I really don't like this pattern in life
Thankful for God's everlasting self
God never changes...He is my constant; the one dependable aspect in life
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
Johnny Rockets
My first experience at a Johnny Rockets was...thought provoking.
Erin and I sat beside the front windows that stood as the front wall of the restaurant
Before our food arrived I looked over the my shoulder and at the corner of the restaurant was a homeless man sitting on a white tablecloth against the building
We are in downtown DC. Please understand me when I say I know there is more than one homeless person in DC; we passed at least a dozen that day
Sitting there, sipping milkshakes, nodding our toes to the beat of the jazzy hip music, it occurred to me that I am very comfortable in my lifestyle and I begin to question if I have forgotten what I have learned in my urban classes...do I remember how it felt to have nothing but the Lord?
After talking with Erin, I decided to give the man my french fries. I do not want to give him money as I will not know how he will spend the money. I'm beginning to feel a little better about the situation...I even put a ketchup cup in the container just in case
As we exit the restaurant, I greet and chat with him, give him the fries and tell him to have a good night...
THEN it hits me...there is another man sitting beside him. This second man was not visible from where I was sitting in the restaurant. The second man was also hungry
I didn't have food to give him
I am slowly realizing that I cannot "save" everyone. There is always going to be that person...the person who turns away from God...the person who, for whatever reason, chooses the unwise path...the person who I cannot feed. It's difficult to understand that there will always be the poor, the widows, the sick and weak
My first experience at a Johnny Rockets was...thought provoking.
Erin and I sat beside the front windows that stood as the front wall of the restaurant
Before our food arrived I looked over the my shoulder and at the corner of the restaurant was a homeless man sitting on a white tablecloth against the building
We are in downtown DC. Please understand me when I say I know there is more than one homeless person in DC; we passed at least a dozen that day
Sitting there, sipping milkshakes, nodding our toes to the beat of the jazzy hip music, it occurred to me that I am very comfortable in my lifestyle and I begin to question if I have forgotten what I have learned in my urban classes...do I remember how it felt to have nothing but the Lord?
After talking with Erin, I decided to give the man my french fries. I do not want to give him money as I will not know how he will spend the money. I'm beginning to feel a little better about the situation...I even put a ketchup cup in the container just in case
As we exit the restaurant, I greet and chat with him, give him the fries and tell him to have a good night...
THEN it hits me...there is another man sitting beside him. This second man was not visible from where I was sitting in the restaurant. The second man was also hungry
I didn't have food to give him
I am slowly realizing that I cannot "save" everyone. There is always going to be that person...the person who turns away from God...the person who, for whatever reason, chooses the unwise path...the person who I cannot feed. It's difficult to understand that there will always be the poor, the widows, the sick and weak
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace
Ephesians 1:7
Friday, May 27, 2011
Hospitality
I have been enjoying my extra free time since graduation, especially all the extra reading I get to enjoy. My time management is not perfect, but that's a whole different pickle to chomp
This blog is about hospitality misconceptions, my misconceptions
Many times I have heard the Martha and Mary story and even written college papers about the very passage. On one then occasion I have envisioned Martha scolding Mary and Mary gearing up for the cat fight
But somehow I managed to completely miss the real point
Here are a few snippets from a recent blog post I read that I will be mulling over the next few weeks
It [hospitality] is a demonstration of the gospel, a visual picture of God’s love, a working out of His love in and through our lives
When we focus on the details instead of the heart of it’s purpose, we have started focusing on ourselves
A lifestyle of hospitality is not just something we can tack on our our overly busy schedules
It’s not an optional activity. It’s what our purpose is on this earth – to be ministers of the gospel
Too often I find my self equating hospitatlity to clean bed linens, fresh towels, a home-cooked meal. I can get so excited at the thought of using the resources God has given Dyl and I to serve others and make them feel at home...yay house guests! But how exactly am I serving them? Physically, yes. Emotionally, probably yes. Spiritually, umm...problem!
And this is only the beginning of the story. Hospitality should seep into the cracks of our lives. Every small aspect of life should breathe what the Lord has so graciously saved us from and be manifested into acts of hospitatlity.
1 John 3:17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?
Hebrews 13:16, “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.
This is our first house the Lord graciously provided for the first two weeks of our marriage
The house really was a blessing. We had prayed for 6 months and the house just showed up one day in my email box. Perfect.
Well...until we arrived right after the wedding. The house was old, smelly, very dirty (we were subleasing so no one had to clean up before we arrived...bad idea!). At first, I was a little embarrassed. How was I supposed to be hospitable to guests when I could even stand my own home? This was not the house I had dreamed of since I was five...no picket fence...but it was white...does that count?
You can see where my thinking went astray
The Lord convicted me
I soon fell in love with our small, broken down house. Even when we lived there with no gas or electricity the last week and we had to move out, it was still a blessing.
I have been enjoying my extra free time since graduation, especially all the extra reading I get to enjoy. My time management is not perfect, but that's a whole different pickle to chomp
This blog is about hospitality misconceptions, my misconceptions
Many times I have heard the Martha and Mary story and even written college papers about the very passage. On one then occasion I have envisioned Martha scolding Mary and Mary gearing up for the cat fight
But somehow I managed to completely miss the real point
Here are a few snippets from a recent blog post I read that I will be mulling over the next few weeks
It [hospitality] is a demonstration of the gospel, a visual picture of God’s love, a working out of His love in and through our lives
When we focus on the details instead of the heart of it’s purpose, we have started focusing on ourselves
A lifestyle of hospitality is not just something we can tack on our our overly busy schedules
It’s not an optional activity. It’s what our purpose is on this earth – to be ministers of the gospel
Too often I find my self equating hospitatlity to clean bed linens, fresh towels, a home-cooked meal. I can get so excited at the thought of using the resources God has given Dyl and I to serve others and make them feel at home...yay house guests! But how exactly am I serving them? Physically, yes. Emotionally, probably yes. Spiritually, umm...problem!
And this is only the beginning of the story. Hospitality should seep into the cracks of our lives. Every small aspect of life should breathe what the Lord has so graciously saved us from and be manifested into acts of hospitatlity.
1 John 3:17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?
Hebrews 13:16, “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.
This is our first house the Lord graciously provided for the first two weeks of our marriage
The house really was a blessing. We had prayed for 6 months and the house just showed up one day in my email box. Perfect.
Well...until we arrived right after the wedding. The house was old, smelly, very dirty (we were subleasing so no one had to clean up before we arrived...bad idea!). At first, I was a little embarrassed. How was I supposed to be hospitable to guests when I could even stand my own home? This was not the house I had dreamed of since I was five...no picket fence...but it was white...does that count?
You can see where my thinking went astray
The Lord convicted me
I soon fell in love with our small, broken down house. Even when we lived there with no gas or electricity the last week and we had to move out, it was still a blessing.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Thankful For...
Opportunities to serve the Lord
The small things in life that have a big influence on those that surround us
There is so much beauty in this world
Envy running through our veins due to persistent facebooking
How do these activities slowly change our character and mold our furture self?
I can't describe how my heart naturally warms when I witness someone learning wisdom from the Lord or serving through self-sacrifice...beauty
Once again, thoughts that have been swirling in my head this morning and results in an underdeveloped post for you to read:)
Opportunities to serve the Lord
The small things in life that have a big influence on those that surround us
There is so much beauty in this world
Envy running through our veins due to persistent facebooking
How do these activities slowly change our character and mold our furture self?
I can't describe how my heart naturally warms when I witness someone learning wisdom from the Lord or serving through self-sacrifice...beauty
Once again, thoughts that have been swirling in my head this morning and results in an underdeveloped post for you to read:)
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Dylan and I...
are jobless, and hence careerless
are homeless
are foodless
are whitepicketfenceless
are medicalinsuranceless
But by the grace of God...
I have a temporary job that will start next month
We have loving family who lovingly, without a second thought, will take us in
...and who feed us:)
It is scary being married...we are a family now and have to take care of one another
I can't just go along on my own accord...Dylan's still here
Things have not exactly turned out like we planned they would a month ago when we said our vows...and that's okay and in some ways expected
We're okay with God throwing up these roadblocks...we're growing and growing together during these struggles. But when will God provide housing, food, jobs, insurance? Weren't these struggles supposed to come later...as in not the first month we are married?
We are slowly realizing that we trust God to provide...but are we faithful? Are we faithful that He will provide in His own time? Are we faithful that these struggles will not only stretch us, but we might actually gain wisdom and faith far beyond what we expected to learn during the first month of our marriage?
We love being married. We love being married and serving our Lord and the people around us.
-that sums up our first month of marriage
Friday, May 20, 2011
Yes, no "days" yet...but soon...when I get a chance to count them all
Dylan and I are back from our wonderful honeymoon in the middle of nowhere, upper PA
In a cabin that was literally off of a dirt road and our gps did not recognize
But, the cabin was free
We are blessed
I will leave you with a picture we took yesterday
And this will not be going on facebook, but yes, on here
Dylan and I are back from our wonderful honeymoon in the middle of nowhere, upper PA
In a cabin that was literally off of a dirt road and our gps did not recognize
But, the cabin was free
We are blessed
I will leave you with a picture we took yesterday
And this will not be going on facebook, but yes, on here
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