FROM: Banbury, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
ABOUT ME: Living the highs and lows of life in the adventurous pursuit of God Himself and of who I'm meant to be as the Bride of Christ.
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Saturday, August 30, 2008,3:46 p.m.
SOMETIMES IT'S SCARY THAT I FORM YOUNG MINDS.....
I defined brain-dead today......
In my role as the Academic Counselor for the school where I work, it is my job to ensure that students are signed up for the courses they need. Sometimes, in our relatively small school, this means that a student will take a course online if we do not have the opportunity to offer it as a class on the timetable.
Such is the case of a lovely Grade 10 student who does not take French but wants to take Spanish. Since we do not offer Spanish, we decided that he would take the course online, thus getting his grade 10 language credit and not being idle during the French block.
All this was settled with his parents in the spring, and I asked his mom to e-mail me when he was registered with the school district for his online Spanish course so that I knew he was all set up. This she did today - her son is registered to start Spanish next week.
THEN all the fun started.
1. I e-mailed her back and thanked her for letting me know.
2. Then I e-mailed her again to let her know that her son's free block to take Spanish was actually going to be second semester (and therefore she might want to defer his registration in the online course), since French was not on the timetable for first semester.
3. Then I e-mailed her AGAIN to let her know that I misread the timetable and actually found the French block, so he was OK and all set to go. I also told her that I would not e-mail her again unless the sky was falling and suggested that perhaps I need to up my medication (praying at the time that she had a sense of humour).
4. And yes, I e-mailed her YET AGAIN to tell her that the sky was indeed falling and a piece of it must have whacked me on the head, since her son is scheduled for Math first semester (which runs opposite French) and that his language block is indeed second semester as I thought in one of my first e-mails of the day. I think at this point I at least had enough wits about me to suggest we do nothing about it until next week (I thought that would give me time to change my mind seven or eight more times without the necessity of e-mailing her again).
Believe it or not, all of this happened in the space of approximately 6 minutes, so you can do the math on how quickly after hitting "send" on each message I turned around and started the next one. What's with that? School hasn't even started yet - I have no excuse.
And all of this gets even better when, after writing all of the above, I remember that my boss reads my blog.
I truly love my job. It's such a wonderful opportunity for humility.....
In my role as the Academic Counselor for the school where I work, it is my job to ensure that students are signed up for the courses they need. Sometimes, in our relatively small school, this means that a student will take a course online if we do not have the opportunity to offer it as a class on the timetable.
Such is the case of a lovely Grade 10 student who does not take French but wants to take Spanish. Since we do not offer Spanish, we decided that he would take the course online, thus getting his grade 10 language credit and not being idle during the French block.
All this was settled with his parents in the spring, and I asked his mom to e-mail me when he was registered with the school district for his online Spanish course so that I knew he was all set up. This she did today - her son is registered to start Spanish next week.
THEN all the fun started.
1. I e-mailed her back and thanked her for letting me know.
2. Then I e-mailed her again to let her know that her son's free block to take Spanish was actually going to be second semester (and therefore she might want to defer his registration in the online course), since French was not on the timetable for first semester.
3. Then I e-mailed her AGAIN to let her know that I misread the timetable and actually found the French block, so he was OK and all set to go. I also told her that I would not e-mail her again unless the sky was falling and suggested that perhaps I need to up my medication (praying at the time that she had a sense of humour).
4. And yes, I e-mailed her YET AGAIN to tell her that the sky was indeed falling and a piece of it must have whacked me on the head, since her son is scheduled for Math first semester (which runs opposite French) and that his language block is indeed second semester as I thought in one of my first e-mails of the day. I think at this point I at least had enough wits about me to suggest we do nothing about it until next week (I thought that would give me time to change my mind seven or eight more times without the necessity of e-mailing her again).
Believe it or not, all of this happened in the space of approximately 6 minutes, so you can do the math on how quickly after hitting "send" on each message I turned around and started the next one. What's with that? School hasn't even started yet - I have no excuse.
And all of this gets even better when, after writing all of the above, I remember that my boss reads my blog.
I truly love my job. It's such a wonderful opportunity for humility.....
Wednesday, August 27, 2008,7:32 p.m.
GOD'S DEFINITION OF SACRIFICE
It's been interesting to note this week that as I'm back at work (I've been off for the summer - tough life) and back into a regular schedule with the discipline of reading the Word each day, the sacrifice / rejection issue has diminished somewhat. It's almost as if a renewed focus on the things of the Lord instead of things of my own life - looking at Him instead of looking at myself - has made the promises God has given fade a bit. Not fade from belief, though, so much as fade from being what only last week was a major issue and question in my mind. They have been given a different priority in my mind as I ponder the Lord Himself, and this has reduced some of their power to confuse and control my thoughts.
Now granted, that's a whole three days' worth, but so far, this is my experience this week. And quite frankly it goes with much of what the Lord has been trying to teach me (I'm glad my students aren't as thick about algebra as I am about God's lessons) - to turn my eyes, ears and thoughts to Him, and have the earthly things grow "strangely dim." I would like to say that it is completed - the lesson is learned and thus I move on, but I imagine I may gain ground and then lose a little ground here and there as I vie for victory. However, today I am seeing a definite correlation between the increase in the spiritual discipline and the decrease in the grasping of dreams. Interesting, because I was actually looking for an answer on how to deal with the struggle and solve it, when instead the struggle has - at least at the moment - simply abated.
As I was reading this morning, I chose to look up sacrifice in my tiny little concordance in the back of my Bible, and found that God defines sacrifice as these things:
Obedience (1 Samuel 15:22, Psalm 40:6)
Thanksgiving (Psalm 50:14)
Mercy (Matthew 9:13)
Holiness (Romans 12:1)
Love (Ephesians 5:2)
Praise (Hebrews 13:15)
Supplying others' needs (Philippians 4:18)
I can do these - or at least I can work at doing them. Not one of them even remotely speaks on giving up promises God has spoken. God has chosen to share with me things He has planned over my life, but He does not, at least in my short little study this morning, note anywhere that I then have to wrestle with giving up, accepting, giving up, accepting. In fact, so much focus on them at all is probably too much. I must avoid them becoming an idol in my anticipation of their goodness, but other than that, frankly, I can and must await God's timing for them. The incredible struggle I've been going through of not knowing how to believe in them without squeezing the life out of them might be less important than I thought a few days ago.
In the meantime, do I know how to obey whatever He asks of me?
Yes.
Do I know how to offer thanksgiving to the Lord?
Yes.
Do I know how to show mercy to others?
Yes.
Do I know how to pursue holiness in my life?
Yes.
Do I know how to love?
Yes.
Do I know how to praise?
Yes.
Do I know how to give to others when they have a need?
Yes.
Whether I'm always perfect at them or not, at least these things I do know how to do. No wonder we are admonished to live up to what we have already attained (Philippians 3:16). I will continue to pursue a knowledge of how to truly resist grasping at promises of God that match deeply rooted dreams in my life. But for a while, especially while it at least for now begins to recede from importance, I will grasp the opportunity to remember the means of sacrifice that I already know how to do, and live up to that.
I realize I've left the question of sacrifice and rejection unanswered.
In truth it feels like freedom, which is exactly what I was looking for....
Now granted, that's a whole three days' worth, but so far, this is my experience this week. And quite frankly it goes with much of what the Lord has been trying to teach me (I'm glad my students aren't as thick about algebra as I am about God's lessons) - to turn my eyes, ears and thoughts to Him, and have the earthly things grow "strangely dim." I would like to say that it is completed - the lesson is learned and thus I move on, but I imagine I may gain ground and then lose a little ground here and there as I vie for victory. However, today I am seeing a definite correlation between the increase in the spiritual discipline and the decrease in the grasping of dreams. Interesting, because I was actually looking for an answer on how to deal with the struggle and solve it, when instead the struggle has - at least at the moment - simply abated.
As I was reading this morning, I chose to look up sacrifice in my tiny little concordance in the back of my Bible, and found that God defines sacrifice as these things:
Obedience (1 Samuel 15:22, Psalm 40:6)
Thanksgiving (Psalm 50:14)
Mercy (Matthew 9:13)
Holiness (Romans 12:1)
Love (Ephesians 5:2)
Praise (Hebrews 13:15)
Supplying others' needs (Philippians 4:18)
I can do these - or at least I can work at doing them. Not one of them even remotely speaks on giving up promises God has spoken. God has chosen to share with me things He has planned over my life, but He does not, at least in my short little study this morning, note anywhere that I then have to wrestle with giving up, accepting, giving up, accepting. In fact, so much focus on them at all is probably too much. I must avoid them becoming an idol in my anticipation of their goodness, but other than that, frankly, I can and must await God's timing for them. The incredible struggle I've been going through of not knowing how to believe in them without squeezing the life out of them might be less important than I thought a few days ago.
In the meantime, do I know how to obey whatever He asks of me?
Yes.
Do I know how to offer thanksgiving to the Lord?
Yes.
Do I know how to show mercy to others?
Yes.
Do I know how to pursue holiness in my life?
Yes.
Do I know how to love?
Yes.
Do I know how to praise?
Yes.
Do I know how to give to others when they have a need?
Yes.
Whether I'm always perfect at them or not, at least these things I do know how to do. No wonder we are admonished to live up to what we have already attained (Philippians 3:16). I will continue to pursue a knowledge of how to truly resist grasping at promises of God that match deeply rooted dreams in my life. But for a while, especially while it at least for now begins to recede from importance, I will grasp the opportunity to remember the means of sacrifice that I already know how to do, and live up to that.
I realize I've left the question of sacrifice and rejection unanswered.
In truth it feels like freedom, which is exactly what I was looking for....
Monday, August 25, 2008,4:31 p.m.
THE TRAIN OF HIS ROBE....
I'm sure I'll have some more thoughts shortly about the previous blog, but I had a cool revelation this morning as I was reading Isaiah 6 that I thought I would share. The passage is pretty familiar, I'm sure - this is the first verse:
There were a couple of things that hit me in this verse pretty strongly.
FIRST THOUGHT: It was in the year that the king died that Isaiah had a vision of the Lord. It strikes me that Isaiah may very well have been totally focused on serving Uzziah, and the king had to physically be no more before Isaiah was able to see anything else.
FIRST REVELATION: The things that we have enthroned in our lives must die before we are to truly see the Lord. Idols create shadows through which it is difficult - if not impossible - to see and commune with the Lord.
SECOND THOUGHT: I found out that the word "train" (as in the train of his robe) can also be translated "hem." The hem of His robe filled the temple. When I thought of the word hem, I immediately thought of the woman in the New Testament with the issue of blood - her touching just the very hem of His garment healed her completely. So now when I read "the train of His robe filled the temple" I might also infer that the His healing filled the temple. (Perhaps it's a stretch for this particular verse, but I actually don't think that makes it any less true.) This verse also uses the word "temple" - we are the temple of God. His Spirit, should we choose to accept His salvation and Lordship, resides in us as a deposit securing our inheritance. We are the temple of God.
SECOND REVELATION: God's complete healing has filled me. Through salvation my relationship with God and my eternal destiny are healed. Through faith and obedience my spirit is healed. God's healing completely fills me.
Let the idols die and the vision of the Lord be revealed.
Let the Lord's healing completely fill us.
All in one verse. It blows the mind a little....
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord
seated on a throne, high and exalted,
and the train of his robe filled the temple.
There were a couple of things that hit me in this verse pretty strongly.
FIRST THOUGHT: It was in the year that the king died that Isaiah had a vision of the Lord. It strikes me that Isaiah may very well have been totally focused on serving Uzziah, and the king had to physically be no more before Isaiah was able to see anything else.
FIRST REVELATION: The things that we have enthroned in our lives must die before we are to truly see the Lord. Idols create shadows through which it is difficult - if not impossible - to see and commune with the Lord.
SECOND THOUGHT: I found out that the word "train" (as in the train of his robe) can also be translated "hem." The hem of His robe filled the temple. When I thought of the word hem, I immediately thought of the woman in the New Testament with the issue of blood - her touching just the very hem of His garment healed her completely. So now when I read "the train of His robe filled the temple" I might also infer that the His healing filled the temple. (Perhaps it's a stretch for this particular verse, but I actually don't think that makes it any less true.) This verse also uses the word "temple" - we are the temple of God. His Spirit, should we choose to accept His salvation and Lordship, resides in us as a deposit securing our inheritance. We are the temple of God.
SECOND REVELATION: God's complete healing has filled me. Through salvation my relationship with God and my eternal destiny are healed. Through faith and obedience my spirit is healed. God's healing completely fills me.
Let the idols die and the vision of the Lord be revealed.
Let the Lord's healing completely fill us.
All in one verse. It blows the mind a little....
Sunday, August 24, 2008,11:45 a.m.
SACRIFICE VS. REJECTION
I gave a little hint in my last blog that I have been processing a perceived struggle in my life between sacrifice and rejection. I probably wasn't near clear enough in regards to that about which I was speaking. But I was referring to promises of the Lord - promises the Lord has given that we have not yet seen fulfilled.
I wonder, at times, how Abraham must have felt when he was promised a nation more numerous than the stars in the sky, but lived and died with only one son. I wonder sometimes if he "got it" and understood the far-reaching nature of that promise or if he felt a bit ripped off. Jason Upton has a song called "Give Me One Reason" and it has a lyric that says this:
I've always wondered whether this was actually true - how does a man live and die without seeing God's promise fulfilled and still retain faith in that promise? How does one choose to believe in a promise long since given and long awaited and not grasp at it and strive for it - and choose a hand-maiden, Hagar, instead of waiting? (By the way, the truth of Abraham's taking Hagar to speed along the promise of a son is my reason for wondering if he did not feel forsaken.)
God has spoken promises into my life - many. Many have been fulfilled, many remain hopes. At times my ability to claim these promises without creating of them an idol growths regrettably thin. I refuse to have idols - I would rather cast all my hopes into the pit of hell than allow them to come between Jesus and me. I don't say that from a false sense of piety but rather from a personal experience of having done it already - I won't have it again.
BUT, therein lies the dilemma that I am currently processing. One time, in prayer, I chose to lay down one of my dreams before the Lord - to make of it a sacrifice. The Lord very clearly asked me, "Why do you keep laying down the things that I am giving you? Pick it up!" He tells me of His plans and asks me to believe. I do believe. I believe He is faithful to fulfill all His promises, and I believe that He is not slow to do so. But I myself have a problem in knowing that within my hand are my deepest dreams - the dreams that God has promised to fulfill - and keeping my hand relaxed and open. In my humanness I want to grasp at them and not allow them to escape me. And then this knowledge leads me to remember my identity as a servant of Christ and I want to both offer them up to God to do with as He wills and to cast them away from me as still too close to not be in danger of being idols.
On one hand, sacrifice.
On the other hand, rejection.
How does one sacrifice something so earnestly desired without utterly casting it aside? Isn't this what sacrifice is? But in the case of something God is asking us to believe in, is it not also rejection of a promise? I feel sometimes as though rejection is the only way to be safe from idolatry. But it is also a lack of faith, perhaps a self-protecting disbelief in case 'being the father of a nation' never manifests in my lifetime. But sacrifice - how does one do this over and over, while remaining open-handed with the gifts of God? How does one say, "Yes, I will take my son up to the mountain of Moriah," knowing already that there is a ram in the thicket? I have read that story, and to attempt to duplicate it with my own Isaacs feels like a false sacrifice. But a full sacrifice feels like the rejection of a promise.
At least Abraham knew that God had required of Him Moriah. I wonder if sometimes I require it of myself. God hasn't demanded that I take the promises He has given me and bury them where they will never see the light of day except by a miracle of His hand. Maybe the pain that is involved in waiting is what has required it. May the fear of creating idols again is what demands it. Perhaps all of this struggle is really just from inside me - trying to protect against more disappointment, more pain.
Well, of course it is - I don't suppose that was really in question. The question does remain, however, how do you hold a promise lightly in your hand? How do you refuse the Hagar opportunities? How does one change one's heart to not see the promises and seek them out, but instead to see the Lord, and to have eyes that are for Him only?
My heart wants to reject the promises - in the claims that I want God more and the weak understanding that I have of knowing my desire of these promises endangers my intimacy with the Lord. God wants my heart to accept the promises - in His rights as a good and loving Father who gives gifts to His beloved children. He wants to give me more - to have me experience fullness in this life before meeting with Him in eternity. Thus at present I continue to wrestle between accepting in faith and true sacrifice, and rejecting in self-protection.
Sometimes blogging is so helpful – as I write the above and re-read it a time or two, I wonder if I don't need to sacrifice/reject something other than God's promises. Perhaps what needs to be rejected, instead of the promise of God, is the pain that is anticipated in the waiting. Perhaps the sacrifice isn’t actually of the promise, but of the disbelief – disbelief not in the promise but in the protection. I do believe in all that God has promised me for my life, but having as yet only believed by faith and not yet by sight, my belief causes pain and is subject to the enemy's tricks and lies. Maybe what needs to be rejected is simply the anticipation of grief and what must be sacrificed is a desire to protect myself.
There is still so much to consider....
I wonder, at times, how Abraham must have felt when he was promised a nation more numerous than the stars in the sky, but lived and died with only one son. I wonder sometimes if he "got it" and understood the far-reaching nature of that promise or if he felt a bit ripped off. Jason Upton has a song called "Give Me One Reason" and it has a lyric that says this:
I see the faith of our fathers
Abraham, Issac, and Jacob
They never saw what was promised
But they never once felt forsaken
(from the album Faith)
I've always wondered whether this was actually true - how does a man live and die without seeing God's promise fulfilled and still retain faith in that promise? How does one choose to believe in a promise long since given and long awaited and not grasp at it and strive for it - and choose a hand-maiden, Hagar, instead of waiting? (By the way, the truth of Abraham's taking Hagar to speed along the promise of a son is my reason for wondering if he did not feel forsaken.)
God has spoken promises into my life - many. Many have been fulfilled, many remain hopes. At times my ability to claim these promises without creating of them an idol growths regrettably thin. I refuse to have idols - I would rather cast all my hopes into the pit of hell than allow them to come between Jesus and me. I don't say that from a false sense of piety but rather from a personal experience of having done it already - I won't have it again.
BUT, therein lies the dilemma that I am currently processing. One time, in prayer, I chose to lay down one of my dreams before the Lord - to make of it a sacrifice. The Lord very clearly asked me, "Why do you keep laying down the things that I am giving you? Pick it up!" He tells me of His plans and asks me to believe. I do believe. I believe He is faithful to fulfill all His promises, and I believe that He is not slow to do so. But I myself have a problem in knowing that within my hand are my deepest dreams - the dreams that God has promised to fulfill - and keeping my hand relaxed and open. In my humanness I want to grasp at them and not allow them to escape me. And then this knowledge leads me to remember my identity as a servant of Christ and I want to both offer them up to God to do with as He wills and to cast them away from me as still too close to not be in danger of being idols.
On one hand, sacrifice.
On the other hand, rejection.
How does one sacrifice something so earnestly desired without utterly casting it aside? Isn't this what sacrifice is? But in the case of something God is asking us to believe in, is it not also rejection of a promise? I feel sometimes as though rejection is the only way to be safe from idolatry. But it is also a lack of faith, perhaps a self-protecting disbelief in case 'being the father of a nation' never manifests in my lifetime. But sacrifice - how does one do this over and over, while remaining open-handed with the gifts of God? How does one say, "Yes, I will take my son up to the mountain of Moriah," knowing already that there is a ram in the thicket? I have read that story, and to attempt to duplicate it with my own Isaacs feels like a false sacrifice. But a full sacrifice feels like the rejection of a promise.
At least Abraham knew that God had required of Him Moriah. I wonder if sometimes I require it of myself. God hasn't demanded that I take the promises He has given me and bury them where they will never see the light of day except by a miracle of His hand. Maybe the pain that is involved in waiting is what has required it. May the fear of creating idols again is what demands it. Perhaps all of this struggle is really just from inside me - trying to protect against more disappointment, more pain.
Well, of course it is - I don't suppose that was really in question. The question does remain, however, how do you hold a promise lightly in your hand? How do you refuse the Hagar opportunities? How does one change one's heart to not see the promises and seek them out, but instead to see the Lord, and to have eyes that are for Him only?
My heart wants to reject the promises - in the claims that I want God more and the weak understanding that I have of knowing my desire of these promises endangers my intimacy with the Lord. God wants my heart to accept the promises - in His rights as a good and loving Father who gives gifts to His beloved children. He wants to give me more - to have me experience fullness in this life before meeting with Him in eternity. Thus at present I continue to wrestle between accepting in faith and true sacrifice, and rejecting in self-protection.
Sometimes blogging is so helpful – as I write the above and re-read it a time or two, I wonder if I don't need to sacrifice/reject something other than God's promises. Perhaps what needs to be rejected, instead of the promise of God, is the pain that is anticipated in the waiting. Perhaps the sacrifice isn’t actually of the promise, but of the disbelief – disbelief not in the promise but in the protection. I do believe in all that God has promised me for my life, but having as yet only believed by faith and not yet by sight, my belief causes pain and is subject to the enemy's tricks and lies. Maybe what needs to be rejected is simply the anticipation of grief and what must be sacrificed is a desire to protect myself.
There is still so much to consider....
Wednesday, August 20, 2008,9:55 a.m.
IN QUEBEC!
I'm currently in Quebec, where I have discovered (as I mentioned to a friend on e-mail the other night) that while you're waiting for your brain to bring back a language you've studied years ago you end up being a blithering idiot in two languages. I am speaking lots of french but a whole lot less of an acceptable level of English for an anglophone. Good thing I'm not teaching that Communications class this year coming up.....
It turns out that I have no cell service and extremely limited Internet while here at Camp L'Achigan (just outside of St. Jerome - about an hour from Montreal), so this will likely be my only blog until I am home again at the end of the week. There have been some fascinating conversations this week regarding sacrifice verses rejection, which I promise I will expound upon once home. At the moment I am just reeling a bit as I process a lot of God-stuff from the ministry time last Wednesday and the current conversations.
It has been an incredible treat to be here with my dear friend, Raelene, on a last-minute trip to Quebec only made possible by the generosity of a friend who works for WestJet. What has been a added bonus is that another dear friend, Xander, is here visiting other friends of ours and we have had some time together, too.
Time to go - I will blog again once I'm back in BC and promise more pictures as well....
It turns out that I have no cell service and extremely limited Internet while here at Camp L'Achigan (just outside of St. Jerome - about an hour from Montreal), so this will likely be my only blog until I am home again at the end of the week. There have been some fascinating conversations this week regarding sacrifice verses rejection, which I promise I will expound upon once home. At the moment I am just reeling a bit as I process a lot of God-stuff from the ministry time last Wednesday and the current conversations.
It has been an incredible treat to be here with my dear friend, Raelene, on a last-minute trip to Quebec only made possible by the generosity of a friend who works for WestJet. What has been a added bonus is that another dear friend, Xander, is here visiting other friends of ours and we have had some time together, too.
Time to go - I will blog again once I'm back in BC and promise more pictures as well....
Tuesday, August 12, 2008,9:39 p.m.
IN PONOKA (WHEREVER THAT IS.....)
Hey - I'm on holidays! Not sure whether that means I'll end up with more time to blog or a little less. We'll see. I'm currently in Ponoka, Alberta! (Which I had never heard of until I booked a trip here....) I'm spending some time in a prayer session with family friends tomorrow and then get on a plane for Quebec! I'm heading off to see a friend of mine at the Salvation Army camp in Quebec, somewhere a bit north of Montreal. I WILL be brushing up on my conversational french - we'll see how that goes. I'm imagining a good experience in humility....
Here are a few pictures - will blog again soon!
Roger's Pass (going through the Rocky Mountains). (Little overexposed, but still, you can see the beauty!)
A new friend I met at Roger's Pass.
The Spiral Railway Tunnels (this is the same train, above and below - it goes into the mountain, turns right around and comes out above itself. Does that a couple of times to help it climb the Big Hill.)
Lake Louise, Alberta.
Here are a few pictures - will blog again soon!
Roger's Pass (going through the Rocky Mountains). (Little overexposed, but still, you can see the beauty!)
A new friend I met at Roger's Pass.
The Spiral Railway Tunnels (this is the same train, above and below - it goes into the mountain, turns right around and comes out above itself. Does that a couple of times to help it climb the Big Hill.)
Lake Louise, Alberta.
Wednesday, August 06, 2008,9:19 p.m.
ELIANA, ZACH AND ZOEY
With a couple of people asking recently, I've realized that I haven't posted an update on the babies in quite some time, and have neglected to mention altogether that Zoey has been at home for at least a month!
The babies are all well. Zoey will still have to go back soon for surgery, but is managing well at home. Zach is getting big and Eliana is talking all the time. She sings the ABC's pitch perfect, but we'll need to work on colours next. Everything is red. Or sometimes pink. But everything is whatever the colour of the day is. Oh well - at two you can't expect a PhD. Yet.
Eliana (and Auntie Karyn) at her birthday party - she's two! And pretty excited about her new tricycle....
Zach
(future conductor)
Zoey
The babies are all well. Zoey will still have to go back soon for surgery, but is managing well at home. Zach is getting big and Eliana is talking all the time. She sings the ABC's pitch perfect, but we'll need to work on colours next. Everything is red. Or sometimes pink. But everything is whatever the colour of the day is. Oh well - at two you can't expect a PhD. Yet.
Eliana (and Auntie Karyn) at her birthday party - she's two! And pretty excited about her new tricycle....
Zach
(future conductor)
Zoey
Tuesday, August 05, 2008,1:26 p.m.
KNOWLEDGE vs. LOVE
Here's a little tidbit I ran across today in the scriptures. For seven words, it says a lot....
Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.
(1 Corinthians 8:1b)
Sunday, August 03, 2008,3:45 p.m.
THE PRACTICE OF THE PRESENCE
Some brilliant advice from someone who "practiced the presence of God" for forty years....
I think the remedy for the problem is to confess our faults to God and humble ourselves before Him. It isn’t necessary to be too verbose in prayer, because lengthy prayers encourage wandering thoughts. Simply present yourself to God as if you were a poor man knocking on the door of a rich man, and fix your attention on His presence. If your mind wanders at times, don’t be upset, because being upset will only distract you more. Allow your will to recall your attention gently to God. Such perseverance will please Him.
Another way to prevent the mind from wandering away from God during prayer is to train yourself to dwell in His presence all day long. This will provide a sort of “practice” for you, as you remind yourself to concentrate on Him. Remaining in His presence during prayer time will thus become easier.
You know from my other letters how advantageous I think it is to practice the presence of God. Let us take this act of loving God seriously, and pray for one another.
I remain your brother in Christ.
“Eighth Letter” from the practice of the
Dear Friend,
You aren’t the only one to be distracted from the presence of God; I understand completely. Our minds are so flighty. But remember that our God-given will governs all of our strength. It must recall the mind to God. Otherwise, our spirit may wander, dragging us down to the things of this earth.
You aren’t the only one to be distracted from the presence of God; I understand completely. Our minds are so flighty. But remember that our God-given will governs all of our strength. It must recall the mind to God. Otherwise, our spirit may wander, dragging us down to the things of this earth.
I think the remedy for the problem is to confess our faults to God and humble ourselves before Him. It isn’t necessary to be too verbose in prayer, because lengthy prayers encourage wandering thoughts. Simply present yourself to God as if you were a poor man knocking on the door of a rich man, and fix your attention on His presence. If your mind wanders at times, don’t be upset, because being upset will only distract you more. Allow your will to recall your attention gently to God. Such perseverance will please Him.
Another way to prevent the mind from wandering away from God during prayer is to train yourself to dwell in His presence all day long. This will provide a sort of “practice” for you, as you remind yourself to concentrate on Him. Remaining in His presence during prayer time will thus become easier.
You know from my other letters how advantageous I think it is to practice the presence of God. Let us take this act of loving God seriously, and pray for one another.
I remain your brother in Christ.
“Eighth Letter” from the practice of the
presence of God by brother Lawrence