decided it was just a short but kept an ear open for any strange sounds.

I drove to Fulshear again Sunday night with no trouble, but today, as I was getting off on the Kirkwood I heard a strange clicking sound. At first I wasn't that worried, after all, it wasn't a banging, just a light click, but then I stopped at the stop light. When I tried to hit the gas again I got nowhere. No matter what I tried I was stuck. I put on my hazards (which did nothing to deter the driver's behind me from honking as if I wanted to be sitting in the middle of the road) and called Allsate, only to be informed that I was not on the policy. My mother, however, called and was given different information, that yes, I was on the policy, but I was better off calling the police because they would get there faster. Forty five minutes later my parents arrive, still no truck. We fought for another ten minutes with the Allstate people and my dad eventually walked into the Chevy place to ask for a truck. Five minutes later, just as promised, the tow truck belonging to the Chevy dealership arrived and towed my pig to the Toyota dealership across the highway (thank goodness they are close).

It was a crazy afternoon. I sat in my car for about an hour and a half watching my hazards stop working and thanking God for the blessings of the situation. Here's a little list:

1. I wasn't on the highway when I broke down
2. It wasn't raining
3. It happened on my day off
4. I had a charged cell phone
5. A sweet lady stopped and helped me push my car up into the little driveway by the Chevy dealership.
6. Both of my parents have cars
7. My mom is retired and doesn't need her car for work
8. I had a coat
9. It didn't happen at night

So while it was a big pain in the butt, and will continue to be until they fix it all up, I did have a ton to be thankful for. Hopefully they will get back to me soon and my mom will have a car to drive again.

As for the other technological mishap? I dropped my computer last Monday and dented the side. Still waiting for the new part to come in. My thankful list?

1. I had a protective cover on it
2. It wasn't raining yet
3. It still closes... sort of

In summation, always better to be thankful.

Redeeming Love

Sunday night around 4 A.M. I finished reading Redeeming Love. About my sophomore year in college I gave up on modern Christian fiction. Most of it was badly written and teetered more towards cheesy romance than actual good literature and therefore I decided not to waste my time. Besides, I reasoned, only Christians read Christian fiction, and that severely limits the witness you could have if you chose instead to simply be a writer who was a Christian. I had been told in high school, however, that I absolutely had to read Redeeming Love. It was beautiful, wonderful, amazing and so on and so forth. I hardly remember the arguments now, but it wasn't until a few weeks ago that I finally decided to buy the book and get down to it. I bought it because I dog ear everything I read and didn't want to destroy someone else's book. That night I was up until about 2 AM reading, almost unable to put it down. The story describes a young woman named Sarah, born out of wedlock with a father who wishes she had never been born and a mother who spirals quickly down at the loss of his love, selling her body for money until she dies on the docks in New York. Sarah is then unwittingly sold into prostitution at the age of 8 and begins a ten year struggle to survive, growing more and more hard and distrustful as time passes. The first chapter picks up with her arrival in California during the gold rush. Now called "Angel" for her beauty, the young prostitute is considered quite the commodity to the men coming back from panning gold, separated from women for extended periods of time. Then we meet Michael Hosea. Having come into town to sell the produce of his land and buy supplies, the farmer catches sight of Angel walking through the streets, guarded by a man with a gun. At this moment he receives a clear message from God: "Marry her." The story goes on to describe how Michael's love softens the hardened girl and how his faith drives her to the foot of the cross. It is the story of Hosea, the story of Israel, my story. I would recommend this to anyone, even an unbeliever as it paints such a strong picture of our depravity and God's grace.

7 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Mess with Children

Just for a good laugh.

A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales. The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal its throat was very small. The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible. The little girl said, "When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah." The teacher asked,"What if Jonah went to hell?"
The little girl replied,"Then you ask him."

* * *

A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they were drawing. She would occasionally walk around to see each child's work. As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was.

The girl replied, "I'm drawing God."

The teacher paused and said, "But no one knows what God looks like."

Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, "They will in a minute."

* * *

A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds.

After explaining the commandment to "honour" thy Father and thy Mother, she asked, "Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?"

Without missing a beat one little boy (the oldest of a family) answered, "Thou shalt not kill."

* * *

One day a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed that her mother had several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast on her brunette head.

She looked at her mother and inquisitively asked, "Why are some of your hairs white, Mum?"

Her mother replied, "Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white."

The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then said, "Mummy, how come ALL of grandma's hairs are white?"

* * *

The children had all been photographed, and the teacher was trying to persuade them each to buy a copy of the group picture.

"Just think how nice it will be to look at it when you are all grown up and say, "There's Jennifer, she's a lawyer," or, "That's Michael, he's a doctor."

A small voice at the back of the room rang out, "And there's the teacher, she's dead."

* * *

A teacher was giving a lesson on the circulation of the blood. Trying to make the matter clearer, she said, "Now, class, if I stood on my head, the blood, as you know, would run into it, and I would turn red in the face."

"Yes," the class said.

"Then why is it that while I am standing upright in the ordinary position the blood doesn't run into my feet?"

A little fellow shouted, "Cause your feet ain't empty."

* * *

The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic elementary school for lunch. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples. The nun made a note, and posted on the apple tray:

"Take only ONE. God is watching."

Moving further along the lunch line, at the other end of the table was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies.

A child had written a note, "Take all you want. God is watching the apples.!"

Breaking News!

Ok, maybe not the most exciting news in the world, but for a girl who really enjoys to cook it's quite exciting: I just poached an egg. Ever since watching Julie and Julia I've been wanting to try and poach an egg but have been a bit... apprehensive. I didn't have normal vinegar so I used red wine vinegar and while it tasted a little strange it was still very good atop turkey bacon. Next challenge: hollandaise sauce!

Cooking Obsession: Goat Cheese Quesadillas

Perhaps this blog should be entitled "Goat Cheese obsession" because I LOVE goat cheese. This is a recipe I found on fitnessmagazine.com, I just added chicken!

Ingredients:

1 boneless chicken breast

1 tsp of sugar

1 tbs of olive oil

1/3 cup of chopped onions

1/2 cup of chopped spinach

Balsamic vinegar

2 tbs of goat cheese

2 HEB tortillas (because, let's face it, they are the bomb.com)

Instructions:

1. Salt and pepper the chicken and then marinate in balsamic vinegar for about half and hour. Place in pan coated with olive oil and cook on medium high for about 20 minutes or until it's cooked all the way through.

2. As the chicken is cooking, saute the onions in the sugar and olive oil until they turn light brown.

3. Set the onions aside and saute spinach in the same pan you caramelized the onions in until they are slightly reduced.

4. Cover the tortillas with goat cheese, onions, spinach and chicken, then place back in the pan until both sides are crispy.

5. Enjoy!

If It's Christ We Believe in We Shouldn't be Confused with the Heathens

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone the new has come," 2 Corinthians 5:17.

One of the great gifts of a life changed by Christ is the realization that our works are not what save us. A great burden is lifted when we are made aware of the fact that because we have Christ's righteousness on our record and we no longer have to try and make our "good acts" outweigh the bad. But one of the mistakes we often make when coming to this realization is that we think, "Well hey, if my works aren't what save me then I can do whatever I want!" This, of course, is a lie. We take grace and forgiveness for granted and live lives just as we did before. Paul anticipated this argument in Romans after he explained that we live under grace. "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" Romans 6: 1-2. Now, as new creatures in Christ, we must strive to glorify God in the way we live, not because we fear losing our salvation, or we think that our good works will somehow make Him love us more, but because we want to honor Him. Thankfully, we are not left to change on our own. Ephesians says, "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

It's no wonder the world often perceives us as hypocrites. Sometimes we take advantage of the grace of God, and live as if we have not been saved from the punishment we deserve. May we strive to glorify God in our lives, and to help the kingdom come in the world we live in. God has allowed us to be His tools in the world, now let's act like it. But let us not forget where we came from, that before the grace of Christ we were deserving of hell. Our holy lives should be tempered with the humility that comes from how little we deserve the grace we've been granted.

A Powerless God I Could Not Praise

"This, then, is of faith, that everything, the very least, or what seems to us great, every change of the seasons, everything which touches us in mind, body, or estate, whether brought about through this outward senseless nature, or by the will of man, good or bad, is overruled to each of us by the all-holy and all-loving will of god. Whatever befalls us, however it befalls, us, we must receive as the will of god. If it befalls us through man's negligence or ill-will or anger, still it is, even the least circumstance, to us the will of god. For if the least thing could happen to us without God's permissions, it would be something out of God's control. God's providence or His love would not be what they are. Almighty God Himself would not be the same God; not the God whom we believe, adore, and love." Mary Wilder Tileston

A friend of our family's recently experienced tragedy. One of the young men at her church died in a car accident. In a conversation with my mother, she rationed that "God did not want it to happen." This made my stomach turn. In painful times when we cannot understand and when our emotions run high we can see absolutely no good whatever in the situation. Our human minds, small and limited, grasp only what we see and therefore we say that if God is good then He mustn't have had anything to do with this great loss. But what we do not realize, what we have difficulty accepting, is that God is both good and sovereign. For the non-church rats in the crowd, sovereign means in control. He is the author of our lives. Romans 8:28 says "we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose." This is a great comfort, for if God was just good and not sovereign, then life is nothing but chaos. The deaths and hurts and sorrows and losses would all be meaningless, with no benefit in the end. If God is good and not sovereign then I have no protection whatsoever. If God is only good and not sovereign then I have absolutely no guarantee in my salvation. Personally, the thought of a good God with no control is terrifying to me. I would rather rest in the fact that He knows the number of my days, that He has my good in mind. A powerless God I could not praise.

Ephesians 2:8-9, Reflections on Grace

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no man can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9

Last night I began to watch Prison Break. All summer the guys at the office talked about it nearly every day, and finally, after months of saying I was going to get into it so I would know what on earth they were talking about, I've begun the first season. Aside from the fact that their voices were not matching with their mouths (I am watching it on the internet, go figure) I think I'm going to enjoy it. But something struck me while I was watching it that lead to a conviction this morning. One of the characters in prison (I don't remember his name) wrote a letter to his girlfriend asking her to marry him, he then goes on to make a comment about them meeting in a conjugal trailer. My first reaction was a massive eye roll. How romantic, I thought, you're already sleeping together so what's the point? (Please note the sarcasm) This is my typical reaction when I watch TV shows or movies where characters are sleeping together outside the bounds of marriage, I get frustrated and almost always roll my eyes. However, this morning, as I was considering my reaction, I realized something very important, the people on these shows, the writers, the directors etc. are most likely not Christians. Point being? If these people are not followers of Christ, then why on earth should I expect them to act as such? When you think about it, my reaction is rather ridiculous. I'm wanting to cure the symptoms (fornication in this instance) and yet completely ignoring the disease. How foolish would it be to give a patient with a brain tumor drugs to deal with the pain but refuse to operate? We simply would not do that. What I should be doing is praying for those around me, and realize that I, myself, am under grace as Ephesians 2 says. Moreover, I must be bold in sharing the gospel to those around me rather than wanting them to simply change their ways. As Romans 10: 14 says "How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?" God has graciously allowed us to be His tools in the world, may we seek to advance His kingdom daily.

1 Corinthians 11:3, Reflections on "Equality"

"Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God." 1 Corinthians 11: 3

It truly saddens me when I hear people speak of the bible as being in some way sexist. The modern woman rebells vehemently against the idea of being created second, of being called to submit to her husband, and yet what she does not realize is how much the bible truly cherishes the female sex. Not being married, it is rather easy for me to promote the idea of wifely submission, after all, I don't have a husband I have to submit to at the moment, but I pray daily that if and when I do get married, God will grant me the strength to do so. Scripture provides extensively for women, especially during a time period where they were viewed as possessions rather than individuals, but one of the most incredible passages of scripture to me is 1 Corinthians 11.

At first glance, most modern women (who I have perhaps not so lovingly dubbed feminazis) recoil from the phrase "the head of the woman is man", and I can, in a sense, understand their reaction. It sounds as if Paul is saying women are second class citizens, that we do not share in the kingdom the same way as men, even that we are not as valuable. But if we remember to take scripture in context, if we remember to consider all the verses, we might remember what Paul said in Galatians 3:28, that "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Clearly, Paul had a very high view of both men and women. Therefore, we must come to an alternative conclusion.

This summer I taught a Junior High bible study that consisted of both boys and girls. The book we studied was 1 Peter and, not surprising, we came across the section that spoke about wives submitting to their husbands. My personal convictions aside, I knew I would need to make this accessible not only to Junior highers (who have the attention span of a teaspoon for the most part) but also to the post modern mind. However, the most important lesson I wanted to teach the was that the bible is the source of truth. I began searching through scripture to find verses that would corroborate the passage in Peter. It was then that the Lord lead me (with the help of my trusty commentary) to 1 Corinthians 11:3.

What struck me about this verse, and what I tried to make clear to the kids I was teaching, was the very end of the verse, "and the head of Christ is God." Immediately I realized the implication. Christ is God, He is equal to God (Philippians 2:6-11), and yet He submits to the Father. If that is the case, then what Paul is saying is not that women are inferior to men, or that they share any less in the kingdom. Rather, Paul is describing the roles we were created to take. Christ takes the role of the Son in the Trinity and therefore submits to God the Father, and if He can do that without losing any of His worth or value, then why can't we as women accept the idea of submitting to our current or potential husbands? The clear answer is sin, our flesh refuses to do what it was created to do (Romans 7:14-21). Thankfully, God does not leave us here, rather, He changes us, gives us a new heart (2 Corinthians 5:17), and then works with us to become more holy daily (Ephesians 2:10).

May God continue to work in our hearts and advance His kingdom.

Senior High Girls Retreat

Friday night I took the senior high girls out to my parents house in Fulshear for fun, food, and fellowship (like the alliteration?). Aside from having to drive the van through traffic at 6:15 PM through the rain, everything went really well! My parents even invited them back for a pool party when we get one put in!

Shannon, Marie, and Anna washing dishes after breakfast.

Marie and Anna... still washing.

Meg, enjoying an apple.

Shannon, Marie, Victoria and Helen after a long night of little sleep.

Alison eating a piece of Marie's birthday cake.

Victoria and Meg... Meg got no sleep that night.

Abigail, Hannah, and Shannon. I believe this was after dinner Friday night.

The Guards Mock Jesus, Reflections on Luke 22: 63-65

The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating Him. They blindfolded Him and demanded, "Prophesy! Who hit you?" And they said many other insulting things to Him. Luke 22: 63-65

I often look at this passage with judgement on the guards, my sense of justice outraged by their treatment of Him, not merely an innocent man but the God of the Universe. But while this outraged sense of justice is valid, my own self-righteous judgement is not. Like the guards, I mock and insult Jesus with my sin daily, proving how apathetic I am toward His holiness that demands perfection. The treatment the guards showed Christ fulfilled prophesy, but was without excuse. May I see more clearly my sin and die to it daily. May I be enabled to look on sin and see it as such and yet not act as a pharisee and perceive myself as above it. May God be glorified in me.

New Year's Prayer List

Rather than writing out a bunch of resolutions that I will be sure to break within about five minutes, I have decided to make a New Year's Prayer List. This way, it will help me develop the mindset of sanctification; working with the Holy Spirit to become the woman God wants me to be. So, here is my list thus far. I began making it last night around 2 am, so it might be incomplete.

• Spiritual - my prayer is that God will help me memorize more scripture, to pray more consistently, to be more patient, to trust God when I am afraid, and to be more humble and forgiving. (clearly there is much more than this, but it would take far too long to write it all down)
• Physical - To be more healthy. God gave me one body and I need to take care of it in a way that is honoring to Him.
• Emotional - To base my emotions on what I know to be true in scripture and of God rather than my perceptions.
• Financial - To be wise and giving with the money God has blessed me with.
• Career - To seek God's will for my future.

I can't do anything of these things on my own, but I know that at the very least praying for God to help me with these things will draw me closer to Him and might bring me closer to where He wants me to be. Anybody else making resolutions or prayer lists?

Sufficient

"But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ's power may rest on me."  2 Corinthians 12:9

When I am at my lowest, God is with me.  I may feel as if I am completely alone, utterly abandoned, and yet He never leaves me.  Even when I am faithless, God is faithful.  He is my strength when I am weak, my joy when I am desperate, my peace when I'm afraid.  Why does my heart not understand this?  I know it to be true and yet I cannot seem to rely on it as I should.  The journey is a long one.  God doesn't just wave a wand over our lives and poof everything is as it should be.  Rather, He allows us to participate in our sanctification.  It hurts.  Frankly, it sometimes stinks.  I don't always believe that He will work all things for my good and His glory though I know it to be true.  Daily I must be reminded.  Daily I have to pray.  Oh that I would say with Paul that I will  "boast all the ore gladly about my weakness" that "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."  I might be able to one day, though I'm not sure if it will be in this world or the next.  For now I fall at the foot of the cross, crying out that my strength is not sufficient.  Maybe that's where I always need to be.

My Five Books of 2009

I got this idea from Brian Franklin's blog and thought it was great!  These are my favorite books of 2009.  They aren't all that deep or philosophical, but I'm proud to have finished a few and the rest were just fun!  Leave your top five as well!

1.)  The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas

The discussion of revenge in this book is quite interesting.

While I did not agree so much with the conclusion, I very

much enjoyed reading the story.

2.) Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

I tried reading this once in high school

and failed.  For some reason I found it 

difficult.  This time around it really made 

sense.  His practicality and theology 

are so rich.  I would recommend it to anyone

3.)  Emma by Jane Austin

With her witty dialogue and satire

Jane Austin never fails to keep my attention.

Emma had me laughing out loud almost

every time I read it.

4.)Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper

Another second timer, Don't Waste Your Life

has a lot of good things to say.  I will probably

read it again though as I was struggling with 

insomnia quite a bit this time and didn't absorb

all of it.  However, I still found it inspiring.

5.)Fer de Lance by Rex Stout

I love mysteries.  My favorite author so far 

is actually Harlan Coben, he never fails to 

shock me with the conclusion, but I just 

recently started reading about Nero Wolf,

a quite fat detective and Arche Goodwin, his

assistant.  Witty and clever, I will probably be 

reading more of Stout's works in the near

future.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just a few things to be thankful for.  

"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably, with reverence and awe."  Hebrews 12:28

Halloween

Ok, so for the most part I really don't like Halloween. I can't watch TV because scary movies are rampant along with freaky episodes of TV shows, people throw water balloons at your car nearly causing you to get into accidents (true story, jerks), and there is no awesome meal with the family like at Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, and even the Fourth of July! However, the costume party I went to for our singles group at church was a lot of fun! I got to connect with the singles much more than I have in the past, there was lots of good food (queso!), and some really funny costumes! In the end it was a fun night! Here is a picture of a few of us. If you can't tell, I'm a bumble bee and yes, I am having to stand on my toes to get my arms over the girls on either side of me. I'm short, but tall enough to reach my hair as my dad says!

From left to right: Dr. House, Nikki (I can't remember what she was), a bumble bee, Wonder Woman, Shaggy, and in front, a tennis player! The guy who was House had the walk with the cane down almost perfectly. I couldn't stop laughing when I saw him do it! There was also a Thelma to the Shaggy, but she wasn't in the picture.

Quest For Love

Every girl should read this book.  Apart from the Bible I think that this book has changed my life more than any other book I've ever read.  Elisabeth Elliot not only gives sound counsel but uses examples from the countless letters she has received focusing in on couples who have waited on God's timing and those who have tried to go their own way.  She encourages men to be men, to not say "I love you" unless they are ready to marry you, to be the initiator, and she urges women to be but gentle and quiet spirits who wait on the Lord.  In a time where we are told to flirt, that it's ok to be the one to call, that sharing a bed before marriage is not only ok but perfectly natural it is incredibly refreshing to read her wise words.  God has given me a great deal of peace about relationships through this book and the scripture Elliot uses and I pray that He will create in me the most gentle and quiet spirit who will either one day be a supportive and submissive wife or a soul set apart to serve the kingdom unmarried.  I encourage everyone, men and women, to read this and be encouraged, inspired and I'm very excited to go through it with the Jr. High girls!

Insomnia Update

God is good, even when I don't get any sleep, but I feel so blessed this morning after crashing at midnight last night and sleeping until my alarm went off.  I pray that I praise God whatever sleep I get or don't get and that I continue to learn the lesson of trust.  I am thankful that He's put me in this situation where I don't have parents or roommates to rely on and I have to cling to Him.  It's very difficult sometimes, but if insomnia is my biggest struggle then I think God's being pretty easy on me.  I look back on Paul's struggles and kind of feel like a wimp!  He was beaten, ship wrecked, thrown in jail, and insulted and through all of this God used him in a mighty way to advance His kingdom.  I can only pray that God will use me in such a way, even if that means that I have to face more sever trials in order to do so.  

Thanks for all your prayers and encouragements.  Lord willing the ability to sleep will continue, but if not pray that I will praise Him just the same.

More Insomnia

Can't sleep.  Really need your prayers.  I'm pretty exhausted.  I know God is teaching me something, maybe to rely on Him alone, but I am so tired... I know I don't deserve what could only be considered grace by being allowed to sleep soundly, my mind at peace, but I need it so desperately.  I really need sleep.

Mark That One off the List

It's official, I finally finished The Count of Monte Cristo.  Loved it, but I'm glad to be finished.  I thoroughly plan on waiting until January to start Les Miserables, I need a break.  In the near future I plan to write my thoughts on it, but for now I leave with this:  I finished!  Yay!