A New Chapter

The back to school season is ushering a new chapter in my life, which I trust will bring me new challenges and new blessings. I am buying a house, and should close on it next week. This is definitely going to change my life, as I am going to gain new responsibilities. It's exciting and scary, but I look forward to having a yard for Lucy and a little space to call my own.

The second change this season is bringing is in my schedule. I am now working with the youth ministry at my church, as of Sunday. I survived my first evening with the kids and look forward to what lies ahead. I am already on the worship team and volunteer in the office on my day off, typing up the prayer requests from the weekend. What I do impacts a lot of people, but I had very little interaction with people in the church beyond those in the church office and other people on the worship team (those people are great and make me want to be more involved with the body). I wanted something that would be relational in nature because I believe that the church is a family and a community. This allows me to be involved in people's lives, and right now I need that as much as the students do.

I met a young lady who was at the church for the first time on Sunday and am looking forward to writing her a note to tell her how glad I was that she came. I met some of the girls who sing on the worship team for the youth and look forward to getting to know them more, as they're doing the same kind of thing I did when I was their age, which got me into worship ministry as an adult. I would love to be able to encourage the next generation of that ministry. There will be small groups during the week, and I'll be able to participate in that, teamed up with another leader. I've been asked to help make a plan for tracking attendance on hectic Sunday nights. On the whole, this is going to be a big commitment, but I'm ready for it and am ready to go out and love some students this year.

My life is going to be a bit different from here on out than it has been for the past few years, but I am looking forward to it. This is change I can believe in.

Which Voice?

I would like to share a story that amuses me, but made me stop and think. There was a young lady who was conversing with a young man about his recent heartbreak. She was kind to him and encouraged him to trust in God's provision. She successfully lifted his spirits. The next day he came back for more encouragement, and the next day even more. Then the man extolled the virtues of the woman and said "I think God might be telling me something. I wonder what it could be." We'll ignore the fickle nature of heart here and go straight to the issue. What was the voice "telling" him "something"? I don't think it was God, but I do think there's a lesson here. Don't mistake the voice of your discontent for the voice of God.

Now it's easy for me to see how utterly ridiculous it is for someone to be so desperate for love that any kind person of the opposite sex is instantly God's voice saying, "Yes! This is it!" It is harder for me to admit when I do the same thing in my own life, and I have done it. Whether it was pursuing a relationship that was unequivocally wrong to pursue and then saying to myself, "It seems so perfect; it must be God's will," or thinking that just because there are changes at work that I don't like that maybe God's giving me a sign that it's time to find a new job.

God's voice isn't hard to hear, it's just sometimes hard to listen to it. He has given us everything we need for life and godliness. We have His word readily available, and it tells us what we really need to know, but when that voice of discontentment sneaks in and says to us, "Did God really say," we too often listen to what we want to hear. And isn't it the spiritual thing to say that God is the one who is telling us something? I do not mean to make light of the real challenge that life decisions present to us. I get confused and the voices blur in my head, but God's word is there to instruct and reprove me and His throne is open for me to approach in prayer. Even when the answer isn't what I wanted to hear, I know that God's testimonies are pure and good and following them will always be the right choice. I also know that when that still small voice contradicts the voice I've been listening to that it's time to stop, examine my heart, count my blessings and then live a life worthy of the calling I have received.

Ian Gordon Johnson

Ian's daddy did a really good job of explaining his name and posted a couple of pictures.

http://carolinachronicles.blogspot.com/2009/08/introducing-ian-gordon.html

Sermon Illustration

This weekend I was asked if I could be used as a sermon illustration. I acquiesced. I'll let you all speculate and decide whether or not it's a good thing.

Other general updates:

• Nikki's having a baby as I type. I'll post again when he arrives!
• Things are progressing with the house-buying process. Waiting for appraisal results right now, and have no idea how long that will take.
• I'm really loving my church. It's a joy to be there each week :).
• Tomorrow is the 1 year anniversary of Lucy's adoption. Time has gone by quickly. I rather like that little dog, and think that she might not be too opposed to sticking around with me for a long time.
  

***Update: Baby Ian has arrived, no pictures yet, though!***

Obsessed with choice?

I have been thinking lately about how obsessed our society seems to be with choice. We want to be able to do what we want to do and don't want anybody to choose for us. It is perfectly acceptable for us to choose for someone else, however. Is this just selfishness and pride?

How much does our obsession with choice influence how we understand theology?

Speaking of obsession...



Hopefully she'll forgive me for posting pictures of her without her "clothes" on, but I had just brushed her and wanted to capture her looking pretty before she got her fur messed up much more.

So sweet

I was thinking today of how great it felt to just trust God - it really is sweet. It reminded me of the words of this hymn.

’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His Word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
And to know, “Thus says the Lord!”*

To me right now, it's sweet to know "Thus says the Lord," not merely because of promises, but because His commands are good. If we know what God has said, is there really anything in life that we cannot face? Sometimes the commands are hard, but coming from a loving Father, they are for our good.

Psalm 119:35 says, "Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it." I don't always feel this way, but today I do. I'll enjoy this sweet delight while it lasts, and pray that it will become more and more frequent every day until I see His face.

*Every version of the words I found online had the last line this way. I remember it as "Thus saith the Lord!" As it really doesn't change the meaning, I'm going to stick with the more common rendition, although I do think my memory is correct on this one.

In which I make a confession

The was a time when I thought that growing up to be like my parents was something to be avoided. Today I come to confess that I want to become more like my mother.

My mother is a good example to me of discipline. I always thought that she must like walking every morning because she did it so faithfully. My ideal was shattered when she told me that she actually did not particularly want to do it. It was discipline.

The house was clean, which also took discipline (and child labor). The laundry always got done. There were always clean dishes. Dinner always arrived on the table. Labor of love? Sure. Fulfilling responsibilities? Sure. But I would say that loving and being responsible require discipline.

For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. I don't think those three things are unrelated.

To be disciplined in taking care of my apartment and my dog may seem small, but there is certainly a greater principle at stake. Did not Jesus tell a story of a man who went on a journey and left his servants in charge of his property? What did the man say to the servants who executed their duties faithfully?

"His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.'"

God may give me the task today to keep my kitchen clean. If I can be faithful in the small things, what greater tasks will He give me? But if I can't even manage to do that, can I expect to be given stewardship over anything more?

It's time to embrace the spirit of discipline which God has given to me. I may have to learn it one step at a time, but I'd like to hear "Well done." I think I'll go wash that cookie sheet...

Adding Color, Part 3

This is the last in the series of little improvements to my apartment. I purchased this small coat rack some time ago but just didn't put it up. The classic Eeyore and Tigger have also been around for some time and I decided that they would go well on the shelf to make it look less barren.


This is one of my favorite recent acquisitions. It arrived on Monday and was put up tonight. It pulls the various colors in the room together nicely and puts something I like on what was a plain wall. It hangs above the couch.

Adding Color, Part 2

Today's project after work was to obtain and arrange artificial flowers for the patio and bathroom. I happened to decide to do this when the craft store was having a 50-60% off sale on artificial flowers. I could not have chosen better timing!

I found some arranged pansies on sale for under $4 each and thought they'd go well on the ledge (for those unfamiliar with the apartment, the ledge of the patio is just a couple of inches above the driveway). I got two each of purple and yellow/purple flowers.


I had two pots with dirt in them just sitting on the patio growing nothing but cobwebs, so I found some flowers to put in each of them. Lucy helped me, as you can see.



I arranged the chairs I had with the tables I purchased yesterday and together with the flowers I think the patio now looks much, much better than it did before!


The flowers in the bathroom are in a pot that came in a lotion/body wash/body spray set. I had been using that pot in the bathroom to hold the toothpaste, but I think it looks better as a flower pot/vase.

Adding Color

I saw something online the other day that I really liked - they were small round soaps that just look cool sitting by the bathroom sink. I was going to purchase some, as they were rather inexpensive, but decided to see if Etsy.com had anything that I liked. For those of you unfamiliar with Etsy.com, it's a website where people sell craft supplies, vintage items and handmade or homemade items. I did a search for soap, hoping to find some small, decorative yet usable soap for a good price. I ended up with something I like better than my original idea - samplers. For $25 (shipping included) I ended up with all of this:

One sampler pack of twelve soaps that came with a bonus soap and another sampler pack of 16 soaps and 3 bonus soaps and 1 bonus lip balm. In all of this there were only two bars of soap of the same scent (one of the bonus soaps was a duplicate, but no complaints, it's a nice scent). Each bar is "guest" size, which means hotel soap size or a little bit bigger. I think I got a pretty good deal and will have a lot of variety, and unlike something more decorative, I won't feel bad in the least about using them. They are all colorful, so putting a few out on a soap dish will still add a fun touch to the bathroom. I can't wait to wash my hands, although I'll have a hard time deciding which one to use first!

I have also decided that I want to start using my patio area when the weather finally warms up, so I was looking for an economical way to furnish it. I was looking at cheap bistro and patio sets but couldn't find anything I liked well enough at a price I was willing to pay. I did, however, find these today at Home Goods (one of those places where if you really like something you'd better buy it because that may be the only one they ever have in stock):

I really like them. The surface is intentionally cracked tile, and the price was right. Now all I need to do is upgrade the chairs I have out there. I'd like a rocking chair but haven't found any really economical ones yet, so the cloth camping chairs I already have are just going to have to do for now.

New Quilt

Lucy got a new quilt yesterday. You can see her picture with it and pictures of other doggies with their quilts here.

And because I promised, here are a couple of pictures from Puerto Rico.

This is a Spanish fort in Old San Juan.

We saw iguanas all over the resort. They were pretty cool :)

The beach where we were staying was very pretty, as you can see.

This is in the rainforest.

Some chick at the hotel...

Dan the seafarer
And the hotel. The color is a bit off in this photo, but I think you can tell that we had to rough it.

Victorious

I appreciate the focus this week has brought to the final days of Christ's ministry on earth. I thought I would share just a two things in brief of what I've been thinking about.

Even as His death approached, Jesus, the God of the Universe, grabbed a towel and washed His disciples' feet. A servant is not greater than his master. If Jesus can be a humble servant, how is it that I find so much room in my life for my own ego? Do I think I am better than my Lord? With humility of mind consider others better than yourselves.

It is finished. O death, where is your victory? Jesus rose again, and death no longer has any sway over us. We who believe in Him, even though we die, yet shall we live. And we will be like Him, for we will see Him face to face. What a promise, what a hope!

Praise the Lord! Bless His name, all you saints!

Wednesday Sundries

I tweeted yesterday about having so many things to blog about that I can't pick any and thus don't blog. I'm going to use the few minutes I have this morning to just get some of it out, so there may be little logical flow to this post. Consider yourself warned.

I am blogging this morning from work because Dan's car is stalling with some frequency these days and he hasn't had a chance to get it fixed yet, so I'm taking him to work in the morning, grabbing breakfast, then coming to work. He gets to stay here until 6, so it's a bit of a fair trade. It does give me some free time, and as I don't have several days of e-mail to catch up on today, I can blog.

I'd love to post pictures of Puerto Rico, but I don't have my laptop with me, so those will have to wait. Keep asking, I'll throw a few up :). The trip was fantastic. Everything was done well for us from start to finish. We had every meal provided for us from the time we arrived at the resort on Sunday at lunch time through breakfast Thursday morning, when the program officially ended. I won't expound on these much, but if anything sounds interesting, I can tell you more about it later.

• The weather remained nice the whole time. There was a little bit of rain, but it did not persist. It never got cool enough that I felt I needed a sweater (I did put one on in the ballroom where we had our final banquet, I confess). It did get hot and humid, but there was usually a good wind, so that helped keep things more comfortable.
• Someone had a seizure just a few feet from where I was sitting at dinner the first night. He spent some time in the hospital but is doing just fine. One of the other guests was a first responder and came over immediately to help out. He was honored later in the week for it. It was obvious to me that a number of people in the room were trained in first aid and CPR - it's something that the company paid for me to do, although my certification is expired now.
• The food was fabulous. I think I gained weight. All meals were buffet except for the boxed lunch we took to Old San Juan and the final banquet. They fed us a combination of more local fare and typical "American" food. I really preferred the less American stuff. I didn't go to Puerto Rico to eat hamburgers, folks! The banquet food was filet mignon that melted in my mouth, lobster tail, salad, and a plate with three small, rich desserts. The last night we were there was no longer on TWC's nickel, so we went to the Italian restaurant in the hotel. I had the most amazing butternut squash ravioli there. I'm not sure when I have ever been so sure that I picked the right thing off of a menu as I was that night!
• Service was exceptional from start to finish. Our luggage was delivered to our room and the hotel staff were all friendly and helpful. I asked an employee where a specific room was and I didn't get directions from him. I got an escort instead. That really impressed me! The restaurant staff were also attentive but not intrusive and really seemed to care about making sure we were happy with everything. I know that place is expensive, but I think it might just be worth it.
• Puerto Rico is beautiful. Pictures will prove this. The water was gorgeous, the rainforest was so raw and green, Old San Juan had a hint of Old World charm. It is an interesting place. It has definite Latin American features - bars on windows, stray dogs, cats and chickens, once-bright paint on the buildings. In the midst of all that are big shopping malls and outlet centers and WalMart. It's Americanized yet still foreign.
• We went to one of the forts in Old San Juan. It was very interesting, complete with barracks and a dungeon. It was for defense against a naval attack, so it was situated right on the coast. Its height provided wonderful views of the coast and the older part of the city.

There's more than happened, but I'll try to get some pictures up to tell the rest of the story soon!

As we were preparing to leave the hotel in Puerto Rico on Friday, a gunman entered the Binghamton American Civic Association and killed 13 people. That building was on the same block that I lived on when I first moved to Binghamton. My insurance agent is right across the street from it. Although I now live a few miles down the road, that hit close to home. One of the people killed was a professor at the university I attended for graduate school. The university is doing a memorial service and has asked that the planning group put together a service, blank check on doing whatever kind of service the family would like. Half of the family is Buddhist, the other half are Christians. This is a state university, and one of the people on this planning committee happens to be on the worship team at my church. We don't know what they'll want yet, as the family is coming in from China, but this may be an unprecedented open door for the gospel. This weekend our church had 200 more people in attendance than they have ever had for a "regular" weekend service. People come to church in a time of crisis and they come to church around holidays. We have both right now, so we might see a great opportunity to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ with a lot of people who might not otherwise come to church. God is at work in the midst of tragedy.

Lucy has had bows in her hair for over 3 weeks, since she was groomed last month. Usually it takes her less than a day to get the first one out and then a week or so to get the second one out. This time she still has both. I think they're way too cute to take out, so she can keep them! I took her to Dan's mom's house on Saturday and she behaved herself very well. She walked over to where the cat was sleeping, sniffed a few inches away from it, then walked away. She was friendly with everyone, too. She really is a sweet little dog!

I think it was Tim who shared a blog post about Omegle.com. It's an online chat service where you talk to random strangers. I haven't tried it, but I find the concept intriguing. I might have to try it.

I was thinking this morning about how a pregnant woman was treated while we were in Puerto Rico. One of the days was set aside for "beach olympics". It was a combination of activities that we did in teams. There was a young woman on the team who is due in July. She was given tasks that required much less physical activity than what most of the rest of us did. Was this just consideration for her alone or for her child as well? If it was for both of them, does that not reveal an underlying respect for the life of the unborn baby? Is that baby's life only valuable in their eyes because the mother wants it? How arrogant are we that we think our own feelings somehow change whose life is valuable and whose life is disposable?

Overdue

A blog update is long overdue for me. Life sometimes has a way of going by faster than I realize, and I have many things about which I intended to blog but never did. This will be a post in two parts.

1. Virginia's Last Day
I never officially met Virginia, although I know her daughter, son-in-law and their children. She came to church faithfully every week and sat in the front row with her daughter. She was well loved by many members of the church.

This Sunday I noticed that she was in a wheelchair. This was something new. I did not know if she was unwell or had injured herself or if her health was failing. I asked someone on Monday when I went into the church office and was told that it was because she had not been feeling well and has a history of falling. Regardless of the reason, I watched her a little bit during the service. From where I stood on stage singing, I could see her singing as she sat. From where I sat during the sermon, I could see her breathing was a bit labored.

After church she had lunch with her family. They decided to take her to the hospital instead of her apartment after lunch because her breathing was difficult. It was a short drive to the hospital, but she passed away silently on the way.

To me this is a wonderful last day. It was filled with the things that were important to her: church and family. She had insisted that her daughter take her to church. She had the option to go home or have lunch with family. She chose lunch with family. She did not die alone and she went quickly. What a blessing. I don't know if she knew or not - her family did not. Whether or not she knew, her last day was lived well. If today is my last day, how well would I have lived it?

2. What's going on
In brief, I leave for Puerto Rico early Sunday morning and arrive back home late Friday night. I say good-bye to Lucy on Saturday evening and will pick her back up from the boarder on Saturday morning. I'll miss my baby!

I applied for two positions within TWC. I received an offer for one of the two, and declined that offer. I did not know until I was faced with the decision whether or not to accept, and after a night lying awake weighing the pros and cons, I decided it was better to stay where I was. Once that decision was made I was at peace. Every time I even entertained the idea of accepting it I felt rather nervous. I think I made the right decision! I don't know what opportunities may arise, but with vacation coming up soon, I believe I will be refreshed enough to press on longer.

I have had a difficult time over the past year or two getting into any books. I pulled Grimm's Fairy Tales off of the shelf and decided I would start with very short stories - easy to read only a little bit at a time. I have really enjoyed it so far and think I might have chosen the right path to getting back into the habit of reading for pleasure.

Lucy's "pajamas" seem to have done the trick. She has wet them only once, and I have seen her wag her tail when she sees me grabbing them, because she knows it means we get to go to bed. As soon as I take them off of her in the morning, she jumps off the bed and heads to the door. Whether or not she understands that the jammies are meant to be a deterrent to bed-wetting, she knows and accepts that she wears them to bed.

A couple more of my fish died lately, so I am down to a total of 4. They can be quite a bit of work, and I don't know if I will get any more in the future. I would still love to have a very large tank someday, but don't know if I'd be willing to take on the commitment to take care of them. I still appreciate the ones I have.

Haircuts

Mommy and Lucy got their hair done today.

The beautiful girl


Mommy (picture doesn't show it well, but got highlights again)


Together :)