Not a Band-Aid

In the past couple days, I have been giving thought to the fact that so many people treat God like an extra, or a five-step program, or a Band-Aid. He is the magic bottle they keep in their pockets when life gets hard. Most seem to like the idea of God, but they want Him to keep their distance for the most part. He can mind His own business and let them live their own lives. The idea of surrendering wholly, completely to the Maker of the Universe is terrifying. And if a body wants to live their life ignoring God, or picking Him up once in awhile, that is their own choice. Why some people chose do that, I do not understand. At the end of the day I suppose it boils down to the fact that God is God. He calls some to Himself and not others. Either way, everyone's life will glorify God, whether or not they intended it to.

What I did this Week: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

  This past week has been very full and mostly good. Not perfect because I am human after all.

  Sunday, this lovely human being came over and we made cheesecake brownies.

 

  With Monday evening came a beautiful sunset.

 

 And with Tuesday morning came a traffic citation for speeding. Not one of my greatest moments. Then when I drove down the same stretch of road the next day, I meticulously observed the speed limit while everyone else on the road did not. But they did not get tickets. I guess I should not slam the civil justice system too much though. It is, after all run by my fellow, faulty humans. 

 

  Wednesday, I made oat bread which chose not to rise as much as I would have liked it to. It did taste good though.



  Thursday I made soap.

 

  Friday I made ice cream.

 

  And again this evening, the hunger for Indian food stuck, so I tried my hand at Chicken Tikka Marsala. And it turned our pretty good.

 

And that was my week warts and all.





angel of light.

If the Devil looked anything but an angel we would say no.
Ugly is easy to avoid.
We avert our eyes when we encounter the visually unpleasant.
Beauty attracts though.
We follow the fair to the ends of the earth regardless of rhyme or reason.
Evil is wicked cruel, the tendrils of its power choking the life out of our soul.
And maybe foolishness is a part of evil, but the instigator of evil is far from foolish.
He know what draws in our heart.
And he plays us so, so well.
Yes is the word we try so hard not to say to temptation.
We seethe with frustration because it is so hard to say no.
By ourselves we say yes or we get angry.
We do not have to though.
In Christ, those of us who are His have the grace to say no and to walk away.
To see evil as the empty grey it truly is.
To find they reality of beauty and truth in the sunset and say yes to the beauty that is good.

Brave, not Stupid

 

There is not a time I remember when I did not know the stories of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Narcissistic kings, men living through a fiery furnace, lion's mouths being shut was all normal as a child. For the past few weeks, in the Sunday school class I help teach, we have been studying the book of Daniel. And in the past few weeks, I have been struck by the bravery of Daniel and his friends in a way I never had before.
  They were brave. No, more than that. They were fearless. Yet there was nothing brash about their bravery. They did not parade in front of others and thumb their righteousness in the faces of their fellow man. They simply obeyed God when it was easy and when it was hard.
  Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were exceptional human beings. At a young age, they were taken from their homes to live in a foreign land. What is more is that they were hand-picked to serve in positions in the government. Daniel in particular distinguished himself as leader. He served as a powerful official during the reign of three kings, each who represented his destroyed homeland. Daniel was in a position to inflict revenge, to wreak sabotage, on the men who held him in bondage. And he did not.  Daniel did more than serve his enemies because he was required to, he worked for their betterment. The kings whom Daniel served were greater for having him.
  But when he was asked to disobey God, Daniel firmly and fearless refused. He did not back down from what he believed, but he did not try to offend others with his beliefs either. he simply stood his ground. He was brave, not stupid.

What I did this Week: Late

  Last week I took pictures (almost) everyday, but because of all the festivities of yesterday, I have not had time to blog until today. So here goes.

  Sunday we had a "snow-ball fight" in Sunday school and it was glorious fun.

 
  Monday night I made an attempt at Chicago style pizza. It was tolerable.

 



  Tuesday I started this awesome little thing. The goal is to finish it by the end of the year. Here's to another goal that will remain unfulfilled.

 

  Wednesday night I made meatball sandwiches.

 

  And Thursday night I made Indian food.

 







  Friday, close to midnight, I finished the last book in the Emily series. Which I enjoyed.

 



  And Saturday we celebrated my grandparent's 50th anniversary.

 

And so went my week.



bittersweet.

Bittersweet is the most confusing of all.

It is the flavor that tastes the most of life.

It brings a body to ask questions.

To grasp for understanding.

How can anything so seamlessly contain polarities?

But in the confusion one is recognized because of the presence of the other.

The swirl makes life a fatal, beautiful mess.

What I did this Week: The Attack of the Book-worm

  I used to read a lot. Now, not so much. So this week I decided I would read a lot again. Or I would at least finish some books I had started.

  Monday I finished The Confessions of Saint Augustine which was incredible. It is long (I have been reading it off and on for a year now), but worth the time and effort it takes.

 

  Then Tuesday, I finished Toilers of the sea, which was also long. Victor Hugo, as is his custom, takes awhile to describe a number of sights and scenes and characters, but his work truly is beautiful and wonderfully tragic. The last words of this book are, "At the moment when the vessel vanished on the horizon, the head disappeared under the water. There was nothing left but the sea." Cue chills.

 

  Wednesday, more Latin grammar.

 







   Thursday, waffles for breakfast.

  Friday morning, my Dad and I woke up early in the morning and went fishing. The beach was beautiful, so I naturally did not have my camera with me.

 

  And today I turned these drapes into valences.

 

That was my week!

No Need for Flags

  Today we always seem to think of bravery as involving a certain amount of bravado; especially in America. For the past week, I have seen a lot of activity on social media pertaining to a certain church which has decided to fly the Christian flag above the American flag in front of their building. According to the Pastor, this church is putting their faith first. In a nation where Christianity is undermined, they are showing those around them they are not going to back down from what they believe, even when their belief is unpopular. And what better way to get attention for your commitment to your faith than by breaking the law. It works for terrorists.

  Perhaps they are brave, and I would like to think this particular church’s heart is in the right place, but I think they have a slight misunderstanding about the kingdom of God. The beauty of Christianity, is that it is a flagless religion. When Christ came to this earth two-thousand years ago He bore no banner. He told the ruling authorities that His kingdom is not of this world. The instructions He left for His church were directions about discipleship and church discipline. In their letters to the church, none of the apostles told the believers to thumb their religious rights in the face of the government. Christians were told to be holy, law-abiding citizens.

  While I appreciate this church’s shamelessness with regards to their beliefs, I cannot help but feel there might be a better way to show commitment to one’s faith. Perhaps, instead of some great visual display, someone should focus on living out the gospel in their day-to-day lives. And if they are called to disobey God’s law, they should make firm stand for what they believe. It is then that they should consider breaking the law. Living out the gospel is hard. And standing up for what one believes in when it is not just considered irrelevant, but is actually illegal, takes true bravery.  

paradox.

 

I pray for your misery because I love you.

A strange sort of paradox.

I want to see joy, not happiness in the wells of your soul.

Contentment, deep and satisfying, not pleasure that comes and goes with the seasons.

If I did not love you I would merely wish for your happiness.

I would not pray for your heart to break, for your tears.

It is pain that drives us where we belong: at the feet of God.

The wounds on our flesh and in our soul come from our fallen nature.

Our tattered and torn image of God can only be repaired by the one who created it.

Healing comes through pain.

Salvation comes through pain.

Eternity comes through pain.

Only through Christ can your wounds be healed, salvation granted, eternity made sure.

Pain comes because the Lord disciplines those He loves.  

And so I pray for your pain.

What I did this Week: Home again, home again, jiggity-jig

  Sunday I was still in Chicago, and the Allen girls and I took a walk alongside of lake Michigan.

 

  Monday night, cookies were baked.

 

  Tuesday, I came home.

 

  Wednesday I re-attacked my Latin grammar after a week-long break.

 

  Thursday morning I made blueberry pancakes.



 

. 

Friday night, we popped firecrackers and my brothers amazed me with how quickly they could burn through 144 sparklers.

 

  And today, for the Forth of July, we ate hot-dogs, hamburgers and root-beer floats. Because what better way to celebrate America's independence than eating inherently American foods.