Showing posts with label Bible. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bible. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

feelin' kinda funky

not in a good way, though. i'm stressed. there, i said it. so often i really try to be upbeat, optimistic, even if only to buck up my other half, who is also stressed. but i'm tired and kind of feel like just wallowing (anxiously, of course) in the stress.

stress affects everyone differently. the law student tends to neglect sleep and act like a zombie during the waking hours. incidentally, he's really been freaking me out lately with his excitement over the zombie apocalypse. there are reasons i don't watch scary movies - zombies are one of them.

as for me, i handle stress much differently. i want to do nothing but sleep all the time. i make half-hearted lists that are doomed to never be crossed off. i eat junk food and neglect exercise. therefore, i tend to feel crappy, fat, and groggy in addition to the stress, which only complicates things further.

it is a real effort for me to overcome stress, to do things that need to get done or make me feel better, because i just plain don't want to do anything. let's talk about yesterday, because it's a prime example of how stress makes me self-sabotage. i went home early yesterday from work. i felt stressed (you guessed right!) and really tired, plus i needed to look for jobs and wanted to take some time to do some stuff around the house. secretly i just wanted to read and nap, but i made a list: menu, grocery list, clean bathrooms, read Bible & pray, put up clothes, work out, walk roxy, call contact, job applications, vacuum, put up dishes, blog (look at me, crossing things off my list), fold clothes. know what i did? i walked roxy, made a grocery list and applied to three jobs. i had two hours off work and that's what i did, which means i have to do all the rest of that stuff today.

and the absolute worst consequence? i have not had any coffee today because we are out of coffee filters and i have not gone to get any. i feel like a zombie.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

bible lesson

so, our church here in small town is pretty cool. our pastor is young, the church is growing now that we have a building, we have small groups instead of sunday school, and everything is really relaxed. it's one of our favorite things about this town. and for 2011, our pastor, pat, has a new project to sort of "transform" our church experience - from consumption to participation.

right now, our "pulpit" is in the middle of the room, with chairs on all sides. the law student, who used to be an actor (didn't i tell you that?) says this is theatre in the round. i just nod and pretend to know what he's talking about. one or two sundays we had no music, and then the following sunday everyone brought instruments, if they played, and our church all played together.

pat is also trying to get us to talk in church - really. we get emails about the sermon topic and are encouraged to pray about it and then, we are asked to share in church. here's last week's email:

Please take some time to read these verses and pray about what they mean.
See you Sunday at 10:30AM or 6PM.

Luke 6:39-49
39 Then Jesus gave the following illustration: “Can one blind person lead another? Won’t they both fall into a ditch? 40Students are not greater than their teacher. But the student who is fully trained will become like the teacher. 41 “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? 42 How can you think of saying, ‘Friend, let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.

The Tree and Its Fruit

43 “A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. 44 A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thornbushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes. 45 A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.

Building on a Solid Foundation

46 “So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say? 47 I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. 48 It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built. 49 But anyone who hears and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins.”

if you know me, you know i procrastinate. i live life 10 minutes late. naturally, i looked this stuff up on xenos.org right before morning service. i took notes. i was prepared, albeit quickly. but when we were asked to share, i didn't. i waited, with everyone else, in the silent tension. no one spoke. just left pastor pat hangin'. and i felt bad about it. i should have spoken up. so many times we wait for someone else to pave the way, to put themselves out there and make others comfortable, when that someone could be or should be us. so, since i didn't share sunday, i thought i'd share here.

according to the website i looked at, these verses illustrate 3 common spiritual pitfalls. the first is gullibility (blindness) - not having enough experience or even caution to know who or what you are following. knowledge is key here. Jesus answers this this parable with the parable about the tree and the fruit. it's so simple - good cannot produce bad, but only good, and bad cannot produce good, only bad - but so true. if we study the word and learn God's nature and fruit, it will be a lot harder for us to be deceived.

the second pitfall is hypocrisy (the speck and the plank). this is probably the church's biggest drawback - members who claim to follow but act like the world. it's hard. we're human, and we fail, and we wound. this verse isn't really talking about not judging - obviously, per the scripture, we are able to and should correct other believers, but we cannot be their savior. there is only One. furthermore, we need to be examining our hearts and our actions as well. refusing God's correction means we believe we know better, which always gets us into trouble.

the third pitfall is passivity (the houses). the first builder listens to how to build his house and acts accordingly. it changes his actions and changes his life. the second builder hears, but doesn't listen and doesn't change. he is not active in his knowledge because his faith is not increased, and his house is washed away.

i really love these verses and the way Jesus speaks. they are simple, easy-to-understand images of everyday life mixed with a little hyperbole that speak truth to our souls when we look just a little deeper. to me, these verses all show a heart that hears the word and refuses to be changed by it. the gospel is radical and powerful and should transform our lives! these verses show what happens to us when we do not allow our hearts to be changed: we will be misled, we will wound and bear false witness, we will not grow in our faith, and we will be destroyed. to say i was convicted was an understatement.

i don't want to miss the blessing. so this week, i pray we bear good fruit, and that it will show.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

days 15 - 18

day 15 - bible verse

"see, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me."
- isaiah 49:16



day 16 - dream house

don't even get me started.
i love bungalow, cottage & craftsman-style homes. must have a huge porch.
dream house is in the mountains, quiet, comfortable and liveable and impeccably decorated, completely paid for, and full of love.


day 17 - something you're looking forward to

christmas, of course! seeing the family and hopefully some friends,
and 24 hours of a christmas story, coming to a tbs near you.
also: mississippi state's bowl game over new year's with the law student.


day 18 - something you regret

hmm...usually it's something i say. also found here: my senior year of high school's haircut, not spending enough time with my grandfather, not studying abroad in college, and a few select college-era fashion choices and/or alcohol-induced antics.

Monday, November 22, 2010

day 12

#12 - what i believe

i always say people behave the way they really believe.
but it's not always true.

John 11:27
She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to
believe that you are the Christ, God’s Son,
he who comes into the world.”

i believe God is Who He says He is.
i believe His promises and the redeeming power of His blood.
i believe the world rejects Him.
i believe my sin nailed Him to the cross.
i believe He rose and conquered the grave.
i believe He is sovereign over all.
i believe He rejoices and mourns with us.
i believe He is here with us, and He is good.
i believe Jesus saves.

it is hard to be in the world, and not of it. it is hard for me to follow God sometimes and show Him to others, like when i am tired or angry or stressed or even just lazy and selfish. i have so much sin in my heart.
it's hard to trust God when life comes crashing down around us, when i see so much pain and suffering in the world, or when i don't understand.

but He still loves me so, even with all my failure and all my doubt.
so i will choose each day to believe in the One who knows my sin and remembers it no more.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

heart strings

my heart is heavy this week.

first and foremost, the bulldog nation mourns the passing of one of our own, nick bell. this kid went from playing football on september 24, 2010, to gone on november 2, 2010. he was bright, humble, and just beginning to shine, but cancer doesn't fight fair. #36 will always be remembered.


http://blogs.clarionledger.com/msu/2010/11/02/bell-after-short-battle-with-cancer/

video of memorial in the junction

secondly, my friend's uncle is also losing his battle with cancer. cancer. sucks. see above. their families are really really close, and cancer has struck them so many times over and over - her father, her uncle, her aunt, her cousin's wife, the wife's sister - it's almost creepy. and so now, they prepare for the inevitable. and it is hard and it is painful. why God chooses to heal one and not another is a mystery. i hurt for my friend and her family.

katie from uganda
(amazima) lost one of her daughters. i can't imagine the sense of loss, of injustice, the physical pain of her heart.

it's so hard to understand God sometimes, to fathom why He allows such pain and sorrow for any of us, why He heals one and not another, why He sometimes seems so far away and unmoved. and it is hard to cling to the fact that God is good, all of the time, and can't be anything else. it's just hard. and it hurts. but it's also hard for me to understand His love for me, His unfathomable and unending love, that drenches us in mercy, grace, compassion and kindess, even in the midst of our pain and our doubt. He is here. He is with katie and her daughter. He is with my friend's uncle. He is with the bell family. and His heart hurts with theirs. so i will trust my God, who goes with us when He takes us to hard places.

speaking of hard places, i read this verse today: james 2:20 - 24

"you foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? was not our ancestor abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son issac on the altar? you see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. and the scripture was fulfilled that says, “abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. you see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone."

that is hard. and yet God was there with him. and He provided a ram, not only to abraham, but to us as well, hanging on a cross. i'm so scared of only giving lip service to God, when the bible commands us to follow Him, to go where He goes, taking His good news to the sick, the poor, the hungry, the orphans - to do, not just hear, to have my faith live out in my actions. that is uncomfortable for me. it is so much easier to just go to church, read our bible study together, sing along to christian radio, and tell people i am a christian and all the good things about God and Jesus and stay in my little bubble. but i believe God, and i believe He is good, and His heart is for everyone, not just me. i want faith like abraham. and while i don't think God is trying to create a new hebrew nation out of me, i still want to say "yes" with no hesitation or doubt, or even anger, when He tells me to go to the hard places with Him.

Friday, October 8, 2010

there's an app for that

this morning's gchat from friend:

started my period today
just like iPeriod said i would
i keep up w/ it on my phone

there really is an app for everything.

kinda makes my stack (stack! success!) of nfp charts seem lame.

up next: something completely unrelated!

so, the law student and i are still reading (though woefully behind) the bible all the way through. last night, he tricked me into reading the family lineage of esau (we take turns reading). all was going well until i got to the name oholibamah. the bible has never made me laugh until last night. can you imagine if she got lost? ohoooooooooolibamaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! where aaaaaaaaaaaaaare yooooooooooooooooooou? so every time i read that name (and it was a lot), i said it like that. and laughed like it was the funniest thing i'd ever said.

note: genesis is long and repetitive. can't wait until we get to leviticus, numbers and deuteronomy, which is bound to be full of names i can't pronounce, printed over and over again in differently-arranged-but-still-same-ole-thing sentences.

Friday, September 10, 2010

untitled monday post

first and foremost, i would like to publicly thank my new followers, katie and jessica. new followers always make me happy. seriously, if you're secretly stalking me, be brave and publicly follow me. i love to know who finds me mildly entertaining. come out, come out, whoever you are!
me and jess, some years ago--reuniting soon!

so, goings-on with the langs: msu football, miami dolphin football, mother-in-law's birthday (and getting to see sweet niece olivia-bonus!), new small group, the swearing off of hard liquor (or at least whiskey), baby showers, visiting old friends and of course, waiting out the bar exam results. we get them thursday! thank you for all of your prayers and thoughts. i'm more than certain the law graduate passed, but it's nice to know for sure. i'll keep you updated.

i think back about him studying for the LSAT. he was so disciplined! then, he graduated and we got married the next weekend. i quit my job, because who wants to work the week of their wedding, and then after their honeymoon? and then, we just had to get up here to small town, so we packed up our horse trailer (yes, horse trailer) and moved completely in 24 hours. that was when we discovered this town does not sell cold beer. rebels, and hot beer? oy vey.

it was exciting and a bit scary here at first, trying to find jobs and our little niche. if you were my friend then, you heard all about it. but life puttered along here and picked up speed. we found jobs, friends and a church, and all the little secret things i love about this town. and life just sort of happened. the last three years have been great and i think we've both learned a lot--wow, just thinking about it is kind of cool! and now, at the beginning of our 4th football season here (can you tell i'm a happily converted sports fan?), we are waiting. waiting for bar exam results. waiting for a job offer. hell, even an interview would be nice. waiting for...what? i hesitate to say waiting for our life to start, because it already has. three years of school, growing, new friends, life routines, work. all these things happened, and were good, and are valuable and memorable. so while we wait, and i feel like the big door of life is almost open and i too often get caught up in the whirlwind of our future, i struggle to remember that today counts, too. we are not in limbo, we are in motion, and we have two hands and two feet to do the work of the gospel. "waiting for a job offer and subsequent new life direction" is no excuse to be idle. i'm trying to think of this as a time to sow, and to be still, and to learn and prepare.

i've mentioned we are reading the bible all the way through, haven't i? i love it. we get up early, which i hate, and pray together, and then read the chapters for the day, and then pray again. and as much as it physically pains me to get up earlier than i would like, i really crave that time with the law graduate to pray together and be in the Word together. granted, we are a week behind because of football weekends and a certain sleepyhead, but i'm glad we are doing this together. it's hard to stay mad at someone when you have to hold hands and pray with them every day.

hope this monday finds you all well. i'll be back later!

Thursday, September 2, 2010

thoughts

the law graduate and i have read radical: taking back your faith from the american dream by david platt, and are now reading the bible together in 1 year. we get up every morning, pray, then read, then pray. it's good. and as much as it physically pains me to get up that early and read, i miss it if i don't do it. p.s. i already know this, but genesis is loooooong. and a bit strange.

current facebook status: Football. Bulldogs. Starkville. Friends. Maroon. Can't. Wait.

i think if you ask your man to go buy you tampons, he should be ecstatic, not embarassed. because when he buys said tampons, it not only shows that he does, in fact, have a relationship with a woman, but also that the woman is not pregnant. i think this is a good thing.

getting old sucks. i have these crazy "blond" hairs and a rather persistent 5 pounds that threatens my wardrobe. and then there's that thing called responsibility. i'm pretty sure i should have it all together by now. i don't.

Monday, June 14, 2010

a promise

i was reading psalm 90 the other night. here it is below.

Lord, you have been our dwelling place
in all generations.
2
Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

3 You return man to dust
and say, “Return, O children of man!”
4
For a thousand years in your sight
are but as yesterday when it is past,
or as a watch in the night.

5 You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream,
like grass that is renewed in the morning:
6
in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
in the evening it fades and withers.

7 For we are brought to an end by your anger;
by your wrath we are dismayed.
8
You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence.

9 For all our days pass away under your wrath;
we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
10 The years of our life are seventy,
or even by reason of strength eighty;
yet their span is but toil and trouble;
they are soon gone, and we fly away.

11 Who considers the power of your anger,
and your wrath according to the fear of you?
12
So teach us to number our days

that we may get a heart of wisdom.

13 Return, O Lord! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
and for as many years as we have seen evil.
16 Let your work be shown to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.

17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands upon us;
yes, establish the work of our hands!

so, like i said, i was reading the other night after my devotional. i really didn't have anything in mind to read, just sort of flipping through. i don't read the Bible a whole lot (but should) and i usually never have a set reading or anything. i was upset about my parents' upcoming hearing, and really just the divorce proceedings in general. i've been having a very hard time trusting God--trusting that this will all work out, that He hasn't forgotten or forsaken my family, that my mother will finally get some justice and some peace, and that my father will turn to God. i know all these things in my heart and my head, but sometimes it's difficult when what i see and feel doesn't match what i think should be God's plan. and so i settled on psalms for comfort.

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God.

and right there, right in front of my face--my promise from my Father that HE is the Lord, and always has been, and always will be. Nothing escapes Him. He does not leave, He does not change, He does not forget, and He never will. and even when it feels like He has not heard, or seems like He is doing nothing, i remember He is right there, mourning with me. from everlasting to everlasting. i will cling to that.