Filed under: Jesus, prayer | Tags: anxiety, gospel, Jesus, John the Baptist, Matthew
The past few days have been amazing. I enjoyed my weekend out of town with friends. I found out about my acceptance to MLC’s staff ministry program. I have had pretty good days at work lately.
But lately something has made me feel slightly anxious. I am not sure why as none of it has to do with me really. But when other people are suffering, even just a bit, it affects me. I get nervous that if something bad is happening to another person that I am next.
What to do with anxiety? Trust in Jesus!
Easier said than done, I must admit. So for now I must meditate on Him and trust God’s Word.
Psalm 139: 23 :: Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Philippians 4:6 :: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
I have also started my weekly reading of the Gospels. I have started on the Gospel of Matthew and will read through it this week. Four chapters a night. Not too bad to get started on. The first four chapters were about Christ’s genealogy, birth, and childhood. Also covered was John the Baptist, the temptation of Christ, and the calling of the disciples. He started to heal people as well.
Take away passages
Matthew 1: 21; 23 :: She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins…Behold, the virgin shall bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which translated means “God with us”.
Matthew 4: 17 :: Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Peace and Blessings.
I found out earlier this evening that I have been accepted into the staff ministry program at Martin Luther College! I will start the corespondence course to become a full time called servant.
I really look forward to starting my studies and getting more involved in church!!
Filed under: God, Jesus, Walking with You | Tags: Bible, challenge, Christ, Christian, Gospels, Jesus, reading
Something I really like in the book I mentioned below, is that Mr. Dobson reads through the Gospels on a weekly basis. I find this to be an amazing feat and wonderfully inspirational to all Christians. How many of us actually spend a significant amount of time reading about Jesus? If we want to follow him, walk like him, and show him to the world, we need to spend a lot of time learning about and being with him. What better way than to read the words his followers, inspired by God, wrote about him?
And so I will challenge myself to spend more time in the Gospels. I do not have the time to read all four every week, but I want to read through one of them each week. So that in a normal four week month, I will have read all four Gospels. When I am done I will start over. I am not putting a goal date on this because I hope to make a life change. I want to make the gospels a central part of my bible reading for the rest of my life, and so I challenge myself to start today.
I hope that this will push me towards understanding just how Jesus walked and I pray that God would work on my heart so that I may start walking more like Christ.
Peace and Blessings
Filed under: lit 101 | Tags: book, change, critique, Ed Dobson, lifestyle, religion, The Year of living like Jesus
Disclaimer: I have only read half of this book and this is just some initial opinions. I am enjoying his tale quite a bit and it was amazing to find this as I have been thinking a lot about how to walk as Jesus walk (as per 1 John 2:3-6).
Yesterday I picked up the book THE YEAR OF LIVING LIKE JESUS by Ed Dobson. I am almost half way through the book and so far I have some mixed feelings. I applaud the man for his decision to try and live a more Christ-like life, but I find that his way of doing so seems more “religious” that I expected.
He talks to a Rabbi to learn about Jewish custom so he can follow it as Jesus did, but it seems that he is more worried about whether or not he can write on the Sabbath than on how Jesus would have spent the Sabbath. He focuses a lot on Jewish law (much of it from tradition not the scriptures). He also spends time figuring out how to use the rosary, Orthodox prayer ropes, prayer beads, and so forth. Again, not something Jesus would have done as these are traditions of the church. Why not look for the few recorded prayers of Jesus in the Gospels and pray those? Granted the prayer beads do pray scripture which is very wonderful!! And I must say that these are great physical elements that can help get your mind focused, as he points out in the book.
So I applaud his efforts to focus more on Christ, but as of yet, I do not see how this directly changes his life to be more like Christ’s life. Maybe I had incorrect or lofty expectations. Also, I am not done with the book so maybe I’m jumping the gate a bit by forming these opinions. Once I finish the book I will prepare a more complete assessment of my opinion. I am enjoying the read. I’ve read almost half in a few hours. It’s inspiring in many ways. He is really fairly dedicated to living out this lifestyle. It’s honest and open. He admits successes and failures, sins and triumphs. Despite my disappointment in the focus more on “church traditions” than Christ’s actual life as told in the Gospels, I would suggest this to anyone as a wonderful read and a challenge to your walk.
Peace and Blessings.
Filed under: away, boys and girls, the daily | Tags: friends, weekend, work
Up and at ‘em. Kinda.
I have my coffee and I showered, but I am still groggy. I am smiling thought because today is Friday for me. Tomorrow morning I am driving to Dallas to meet up with my best friend from college and a few other studio mates for the Wilco concert. These people are some of my favorites from design studio days. They’ve endured all sorts of sleep-deprivation induced drama and hilarity. They’ve been by myside through the crap that any girl puts up with in college, as well as the joyous moments.
So the goal for the day is to simply get through it. Not “simply” but to do my best where I am and “suvive” the day.
Yesterday I had to put out my first client “fire” which I think I handled well, but we will wait and see. Today will be better no matter what. Plus bible study is tonight and we will be reviewing 1 peter 1-2:3. Can’t wait for that!
Giddy with anticipation for tomorrow and the rest of the weekend, I excitedly wish you:
Peace and Blessings.
I am writing this from my iPhone! Pretty cool app–I can post blogs anywhere!
It is almost time for church and I am sipping on very black coffee. Also it is supposed to rain again today. I love rainy days. I tend to enjoy a slightly melancoly mood and the cool rain fits that so well.
Anyway I mainly wanted to test my new app.
Peace and blessings!
Filed under: God, Jesus, Missions | Tags: attitude, God, gospel, Lord, prayer, Selfish, tranformation, work
God is so amazing isn’t He? Mid last week He revealed to me just how amazingly selfish I am and then transformed me in my repentance.
Friday was such a blessing at work. I was not without fault, but I felt far more at ease. The day went smoothly and I even had a chance to speak about my passion for Christ with the agnostic that I work with. I pray for this man that he may know the full love of Christ.
Lord, give me boldness to proclaim your transforming gospel. Fill me with love so that it pours out on to all the people I interact with. May they ask me what it is that makes me different and my I gladly point to you as my dear and precious Savior. May I decrease while You increase. May I glorify you above all else and serve you humbly and in the spirit of truth. Amen.
Peace and Blessings!
Filed under: the daily | Tags: adventure, cooking, food, friends, Texas, tourist, vacation
This weekend was one out of the ordinary. FINALLY! The adventure started Friday evening when my best friend of all time as well as my craziest friend of all time both arrived at my house.
The Crazy Friend (DM) was here to spend the weekend with me. Jobless, he is constantly looking for ways to kill time. Also couch surfing is a nice, inexpensive way to travel, so he is taking advantage of all friendly couches around the great state of Texas.
Oldest Friend (CN) brought food. And he is a wonderful chef to be. He and I brainstormed a meal as I drove home from work and he walked through Central Market. He arrived with HUGE chicken breasts (most likely an EE cup), fennel, lemons, tomato sauce, and Italian sausage. Along with two bottles of Italian wine. MMMM.
So with two of my favorite people in my kitchen, things got interesting. I am a disaster when it comes to food preparations. But I was intent on helping CN cook while DM talked. Well with two people around I began to perform a bit and soon the hyper-ness took over and I ended up cutting myself. I then got distracted and forgot to prep for my part of the meal. Collards.
Finally, I got those cut and placed them into the pan only to realize that I forgot to put the pancetta in first to cook. So I removed all the olive oil soaked leaves and in went some garlic and pancetta. Finally all was well and I was stirring up my favorite dish. DM went into some crazy story which left me laughing and I turned away from the pan. I looked up and CN said:
“You’re burning”.
I turned back to the pan to see smoke, but nothing was wrong with the collards. Then I noticed that I left the dish towel I was using to hold the handle. It had slipped from the handle and a corner of it was laying in the gas fire on the stove. I screeched and picked up the rag, flames growing as I stared in disbelief. CN chuckled as DM yelled:
“Put it in the sink!” I did so. Later as well laughed DM remarked, “My favorite part was how your first thought was to stare rather than get it to the sink.”
To which CN, who has had years of experience with my insanely distracted attempts at producing edible food, asked, “How is it that the rest of your family are amazing cooks or chefs and you suck at cooking?”
“Someone had to set the table,” I said simply. “And, boy, can I fold napkins!”
Despite my talkativeness we managed to get the food done and beautifully arranged on plates. We laughed and enjoyed the night, wine flowing, espresso and gelato following up the meal, a joyful exclamation point at the end of our night.
Our Italian Feast!
The next day we woke early and DM and I headed downtown. We braved the game day traffic and managed to get into a garage near the capitol. Walking through tailgaters and game go-ers we stood out, me in my pink scoop neck and black skirt, DM in his slim jeans and lavender sweater. The garage fee was high, but the short walk to the capitol grounds made it worth it. And the tour is free.
The Rotunda at the Texas State Capitol
We walked around on our own a bit then joined in on a guided tour. A white haired, fiesty woman walked us through the rotunda, the senate room, the house of representatives, and back to the rotunda. The sparkle in her eye as she related battle stories made me wonder if her ancestors were involved in setting us up as our own country many decades ago. She had a particularly strong way of telling her tales of Texas independence, but they were filled with funny stories and commentary.
DM and I left the group and toured the gift shop and underground addition on our own before heading back to North Austin.
I have always carried a desire to pretend that I am a tourist in my own town. Saturday I had a nice little chance to do that. It was a nice break in the monotony. Maybe next weekend I’ll go see one of the museums for the first time.
Peace and Blessings.
Just downloaded the newest CD from HOUSE OF HEROS called THE END IS NOT THE END. I love it. If you like Panic and the Disco then you’ll like them.
Punky electro-pop with a Christian Twist. The singer’s voice is amazing. There’s a strong dramatic element to the songs. I love drama. 
http://www.myspace.com/houseofheroes
I feel a little out of sorts tonight. Not sad or weird or anything. I just can’t seem to sit still or quiet my mind. I played guitar for a while, had my lesson, played some more. Then I did some minor working out. Now I know it’s time to get in bed, but I cant seem to figure out what I do when I get there.
Work is so mundane again. But I remind myself constantly, “at least I am not in a forced labor camp or being persecuted.” I wish that really actually worked at making me not hate my job but honestly does saying such things ever make anyone feel better? It’s like telling a kid that they should eat everything on their plate because some children don’t have food. As if Americans being fat will help the starving people everywhere.
As if my focusing on what I’m not having to do will make me feel better about the fact that I am not doing what I wish to be doing.
But I am praying for patience.
This weekend I left for a small Texas town on Saturday. I spent the weekend at the River Inn with my younger sister, parents, and some extended family I barely know. Honestly I wish I knew them better. Our family is very split. There is the side that never made it out of the trailer (not that there is anything wrong with trailers) and the side that did. Both purposefully avoid the others for pretty much the same reason. Snobbery. Reversed or otherwise. Neither side seems to want to have anything to do with the other but for one weekend a year we at least all get in the same place.
As much fun as I had seeing my aunts, uncles, people who are cousins of cousins and other questionable relations, I sort of wished I was there alone. The setting was perfect for some deep spiritual work. A beautiful southwest Texas country side, a river, coolish weather (for Texas). A modest living room with oodles of coffee. I could have really hunkered down. I tried to read some, but I realized that I never see much of my family and really wished to spend time with them.
I realized how desperate I am to get out of town. As we drove back through Fredricksberg I kept suggesting that we just stay. I almost looked up the WELS church in town to see if they needed any staff members.
I also entertained a thought that has been flashing into my mind here and there: the idea of selling everything I have and becoming a traveling missionary. I think it would be so amazing to get down to bare essentials and then drive to and from churches helping out when needed. A little VBS help here…a little canvassing there. You know do random stuff for the church. Maybe a family could put me up for a few nights, feed me dinner. I’d need a little money to get to the next town.
Sounds like freedom, but with a purpose.
AH! I just need to be patient. Once I start my Staff ministry classes I think I’ll feel better about things. At least I’ll feel like I am working towards my goal.
I rest assured that God has me in this place at this time for a reason. I know I can serve Christ in the day-to-day of my secular job. I just pray each morning as I pull up that He shows me how to do that.
Peace and Blessings.
