Certain uncertainty...

Last week, our pastor spoke about marginalizing Christ in our salvation. Specifically, he warned us against relegating Christ to the role of helper (the Cross plus works equals salvation). We cannot DO anything to warrant salvation or righteousness. All our righteousness comes from Him; He is Lord of our lives. On the heels of that sermon, comes this article about St Philips church in Tucson. It is difficult to surrender control (for me, it is an almost daily struggle) and take the backseat- I completely understand this fact. But you know what? If we are to follow Him, we have to (Dad, skip this part) suck it up and set our egos aside. Guess what? God is in charge! Guess what else? He will not conform to our little ideas! Guess what else? He is big enough to overcome whatever barriers we may put up! There are no excuses, folks. We may not like what He says, and we sure are not going to see perfection in this world, but He hasn't given up on me and I am not going to g...

It is that time again. I am very thankful that this work week is drawing to a close-- next week will hopefully have a slightly less frenetic pace. Appetizer How fast can you type? Not very fast, I am afraid. The last time I was tested, it was 55 wpm. I confess that I am a self-taught typist, as the typing classes in school always conflicted with art or music classes. Soup What is your favorite online game? Zuma! I am a recovering Chicken Invaders addict as well. Salad On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 as highest), how intelligent do you think you are? I am not comfortable with this question, and I shall refrain from answering. Main Course Name three of your best teachers from your school years. 1) Dr Singh was my high school Latin and Greek teacher. She the all-time best teacher I have ever had, and probably ever wil have. No nonsense, no excuses, no class too small. Doc gave up her morning planning to teach us Greek, and she gave up her lunch hour to teach four of us AP Latin; ...

We in the US who are Christians have a tendency to moan and cry about not being allowed to do x,y, or z. In case any of us needs a reminder of just how good we have it, take a little jaunt over here. Story upon story here. Lastly, here is something to do about it .

I have sunk to the level of planning my week around Dancing With the Stars. Tonight, however, is a new low. I voted.

Appetizer What is your favorite kind of bread? Um, I am a bread fanatic. Lately, I have been trying to perfect a beautiful milk bread recipe. My next loaves will be semolina bread, though. Growing up, my favorite was Mom's onion bread. Soup When was the last time you bought a new pillow? About six or eight months ago. Before that, I am too embarrassed to admit. Salad Approximately how many hours per week do you spend surfing the ‘net? Twenty hours? Could be more, but that would depend on what I am doing at work. I think I need to channel some of that surfing time into sewing time. Main Course What’s the highest you remember your temperature being? I really cannot say for sure, but I do remember 102.5 once. A very sick girl, was I. Dessert Fill in the blanks: When I ____________, I _____________. When I laugh, I sometimes snort. Come dine with us here .

Who? Heather. What? A love offering to help cover some pretty huge medical expenses. Where? At Boomama's place. Why? Well, to quote Boomama, to "Bless Heather's socks off!" When? Now! How? Just click the "Make a Donation" button and go. And if you want to have your socks blessed right off, r ead Heather's story.

Appetizer When you were a child, which crayon color was your favorite? Cornflower was always the smallest crayon in my box. I used it pretty much to the exclusion of all other blues. Soup On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being highest), how likely would you be to change jobs if it required you to move? I would have to put this on the very low end of the scale, perhaps 2, because there is more to be considered than my employment. Jon's career path somewhat limits us geographically (not too many openings for sound engineers in Small Town Anywhere, USA) Salad Take all the numbers in your birthday and your phone number and add them up, one by one. What’s the total? 79 with area code. Main Course Have you ever “re-gifted” anything? If so, what was it and who did you pass it on to? I don't think I have. I cannot remember, and even if I could, I don't think I would choose my blog as confession point. Too great a risk of hurt feelings. Dessert Name something you need from th...

Don Imus showed his butt on the radio. This is nothing new, believe me. He and his cronies have job which are the dream of adolescent boys everywhere-- get paid to sit around an insult each other and anyone else who comes to mind. It's the nature of the show. His obnoxious remarks (and those of his producer) have, quite understandably, cost him his job. Ok? I think it is probably a wise response on the part of CBS, given that sponsors were dropping like flies. All this makes perfect sense to me, really. And then comes the latest. Oprah. Ms. Winfrey invited the Rutgers team in question to her couches, and this is the quote I hear from Coach Stringer: "Not only did he steal our dreams, he hurt our character of Rutgers University, our state, and all who have been associated." Wow. Someone has just give Don Imus, stupid (albeit successful) radio host a WHOLE LOTTA POWER. Can we please get some perspective here, ladies? I am sad that these women put so much stock in ...

Jon's civic accomplishments since Friday: Civil unrest and riots in City Life Body count in Sims : 1 mother (within first day of play) 1 drummer (again within first day of play) Both Sims deaths were kitchen fires. On a lighter note, I was able to witness the demise of the drummer, and Sims do a rather funny burning to death dance. Stop, drop, and roll was apparently not an option. I think that I will be doing the grilling from here on out...

I am Judas, betraying His trust for a pittance. How often have I shelved Him for the fleeting empty material pleasures of this world? I have no defense-- he was at least fulfilling prophesy. I have no excuse. I am Peter, quick out of the gate and quick to deny Him. I have gone out half-cocked and ill-prepared; I have forgotten whose I am when the chips were down. There may not be a rooster, but my failure is obvious, nevertheless. I am James and John, falling asleep on the job. How often have I missed Him, simply because I was too caught up in myself to watch? I am Caiaphas, demanding God prove Himself to me, when I have no right to ask such. I am Pilate, taking the easy way out. I am the mob, losing sight of Him and allowing myself to be caught in the frenzy. I am all these people, and yet He has freed me. I am worthless, yet made worthy; I am broken, yet made whole. O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us. O Lamb of God, that takest away the si...

I see the envious looks. You are wondering what hold I must have over this man. I see it in all your faces as we traipse through the store . I hear the quick intakes of breath all around as this man not only doesn't complain, but even actively participates in the decision process. You are wondering if there are more like him somewhere (sorry ladies, I got the last one); you simply cannot understand how it is that I got so lucky. *sigh* Of course you are all waiting until we get to the register. That's when (you hope) the illusion will be shattered. Then total comes up, and the tension is thick enough to cut with a knife. Will he cry "Uncle!" or groan? Not an eyelash is batted as the transaction is complete. I know, I know, it isn't fair. There is no way that I deserve a man who shops with me like this; I have done nothing to merit such favor. Eat your hearts out, though. Because I intend to keep this one. By the by, it isn't luck. It is the sheer...

Appetizer When you travel, which mode of transportation do you prefer? I actually am happy in the car(front seat). We tend to fly a lot, though, as time is usually a factor. Soup Have you ever met a blogging friend in person? Nope, cannot say that I have. I have met in-person friends on blogs, though. Salad When was the last time you were really, really tired? This week I am emotionally and mentally tired, but physically? That would probably be the last Habitat house I worked on. Sometime last year. Main Course If you could have dinner with any one fictional character from a book or movie, who would it be? This one really tripped me up, because I am having difficulty deciding on only one. I think it would have to be Henry Fleming from The Red Badge of Courage . Dessert Fill in the blank: One day, I hope to see _______________. One day, I hope to see Mt Fuji . Come dine with us here .

Play nice. Or is it play nicely? Anyway.

Galations 5 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (NIV) From comment thread in a previous post: I read something a little while ago that challenged believers on what they really believe. it kind of played into what Kelly has blogged about a while back (just turning EVERYTHING over to God) -- if you really believed with 100% of your heart, you would sell everything you have, give everything you make from this point going forward to the God that you believe in, and through faith he would provide and you would want for nothing more in this world because you would know that your eternal comfort awaits in heaven. I know a good many godly people -- good, decent people that I love a great deal -- and not one of them has done that. Not one of them is even close. They do all the same things the rest of humanity does; accumulate material stuff, houses and cars, and work ...

"At the heart of the story stands the cross of Christ where evil did its worst and met its match." ~ John Wenham ~ Holy Week has always drawn my heart. Even as a child, I was fascinated- first by the contrasts. I can remember asking my mother how people could change their minds so quickly. Palm Sunday's lauding crowds so quickly became an angry mob. How could this happen? How could these people not see? Mom's answer was that the road into Jerusalem simply had to lead to the Cross . It couldn't happen any other way, or we would have no hope. I didn't fully comprehend for years- heck, I don't know that I do even now. Everything points to the Cross, and that colors everything I read in Scripture. I have a Messianic friend who insists that to understand the New Testament, I must read with a Jewish sensibility. I must respectfully disagree with this assertion-- while reading...

Jon and I have been married just over four years. I wouldn't have thought I could grow too much, but thinking about Christine's questions helped me realize that I don't really know that girl anymore. I was not exactly a kid when we married, but I was far from prepared to share my life and all that entails. I can remember our pre-marital counselor telling us that we "just made the cut" for age and success rates or something like that. At the time, I was probably rolling my eyes (on the inside)- I was twenty-seven years old, after all! My mother married at twenty, and my younger brother was making snarky comments about Jon maybe being my only chance. As far as I was concerned, I was getting long in the tooth. Yeah, the age thing-- not really convinced that helps much. We were statistically old enough, but no more "ready" than anyone else. The funniest part is that, no matter what my expectations were, they were way off base. Whatever I thought abou...