"I have come to believe that by and large the human family all has the same secrets, which are both very telling in the sense that they tell what is perhaps the central paradox of our condition - that what we hunger for perhaps more than anything else is to be known in our full humanness, and yet that is often just what we also fear more than anything else." - Frederick Buechner
Community is something we long for as human beings. God created us for community--ultimately our longing for community is communion with God Himself, which we are able to have here on earth in our relationship with Christ, but which we will not fully realize until Heaven. Our souls long for heaven; they ache for eternity. We want to be known, fully--truly. And in being known we desire acceptance and love for who we really are--not who we pretend to be or the parts we let other people see.
And yet, as Buechner so aptly points out, we are fearful of being known. Of exposing our secrets. Of letting people know that we're not perfect, that we struggle with sin, that we mess up, that life's not always pretty or easy or fun.
Lord--strip me of my fear of man that I may be truly known, because it is only in being known that I can be changed and conformed into Your image. Change me Lord. Give me a heart like Yours to love others, hands like Yours to wash others feet, words like Yours to speak truth in love, feet like Yours to go to the nations, obedience like Yours to obey the Word, love like Yours to live sacrificially for others, and boldness like Yours that I might preach the Good News to those who don't know You. Help me to be known, that I might be changed into Your image. Amen.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Thanks Mom!
My mom has a great sense of humor, so when I opened up my birthday package from her last week I thought it must have been a joke. What I found in the box was a pair of "tater mitts". Yes that's right, kitchen mitts that actually peel potatoes. Who knew these things existed? Apparently my mom did...and when I called to thank her for the gift I found out she wasn't joking! (She even bought a pair for my sister in law!)
So of course two days later when I got an email about our Easter dinner potluck--the only thing that was left on the list was mashed potatoes. What perfect timing to try out the "tater mitts"...below, is my photo diary of my attempt at using the tater mitts.
Tater Mitts!! The box claims that you can peel a potato in 8 seconds...hmmm...
Out of the box, they look like rubber gloves with plastic nerd candies attached. Let's give 'em a go!
Here's a "before picture" of the potatoes...5 lbs= about 12-14 potatoes. At 8 seconds a potato, it should take less than 2 minutes to complete!
...so over 30 minutes later, this is what the potatoes looked like...
...and this is what the gloves looked like...how do you clean these things??
The Tater Mitts also included a "free" vegetable dicer. I'll spare the details, but let's just say, wet potatoes+wet counter+not so sharp vegetable dicer=a lot of laughter!
After another 20 minutes of "dicing", the potatoes were finally ready to be boiled!
And, the final product... (ok, so I actually forgot to take a picture of the final product, but mine looked a lot like these!)
Now let's analyze the back of the box... 8 seconds per potato? Hardly. It took at least 2 minutes to do each potato. If by a "few quick strokes" they meant "vigorously rub each potato until you are sweating and feeling the burn in your arms", then yes--it only took a few quick strokes. :) "Perfectly peeled in an instant", eh? There was nothing perfect, nor instant about this whole process...
The Tater Mitts were fun to try--and at least it's made for a fun story and a good blog post..but really, that's about all they're good for. If you ever happen upon these online, in a store, or on a tv infomercial, get as far away as possible! :)
So of course two days later when I got an email about our Easter dinner potluck--the only thing that was left on the list was mashed potatoes. What perfect timing to try out the "tater mitts"...below, is my photo diary of my attempt at using the tater mitts.
Tater Mitts!! The box claims that you can peel a potato in 8 seconds...hmmm...
Out of the box, they look like rubber gloves with plastic nerd candies attached. Let's give 'em a go!
Here's a "before picture" of the potatoes...5 lbs= about 12-14 potatoes. At 8 seconds a potato, it should take less than 2 minutes to complete!
...so over 30 minutes later, this is what the potatoes looked like...
...and this is what the gloves looked like...how do you clean these things??
The Tater Mitts also included a "free" vegetable dicer. I'll spare the details, but let's just say, wet potatoes+wet counter+not so sharp vegetable dicer=a lot of laughter!
After another 20 minutes of "dicing", the potatoes were finally ready to be boiled!
And, the final product... (ok, so I actually forgot to take a picture of the final product, but mine looked a lot like these!)
Now let's analyze the back of the box... 8 seconds per potato? Hardly. It took at least 2 minutes to do each potato. If by a "few quick strokes" they meant "vigorously rub each potato until you are sweating and feeling the burn in your arms", then yes--it only took a few quick strokes. :) "Perfectly peeled in an instant", eh? There was nothing perfect, nor instant about this whole process...
The Tater Mitts were fun to try--and at least it's made for a fun story and a good blog post..but really, that's about all they're good for. If you ever happen upon these online, in a store, or on a tv infomercial, get as far away as possible! :)
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Good Friday Verses/Hymn
"What can wash away my sin?
NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS!
What can make me whole again?
NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS!
oh, precious is the flow
that makes me white as snow!
No other fount I know,
NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS!"
(Hymn: What Can Wash Away My Sin?)
"Come now, let us reason together. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool!" Isaiah 1:12
"Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe.
Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow!
...O praise the One who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead!"
(Hymn: Jesus Paid it All)
"He was pierced for our transgression, he was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him; and by his wounds we are healed." Isaiah 53:5
"My sin, o the bliss, of this glorious thought:
My sin, not in part, but the WHOLE
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more
Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, oh my soul!"
(Hymn: It Is Well with My Soul)
"He made Him who knew NO sin to be sin FOR US, that in Him we might become the righteousness of God!" 2 Corinthians 5:21
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were STILL SINNERS Christ died for us!" Romans 5:8
"And can it be that I should gain
an interest in the Savior's blood?
Died he for me--who caused his pain
for me who Him to death pursued.
Amazing love--how can it be?
That Thou my God should die for me?"
(And Can It Be--Charles Wesley)
"He himself bore our sins in His body on the tree that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. By His wounds we are healed" 1 Peter 2:24
"That if you confess with your mouth, JESUS IS LORD, and believe in your heart, God raised Him from the dead--you will be saved." Romans 10:9
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him will not perish but will have eternal life." John 3:16
NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS!
What can make me whole again?
NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS!
oh, precious is the flow
that makes me white as snow!
No other fount I know,
NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS!"
(Hymn: What Can Wash Away My Sin?)
"Come now, let us reason together. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool!" Isaiah 1:12
"Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe.
Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow!
...O praise the One who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead!"
(Hymn: Jesus Paid it All)
"He was pierced for our transgression, he was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him; and by his wounds we are healed." Isaiah 53:5
"My sin, o the bliss, of this glorious thought:
My sin, not in part, but the WHOLE
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more
Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, oh my soul!"
(Hymn: It Is Well with My Soul)
"He made Him who knew NO sin to be sin FOR US, that in Him we might become the righteousness of God!" 2 Corinthians 5:21
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were STILL SINNERS Christ died for us!" Romans 5:8
"And can it be that I should gain
an interest in the Savior's blood?
Died he for me--who caused his pain
for me who Him to death pursued.
Amazing love--how can it be?
That Thou my God should die for me?"
(And Can It Be--Charles Wesley)
"He himself bore our sins in His body on the tree that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. By His wounds we are healed" 1 Peter 2:24
"That if you confess with your mouth, JESUS IS LORD, and believe in your heart, God raised Him from the dead--you will be saved." Romans 10:9
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him will not perish but will have eternal life." John 3:16
The Greatest Event in History
(By John Piper)
Not surprisingly the greatest event in the history of the world is complex.
1) For example, since Jesus Christ is man and God in one person, was his death the death of God? To answer this we must speak of the two natures of Christ, one divine and one human. Ever since AD 451 the Chalcedonian definition of Christ’s two natures in one person has been accepted as the orthodox teaching of Scripture. The Council of Chalcedon said,
We, then, . . . teach men to confess . . . one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of the natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and One Subsistence, nor parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten, God, the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The divine nature is immortal (Romans 1:23; 1 Timothy 1:17). It cannot die. That is part of what it means to be God. Therefore, when Christ died, it was his human nature that suffered death. The mystery of the union between the divine and the human natures, in that experience of death, is not revealed to us. What we know is that Christ died, and that in the same day he went to Paradise ("Today you will be with me in Paradise," Luke 23:43). Therefore there seems to have been consciousness in death, so that the ongoing union between the human and divine natures need not have been interrupted, though Christ, only in his human nature, died.
2) Another example of the complexity of the event of Christ’s death is how God the Father experienced it. The most common evangelical teaching is that the death of Christ is Christ’s experience of the Father’s curse. "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’" (Galatians 3:13). Whose curse? One could soften it by saying, "the curse of the law." But the law is not a person to curse anyone. A curse is a curse if there is one who curses. The one who curses through the law is God, who wrote the law. Therefore the death of Christ for our sin and for our law breaking was the experience of the Father’s curse.
This is why Jesus said, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46). In the death of Christ God laid on him the sins of his people (Isaiah 53:6) which he hated. And in hatred for that sin, God turned away from his sin-laden Son and gave him up to suffer the full force of death and cursing. The Father’s wrath was poured out on him instead of us so that his wrath toward us was "propitiated" (Romans 3:25) and removed.
But here is the paradox. God deeply and joyfully approved of what the Son was doing in that hour of sacrifice. In fact, he had planned it all together with the Son. And his love for the God-Man, Jesus Christ, on earth was owing to the very obedience that took Jesus to the cross. The cross was Jesus’ crowning act of obedience and love. And this obedience and love the Father profoundly approved and enjoyed. Therefore Paul says this amazing thing: "Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God" (Ephesians 5:2). The death of Jesus was a fragrance to God.
So here we have one more glorious complexity. The death of Christ was the curse of God and the wrath of God; and yet, at the same time, it was pleasing to God and a sweet fragrance. While turning from his Son and giving him up to die laden with our sin, he delighted in the obedience and love and perfection of the Son.
Therefore, let us stand in awe and look with trembling joy on the death of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. There is no greater event in history. There is no greater thing for our minds to ponder or our hearts to admire. Stay close to this. Everything important and good gathers here. It is a wise and weighty and happy place to be.
Not surprisingly the greatest event in the history of the world is complex.
1) For example, since Jesus Christ is man and God in one person, was his death the death of God? To answer this we must speak of the two natures of Christ, one divine and one human. Ever since AD 451 the Chalcedonian definition of Christ’s two natures in one person has been accepted as the orthodox teaching of Scripture. The Council of Chalcedon said,
We, then, . . . teach men to confess . . . one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of the natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and One Subsistence, nor parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten, God, the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The divine nature is immortal (Romans 1:23; 1 Timothy 1:17). It cannot die. That is part of what it means to be God. Therefore, when Christ died, it was his human nature that suffered death. The mystery of the union between the divine and the human natures, in that experience of death, is not revealed to us. What we know is that Christ died, and that in the same day he went to Paradise ("Today you will be with me in Paradise," Luke 23:43). Therefore there seems to have been consciousness in death, so that the ongoing union between the human and divine natures need not have been interrupted, though Christ, only in his human nature, died.
2) Another example of the complexity of the event of Christ’s death is how God the Father experienced it. The most common evangelical teaching is that the death of Christ is Christ’s experience of the Father’s curse. "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’" (Galatians 3:13). Whose curse? One could soften it by saying, "the curse of the law." But the law is not a person to curse anyone. A curse is a curse if there is one who curses. The one who curses through the law is God, who wrote the law. Therefore the death of Christ for our sin and for our law breaking was the experience of the Father’s curse.
This is why Jesus said, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46). In the death of Christ God laid on him the sins of his people (Isaiah 53:6) which he hated. And in hatred for that sin, God turned away from his sin-laden Son and gave him up to suffer the full force of death and cursing. The Father’s wrath was poured out on him instead of us so that his wrath toward us was "propitiated" (Romans 3:25) and removed.
But here is the paradox. God deeply and joyfully approved of what the Son was doing in that hour of sacrifice. In fact, he had planned it all together with the Son. And his love for the God-Man, Jesus Christ, on earth was owing to the very obedience that took Jesus to the cross. The cross was Jesus’ crowning act of obedience and love. And this obedience and love the Father profoundly approved and enjoyed. Therefore Paul says this amazing thing: "Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God" (Ephesians 5:2). The death of Jesus was a fragrance to God.
So here we have one more glorious complexity. The death of Christ was the curse of God and the wrath of God; and yet, at the same time, it was pleasing to God and a sweet fragrance. While turning from his Son and giving him up to die laden with our sin, he delighted in the obedience and love and perfection of the Son.
Therefore, let us stand in awe and look with trembling joy on the death of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. There is no greater event in history. There is no greater thing for our minds to ponder or our hearts to admire. Stay close to this. Everything important and good gathers here. It is a wise and weighty and happy place to be.
"When I survey the wondrous Cross
On which the Prince of Glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss
and pour contempt on all my pride.
See from His head, His hands, His feet
Sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet
or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature mine
that were an offering far too small
Love so amazing, so divine
demands my soul, my life, my all.
O the Wonderful Cross!
O the Wonderful Cross!
Bids me come and die
and find that I, may truly live!
O the Wonderful Cross!
O the Wonderful Cross!
All who gather here,
by grace draw near, to bless your Name."
On which the Prince of Glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss
and pour contempt on all my pride.
See from His head, His hands, His feet
Sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet
or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature mine
that were an offering far too small
Love so amazing, so divine
demands my soul, my life, my all.
O the Wonderful Cross!
O the Wonderful Cross!
Bids me come and die
and find that I, may truly live!
O the Wonderful Cross!
O the Wonderful Cross!
All who gather here,
by grace draw near, to bless your Name."
Monday, March 17, 2008
Birthday #24!
24 My roommate Anna and my good friend Stephanie hosted my 24th birthday bash last night, and we had a blast! I am so thankful for such good friends here in Louisville!! And my best friend Tricia drove up from Nashville to celebrate birthday weekend! Thanks for making me feel so loved!
I also felt SUPER loved by all of the phone calls, emails and good ol' snail mail!! It is such a blessing having friends all over the country!
Here are some pictures from last night:
Me, blowing out the candles on the cake!
Anna and Stephanie, my amazing party planner/hosters! I love these girls!!
Some of the girls posing on the couch! I am so blessed by such dear friends! Thanks for making the night so fun!
Wish you all could have been here to celebrate!
...and happy St. Patty's day! :)
I also felt SUPER loved by all of the phone calls, emails and good ol' snail mail!! It is such a blessing having friends all over the country!
Here are some pictures from last night:
Me, blowing out the candles on the cake!
Anna and Stephanie, my amazing party planner/hosters! I love these girls!!
Some of the girls posing on the couch! I am so blessed by such dear friends! Thanks for making the night so fun!
Wish you all could have been here to celebrate!
...and happy St. Patty's day! :)
Saturday, March 8, 2008
SNOW DAY!!!
Louisville becomes more like Delaware everyday...
Last weekend we were out running the loop at Cherokee (in t-shirts and capris!) Today we were out SLEDDING down Dog Hill in a FOOT of snow at Cherokee bundled up in layers of clothing!!
Here are some pictures of our fun outing...
My car was COVERED in snow!!
Stephanie, Jackie and I in front of the Daniel Boone statue on our walk to Cherokee park!
The whole gang: Dana, Jimmy, Stephanie, Jackie, me and Anna
Jimmy, about to push me, Dana and Anna down the hill!
What a great way to spend a Saturday!
Last weekend we were out running the loop at Cherokee (in t-shirts and capris!) Today we were out SLEDDING down Dog Hill in a FOOT of snow at Cherokee bundled up in layers of clothing!!
Here are some pictures of our fun outing...
My car was COVERED in snow!!
Stephanie, Jackie and I in front of the Daniel Boone statue on our walk to Cherokee park!
The whole gang: Dana, Jimmy, Stephanie, Jackie, me and Anna
Jimmy, about to push me, Dana and Anna down the hill!
What a great way to spend a Saturday!
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Happy MARCH!
It's MARCH!! Can you believe it? Time flies when you're having fun!! Where are the days going? To go along with the last post--our lives are fleeting and fading fast!!
In honor of the great month of March, I've compiled a list of why March is such a fabulous month...
...at the beginning of March it's usually snowy and cold, but by the end of March Spring is bursting at the seams!! The best of both worlds!
...The official beginning of Spring--in my opinion, the best season of them all(along with fall of course)!
...signs of new life springing forth--reminding us of the One who created the heavens and the earth!
...March is National Frozen Food Month. Who knew?
....St. Patrick's Day. A holiday brought to you by your local Irish pub, the color green, and the number 17.
...this year, Easter falls in March. "There in the ground His body lay, Light of the World by darkness slain. Then bursting forth in glorious day--up from the grave He rose again! And as He stands in victory, sins' curse has lost its' grip on me, for I am His, and He is mine--bought with the precious blood of Christ!!"
...Some of Delaware's most beloved people were all birthed in March--Jenny and Tyler Somers, Olivia Thompson, Jacob and Isaac Spruill, my sister-in-law, Jilly Klumbach, my twin brother--and of course, yours truly! :)
So thank you March, for being such a wonderful month in the year--full of things to celebrate! Enjoy every moment of it!! (April will be here soon enough!)
In honor of the great month of March, I've compiled a list of why March is such a fabulous month...
...at the beginning of March it's usually snowy and cold, but by the end of March Spring is bursting at the seams!! The best of both worlds!
...The official beginning of Spring--in my opinion, the best season of them all(along with fall of course)!
...signs of new life springing forth--reminding us of the One who created the heavens and the earth!
...March is National Frozen Food Month. Who knew?
....St. Patrick's Day. A holiday brought to you by your local Irish pub, the color green, and the number 17.
...this year, Easter falls in March. "There in the ground His body lay, Light of the World by darkness slain. Then bursting forth in glorious day--up from the grave He rose again! And as He stands in victory, sins' curse has lost its' grip on me, for I am His, and He is mine--bought with the precious blood of Christ!!"
...Some of Delaware's most beloved people were all birthed in March--Jenny and Tyler Somers, Olivia Thompson, Jacob and Isaac Spruill, my sister-in-law, Jilly Klumbach, my twin brother--and of course, yours truly! :)
So thank you March, for being such a wonderful month in the year--full of things to celebrate! Enjoy every moment of it!! (April will be here soon enough!)
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