"We Shall Have Spring Again"

 

  From some reason I keep connecting the word ambiguous with the weather's current disposition. Really, it is not cold. It just seems that after another orbit around the sun, the world is tired and has used the weather to shut humanity out. With no visible sun, there is no reason to interrupt the earth's solitude. There are no horizons to see clearly. In the light of the sun, our optic nerves feels with confidence what is and what is not. Now the world of reveals to us glimpses of visions in which the truth is undiscernible. The sights shrouded in fog could be anything.

  In a few months, the cold obscurity of winter will pass away and we will see the world baptized in light and life anew. But for now the life of the earth is safely cocooned until its time. And the light of the sun, which was always there, will shatter the shroud of winter and "We shall have spring again."

Not Type-A

 2015 has begun. Once again, the beginning of the year has reminded me that I am not a type-A person. Nothing against all of you go-getters, I just do not see all that wonderful self-motivation getting me anywhere as far as the big important goals go. I can route myself out of bed in the mornings to read my Bible, and I do not usually have too big of a problem getting myself to workout or eat healthy or read brain improving books. It is just that I have a tendency to set daily goals for myself. So why add the pressure of 364 more daily goals when I have enough to worry about right now? Today has enough troubles of its own.
  All that to say, I am not making any big resolutions for this year. The big things are going to happen regardless of me. And right now I cannot think of any little thing in particular that I want to work on. Instead, I am waiting to see what the year holds and to see how I grow without trying to bend myself in one way or another. God often changes me in ways I never would have on my own, and I am always better for it.

New Years Eve

  Before Christmas, I had wonderful aspirations for my blogging schedule. But then all of my cousins came into town for about a week, so between breakfasts and sleepovers and Christmas and movies, I ran out of time to write. And this post is just going to be pictures from last night. But here's to 2015, and I must be old now because I cannot believe it is here just yet.

'Cooking Tutorial' Cousin Addition

  So this week my cousins came into town for Christmas and we had a sleepover and we made oreo balls, which I have never done before. I had also never looked up the recipe before, so my cousin had to tell me what to do. And here goes.

  Gather your ingredients:

 

  And your cousins:

 

  Then be a lazy human being and get them to smash the oreos for you.

 

  Then mix the oreos and (softened) cream cheese.

 

  Stick that mixture (which I did not take a picture of) into the freezer while you melt the almond bark. Just follow the directions on the package.

 

 Then roll the oreo mixture into balls.

 

  Then dip them into the melted almond bark.

 

  And your done! Beautiful right?

 











The Greater Good

  The world is a fallen place. Ever since Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the garden of Eden and ate the forbidden fruit, mankind has been born into sin. Sometimes, a body wonders what the world would be like had Adam and Eve not eaten the forbidden fruit. If there was no sin or death or pain or imperfection in the world. We would be living the good life so many spend their lives seeking.
  The world is broken. We as people can do nothing to amend it. Our own clumsy attempt at bettering our home often mars it further. The world is broken, but not irrevocably so.
  Yesterday was Christmas day, yesterday we celebrated the beginning of the end of this broken world. We celebrated the mercy of a great God who loved His own enough to save us. On Christmas, we remember the coming of Christ to this earth.  Knowing we could not save ourselves from the punishment of death and eternity apart from our Maker we deserve, Christ bore the punishment those He called to Himself.
  We will not know what the greater good is: never knowing sin, or knowing sin and being saved from it by the beautiful grace of God. We are not innocent. We are redeemed, we are justified. In spite of our imperfections, we are still the children of God by the sacrifice of His Son Christ.

Another Random "Cooking Tutorial"

  I do not usually put up two posts a day, but I have others things I want to blog during the week and so I figured why not. This 'tutorial' is on how to make those oreo bars everybody has seen floating around in the social media spheres.

  First, gather your ingredients. In addition to the 2 packages of oreos, 2 packages of marshmallows, and six tablespoons of butter, you will need a 9x13 inch buttered pan.

 

  Second, bust up your oreos. Use a rolling pin like I did. Or your fists, or Thor's hammer if you can manage that. Whatever works for you.

 

  Then, dump your oreos into a bowl.



 

  Then melt the marshmallows and butter in a pot of medium-ish heat. It goes from this:

 

  To this. But melt it all the way.

 

  Then pour the marshmallow stuff into the oreos.











  
  Mix it all together, buttered hands work better than a spoon.

 

  Scoop that goop into your buttered pan. It will be so beautiful.

 

  Press it down, smooth it our, and cut it up.

 

  Bon Appetit!

 









  They are seriously incredible though! I will eat them until I get sick.

 

When Theology is Cold

  Theology is important. Without theology that is firmly grounded in the truths of scripture, a body can go to very dark places. Bad theology is one the most detrimental things to the Christian walk. Theology can be cold though. It is an easy thing to reduce the attributes of God and Biblical concepts to letters and numbers on a page. Admittedly, letters and numbers fall easily into the realm of understanding. Letters and numbers are cold though, and when we depend on them too much we begin to try and squeeze God into the realm of understanding. God is too big to understand.
  Everyday, I read a couple of Psalms when I wake up, and everyday I am struck by how big and powerful and loving God is. He is holy and righteous and just, but God is not cold. He loves His people. He sent His only Son to this earth to die and bear the punishment we justly deserved. While I can understand the fact of God's love for me, I cannot begin to gasp with my little mind the depth and width and height of it.
  Studying theology is important, and I am indebted to godly men who have done their best to explain the hard things of scripture, but studying about the Bible, is not studying the Bible. Studying about God is not the same thing as knowing God. As Christians, we must seek and know God, because just knowing theology is worthless.

Lamentations 3:22-23
  "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."