"He who cannot forgive others destroys the bridge over which he
himself must pass." - George Herbert
We've been dealing a lot with forgiving lately. Specifically how to forgive those who hurt us. How many times must we forgive? Jesus said "Seventy time seven."
When we pray The Lord's Prayer we very specifically ask God to forgive us our 'debts, trespasses' as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Do we understand that we are saying , "God, forgive me the same way I forgive others."?
How can we expect Him to forgive us when we do not truly forgive those who sin against us? We can't!
If you chose to hold a grudge, to hold onto the hurt someone caused you how you are blocking Gods forgiveness of your sins.
Think about it!
Aug 21, 2012
Aug 4, 2012
Makes you think...
"Supposing there was no intelligence behind the universe, no
creative mind. In that case, nobody designed my brain for the
purpose of thinking. It is merely that when the atoms inside my
skull happen, for physical or chemical reasons, to arrange
themselves in a certain way, this gives me, as a by-product, the
sensation I call thought. But, if so, how can I trust my own
thinking to be true? It's like upsetting a milk jug and hoping
that the way it splashes itself will give you a map of London. But
if I can't trust my own thinking, of course I can't trust the
arguments leading to atheism, and therefore have no reason to be
an atheist, or anything else. Unless I believe in God, I cannot
believe in thought: so I can never use thought to disbelieve in
God." - C.S. Lewis
Jul 24, 2012
Jul 19, 2012
Migraine Update
Thank you so much to my friends D, K, & P. Your emails and phone calls were so encouraging. I know I sounded discouraged and down. I was. But their insight and prayers and friendship certainly helped me to see things with a renewed perspective.
Here is part of what K said to me,
It certainly is hard to see the good. Sometimes I don't think it is that helpful to wrack your brains trying to see what the good is in something that is clearly bad. I think it is enough to trust that God is good, and to know that in the end He'll make all the bad go away. Or another way of looking at it is that God will bring good OUT OF bad things, not denying that the bad thing truly is unequivocally bad. Rom. 8:28 says God 'orders all things for the good . . .' I don't think that means that we need to try to call bad things good or try to see that a bad thing really is good... I just know that my thinking on this has changed over the years, and I hope in the right direction..."
What a good point. I don't have to view a bad thing as good. I just need to know that God is good, among all His other attributes, and that He has my best interest at heart. EVEN IF I. CAN'T. SEE. IT.
This is part of what D said,
So thank you for your prayers and encouragement.
Now I just need to get the lesson plans finished for next school year so I can take a sewing break!
Here is part of what K said to me,
It certainly is hard to see the good. Sometimes I don't think it is that helpful to wrack your brains trying to see what the good is in something that is clearly bad. I think it is enough to trust that God is good, and to know that in the end He'll make all the bad go away. Or another way of looking at it is that God will bring good OUT OF bad things, not denying that the bad thing truly is unequivocally bad. Rom. 8:28 says God 'orders all things for the good . . .' I don't think that means that we need to try to call bad things good or try to see that a bad thing really is good... I just know that my thinking on this has changed over the years, and I hope in the right direction..."
What a good point. I don't have to view a bad thing as good. I just need to know that God is good, among all His other attributes, and that He has my best interest at heart. EVEN IF I. CAN'T. SEE. IT.
This is part of what D said,
I understand how hard and how serious it is to have a chronic illness like
you have and how awful it is to feel pain and or sickness most of the time in
your days. I've had a relapse because of the move and I am struggling to get
back to where I was getting to ( such a better place!) before the move.Some days
and nights I have so much pain and sickness I can't function at all.Why did God
let this happen? I don't know. I can talk about it with only a very few because
most don't want to hear it. But it is real and I and M have to deal with
it. It is no fun( understatement there) but I can trust God in it, and also when
I stop trusting God I can get back to trusting Him.
He loves us. I don't know why you are going through this but I will pray
for you, for relief from the headaches.
Having someone, or 2, who really understand what having a chronic illness is and the frustration that can go along with it is so helpful and encouraging. And both D and P are in much worse shape physically than I am and P has NO familial support at all. D and I at least have husbands who are loving, godly , caring men. And I have 2 great kids who are old enough and mature enough to take over. In fact that is just what my son did yesterday. He took over dinner. I was not up to making pizza so he just told me to go back and rest and he would take care of it. And he did. With very little help from me. I think the only help I gave was how much ground beef and bacon to cook for the stuffed baked potatoes.
Finally here is what P shared with me after my last migraine post,
Hi Susan, I just left you and
D a message on your answering machine but it was too long and I got cut
off so I thought I'd just jot a note. I feel so badly you are suffering
in this way and I will pray. I wish I could do more and feel
frustrated that right now I am so limited in what I can do myself that
days that days go by and I do nothing but the minimal to take care of
myself and take my pills and make my meals. Please know in your heart
of hearts that if I was healthier right now I would do more to encourage
you and even make a trip up there to help and encourage you in person.
Susan, I miss you (and your family too) so much. For as much as that's
sad, I'm aware that it's such a blessing to know and be known by people
well enough to miss them. So many people in the world don't even have
anyone who loves them enough to miss them. ....
Dear sister,
just know that you are not forgotten and that I will be beseeching God
for His mercy to grant a breakthrough on the Dr's understanding of these
migraines. There is hope for that. I often doubt that myself, but
it's easier to have hope for someone else's situation b/c you can see
God's character more objectively for who He really is. I know He is
able, and that there's always hope in any situation with Him...
All 3 of these ladies live a minimum of 450 miles from me... so we communicate a lot via email, but to know that they get my posts and care enough to reply and to pray and to encourage me means so much. To hear from them is the highlight of my day!
But, back to the migraines...
I am improving. Some weeks it is 3 steps forward and 2 back but overall as I look at my headache logs, I am seeing stretches of days without headaches!
So what am I doing?
- No prepared foods. No mixes, no fast food, etc
- No tylenol, aspirin or ibuprofen
- No caffeine
- Fresh veggies, meats, some fruit, goat cheese
- No bread
- No fast acting carbs
- Mainly water to drink
- I don't get all the chemicals that can trigger migraine
- I don't get the so-called rebound headaches
- I can sleep at night
- Overall more healthy
- I don't get the blood sugar spikes
- Same as 5
- Flushes my system, less for my kidneys to process
- I've lost about 15 pounds
- I fit into a skirt yesterday that has always been tight
- I've got 2 skorts that need to be taken in cause they fall down!
- My menstrual cramps have greatly decreased, to practically nothing from going through 2 boxes of midol a month to needing 2 doses.
So thank you for your prayers and encouragement.
Now I just need to get the lesson plans finished for next school year so I can take a sewing break!
Bird Roosting on Whirl-I-Gig
We have this large wooden whirl-i-gig that my mom-on-law gave us that hangs on the front porch. Last night David was on the phone around 10pm and as he wanders when he talks he ended up on the porch and happened to notice the bird.
Here is the best photo from last night. It is really hard to see the bird even though we shone a light on him and used the flash on the camera. I hope you can make him out.
Here is the best photo from last night. It is really hard to see the bird even though we shone a light on him and used the flash on the camera. I hope you can make him out.
This is a photo of the whirl-i-gig taken this morning.
I hope to go out earlier tonight and wait quietly on th eporch for the bird to arrive. Maybe I can get a shot of him in the dusk.
Jun 22, 2012
Memories... Old & New
Father's Day Weekend 2012 was a time to relive old memories and to make new ones as a family.
David and I spent much of our early years chasing trains. Photographing trains. Riding Trains. Not just any train mind you, steam trains!
Saturday we drove up to Salisbury, NC to see Southern Railways 630 and to photograph it. This was the first steam engine to run since 1994. The kids were born in 1996 and 1998 so they had never seen a steam engine in operation. (Other than Tweetsie and Strasburg)
I was surprised to find my heart beating faster when I first heard the approaching train, the memories it brought back are so precious and now my children are gathering memories.
Here are some of my favorite shots from the day.
By Daniel
This was shot from inside the car the kids rode in prior to pulling out of the station.
By Sarah
By me
Fellow train chaser taking her shots
Sarah in the window, Daniel is peeking out behind her
I don't stick to only trains!
The thorns on this were incredible.
Migraine Awareness Month
June is Migraine Awareness Month. The ribbon color is purple. So my blog will be in purple from now on. As I go through this journey, I want to be able to help shed light on this mystifiying disease. The cause is unknown and there is no cure. It is NOT just a headache. It can be and is debillitating for many.
Some good websites:
Teri Robert
migraine.com/blog/
help for headaches
migraine disease
migraine cast
health central, migraine
putting our heads together
Some good websites:
Teri Robert
migraine.com/blog/
help for headaches
migraine disease
migraine cast
health central, migraine
putting our heads together
Seeing a Migraine Specialist
I started seeing a migraine headache specialist in Greensboro, NC on May 31. The first evaluation was very thorough, including an EKG, range of motion measurements on my neck, several vials of blood drawn for testing. The doctor was very kind and understanding. Able to explain more about my condition. Migraine Disease is not curable. The cause is not known though research is being done to find a gene that causes it. She went over all my meds and immediately made changes to not only meds but to my diet as well.
Tuesday, June 18, I received the first set of trigger point injections to try to ease my migraines that are almost 24/7. Out of the past 28 days I have not been headache free for more than a few hours at a time.
As of today, Friday, June 22, I had a whole 6 hours or so free of headache. I am doing everything I'm told to do. But the headaches are getting worse. There is no break in them and I am struggling to stay positive. The past 2 days my eyes are so blurry and watery that I can't drive safely at all. I can only focus to read for a few minutes at a time and then I have to change activities to give my eyes a rest. Obviously the injections did not work long-term.
I'm starting to loose hope. I say I accept His will for my life, even including the headaches, but I'm struggling.
It's hard to have a chronic illness like this. A lot of people don't view it as serious. Maybe it's not life-threatening, but it is life-altering. And right now I'm having trouble seeing the good in this.
Tuesday, June 18, I received the first set of trigger point injections to try to ease my migraines that are almost 24/7. Out of the past 28 days I have not been headache free for more than a few hours at a time.
As of today, Friday, June 22, I had a whole 6 hours or so free of headache. I am doing everything I'm told to do. But the headaches are getting worse. There is no break in them and I am struggling to stay positive. The past 2 days my eyes are so blurry and watery that I can't drive safely at all. I can only focus to read for a few minutes at a time and then I have to change activities to give my eyes a rest. Obviously the injections did not work long-term.
I'm starting to loose hope. I say I accept His will for my life, even including the headaches, but I'm struggling.
It's hard to have a chronic illness like this. A lot of people don't view it as serious. Maybe it's not life-threatening, but it is life-altering. And right now I'm having trouble seeing the good in this.
May 9, 2012
One
of the things I love about homeschooling is the opportunity we have
to really study God's Word. This year S is using a series of books
put out by Apologia.
S
is finishing up the 2nd
of the 4 books that are in the series. She already did Who
Is God?
and really learned a lot. Now she is in Who
Am I?.
Quite
often she will ask me to read part of the lesson to her as she
retains more when she hears things. Today was one of those days.
I
have always been impressed with the material in this series, but
today really blew me away. The chapter, the last in the book, is
titled Who
Do You Think You Are?.
It deals with who we are in God's eyes versus how we view ourselves.
I want to share with you what impacted me so strongly today.
I
am HIS daughter: He said so. Oh, the infinite gentleness of my
God! Margaret of Cortona, 1247-1297
Not
only do we know God through Jesus Christ, but we only know ourselves
through Jesus Christ. Blaise Pascal, 1623-1662
To
be justified means God has REMOVED (emphasis mine) our sins
completely. He does not just cover up our guilt or overlook it.
God does not say, “Well, you're still guilty, but I'll let you off
the hook.” He says,
“You're not guilty!”
Romans
5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans
8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in
Christ Jesus.
All
my christian life I have looked at my salvation as God letting me
'off the hook'. But that's not it at all! Because of Christs
perfect sacrifice on the cross I have been declared NOT GUILTY!
Justification.
Just as if I'd NEVER sinned.
Now
I get it. Today, while helping my child, God used her Bible
assignment to open my eyes and make things more clear.
In
1 Corinthians 13:12,(KJV) Paul says, “For now we see
through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part;
but then shall I know even as also I am known.”
Today
another part of God's mercy was made clear!
May 2, 2012
Church...
We're still talking about 'church'. Why we're doing what we're doing and where it is going. Will we ever go back to a corporate church? Possibly. Will we stop doing what we are doing presently? I hope not.
We are not content to just show up on Sunday morning and sit for an hour or 2 putting in our time. We want to be able to ask questions when they come up, to add to the lesson. This is what we can do in a less formal setting, this is what we are doing as a family, together.
We do not want to be age-segregated. What good does it do to separate families?
When we used to attend a church, we would get in the car after services and I'd ask the kids what they had studied.
Most. Of. The. Time. they could not give a good answer because they had spent the hour trying to pay attention amidst all the distraction that the other kids brought to the class. Daniel even went so far as to talk to his teacher after class one Sunday and asked him to please exert more control over the class. To stop the horse-play and cutting up. (This was a class of guys in the 7th grade and up).
This is in the same category as homeschooling.
We believe that it is our responsibility to:
1. Train up our children in the way they should go. Proverbs 22:6
2. Talk of these things when you rise up and when you sit down. Deuteronomy 6:1-9
3. Teach the younger women to love and respect their husbands. Titus2:3-5
4. Teach them to be self-controlled. Titus 2:6
5. Teach them to fear the LORD. Proverbs 1:7
6. Teach them to be hard-working and productive citizens.
7. Teach them to love their country and stand up for what is right.
8. Teach them to think for themselves and make decisions that will glorify God regardless of what the world says.
9. Teach them to honor and obey their elders.
10. Teach them in a way that they can learn and grow. If it takes focusing on a math concept for 2 weeks to get it, so be it. If we come to a list of spelling words they already know, then skip them and move on.
Homeschooling gives us the freedom to teach our children in the way they need to be taught.
Home churching does the same thing for the whole family. I cannot tell you how many times we have started with a question that has turned into a 2 hour investigation of what God's Word says. This is not a lecture by Dad, though we have those too! But it is an open discussion with everyone adding their questions and thoughts to the mix and with all 4 of us learning something.
Because we have chosen to home church for at least a season, some people are concerned about us. Kinda like they were when they learned we were going to homeschool. Thank you for your concern.. We have not gone off the deep end and written God out of our lives. We have discussed this together and come to the decision that for this season of our lives we need to be at home.
We will in the future return to a corporate church. We will continue to meet with other believers to fellowship and strengthen each other. We will continue to pray and grow together as a family.
We will continue to seek His face.
We are not content to just show up on Sunday morning and sit for an hour or 2 putting in our time. We want to be able to ask questions when they come up, to add to the lesson. This is what we can do in a less formal setting, this is what we are doing as a family, together.
We do not want to be age-segregated. What good does it do to separate families?
When we used to attend a church, we would get in the car after services and I'd ask the kids what they had studied.
Most. Of. The. Time. they could not give a good answer because they had spent the hour trying to pay attention amidst all the distraction that the other kids brought to the class. Daniel even went so far as to talk to his teacher after class one Sunday and asked him to please exert more control over the class. To stop the horse-play and cutting up. (This was a class of guys in the 7th grade and up).
This is in the same category as homeschooling.
We believe that it is our responsibility to:
1. Train up our children in the way they should go. Proverbs 22:6
2. Talk of these things when you rise up and when you sit down. Deuteronomy 6:1-9
3. Teach the younger women to love and respect their husbands. Titus2:3-5
4. Teach them to be self-controlled. Titus 2:6
5. Teach them to fear the LORD. Proverbs 1:7
6. Teach them to be hard-working and productive citizens.
7. Teach them to love their country and stand up for what is right.
8. Teach them to think for themselves and make decisions that will glorify God regardless of what the world says.
9. Teach them to honor and obey their elders.
10. Teach them in a way that they can learn and grow. If it takes focusing on a math concept for 2 weeks to get it, so be it. If we come to a list of spelling words they already know, then skip them and move on.
Homeschooling gives us the freedom to teach our children in the way they need to be taught.
Home churching does the same thing for the whole family. I cannot tell you how many times we have started with a question that has turned into a 2 hour investigation of what God's Word says. This is not a lecture by Dad, though we have those too! But it is an open discussion with everyone adding their questions and thoughts to the mix and with all 4 of us learning something.
Because we have chosen to home church for at least a season, some people are concerned about us. Kinda like they were when they learned we were going to homeschool. Thank you for your concern.. We have not gone off the deep end and written God out of our lives. We have discussed this together and come to the decision that for this season of our lives we need to be at home.
We will in the future return to a corporate church. We will continue to meet with other believers to fellowship and strengthen each other. We will continue to pray and grow together as a family.
We will continue to seek His face.
Apr 20, 2012
Trader Joe's
I don't get it...
Maybe I'm not young and hip enough but I just do not see the fascination with TJ's. I liked the atmosphere, the friendly staff, the decor...
But I didn't find enough there to warrant a regular trip. I went there on the recommendation of my Naturopathic Doctor. She said they have really good bacon that has no nitrites or nitrates. So we tried it last night.
We slowly wandered the aisle, carefully looking, reading labels, comparing prices. We ended up buying:
So far I've tried the
Verdict? I'll go back occasionally for the bacon and dill, maybe the Brussels sprouts, we really like Brussels sprouts, if needed at the time I'll pick up popcorn. But over all, I don't see what the big deal is.
Maybe I'm not young and hip enough but I just do not see the fascination with TJ's. I liked the atmosphere, the friendly staff, the decor...
But I didn't find enough there to warrant a regular trip. I went there on the recommendation of my Naturopathic Doctor. She said they have really good bacon that has no nitrites or nitrates. So we tried it last night.
We slowly wandered the aisle, carefully looking, reading labels, comparing prices. We ended up buying:
- 3 pk sampler of Montchevre Crottin Goat Cheese, 10.5 oz, $4.99
- 2 Salami/ Provolone snack packs for the kids, 3.98
- 2 bunches broccoli, 3.98
- 2 pkgs tiny frozen Brussels sprouts, 2.38
- 1# bacon ends & pieces, nitrite/ nitrate free, 2.99
- Lemon Pepper spice grinder, 60 grams, 1.99
- Dried Dill weed, 14 grams, 1.99
- 1# organic yellow popping corn, 1.99
So far I've tried the
- goat cheese, LOVE it!
- bacon, LOVE it!
- Dill, Very Good!
Verdict? I'll go back occasionally for the bacon and dill, maybe the Brussels sprouts, we really like Brussels sprouts, if needed at the time I'll pick up popcorn. But over all, I don't see what the big deal is.
Apr 15, 2012
Re-Thinking Church
Guest post by, David, my husband, my comments are in blue.
A few months ago, we decided to leave the Corporate Church.
We left because of the many negative experiences we had.
We were tired of at least five different church experiences where we were never fully accepted as members with full relationships that would endure past membership within those particular churches.
We also never felt that we were accepted within those churches.
Although we were "open", (painfully so, often "airing the dirty laundry" of our families which is verboten in Southern Culture ) in the various small groups of these churches, our "openness" was often used against us in efforts to manipulate or control us.
We were not just bystanders at most of these churches. We were heavily involved.
At the last church we were members of, we opened our home to times of Corporate Prayer, Small Group Meetings, we even led a small group one summer, Home Made Pizza (just come hungry), and Pork Bar-be-que, Hamburgers, Hotdogs, Potato Salad, and Cole Slaw. We also had individual families over for a meal on many occasions.
I served by running sound (which included driving the church van, unloading the van, setting up the sound system, recording the morning message, tearing down the sound system, reloading the church van, and driving it back to the pastor's house). Susan served by working in the Nursery or Singing on the Praise Team.
Although leaving the corporate church may seem foolish, it has actually been a great time spiritually. Although we both are gifted with Service, we didn't need to work at church. This was no different from the last church we attended, however.
The big difference was that not going to church required me to step up the discussions that we had as a family since we weren't attending at a corporate church. So we have started to have "formal scheduled" times of discussion and Bible study, usually on Sunday morning (appropriately enough) and these sessions aren't a 15 minute quick session where we're just doing our "required time" for the week. They usually last about 1:45 -2:00 hours. And we don't limit the discussions to Sunday. We had a great discussion yesterday on Matthew 5 and 6:1-15 on how Jesus said we are to pray.
We've been studying Jesus' life, using the Narrated Bible (which claims to be a chronological sequence of the Bible) as a reference. We pray and then go over a section (either from my ancient copy of the New English Bible or from the ESV as defined in Matthew), discussing what we read and how it applies to the world in which we live.
Recently, Susan expressed a desire to go to a church where she'd been invited by one of the local homeschool Moms, whose husband is the pastor. Although I have other Christian friends, Susan said that she would like to go somewhere (with me along beside her) to try to find other Christian friends.
I realized this past Friday after crochet club was over that there are 4 Moms who come to crochet that I feel close to, that I can talk to and ask for their prayers. Even though we don't meet at a 'church' I value the time we can spend together. What I need to do is pursue these relationships. This can be difficult as we all homeschool and have to intentionally carve out time to spend with others. But relationships are important and I need to make the first move.
After a couple of days of sometimes contentious discussion (by me), including discussions with two dear Christian brothers, we came to a conclusion: As long as we continued to have our weekly discussions and I would not be required to take our teenage children to a church to which I would not go, when Susan did not feel like going, I would acompany her to a local church. Otherwise, I would go along with her to support her.
Susan agreed to this arrangement because of the richness of our discussions.
Our children, Daniel and Sarah Kate made a commitment to follow Jesus as Lord and Master one Sunday evening when we "skipped" church service. It was not an emotional decision made from guilt, but instead a sober conversation, initiated "out of the blue," by Sarah who asked about "bearing good fruit.". I was surprised that it happened and the GOD allowed Susan and me to be involved watching our children be born into the Kingdom of Heaven.
So, the lessons learned from this detour in life have been: (1) gathering at home to study and worship GOD can be MORE fruitful than corporate worship when you feel like an outsider and (2) that you don't need to have a preacher, elder, deacon, or Sunday school teacher in order for your children to know and make a decision to follow Christ.
A few months ago, we decided to leave the Corporate Church.
We left because of the many negative experiences we had.
We were tired of at least five different church experiences where we were never fully accepted as members with full relationships that would endure past membership within those particular churches.
We also never felt that we were accepted within those churches.
Although we were "open", (painfully so, often "airing the dirty laundry" of our families which is verboten in Southern Culture ) in the various small groups of these churches, our "openness" was often used against us in efforts to manipulate or control us.
We were not just bystanders at most of these churches. We were heavily involved.
At the last church we were members of, we opened our home to times of Corporate Prayer, Small Group Meetings, we even led a small group one summer, Home Made Pizza (just come hungry), and Pork Bar-be-que, Hamburgers, Hotdogs, Potato Salad, and Cole Slaw. We also had individual families over for a meal on many occasions.
I served by running sound (which included driving the church van, unloading the van, setting up the sound system, recording the morning message, tearing down the sound system, reloading the church van, and driving it back to the pastor's house). Susan served by working in the Nursery or Singing on the Praise Team.
Although leaving the corporate church may seem foolish, it has actually been a great time spiritually. Although we both are gifted with Service, we didn't need to work at church. This was no different from the last church we attended, however.
The big difference was that not going to church required me to step up the discussions that we had as a family since we weren't attending at a corporate church. So we have started to have "formal scheduled" times of discussion and Bible study, usually on Sunday morning (appropriately enough) and these sessions aren't a 15 minute quick session where we're just doing our "required time" for the week. They usually last about 1:45 -2:00 hours. And we don't limit the discussions to Sunday. We had a great discussion yesterday on Matthew 5 and 6:1-15 on how Jesus said we are to pray.
We've been studying Jesus' life, using the Narrated Bible (which claims to be a chronological sequence of the Bible) as a reference. We pray and then go over a section (either from my ancient copy of the New English Bible or from the ESV as defined in Matthew), discussing what we read and how it applies to the world in which we live.
Recently, Susan expressed a desire to go to a church where she'd been invited by one of the local homeschool Moms, whose husband is the pastor. Although I have other Christian friends, Susan said that she would like to go somewhere (with me along beside her) to try to find other Christian friends.
I realized this past Friday after crochet club was over that there are 4 Moms who come to crochet that I feel close to, that I can talk to and ask for their prayers. Even though we don't meet at a 'church' I value the time we can spend together. What I need to do is pursue these relationships. This can be difficult as we all homeschool and have to intentionally carve out time to spend with others. But relationships are important and I need to make the first move.
After a couple of days of sometimes contentious discussion (by me), including discussions with two dear Christian brothers, we came to a conclusion: As long as we continued to have our weekly discussions and I would not be required to take our teenage children to a church to which I would not go, when Susan did not feel like going, I would acompany her to a local church. Otherwise, I would go along with her to support her.
Susan agreed to this arrangement because of the richness of our discussions.
Our children, Daniel and Sarah Kate made a commitment to follow Jesus as Lord and Master one Sunday evening when we "skipped" church service. It was not an emotional decision made from guilt, but instead a sober conversation, initiated "out of the blue," by Sarah who asked about "bearing good fruit.". I was surprised that it happened and the GOD allowed Susan and me to be involved watching our children be born into the Kingdom of Heaven.
So, the lessons learned from this detour in life have been: (1) gathering at home to study and worship GOD can be MORE fruitful than corporate worship when you feel like an outsider and (2) that you don't need to have a preacher, elder, deacon, or Sunday school teacher in order for your children to know and make a decision to follow Christ.
Apr 8, 2012
HE Is ALIVE!
He is risen indeed!
My GOD, I Love Thee
by St Francis Xavier
Translation of Edward Caswell
My God, I love thee! not because
I hope for heaven thereby;
Nor yet because who love thee not
Must burn eternally.
Thou, O my Jesus, thou didst me
Upon the cross embrace!
For me didst bear the nails and spear,
And manifold disgrace,
And griefs and torments numberless,
And sweat of agony,
Yea, death itself,- and all for one
Who was thine enemy.
Then why, O blessed Jesus Christ,
Should I not love thee well!
Not for the hope of winning heaven,
Nor of escaping hell!
Not with the hope of gaining aught,
Not seeking a reward;
But as thyself hast loved me,
O ever loving Lord!
E'en so I love thee, and will love,
And in thy praise will sing,-
Solely because thou art my God
And my eternal King.
MY GOD, I LOVE THEE
On this Resurrection Sunday, 2012 we focused on the stations of the cross.
I had heard of "The Stations of the Cross" but never knew what it was other than it was a "catholic" thing. Anyway, this past Friday, Good Friday, (Good? Friday) we were taking the kids to Discovery Place, http://www.discoveryplace.org/. So we decided to have lunch at the Methodist Church http://harrisburgumc.org/ here in Harrisburg since they were having an 'all-u-can eat' fish fry. Good food, money goes to support a good cause etc. What we did NOT know was they had set up in the sanctuary 'The Stations of the Cross'.
We went through the stations after lunch. It was very simply but tastefully done. Quiet music played, lights were dimmed, beautiful art prints portrayed each step, candles and incense burned... for me it was a very solemn and VERY emotional journey. It really brought it all back to the front of my mind...
What Christ chose to go through for sinners such as I. It's not just the physical torture, although that was horrific... It is the fact that He CHOSE to go through it. All the humiliation, the pain, the anguish, the SEPARATION from God...
Read the scriptures. Don't take my word for it.
Station 1, Jesus Prays Alone, Luke 22:39-44
Station 2, Jesus is arrested, Matt. 26:47-56
Station 3, Sanhedrin tries Jesus, Mark 14:61-64
Station 4, Pilate tries Jesus, John 18:33-37
Station 5, Pilate sentences Jesus, Mark 15:6-15
Station 6, Jesus wears crown, John 19:5
Station 7, Jesus carries cross, John 10:17-18
Station 8, Simon carries cross, Luke 23:26
Station 9, Jesus speaks to the women, Luke 23:27-31
Station 10, Jesus is crucified, Luke 23:33-34
Station 11, Criminals speak to Jesus, Luke 23:39-43
Station 12, Jesus speaks to Mary, John, John 19:25-27
Station 13, Jesus dies on the cross, John 1928-34
Station 14, Jesus is laid in the tomb, John 19:38-42
Watch "The Passion of the Christ" amazon
Read Max Lucado's book, "He Chose the Nails" amazon.com. See how Christ reacted, really did not react, to the spit on His face, to the purple robe meant to mock Him, in the sour wine offered to slack His thirst...
But it did NOT end with His death....
I had heard of "The Stations of the Cross" but never knew what it was other than it was a "catholic" thing. Anyway, this past Friday, Good Friday, (Good? Friday) we were taking the kids to Discovery Place, http://www.discoveryplace.org/. So we decided to have lunch at the Methodist Church http://harrisburgumc.org/ here in Harrisburg since they were having an 'all-u-can eat' fish fry. Good food, money goes to support a good cause etc. What we did NOT know was they had set up in the sanctuary 'The Stations of the Cross'.
We went through the stations after lunch. It was very simply but tastefully done. Quiet music played, lights were dimmed, beautiful art prints portrayed each step, candles and incense burned... for me it was a very solemn and VERY emotional journey. It really brought it all back to the front of my mind...
What Christ chose to go through for sinners such as I. It's not just the physical torture, although that was horrific... It is the fact that He CHOSE to go through it. All the humiliation, the pain, the anguish, the SEPARATION from God...
Read the scriptures. Don't take my word for it.
Station 1, Jesus Prays Alone, Luke 22:39-44
Station 2, Jesus is arrested, Matt. 26:47-56
Station 3, Sanhedrin tries Jesus, Mark 14:61-64
Station 4, Pilate tries Jesus, John 18:33-37
Station 5, Pilate sentences Jesus, Mark 15:6-15
Station 6, Jesus wears crown, John 19:5
Station 7, Jesus carries cross, John 10:17-18
Station 8, Simon carries cross, Luke 23:26
Station 9, Jesus speaks to the women, Luke 23:27-31
Station 10, Jesus is crucified, Luke 23:33-34
Station 11, Criminals speak to Jesus, Luke 23:39-43
Station 12, Jesus speaks to Mary, John, John 19:25-27
Station 13, Jesus dies on the cross, John 1928-34
Station 14, Jesus is laid in the tomb, John 19:38-42
Watch "The Passion of the Christ" amazon
Read Max Lucado's book, "He Chose the Nails" amazon.com. See how Christ reacted, really did not react, to the spit on His face, to the purple robe meant to mock Him, in the sour wine offered to slack His thirst...
But it did NOT end with His death....
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