little surprises

first of all, it's been a while. i honestly don't even know if this post will make it to the viewing public, because the blogger interface looks so different. i hope i'm doing this right. note to self:  blog more so you'll see changes coming and be better equipped to deal.


quite a few things have happened/are happening in our life in hometown. i really have lots to share but today, i want to tell you the story i just lived. it's just a little story, in a little town, that i was blessed to share today, but i think it's pretty awesome.

i help organize our church's involvement in the presbyterian church's casserole kitchen ministry (follow the link if you'd like to get involved!) on the first saturday of every month. there's a lady who comes every time, and her name is ida mae. i think she's something of a local character. i also am the volunteer coordinator of the starkville community market (facebook link here) and saw her there this morning. after the market, and after i'd filled up my car with gas, i'd started on my way home when i saw ida mae walking home with her bag of vegetables and some flowers. she doesn't walk very well. and i heard the Still Small Voice, asking me to do a small thing and offer her a ride home. so i did, and she accepted. but i didn't take her home.

instead, she directed me to her neighbor's house, the one with the yellow truck. she told me he's 89 years old and recovering from pneumonia, and she wanted to go check on him and fix his medicine for him before she went to the casserole kitchen. we pulled in, and i got out with her, determined to follow this little path i'd been led down. she took me through the back gate.

knockout roses. day lilies, in orange and aubergine and pink and yellow. a covered cart of 50-year-old cacti. green plants on tiered tables. manicured grass. a pear tree. and an old man wearing an msu hat eating cereal on the porch. ida mae introduced us, and said she wanted to show me his garden. he commented he'd had to cut off his peppers, because the wind was knocking them down, and that'd he bought 2 trees once for $5, when he really couldn't afford more than 50 cents, and how mad his late wife had been. and then ida ma took my hand and gave me the tour. she showed me all of his plants, all of his flowers, all the different paths in his garden. she told me he still mows his own grass, and probably had that morning, even though his sight isn't very good. then she took me down to the back. tomatoes. peppers. rows of vegetables. ida mae's black and white dog. a grapevine, even. more lilies.

this backyard was the most beautiful thing i'd ever seen. i could see the love and the care and the attention this man had devoted to his bit of earth, and i was amazed. and i'd have never seen it. i'd have driven by his house and overlooked it and never have thought anything like this existed, just like ida mae said. i'd have never known that the lady who comes to get a hot meal, who can't walk very well or even uncurl her fingers, who probably doesn't have a lot in this world, takes care of her old sick neighbor simply because he needs it. i'd have never known this story.

i left ida mae to take care of her neighbor and drove home. i couldn't help thinking how God is exactly like that. He asks us to do small things, things we may think are uncomfortable or inconvenient or unimportant, and then shows us enormous beauty and kindness we never expect. so often we ignore Him, and we miss it. today, i was blessed by two pretty inconspicuous strangers, and i got to share a piece of that story and that beauty. what Love the Father has for His children.

lyrics

we sang the song below at church on palm sunday.
i probably hadn't been to church in 2 - 3 weeks, and had just broken lent the night before (one of two times). a woman from pakistan, a graduate student here, spoke about her family's persecution from their own government over their christianity, and another woman they knew who was in prison for allegedly speaking out against islam. this woman has contracted chicken pox, likely due from fasting during lent.
in prison.
that hit me like a ton of bricks, and still does. these people are suffering for the Lord - what have i done or had to endure for Him?

hope you enjoy the lyrics.

How deep the Father's love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
And make a wretch His treasure
How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the man upon the cross
My sin upon His shoulder
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection
Why should I gain from His reward
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

Why should I gain from His reward
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

*disclaimer - please know this post is not bashing islam or muslims. i am simply relaying a story from a woman i heard at church.

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.

weekend of personal bests

for you, loyal readers and new followers, a new post. i feel energized. lord knows why, as i just saw the most roundabout movie i've ever seen: how do you know. no question mark in that title either. that should have been a tipoff. it had absolutely no plot, and no real resolution to a problem that doesn't really ever materialize - merely a long display of the cuteness that is reese witherspoon and paul rudd. and owen wilson, if you're into that sort of thing. so on that point, i can't complain, but wait for a boring day and order from netflix or something when you're sick or alone. just a personal comment from me to you.

1. i got all the shopping done, AND thought of a supercuteandmeaningful gift idea. yay christmas.
2. the house is sparkly and the laundry is done. not folded though. but done.

3. i danced with the law student to an avett brothers concert on tv. in pjs again. it's getting to be a habit.

4. speaking of pjs - i haven't put them on yet today. and it's after 7 pm! i've stayed dressed all day! i consider this a victory and a variation of normal routine for me.

5. we actually made it to church. football season keeps us out of town a lot, and on the weekends we are in town, we tend to be lazy and self-indulgent and skip church. it's always so refreshing to worship.

6. i didn't eat like crap and ruin a week of good decisions. well, minus that pack of twizzlers at the movie. why are twizzlers so good? i don't think they are real food, and they don't have much flavor. i guess i shouldn't question these sorts of things.

7. i managed not to puke when i cleaned up roxy's, but i did gag. the law student laughed at me. i was cleaning up yellow bile and foam and deer bone fragments violently expelled onto the rug (not the tile, of course, that would have been too easy) from the bowels of my dog, gagging, and he's laughing.

8. i organized our christmas cards. they now reside on our buffet and nestled in our tree. looks like even after going to all that trouble for that shutterfly promo for free cards, we'll be sending out new year's cards instead of christmas ones. because by then, maybe i'll have a shiny new camera.

now, it's off to put on my neglected pajamas and wrap some goodies. i hope all of you who have an extended christmas break get to enjoy it, 'cause i have to work tomorrow.