I am sitting here typing this because I am so overwhelmed I don't know where to start working. Really, I need to be peeling potatoes, cooking stuffing, and cleaning my house. Thank you to those of you who stopped by and left a comment on my first post. Obviously I haven't spent much time here yet, since I just noticed them :)
Why do I get so crazy nervous every time my parents come to visit? Probably because I am the worlds' worst housekeeper, and for a non-procrastinator, will procrastinate cleaning for company until it's almost too late, and then I drive everyone nuts with my overwhelmedness. Is that a word.
Anyway, I really do have a lot of serious stuff on my mind right now, but if I start writing it, the potatoes won't get peeled, the homeless won't get stuffing, and the dust will get dusty. Off to the kitchen I go...
Monday, November 19, 2007
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Quick Post
Ok-so I'm not doing any better at this than I was at Xanga. Well, I'm trying again. Today was Lynnea's second ever gymnastics meet. She increased her scores in all 4 events and brought her all around score up almost 2 full points to a 29.95. I am so proud of her. She is gaining confidence and having a great time competing.
The following is a note I wrote on Facebooklast week. I wanted to sahre it here also, because the idea of it had a huge impact on me. It's called "Dead or Alive?"
Six months ago this tree was beautiful. It was whole and green, looking full of life. Sitting in the middle of a field of dead, drought-stricken grass, it caught your attention. Then, one day in the middle of a terrible four month drought, there was a quick, 15 minute thunderstorm. As we assessed the damage after the storm, we realized that the big, beautiful tree had been cracked in half, revealing an inside that was hollow and dead.
As I looked again at the tree yesterday, it hit me how like that tree so many of us are. We look so beautiful on the outside. We are able to fool ourselves and everyone around us into thinking that life flows abundantly on the inside, because we display fruit that developed from life we had in the past. We say we desire accountability in our spiritual growth, yet we surround ourselves with people who agree with us and approve of everything we do, right or wrong. We avoid those who might sense our true internal condition, or the danger zones that may threaten it, and have the courage to speak truth into our lives.
Then one day, the storm comes. However quickly it passes, the lightening has struck, and our insides are revealed for the world to see. We are forced to see the emptiness. But wait, there are still beautiful leaves on the remaining half. So for a while we can pretend that the truth isn't real. We can pretend that we are ok. Seasons change, and our leaves become a beautiful mix of orange and yellow. We tell everyone, including ourselves, that the beauty proves we are right, there is no death in our sin.
But then, there is the rub. The color simply reveals the death that is there. The color turns to brown, and the leaves blow away. We are left staring at the empty shell of ourselves. There is nothing left to cover us, no beauty to hide behind. We must finally admit that we were wrong, that we were lying, that all of the thoughts, ideas and actions we so passionately defended and sought out people to affirm were, in truth, sinful and sucking the life out of us.
But here's the good news, the part where we stray from the analogy because we are people who have access to and a relationship with the Creator. We have a choice when faced with our emptiness. We can quit, hopelessly giving in to failure and sin and turn our back on the God who has, and can again, save us from sin. We can also fall our our knees in repentence, admitting and letting go of the lies and sin we have ruthlessly held onto, and then crawl up into the lap of the Father and allow Him to restore the lifeblood to our veins. He died to bring us to Himself, and He will stop at nothing to bring us back when we wander. The tree has no choice but to die. Will you follow the tree, or the One who offers life abundantly? Dead or alive-it's your choice.
The following is a note I wrote on Facebooklast week. I wanted to sahre it here also, because the idea of it had a huge impact on me. It's called "Dead or Alive?"
Six months ago this tree was beautiful. It was whole and green, looking full of life. Sitting in the middle of a field of dead, drought-stricken grass, it caught your attention. Then, one day in the middle of a terrible four month drought, there was a quick, 15 minute thunderstorm. As we assessed the damage after the storm, we realized that the big, beautiful tree had been cracked in half, revealing an inside that was hollow and dead.
As I looked again at the tree yesterday, it hit me how like that tree so many of us are. We look so beautiful on the outside. We are able to fool ourselves and everyone around us into thinking that life flows abundantly on the inside, because we display fruit that developed from life we had in the past. We say we desire accountability in our spiritual growth, yet we surround ourselves with people who agree with us and approve of everything we do, right or wrong. We avoid those who might sense our true internal condition, or the danger zones that may threaten it, and have the courage to speak truth into our lives.
Then one day, the storm comes. However quickly it passes, the lightening has struck, and our insides are revealed for the world to see. We are forced to see the emptiness. But wait, there are still beautiful leaves on the remaining half. So for a while we can pretend that the truth isn't real. We can pretend that we are ok. Seasons change, and our leaves become a beautiful mix of orange and yellow. We tell everyone, including ourselves, that the beauty proves we are right, there is no death in our sin.
But then, there is the rub. The color simply reveals the death that is there. The color turns to brown, and the leaves blow away. We are left staring at the empty shell of ourselves. There is nothing left to cover us, no beauty to hide behind. We must finally admit that we were wrong, that we were lying, that all of the thoughts, ideas and actions we so passionately defended and sought out people to affirm were, in truth, sinful and sucking the life out of us.
But here's the good news, the part where we stray from the analogy because we are people who have access to and a relationship with the Creator. We have a choice when faced with our emptiness. We can quit, hopelessly giving in to failure and sin and turn our back on the God who has, and can again, save us from sin. We can also fall our our knees in repentence, admitting and letting go of the lies and sin we have ruthlessly held onto, and then crawl up into the lap of the Father and allow Him to restore the lifeblood to our veins. He died to bring us to Himself, and He will stop at nothing to bring us back when we wander. The tree has no choice but to die. Will you follow the tree, or the One who offers life abundantly? Dead or alive-it's your choice.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Let's try this one
I've had a xanga account for a long time, but haven't used it in months. Since I have developed this addiction for Facebook, Xanga has just become another site to check on a regular basis, and I just don't want to do that. I already have g-mail and am on google all the time, so I thought I'd try to see if this one is more convenient to use. If you read this for any length of time, you will realize that I am extremely opinionated about a lot of subjects, have a great memory for useless facts, and am an expert at pretty much nothing. But I think a lot-about a lot of different things-so you'll get a peek at what goes on inside my head. Proceed with caution...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
