I'm a runner.. sort-of. I'm working on accepting that statement. Once in awhile I check out the discussion boards on the website of Runner's World. They cover so many different topics in these boards, it's ridiculous. People ask questions and have discussions about things I would NEVER think about. Running is an interesting subculture, one that seems a little intimidating at first. Or continually, for us "sort-of" runners.
Tonight I found myself reading a discussion thread about knowing when you're no longer a beginning runner. There were a variety of answers, but one stood out to me. "It seems as though we can be forever beginners. Just when we think we have this running thing down, something happens and it's like we are starting all over again."
And so it is in the Christian life, wouldn't you agree? Just when we think we've overcome, or understood, or arrived at everything we needed to, we get knocked on our feet.
Hopefully we get knocked on our feet. After I ran my first 5k I got a terrible heel spur. After a few weeks of trying to suck it up and run through the pain, I finally went to the doctor. He noticed that I am a supinator. Which meant there was a problem with my running form.
The pain came from bad form that I needed to correct. By starting at the beginning again. (And just when I thought I had arrived, finishing my first 5k!)
When we get knocked down, perhaps it's because our form needs a bit of correction. And correcting it will hopefully result in less pain and more success. And success in the Christian life is being able to glorify God more and more with our lives. When the stakes are that high, a little bit of pain is worth it.
Showing posts with label life lessons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life lessons. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 07, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
You Are Not Your Ministry.
One of the things I've wrestled with for as long as I can remember is an answer to the question, who am I?
I just caught the title of an article on churchleaders.com called "You Are Not Your Ministry." That single five word sentence is like the theme of 2011, and my first full year in ministry.
Here's an excerpt from the article:
I just caught the title of an article on churchleaders.com called "You Are Not Your Ministry." That single five word sentence is like the theme of 2011, and my first full year in ministry.
Here's an excerpt from the article:
I know some things about you:
I know that you are not your art.
I know that you are not your church.
You are not your technical expertise, or lack thereof.
You are not your voice, even though people love it when you’re on stage.
You are not what your authority figures believe about you.
You are not your blog posts, or your readers’ insane responses.
You are not your Twitter count, or your Facebook friend total.
You are not your impact.
You are not your successes, and you are not your failures.
You are not that thing in your life that didn’t work out.
You are not that thing in your life that worked perfectly.
But I also know this about you:
I know that in Christ, you are a child of God.
My friends, there will come a day when you no longer create art. There will come a day when the software you use is no longer in existence. There will come a day when you no longer serve in that church, in that ministry. There will come a day when he’s no longer your boss, and they’re no longer your Elder Board. There will come a day when you quit blogging, and when people put Twitter and eight-track tapes in the same category. There will even come a day when your impact wains.
But there will never, ever come a day when you stop being a child of God.
Read the full article here.Tuesday, February 15, 2011
losing to gain
"Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." -Matthew 10:39
Until recently, I've always thought of this verse in terms of confessing a saving faith in Christ. It's important to grasp the concept that Christ gave up His perfect life for us. We are to give up our sinful lives in order to find true life in Christ.
But this is important for the rest of our lives after we make that decision to live for Christ. The Gospel is not only for unbelievers, but for believers, too. God calls us to give up comfortable patterns of our our lives from the time before we believed. This is a process, and not one that we can finished on earth.
I hope I am making sense here. I don't think I can fully describe the new way that I understand this verse now, as a part of my life in Christ.
As Jim Elliot said, He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
I think this quote has huge implications in the context of a way of life, being more than just a one-time decision.
Until recently, I've always thought of this verse in terms of confessing a saving faith in Christ. It's important to grasp the concept that Christ gave up His perfect life for us. We are to give up our sinful lives in order to find true life in Christ.
But this is important for the rest of our lives after we make that decision to live for Christ. The Gospel is not only for unbelievers, but for believers, too. God calls us to give up comfortable patterns of our our lives from the time before we believed. This is a process, and not one that we can finished on earth.
I hope I am making sense here. I don't think I can fully describe the new way that I understand this verse now, as a part of my life in Christ.
As Jim Elliot said, He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
I think this quote has huge implications in the context of a way of life, being more than just a one-time decision.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Broken Bootstraps
John and Henry broke my bootstraps this week- but it's actually a good thing.
Allow me to explain. I love old idioms, or cliches, or whatever they are technically called. "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps" is a classic. The meaning of this, if you care to know, is to improve your situation by your own efforts.
We all do that in many regards. I think it's one thing that parents teach their kids, and it's a good lesson to learn. In a way, it reminds me of the good ol' American Dream; you can make something of yourself, even if you aren't dealt the best hand of cards.
It's natural for me to feel this way. Last week at work we had a morning team meeting about the strengthsfinders test, and talked about what each of our strength themes mean and how we can use them to benefit the team.
Two of my themes are significance and individualization. In my life, both of them lead me to seek independence from others. I don't generally label myself as independent, but when learning about my natural inclinations via the strengths discussion, I saw them in a new light.
Last Sunday, my pastor mentioned the mission statement of the church, which reminded me of this whole bootstrap concept. New City Covenant seeks to provide an environment for transformation. This often happens with three things: connecting to God personally, connecting to God's people and connecting to God's purposes.
I've heard him say this before, but this week it really sunk in. I don't depend on other people. I've always thought this was a good, acceptable, appropriate, healthy thing.
John Townsend and Henry Cloud write about the very same thing in How People Grow. I've been working through this book as part of my new staff development at work. (Isn't it crazy when God uses many things to teach us the same lesson?)
So, I've been learning all about depending on people from John and Henry. The Body of believers that constitute the Church today has a unique role: to be Christ to people. This involves extending grace, supporting others, accepting them no matter what, but loving them enough not to let them stay that way.
To quote John and Henry exacting, "Biblical growth is designed to include other people as God's instruments. To be truly biblical as well as truly effective, the growth process must include the Body of Christ. Without the Body, the process is neither totally Biblical nor orthodox."
That's what New City is seeking to be when we talk about connecting with God's people in search of transformation. Something beautiful happens when you confess sin aloud to your friends and peers. When you're able to be honest with yourself about your struggles and honest with others, and when they respond with love and grace, you are able to experience it yourself. And that starts to bring about lasting change.
There's a lot more to discuss and think about in the realm of spiritual and personal growth than I'm covering here.
My goal in this is to show you that the picture of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps implies that you're going to lift yourself off the ground by your own effort. It won't work. You can try and try and try, but you probably won't have long-term progress, or grow like you will if you are able to rely on others to walk alongside you.
Allow me to explain. I love old idioms, or cliches, or whatever they are technically called. "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps" is a classic. The meaning of this, if you care to know, is to improve your situation by your own efforts.
We all do that in many regards. I think it's one thing that parents teach their kids, and it's a good lesson to learn. In a way, it reminds me of the good ol' American Dream; you can make something of yourself, even if you aren't dealt the best hand of cards.
It's natural for me to feel this way. Last week at work we had a morning team meeting about the strengthsfinders test, and talked about what each of our strength themes mean and how we can use them to benefit the team.
Two of my themes are significance and individualization. In my life, both of them lead me to seek independence from others. I don't generally label myself as independent, but when learning about my natural inclinations via the strengths discussion, I saw them in a new light.
Last Sunday, my pastor mentioned the mission statement of the church, which reminded me of this whole bootstrap concept. New City Covenant seeks to provide an environment for transformation. This often happens with three things: connecting to God personally, connecting to God's people and connecting to God's purposes.
I've heard him say this before, but this week it really sunk in. I don't depend on other people. I've always thought this was a good, acceptable, appropriate, healthy thing.
John Townsend and Henry Cloud write about the very same thing in How People Grow. I've been working through this book as part of my new staff development at work. (Isn't it crazy when God uses many things to teach us the same lesson?)
So, I've been learning all about depending on people from John and Henry. The Body of believers that constitute the Church today has a unique role: to be Christ to people. This involves extending grace, supporting others, accepting them no matter what, but loving them enough not to let them stay that way.
To quote John and Henry exacting, "Biblical growth is designed to include other people as God's instruments. To be truly biblical as well as truly effective, the growth process must include the Body of Christ. Without the Body, the process is neither totally Biblical nor orthodox."
That's what New City is seeking to be when we talk about connecting with God's people in search of transformation. Something beautiful happens when you confess sin aloud to your friends and peers. When you're able to be honest with yourself about your struggles and honest with others, and when they respond with love and grace, you are able to experience it yourself. And that starts to bring about lasting change.
There's a lot more to discuss and think about in the realm of spiritual and personal growth than I'm covering here.
My goal in this is to show you that the picture of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps implies that you're going to lift yourself off the ground by your own effort. It won't work. You can try and try and try, but you probably won't have long-term progress, or grow like you will if you are able to rely on others to walk alongside you.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
My head and heart finally agree.
Today, I begin a new challenge: reading Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology from cover to cover. The book is around 1200 pages, so I figure if I read a few pages a day, I'll be done in one year. Very doable.
I decided to take this on after finishing David Nasser's biography "Jumping Through Fires." I was doing some work at Panera yesterday and had brought along the book to read if I needed a break.
At any given time, I'm reading about 5 books at once. But I started and finished this book within 12 hours. It was amazing. I had seen a video about David once at church, and made a mental note to Google him later. I did, and liked what I read, so when I found his biography in a half-price bookstore a few months ago, I grabbed it.
I saw so many similarities between his story and mine- not so much in his life before he came to Christ, but after. For some reason, this got me thinking about theology.
I take shortcuts. It's not smart, I know, but it's something I'm naturally inclined to do and find myself fighting all the time. When I started to develop solid friendships with Christians in college, I could see early on I was far behind these people. I definitely lacked a foundational knowledge of the Bible, but in attempting to follow simple discussions about the Bible, I realized I even lacked the skill to think critically.
I had a lot of ground to make up, in not a lot of time. Hello, shortcuts. The situation was intensified because I didn't want anyone to know I didn't know much. (I didn't even want anyone to know I accepted Christ freshman year. Talk about pride. I'm pretty sure they all knew anyway).
In those days, I soaked up any bit of knowledge from any type of source. It was really fun to walk into church knowing that I would leave knowing God better. I jumped very quickly into campus ministry. I rarely said no to any opportunity that would lead me to grow in my faith.
Because of all this, I had gained a lot of knowledge. The problem is, shortcuts don't pay. The knowledge was great, but I was lacking sometime.
I found this out when I joined staff with Campus Crusade. Part of their ongoing staff training involves taking seminary classes every couple of years. I knew the first two would take place at new staff training. I didn't know a lot about theology, doctrine, or methods of studying the Bible, but I had taken in so much in the last 5 years, I felt pretty good.
I was pretty surprised at what I learned. Knowledge is great, but its value is increased when it connects with your heart. After all these years of attaining knowledge and growing in my faith, I finally began to see and understand the WHY behind much of what I did.
Theology, of all things, showed me that my heart hadn't caught up with my mind.
David expressed similar thoughts in his book- though for him, his mind hadn't caught up with his heart. His story really got me thinking about this. All that to say, I'm going to read more theology, because for me, that helps my heart connect with my head. That, and prayer. But that's another topic and another story. I think studying theology might help other people in this area, too. So, look for more posts on theology down the road!
(Disclaimer: I'm eternally grateful for the friends, Campus Crusade staff, and church members that helped me grow in my faith so quickly. My lack of connection between my head and my heart was surely my own fault. My pride got in the way, so there's no way anyone would have been able to see any of this. Or maybe they did, I don't know. I think the lesson I learned is not something you can teach someone, but only one that someone can discover on their own. I'm definitely not blaming anyone for me turning out this way and I hope those that read don't think they miss-taught or mislead me in some way).
I decided to take this on after finishing David Nasser's biography "Jumping Through Fires." I was doing some work at Panera yesterday and had brought along the book to read if I needed a break.
At any given time, I'm reading about 5 books at once. But I started and finished this book within 12 hours. It was amazing. I had seen a video about David once at church, and made a mental note to Google him later. I did, and liked what I read, so when I found his biography in a half-price bookstore a few months ago, I grabbed it.
I saw so many similarities between his story and mine- not so much in his life before he came to Christ, but after. For some reason, this got me thinking about theology.
I take shortcuts. It's not smart, I know, but it's something I'm naturally inclined to do and find myself fighting all the time. When I started to develop solid friendships with Christians in college, I could see early on I was far behind these people. I definitely lacked a foundational knowledge of the Bible, but in attempting to follow simple discussions about the Bible, I realized I even lacked the skill to think critically.
I had a lot of ground to make up, in not a lot of time. Hello, shortcuts. The situation was intensified because I didn't want anyone to know I didn't know much. (I didn't even want anyone to know I accepted Christ freshman year. Talk about pride. I'm pretty sure they all knew anyway).
In those days, I soaked up any bit of knowledge from any type of source. It was really fun to walk into church knowing that I would leave knowing God better. I jumped very quickly into campus ministry. I rarely said no to any opportunity that would lead me to grow in my faith.
Because of all this, I had gained a lot of knowledge. The problem is, shortcuts don't pay. The knowledge was great, but I was lacking sometime.
I found this out when I joined staff with Campus Crusade. Part of their ongoing staff training involves taking seminary classes every couple of years. I knew the first two would take place at new staff training. I didn't know a lot about theology, doctrine, or methods of studying the Bible, but I had taken in so much in the last 5 years, I felt pretty good.
I was pretty surprised at what I learned. Knowledge is great, but its value is increased when it connects with your heart. After all these years of attaining knowledge and growing in my faith, I finally began to see and understand the WHY behind much of what I did.
Theology, of all things, showed me that my heart hadn't caught up with my mind.
David expressed similar thoughts in his book- though for him, his mind hadn't caught up with his heart. His story really got me thinking about this. All that to say, I'm going to read more theology, because for me, that helps my heart connect with my head. That, and prayer. But that's another topic and another story. I think studying theology might help other people in this area, too. So, look for more posts on theology down the road!
(Disclaimer: I'm eternally grateful for the friends, Campus Crusade staff, and church members that helped me grow in my faith so quickly. My lack of connection between my head and my heart was surely my own fault. My pride got in the way, so there's no way anyone would have been able to see any of this. Or maybe they did, I don't know. I think the lesson I learned is not something you can teach someone, but only one that someone can discover on their own. I'm definitely not blaming anyone for me turning out this way and I hope those that read don't think they miss-taught or mislead me in some way).
Saturday, June 05, 2010
Advice to Seniors
I was digging through some junk the other day in my attempt to pack my stuff, when I happened to find a notebook of loose papers. I almost threw it away without checking to see what it was. Turns out, it was notes from a guest speaker in the Business School from my senior year of college.
As I glanced at the notes, I remembered that he was actually was a good speaker. I didn't write down his name, but I remember he was at that time the CEO of the Americas of HSBC. My notes are pretty basic:
-Love what you do. It’s all that matters.
-If you’re in a game you can’t win, you’ll lose.
-Know the boundaries of the circle of competence. What do I do well?
-What do I do when I don’t have anything to do? How can I make money doing it?
I remember appreciating his honesty; we heard so many people come through the business talking about money, politics, climbing the corporate ladder. But there were small glimmers of something different- "revolutionary" ideas that loving one's day job will bring you more happiness than money. (Shocking, isn't it?)
He also had a top ten list - advice for college grads:
1. Manage your own career (60% me, 20% company, 20% luck).
2. Excessive Job Hopping is detrimental to your career.
3. Maintain a keen sense of curiosity; don’t be too complacent.
4. Gain international experience/exposure; a second language is a plus!
5. DO NOT compromise your values and principles at work.
6. Take pride in all aspects of your work. Be responsible. Take ownership.
7. Be a team champion; don’t be a star.
8. Listening is an art and a hard skill to develop.
9. To be held hostage to your job is not a career.
10. Enjoy what you do and have fun!
Even though I'm in full-time ministry, I still want to have a 'career' of sorts. Maybe that's a bad thing. I've wondered at times whether I'll get (any) skill development on a professional level working for Crusade. Whether I will or not, the spiritual and personal development is a lot more valuable to me (and I think development in these areas would help my professional skills to stand out more, anyway).
Anyway, I know this list is just his opinion, or a rip-off of another person's opinion, but I was intrigued by his very first statement: you need to take change of your own career. I know I will get great opportunities professionally with Campus Crusade (definitely comparable to my fellow USD B-School classmates of 2008); but regardless, I must be responsible for my own career development.
I don't worry as much about other items on the list (#2, #4, #5), but the rest are really important. I definitely want to enjoy my work, fostering creativity and curiosity while being responsible for my contribution to the team.
If I haven't said it enough, I'm so excited for what is in store at the Regional Office!
As I glanced at the notes, I remembered that he was actually was a good speaker. I didn't write down his name, but I remember he was at that time the CEO of the Americas of HSBC. My notes are pretty basic:
-Love what you do. It’s all that matters.
-If you’re in a game you can’t win, you’ll lose.
-Know the boundaries of the circle of competence. What do I do well?
-What do I do when I don’t have anything to do? How can I make money doing it?
I remember appreciating his honesty; we heard so many people come through the business talking about money, politics, climbing the corporate ladder. But there were small glimmers of something different- "revolutionary" ideas that loving one's day job will bring you more happiness than money. (Shocking, isn't it?)
He also had a top ten list - advice for college grads:
1. Manage your own career (60% me, 20% company, 20% luck).
2. Excessive Job Hopping is detrimental to your career.
3. Maintain a keen sense of curiosity; don’t be too complacent.
4. Gain international experience/exposure; a second language is a plus!
5. DO NOT compromise your values and principles at work.
6. Take pride in all aspects of your work. Be responsible. Take ownership.
7. Be a team champion; don’t be a star.
8. Listening is an art and a hard skill to develop.
9. To be held hostage to your job is not a career.
10. Enjoy what you do and have fun!
Even though I'm in full-time ministry, I still want to have a 'career' of sorts. Maybe that's a bad thing. I've wondered at times whether I'll get (any) skill development on a professional level working for Crusade. Whether I will or not, the spiritual and personal development is a lot more valuable to me (and I think development in these areas would help my professional skills to stand out more, anyway).
Anyway, I know this list is just his opinion, or a rip-off of another person's opinion, but I was intrigued by his very first statement: you need to take change of your own career. I know I will get great opportunities professionally with Campus Crusade (definitely comparable to my fellow USD B-School classmates of 2008); but regardless, I must be responsible for my own career development.
I don't worry as much about other items on the list (#2, #4, #5), but the rest are really important. I definitely want to enjoy my work, fostering creativity and curiosity while being responsible for my contribution to the team.
If I haven't said it enough, I'm so excited for what is in store at the Regional Office!
Sunday, May 02, 2010
do we need psychics?
If you knew what would happen in the future, would you live life differently?
A friend and I were talking awhile back about people who decide to remain single for the rest of their lives. Not necessarily that we wanted to decide this, but just how people come to this conclusion.
The conversation led me to wonder how I would live my life differently than I am right now if I knew I would be single the rest of my life. I'd spend a lot more time with God, making sure He's number one in my life. I'd want to make sure I had solid friendships with other single women, but I'd also make sure I spent time with young couples, and families, too.
Then I thought about the flip side; if I absolutely knew I would get married someday, would I live my life differently? Yes. Definitely. I'd spend a lot more time with God. I'd make sure I was seeking Him each day and putting Him first.
I'm making a broad generalization here, but I think the point is an important one to make. Preparation for what life will throw at me down the road doesn't hinge on me knowing what's coming. I probably wouldn't believe it even if I did know what was coming!
A friend and I were talking awhile back about people who decide to remain single for the rest of their lives. Not necessarily that we wanted to decide this, but just how people come to this conclusion.
The conversation led me to wonder how I would live my life differently than I am right now if I knew I would be single the rest of my life. I'd spend a lot more time with God, making sure He's number one in my life. I'd want to make sure I had solid friendships with other single women, but I'd also make sure I spent time with young couples, and families, too.
Then I thought about the flip side; if I absolutely knew I would get married someday, would I live my life differently? Yes. Definitely. I'd spend a lot more time with God. I'd make sure I was seeking Him each day and putting Him first.
I'm making a broad generalization here, but I think the point is an important one to make. Preparation for what life will throw at me down the road doesn't hinge on me knowing what's coming. I probably wouldn't believe it even if I did know what was coming!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Lessons from Kids: purpose.
A little girl came up to me after church on Sunday; she had to interview a missionary for Awana. She asked where I'm going, so I said Minneapolis. She asked what I'm doing there. I hesitated.
How do I explain to an 8 year old what I do on staff? I explained that I will help other missionaries tell people about Jesus. That seemed to satisfy her.
On the way home I contemplated my answer. My reply differs depending on the person or audience I'm talking to. Last year I spoke to an Awana group at a friends' church. I went into much more detail with those kids than I did on Sunday. I remember watching at their little eyes glazed over and I found them slowly nodding along when I looked at them, just like I do when someone tries to explain something I don't understand.
I want people to "get" what I do. I love explaining how my role is a puzzle piece that fit into the larger picture, but I also don't want to lose people while I cast vision. The details are important to me, but the purpose is what most people are interested in. What a good reminder to stay focused each day on the mission instead of getting tied up in the logistics and lost in the details.
How do I explain to an 8 year old what I do on staff? I explained that I will help other missionaries tell people about Jesus. That seemed to satisfy her.
On the way home I contemplated my answer. My reply differs depending on the person or audience I'm talking to. Last year I spoke to an Awana group at a friends' church. I went into much more detail with those kids than I did on Sunday. I remember watching at their little eyes glazed over and I found them slowly nodding along when I looked at them, just like I do when someone tries to explain something I don't understand.
I want people to "get" what I do. I love explaining how my role is a puzzle piece that fit into the larger picture, but I also don't want to lose people while I cast vision. The details are important to me, but the purpose is what most people are interested in. What a good reminder to stay focused each day on the mission instead of getting tied up in the logistics and lost in the details.
Monday, December 07, 2009
Food Challenge!
My roommate likes to do late-night grocery runs, something I've never really done much of. We just finished wandering the aisles of our local HyVee (fondly pronounced hiv-ee in this college town). Due to the late hour and a small snowstorm today, we were the only customers in the store for most of our trip. We were both in silly moods and had an enjoyable time talking through some menus and poking fun at each other.
We were settling in with the groceries in the car, when my roommate is struck with a genius idea: Boycotting the grocery store until Christmas Break, eating all the food in our freezer and cupboards and giving away any nonperishable that we haven't consumed by then. Shear genius. We discussed the benefits of this plan and the fact that we probably would have to go to the store for perishables (I took care of it! I got the milk, eggs and fabric softener!) and essential items. We talked about planning menus, holding each other accountable and getting creative with meals, (with the help of google, I'm sure)!
I'm pretty glad we're doing this. At one point last month, we had 9 opened, half-eaten bag of chips in our kitchen! I don't have the funds to do any kind of shopping this month, groceries included. And my personal benefit aside, it's just more responsible. So look for more posts on this in the future! :)
We were settling in with the groceries in the car, when my roommate is struck with a genius idea: Boycotting the grocery store until Christmas Break, eating all the food in our freezer and cupboards and giving away any nonperishable that we haven't consumed by then. Shear genius. We discussed the benefits of this plan and the fact that we probably would have to go to the store for perishables (I took care of it! I got the milk, eggs and fabric softener!) and essential items. We talked about planning menus, holding each other accountable and getting creative with meals, (with the help of google, I'm sure)!
I'm pretty glad we're doing this. At one point last month, we had 9 opened, half-eaten bag of chips in our kitchen! I don't have the funds to do any kind of shopping this month, groceries included. And my personal benefit aside, it's just more responsible. So look for more posts on this in the future! :)
Friday, October 23, 2009
WoF 09
Quotes and Notes
Women of Faith 2009
Patsy Clairmont
.. If it's not working, stop it.
.. The joy of Jesus will light your life. LET IT SHINE.
.. Don't ask God for the truth. He'll pierce your heart with it.
.. You've been on this mountain too long. Rise up. Leave.
Rich Stearns, President of World Vision
Two Questions to ask yourself:
1. What does God expect of me?
1. Am I willing to be open to God's will in my life?
Lisa Harper
Matthew: written to Jews, genealogy is a big deal
Includes names of imperfect women in genealogy
.. Forgiveness is God's gift to us to live in a world that's not fair.
.. Hebrew of "be still" in Psalm 46:10 means "let go."
Marylin Meberg
.. Of course I would have met my goals. But I would have missed my purpose.
Women of Faith 2009
Patsy Clairmont
.. If it's not working, stop it.
.. The joy of Jesus will light your life. LET IT SHINE.
.. Don't ask God for the truth. He'll pierce your heart with it.
.. You've been on this mountain too long. Rise up. Leave.
Rich Stearns, President of World Vision
Two Questions to ask yourself:
1. What does God expect of me?
1. Am I willing to be open to God's will in my life?
Lisa Harper
Matthew: written to Jews, genealogy is a big deal
Includes names of imperfect women in genealogy
- Tamar
Judah's D-I-L, Gen 38
Sleeps w/Judah while disguised as a prostitute - Rahab
Full-fledged prostitute - Ruth
Follow's M-I-L, Naomi to Bethlehem
Moabite: Lot's daughter sleeps w/Lot = son Moab (Gen 19) - Bathsheba
Her name isn't even written ('had been Uriah's wife')
.. Forgiveness is God's gift to us to live in a world that's not fair.
.. Hebrew of "be still" in Psalm 46:10 means "let go."
Marylin Meberg
.. Of course I would have met my goals. But I would have missed my purpose.
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Boundaries.
Last night I was reading 'Boundaries' (Cloud & Townsend) before bed when I got a text message. In order to see who it was from and what it entailed, I had to get up. I really didn't want to, and was slightly annoyed at the text, but then realized maybe it was someone who really needed something. So, I got up to get my phone. By the time I had phone in hand, I was audibly laughing; here I am reading "Boundaries" and yet I stop something important that I am doing because someone might need me. Hilarious!
By the way, the text was a friend with an answer to a question I had asked earlier. So my annoyance was then directed wholeheartedly at myself! :)
By the way, the text was a friend with an answer to a question I had asked earlier. So my annoyance was then directed wholeheartedly at myself! :)