Update

1. I still enjoy seeing Spring everywhere! The trees are starting to sprout leaves, and it is just fun to see it!

2. I won second place in a pirate parody karaoke contest. No joke. I was shocked!

3. Still no word on the new job...officially. I think I will find out in a week or so. I am really trying not to get my hopes up too high!

4. My parents are coming to see me in 3.5 weeks! I am excited! It will be a year at the end this week since I have seen them, so this is a huge thing for me.

5. I cannot get over how amazing it is to watch God work in someone's life. Nothing like it. Nothing.

6. Sometimes life is just confusing. If we knew everything, there would be no need for trust. I think that trust is one of the greatest things in life, and being able to trust God is the greatest trust we can have. If everything always made sense, we would lose out on that. So right now I will trust in Him.

Spring?

Today was a beautiful day. It was warm and sunny and there was a nice breeze. I spent time at a park, enjoying the day and was delighted to see green on the trees and bushes. We had a snow storm on Monday, so the nice weather was most welcome to me. I got a bit of a sunburn while at the park, but I intentionally did not put sunblock on today. I decided to let my skin soak in all of the rays, both good and bad. It's my first burn of 2007 and I am willing to deal with the minor burn in exchange for the sunshine.

I also had a chance to sit on my patio today and read. I am reading Orthodoxy by G. K. Chesterton. It was recommended by a friend who has similar intellectual tastes to my own, so I figured I would enjoy it. I was not prepared to laugh aloud several times while reading a philosophically inclined book on Christian faith. Chesterton is so witty. So far I am enjoying it immensely!

I am also still enjoying watching God work in the life of a friend. God is still in the business of transforming lives, and I love to see it in action! He is the God of all creation, displayed in the beauty of a warm Spring afternoon, and the God of new creations, displayed in the life of my friend. What a glorious God He is indeed!

Highs and lows

This week I have seen things happen that are amazingly exciting. The prodigal returned and I got to watch it happen. I think I shed a few tears of joy in the process. Then I had a conversation with someone tonight that I think needed to happen and it was not enjoyable. It was probably the last page of the last chapter of a short book that once was a friendship. The death knell was sounded long ago, but tonight I think I saw the coffin nailed shut and lowered down into the ground. I shed a few tears over that as well, but these were hardly tears of joy. Things make more sense to me now, but I don't think I will ever understand why the friendship ever existed if it was to end like this. One way or the other, it's over. Fortunately the joy from this week is of such a nature that it outweighs the sorrow. God is good. God is faithful. God takes care of His children.

Interview Update

The interview went well yesterday. I am sure it could have been better, but I don't expect perfection. Now it's time to wait, which is the most difficult part of the process. I think they should hire me ;), but there may be better candidates. We shall see. Pray that I will be patient and graciously accept their decision!

Interview today!

I suppose posting this is somewhat "better late than never", although I really should have posted as soon as I found out on Wednesday. I have an interview for that position at work today at 10:00 am. I met with my supervisor last night and she went over some things with me to help prepare me. I think I will do fine, but things are in God's hands one way or the other.

Ice Cream?

Well, here's my first personality quiz in quite some time, in honor of the fact that I actually went out for ice cream last night for the first time in months. I think some of this is pretty accurate for me ;).

You Are Strawberry Ice Cream

A bit shy and sensitive, you are sweet to the core. You often find yourself on the outside looking in. Insightful and pensive, you really understand how the world works. You are most compatible with chocolate chip ice cream.

What Flavor Ice Cream Are You?

The LORD was pleased

Isaiah 53
The Suffering Servant

1 Who has believed our message?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.

3 He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.

5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.

6 All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.

7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.

8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off out of the land of the living
For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?

9 His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a rich man in His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.

10 But the LORD was pleased
To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring,
He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.

11 As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,
And He will divide the booty with the strong;
Because He poured out Himself to death,
And was numbered with the transgressors;
Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,
And interceded for the transgressors.

Every time I read this passage, I am struck by it. The LORD was pleased to crush His own Son to heal us, to bring us back from our own way and forgive all of our sins. Tomorrow is Good Friday - good because on that day an innocent man was willingly killed for crimes He did not commit. That innocent man was God in the flesh, on earth for that very purpose. An unjust execution of the innocent graciously brought life to the guilty. The LORD was pleased.

Afikoman

The afikoman is prepared during the fourth part of the Seder, Yachatz. During this ritual, the leader of the Seder takes the middle piece of matzo out from the stack of three whole matzot on the Seder table. He breaks the matzo in two, returning the smaller piece to the stack and putting aside the larger piece to be eaten later during Tzafun ("Hidden", the eleventh part of the seder, which immediately follows the main meal). This latter piece is the afikoman.
After eating the festive meal and any dessert (such as ice cream or kosher for Passover confections), a piece from the afikoman is distributed to each participant at the Seder. If there are many guests at the table, each will receive a small piece of the afikoman supplemented by additional pieces of other matzo.
The Halakha prescribes that an olive-sized piece of matzo be eaten to fulfill the mitzvah of eating the afikoman. Many people eat an additional, olive-sized piece of matzo together with it. The first piece of matzo commemorates the korban Pesach (Paschal lamb), whose meat was eaten at the very end of the festive Seder meal in the days that the Temple in Jerusalem stood.
The second piece commemorates the matzo that was eaten together with the meat of the Paschal Lamb in the days of the Temple, in fulfillment of the Torah commandment, "They shall eat [the Passover lamb] together with matzo and maror" (Exodus 12:8). The afikoman is eaten while reclining to the left. (Wikipedia)

I think that the afikoman is cool. :) I don't know when the practice of breaking the second of three pieces of unleavened bread in half began, but there is some really neat symbolism there. Most of this I learned while in Israel, and six years is long enough to put some rather thick rust on my memory, so hopefully I get this right!
1. The second of three pieces is broken, half removed from the others. Jesus, the second member of the trinity, was temporarily removed from heaven when He came to earth.
2. The afikoman is also now broken to represent the Paschal Lamb. Jesus is the Lamb of God, slain during Passover in Jerusalem.
3. The afikoman is followed by the third of four glasses of wine served during the Seder. It is the only time that breaking bread is immediately followed by wine. Jesus took the bread and broke it, saying, "This is My body, which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me." Then He took the wine and said, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood."
While the Seder has undoubtedly changed over the years, these three practices make me love the afikoman's place in the annual celebration. Jesus is ever present in the Seder for those would would see Him there.

Winsock?

Today I reset my first winsock catalog. And Dan probably thought I was kidding when I said I was going to put that on my blog. I wasn't. ;)

Overwhelmed

Tonight I am overwhelmed by the greatness of God. He seemingly moves mountains to touch our lives. He uses us when we are not as faithful as we should be. I am honored to be His servant. What a joy it is to serve. I find that when we are willing to do what He asks us to do that He clears the path in front of us. My heart wants to sing. My face has a smile on it. I would say that I feel joyful, but I think elation may be a better term. Why? I have seen God at work and it is a marvelous thing to behold.