Feb

Homelessness is one of those things that everyone cares about, but few people do anything about. So, I was pretty upset when I read this editorial about a town in California that actually is helping the homeless. What thanks do they get? A lawsuit! (more…)

Feb

I really like this pattern from Thimble Blossoms. If I keep looking at pictures like this, I will have to spend some serious time getting to know my sewing machine!

Don’t the colors look so cheerful and springy? I don’t even know if the fabrics would be available anymore or where I would find them. So, maybe it’s time to do some research! I never thought that I was into sewing at all, but now that I am seeing the cool things that can be done, I just might have to starting sewing!

Feb

“Who has performed and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? ‘I, the LORD, am the first; and with the last I am He.’” Isaiah 41:4 (NKVJ)

God maintains perfect control over history. He has orchestrated complicated events and movements that we can’t understand, and He has done it for thousands of years. He was there before history began, and when it is over, He will still be there. Why do we ever doubt that He controls the events of our lives, too?

Feb

Yesterday, I wrote about Colossian 3: 1-4 (What Defines Your Life?). Today I want to finish sharing what I learned from that passage.

Here’s the passage:

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:1-4 ESV)

How do we seek things that are above? I’m assuming that this is talking about aligning our priorities with God’s.  Seeking things above would be pursuing things that have eternal value. It would be valuing things that God values. It would involve giving time, attention, and effort to heavenly things. (more…)

Feb

I’m sure you’ve seen them too.

There’s the t-shirt that says, “Soccer is my life” (or chess, volleyball, music . . . you fill in the blank).

Then there’s the picture of the cat that says, “Sleeping is my life. The amount of sleep I require is one more hour.”

I just looked on Facebook, and found flair stating that acting, art, ballet, basketball, gymnastics, music, softball, Twilight, volleyball and writing were all life. (more…)

Feb

Last week as part of my cleaning-out activities, I made a post about my Firefox tabs. I thought I might do that again this week, as a quick way to share interesting things. (more…)

Feb

I was really, really frustrated when I wrote the last post about our problems with Charter. Apparently God has a sense of humor, because the next day, things started to get better. I published my post late Monday night. Tuesday afternoon, Tim got a call from a guy at Charter corporate. He had seen my post, and they were ready to fix our problem. (more…)

Feb

I’m reading a great book called Beyond Suffering: Discovering the Message of Job by Layton Talbert.

In the preface he says,

“Here is the core of comfort in the message of Job: beyond suffering, past our pain and loss, is a God Who is not only all-knowing and omnipotent, sovereign and free to do as He chooses but also always good and just, loving and wise, purposeful and perfect in all that He chooses to do or to allow–and intimately aware of all its effects on us. In a word, God is always sovereign, God is always benevolent and ultimately God always rewards (both evil and good). But He is the center of all life, not we.” (xi-xii)

When I was a little girl, my behavior prompted my mom to remind me that I was not the center of the universe. A reminder like that seems unnecessary, even silly at first glance. Of course we’re not the center of the universe. What kind of delusional person would think that?

Yet, when I walk around thinking only of myself, what pleases me, and how the events of the universe relate to me, I am acting as though I think I’m the center, whether I give intellectual assent to that idea or not. Instead, I should be thinking about how I can align myself with the true Center (i.e., how can I obey God today?).

Feb

One of my friends regularly writes interesting things at seemingly random. The most entertaining things happen to her, and she makes even relatively mundane events seem exciting.

Recently, she’s posted several fiction pieces from other writers. They’re beautiful and thought-provoking, in my opinion. Go, read them.

Feb

“But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Man does not know its value, nor is it found in the land of the living. God understands its way, and He knows its place. And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding.’”

Job 28:12-13, 23, 28

How often I around looking for complicated solutions to life, when God wants me to focus on the simple (though often difficult) things. Fear God. Avoid sin. How simple! Now if I could just do it.

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