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Showing posts from 2009

Facebook, multi-tasking and college football

What do these three things have in common? Each one has contributed to the brain melt down that occurred at 9:27 p.m. last night. I think it actually started with multi-tasking, which I have elevated to a level previously unknown to mankind. This does, of course, violate the command by which I try to live: "Let all things be done decently and in order" 1 Corinthians 14:40. At some point, doing thirty two different things within a period of thirty two minutes will cause you to not only get out of order, but usually something will come out of your mouth which necessitates repenting. Not orderly or decent. Sigh. Then there is Facebook . I haven't developed the addiction to it that I was warned about, I rebuke all attempts to get me to buy a farm, a zoo, an aquarium, or take a quiz. Okay, I took one quiz. It was the one to find out what state you should live in-and it was right. But what Facebook has done is rendered me unable to formulate a thought of more than five words w

Tell it like it is, Oswald!

Impulsiveness or Discipleship? But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith . . . —Jude 20 There was nothing of the nature of impulsive or thoughtless action about our Lord, but only a calm strength that never got into a panic. Most of us develop our Christianity along the lines of our own nature, not along the lines of God’s nature. Impulsiveness is a trait of the natural life, and our Lord always ignores it, because it hinders the development of the life of a disciple. Watch how the Spirit of God gives a sense of restraint to impulsiveness, suddenly bringing us a feeling of self-conscious foolishness, which makes us instantly want to vindicate ourselves. Impulsiveness is all right in a child, but is disastrous in a man or woman—an impulsive adult is always a spoiled person. Impulsiveness needs to be trained into intuition through discipline. Discipleship is built entirely on the supernatural grace of God. Walking on water is easy to someone with impulsive boldness

Attention All Married Women

I just got done listening to this awesome study by Denise Salvato. This was recorded at the 2003 CCV Women's Retreat, and it is an amazing study for married women. I've heard it before but it is as fresh and relevant to my life and marriage as it was then, and I'd encourage you to sow abundantly in your marriage and listen to this word from the Lord through Denise. It will change your marriage-if you'll let it!

Break it Down-Yo!

For fellow finance workers everywhere.........

School Daze

I just read a post from a young friend whose oldest child has begun......preschool. For her, the experience of standing at a classroom doorway and watching her daughter hug her little brother goodbye was that flavor of bitter and sweet, emotions in a blender on high for a moment. I remember those feelings more tangibly from Ashley's kindergarten experience. All us parents in front of the school, meeting the couple and their daughter who would soon become Ashley's best friend, and who God would use powerfully in our lives as a witness. Wondering if she'd miss us, or never notice we were gone. Sounds cliche but wasn't that just yesterday? Now, she is a wife, a good wife. She and her husband are praying and planning for their future, and enjoying their present. She's a godly woman with a ministry God has chosen for her, which she is entering into with fear, trembling and admit it Muffin, an excitement. She loves to read, (big surprise) bake and entertain. She is s

End of Summer?

Signs summer is coming to an end: 1) Last Bible study at the beach 2) Pre season FOOTBALL! 3) Your change your driving route to avoid school traffic. 4) Weeping ensues when you realize it's getting dark earlier. 5) Pre season FOOTBALL!

It Is Well With My Soul

So, we did not really hear what we wanted to hear yesterday after twelve hours at the hospital. Yet, I can say, even though I cried..... It Is Well With My Soul When peace like a river, attendeth my way,When sorrows like sea billows roll;Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well, with my soul. It is well, with my soul, It is well, with my soul, It is well, it is well, with my soul. Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, Let this blest assurance control, That Christ has regarded my helpless estate, And hath shed His own blood for my soul. My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought! My sin, not in part but the whole, Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more, Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul! For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:If Jordan above me shall roll, No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life, Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul. But Lord, 'tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait, The sky, not the

THE NOTION OF DIVINE CONTROL

My friend is having surgery to remove a lump from her breast today. Just pray. "How much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?" Matthew 7:11 Jesus is laying down rules of conduct for those who have His Spirit. By the simple argument of these verses He urges us to keep our minds filled with the notion of God's control behind everything, which means that the disciple must maintain an attitude of perfect trust and an eagerness to ask and to seek. Notion your mind with the idea that God is there. If once the mind is notioned along that line, then when you are in difficulties it is as easy as breathing to remember - Why, my Father knows all about it! It is not an effort, it comes naturally when perplexities press. Before, you used to go to this person and that, but now the notion of the Divine control is forming so powerfully in you that you go to God about it. Jesus is laying down the rules of conduct for those who have His Spirit, a

Steps Toward Stupid

This morning I read a post on another blog with this title, "Steps Toward Stupid." The guy was writing about the small things he is prone to do that sometimes produce spiritual train wrecks in his life. For him, it's listening to a certain type of music that he was into during a debauched time of his life. From listening a little to listening a lot, to withdrawing from friends, to blowing off church, to skipping devotions.....pretty soon he's wondering what happened. It all happens slowly, it's not like he listens to Stairway to Heaven and becomes a warlock the next day, but in almost imperceptible ways he is drifting from a close relationship with his Savior. Of course, this made me wonder about my own "steps toward stupid". What are those things that dull my sensitivity to the Spirit, or choices of activities that seem like no big deal but end up totally not being pleasing to God? I'm not telling. Okay, maybe I'll tell you later. The re

Are Women Born This Way?

I found this question and video on another blog, and while I can't answer the question, I can say that this is eerily reminiscent of the dining room at Women's Retreat.

Are you a reader?

I have a number of friends, whom I have made fun of before, that define themselves as non-readers. Then they ask me for a book, read it, love it and want another one. My assesment is that when they think of doing something fun, or that they would classify as a hobby or entertainment, reading isn't the first thing that come to mind. They are, however, all women who love God, love His Word, and love learning who He intends them to be and how to please Him. This story is for all my reading and (ahem) non-reading friends. By the way-my witty daughter sent me this story. One morning a husband returns after several hours of fishing and decides to take a nap. Although not familiar with the lake they are visiting, his wife decides to take the boat out. She motors out a short distance, anchors, and pulls out a book to read. Along comes a Game Warden in his boat. He pulls up alongside the woman and says, "Good morning, Ma'am. What are you doing?" "Reading a book,"she

Meaning of Life

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I hate a sentence that begins with "what if". Really. There is enough stuff in the world that I know I don't know, I really don't need to imagine what else there might be that I don't know. There are, however, some things I do know, and here's one. (click on "one")

Irony

This beautiful spring morning I lingered over my coffee while watching a tiny bunny eat my grass.........for 7.5 seconds. Then I switched on my trusty Palm Treo (I love my phone, but that's another post) and my heartbeat shot up when I saw today's to-do list. Bye bye, bunny. Top of the list this week is the deadline for my contribution to our annual women's retreat. Thirty items later is the bottom of the list so I vaulted into action. In almost every room in my house is a copy of "My Utmost for His Highest" so in an effort to keep my head from exploding before 9:00 a.m., I picked it up to read. I think you'll appreciate the irony. Especially since the retreat I'm frantically working on is based on Matthew 11-" Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden ...." Cast your burden on the Lord . . . —Psalm 55:22 We must recognize the difference between burdens that are right for us to bear and burdens that are wrong. We should never bear t

How I Spend Most Saturdays

This is what I do most Saturdays, and not a few other days of the week as well. It does not involve a mall (but it does involve the occasional Starbucks), it does not involve a church building (but a lot of ministry happens) and it does involve a rockin' good time! Sonia's husband Oscar took the pics, which is why I show up in them occasionally, and he did the video too.

Oh, it's Sunday

Do it Anyway

Sound ominous, huh? I've been reading through Luke in my devotions, and something new caught my eye. Don't you love reading the Word and suddenly, a passage you may even have memorized has a newness to it that blows your mind? Reading the account of Jesus healing the man with the withered hand, (previous God bomb: the guy put out his hand immediately when Jesus told him too, he didn't say "hey I can't!" Note to self: stop telling God I can't) and this time, these words jumped off the page... "But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man who had the withered hand, " Arise and stand here ." And he arose and stood." He knew. He knew they were waiting, those people who always have a problem with Him, waiting to find an excuse to discredit Him, run Him out of town, even kill Him. And He did it anyway. Fulfilling His calling, bringing glory to God, touching the lives of broken people, it was worth doing no matter the cost. (Note to self: s

The apple doesn't fall far....

Blogs are fun. I have some I read daily, because their authors are more inspired than I am and post regularly. I know it's not very interesting to check a blog for days (or weeks) on end only to see the same thing-sorry! One of the things I like about these blogs is reading what walking with God looks like in the lives of sisters whose seasons and callings are different from mine. A new blog I'm following is by a gal who is both like me and different all at the same time-Muffin! Yep, my daughter Ashley has a new blog you can check out here, The Newlywed's Notebook. She is having the most fun in this season of life, married almost two years already! I can't wait to read what God is showing her about life, marriage and kitchen utensils. If you're a newlywed, an almost-wed, a want-to-be-wed or want to remember what it was like, check out my muffin's blog: and yep, the picture in the banner is from their wedding-aren't they cute!

Twelve Days

In December we sing a song about the twelve days of Christmas. If I were a lyricist I would write a song about what currently brings me joy- THE TWELVE DAYS UNTIL DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME!!!! Yes, that's right, it's the most wonderful time of the year. Nothing says spring time like being blinded at the dinner table because the sun is still high in the sky. Living in SoCal, we don't really have crocus coming up through the melting snow, or robins returning. On my street, we don't even have tulips blooming, because my neighbor, get this, has tulips all year in their garden. How is this possible, even in sunny California? BECAUSE THEY ARE PLASTIC. They have real flowers too, but one bed in their yard is all plastic flowers. Weird. But I digress. Mark your calendar and sing a little song, break out your Cobians and get a new beach umbrella at Costco, cause spring is almost here!

I Promise (source: God)

My friend Debbie reminded me that I hadn't blogged anything since November, and that's because I spent December trying to avoid all things technological. I had sort of an electronic meltdown between three blogs, a zillion digital pictures, two new websites to work on and finicky printers and disc burners. Like most of you, December was really busy, so if I had five empty minutes, I wanted something with pages made of paper. Our women's ministry has also just begun a study in the book of Joshua, which is shaping up for me as one of those books of the Bible that is like a good action movie-lots of fights, things being demolished and the good guys always win. I'm in the teaching rotation so that has kept me from blogging, too. It's a great book to be in for a multitude of reasons, but one that hits me today is the constant example of God's faithfulness. Joshua chapter one lays a great foundation for who God is, what He promises, and how He accomplishes what He inte