Bob and I have an ongoing joke between us: when he can’t find something, it’s my fault. You know, I’ve put it somewhere, his shoes, his biking shorts, whatever. I love it when he finds something that would not even have my fingerprints on it if checked.
He likes to leave things laying around in certain places, and I like to scoop them up and put them somewhere when cleaning house (which is rare). He is meticulous, shoes always side by side with the shoestrings tucked neatly inside. I’m doing well to find my shoes. He says I have “places for everything and everything in its places”.
Okay, I’m finally doing the calorie-counting thing. As age has caught up and metabolism has slowed down, it seems that my days of eating ice cream at will are pretty well gone. My dear mom reminisces about me coming home from school and diving into a bowl of three or four scoops.
Ah, those were the days. And thus, I purchased a kitchen scale, and am using measuring implements consistently for the first time. The calculator sits conspicuously on the kitchen island. Right now, I’m working on just 2000 calories a day. One would think that would not be too difficult…ugh.Continue reading “What’s for breakfast?”
I’m really so thankful our house didn’t burn down.
When we were buying this place back in the early 90’s, it passed inspection, whatever that means. I think it had to do with certain standards or “codes” to which components of the structure must adhere, like the construction, the plumbing…the electricity. The data sheet from the realtor indicated the age of the house to be “50+”. It’s the “plus” that should have had me asking a few more questions.
You know what is said about hindsight.
One of the shortcomings of professional standards is that they evolve, improve (theoretically anyway), many times without telling any of the rest of us. Translation: now that our house is close to 80+ years, it probably would NOT have passed inspection. I didn’t know that. Continue reading “Gut and re-do”
At this writing, my back is still sore from hauling dirt to the garden and turning the two big compost bins with my American Gothic-esque pitchfork a couple days ago. Sad commentary on my current level of fitness. I’ve also been neglecting the compost for most of the winter, unfortunately. Nonetheless, I’m looking forward to warmer temps coming back more consistently to my part of the planet, and I want to take advantage of them.
“Pay attention to this, Job. Stop and consider the wonderful miracles of God!”
This passage encourages me to ask God for His miraculous intervention! What a God we serve! Creator of the Universe! Molder of the everything from the Rocky Mountains to the pebble I skip in the lake! Designer of the intricacies of the human body as well as an amoeba!
This dove-tails right into what Jesus said about having mustard seed-sized faith and moving those mountains and asking for “whatever you will and it shall be done”—that suits me just fine, thank you!
Then I realize this passage comes from the book of Job…which gives me pause. More like slamming on the brake…
If anyone had reason to ask for miraculous intervention, it was Job. By the time this verse shows up in the narrative, we find our ragged hero drowning in disappointment and sitting on an ash heap with pus leaking from his multiple skin sores. All of his children and most of his servants have been killed in various assaults, his wealth has been stripped from him, his wife has been less than encouraging, and now his erstwhile friends have showed up to accuse him of being guilty before God for who-knows-what.
It hasn’t been a good week.
I’m all about asking God for miracles; He knows more than anyone how badly we need them down here. However, God is more concerned with intervening in my character than with intervening in my situation. If the trial will benefit my intimacy with Him more than the miracle, He’ll choose the trial every time.
Which sounds pretty scary at first, but then God also says this in the book of Job:
“I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come. Here your proud waves must stop!’”
No matter what the circumstance, my Father is still in control. His plan for my character and my relationship with Him supersedes my immediate comfort, (and not just physical, but emotional, mental, and spiritual as well.)
Even the secular segment gets the idea that sadness has a crucial place in our proper development:
Of course, I have choices to make in how I process these difficult times—regardless of what’s happening around me, I have decisions about what is happening within me. And as a Christian, God says I have internal resources not otherwise available.
Part of that processing has to do with interpretation; that is, how I “see” my circumstances. It’s very, very tempting to fall prey to thoughts such as:
God doesn’t love me like He loves others.
“For God shows no partiality [undue favor or unfairness; with Him one man is not different from another].”
Or, God’s going to do what He wants anyway, so why bother praying?
“Be unceasing in prayer [praying perseveringly];”
Then there’s the age-old: God must not exist.
“For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out].”
The bottom line is the historical reality of the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus Christ—when nothing else makes sense, that does. The splintered, bloodied pieces of wood and the splendidly empty tomb mean there’s more going on behind the scenes that I’m not privy to…yet. To think otherwise means my arrogance is peeking through, something God addressed with Job in no uncertain terms.
So where does miraculous intervention fit in to all this? Jesus’ template of “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done” is a good start, but I don’t think He meant for it to be a spiritually lazy default. I like His disciples initial request: “teach us to pray.”
Which is becoming an ongoing request for me: “Holy Spirit, teach me what to pray specifically, give me grace to pray persistently in the face of disappointment, and help me to engage the power of Heaven for the building of Your kingdom in this circumstance.”
Interestingly, I suspect that’s when something quietly miraculous begins to happen…
I’m a recycler. I haven’t always been, however. I grew up with learning that respect the environment meant putting trash in the bin. We grew up with Smokey the Forest Ranger teaching us how to not start forest fires (he must have grown up in California…) and there was some commercial about a Native American with a tear in his eye.
So in essence, if I was to be a responsible citizen, everything went, um….into the landfill.
I love to eat. In recent years, it has been showing a bit more than in the past.
One of my challenges, when it comes to food, other than the fact that I live in a place of overabundance and a culture of overindulgence, is that I have a touch of hypoglycemia. Low blood sugar, that is. Hypoglycemia isn’t mere hunger pangs and gastro-growling. Hypoglycemia manifests itself in things like blurring of vision, headache, jitteriness, and irritability. When it hits, I’ll grab just about anything besides what I should since the craving for sugar is my body’s way to sustain life, even though it may be temporary.Continue reading “Snack time!”
Now, there’s a phrase we typically enjoy saying, but we universally hate hearing!
I love the way Paul does it, however. Here’s a quick backstory:
Falsely accused by his own countrymen, Paul has played his “I’m a Roman citizen” card and appealed to the Supreme Court, (i.e., Caesar), which gives him a one-way all expenses paid trip to the capitol. This meant a voyage by sea, which could be tricky based on the time of year. Putting in at one less-than-luxurious small town port, the sailors think they can make it to the next spot before the weather turns bad.Continue reading ““Told you so!””
Here’s a progression of leadership that I find interesting, not that you have to be recognized “leader” in this sense to make the lessons noteworthy. This is, however, a true countercultural mindset that I personally find very informative and challenging.
And David realized that the LORD had confirmed him as king over Israel and had greatly blessed his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.
This Sunday morning, we have a guest speaker coming to our little church. I say “little” to distinguish our congregation from the mega-churches in big cities—nothing against those, as they must have their own special challenges.
No, the assembly Bob and I attend is quite small, living in the rural community that we do, and as such there is ample opportunity to “get involved” since you don’t usually have to be an expert at anything to be included on a team or committee. Bob and I are on the worship team—he plays bass and I play guitar and sing, (well, at least I try to.) Every week with only a few exceptions here and there.
Bob and I have an ongoing joke between us: when he can’t find something, it’s my fault. You know, I’ve put it somewhere, his shoes, his biking shorts, whatever. I love it when he finds something that would not even have my fingerprints on it if checked. 
I’m really so thankful our house didn’t burn down.
At this writing, my back is still sore from hauling dirt to the garden and turning the two big compost bins with my American Gothic-esque pitchfork a couple days ago. Sad commentary on my current level of fitness. I’ve also been neglecting the compost for most of the winter, unfortunately. Nonetheless, I’m looking forward to warmer temps coming back more consistently to my part of the planet, and I want to take advantage of them. 
Interestingly, I suspect that’s when something quietly miraculous begins to happen…
I love to eat. In recent years, it has been showing a bit more than in the past. 
Now, there’s a phrase we typically enjoy saying, but we universally hate hearing!
Here’s a progression of leadership that I find interesting, not that you have to be recognized “leader” in this sense to make the lessons noteworthy. This is, however, a true countercultural mindset that I personally find very informative and challenging.
This Sunday morning, we have a guest speaker coming to our little church. I say “little” to distinguish our congregation from the mega-churches in big cities—nothing against those, as they must have their own special challenges. 
INSPIRATION with an ATTITUDE 