I wish I had time to blog....I want to update but there is so much to do and so little time.
Hope to be back soon.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Spring Break...
Tomorrow morning I will leave for Colorado. The organization I work for has been hosting a spring break retreat in Colorado for 4 or 5 years now. This will be our 3rd year at the Young Life camp Fontier Ranch in Buena Vista, CO. It very beautiful there, and restful away from all the business of life. Most of all I am looking forward to some extra time for me and God to hang out. I am totally drianed from this past week. I am also looking forward to getting to know some new students, many students going are new faces to me. Other things to look forward to, they have great coffee there and it is in every building hot and fresh and free!!! I usually have about 5-7 cups of coffee a week but at Frontier I usually have about 4 a day! I love it! :) Also there will be a speaker there talking about our "Inner life" and I've heard he may be talking about how to have rest in your inner life...after this week I think I better listen up!Hoping for rest, relaxation, new friendships, and most of all resting in Jesus.
Hope your week is wonderful too.
This is a pic of some students and I at Summit last year.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
A Thought...
Today I thought a thought I have thought many times but I don't think I have ever expressed out loud. What do you think about that? :)
Here's the thought, "Wind makes me irritable, or adds to an already irritable day."
Really I think that is true for me. Today was very windy, actually as the day wore on the wind intensified. I was a little cranky today but there were times I felt I had my crankiness under control, but when I would step outside, I was cranky all over again. I think the wind is antagonizing. Maybe something like a bully pushing me around or pulling at my hair. Like I said, I have thought these things about the wind before and never expressed them. Thank God for blogs (or not), maybe these were thoughts better left to myself, but too late, I am sending them into the blog world for all to read.
Cranky in Kansas,
C
Here's the thought, "Wind makes me irritable, or adds to an already irritable day."
Really I think that is true for me. Today was very windy, actually as the day wore on the wind intensified. I was a little cranky today but there were times I felt I had my crankiness under control, but when I would step outside, I was cranky all over again. I think the wind is antagonizing. Maybe something like a bully pushing me around or pulling at my hair. Like I said, I have thought these things about the wind before and never expressed them. Thank God for blogs (or not), maybe these were thoughts better left to myself, but too late, I am sending them into the blog world for all to read.
Cranky in Kansas,
C
Monday, March 13, 2006
Monday
I'm on my way out the door for work, but I'm just laughing at how silly my morning has been.
First I had a crazy dream about being unprepared for a task I need to so in May. When I woke from my dream it was 30min. later than I had wanted to get up and I was a little paniced from my dream still.
My shirt for the day has what I call a "lumpy" in it. What's a "lumpy?"
It's that bump you get just off the shoulder when you hang a damp shirt on a hanger to dry, when it dries there's this bump and it is just there until you wash it again. I tried to damp it with water, but it won't lay down.
And the topper of the morning, one last look in the mirror before I roll out and shinning at the top of my head is a little gray hair, it was like bight light just laying there, staring me in the face.
These things are all a little silly but isn't that just a Monday morning for ya.
Hope I'm able to find the humor in things as the day wears on, don't want to have a "case of the Monday's"
Oh, Office Space. :)
Hope your Monday is fabulous!
First I had a crazy dream about being unprepared for a task I need to so in May. When I woke from my dream it was 30min. later than I had wanted to get up and I was a little paniced from my dream still.
My shirt for the day has what I call a "lumpy" in it. What's a "lumpy?"
It's that bump you get just off the shoulder when you hang a damp shirt on a hanger to dry, when it dries there's this bump and it is just there until you wash it again. I tried to damp it with water, but it won't lay down.
And the topper of the morning, one last look in the mirror before I roll out and shinning at the top of my head is a little gray hair, it was like bight light just laying there, staring me in the face.
These things are all a little silly but isn't that just a Monday morning for ya.
Hope I'm able to find the humor in things as the day wears on, don't want to have a "case of the Monday's"
Oh, Office Space. :)
Hope your Monday is fabulous!
Thursday, March 09, 2006
A Quote
Not much time today for a post but I thought I would share a favorite quote of mine. This quote inspires me to hope and to believe God (not just believe "in" Him but to actually Believe Him).
"Jesus calls people into an actual situation where faith is possible...because he knows that it is only through actual obedience that a man can become liberated to believe."
--Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship
What does this quote stir in you?
"Jesus calls people into an actual situation where faith is possible...because he knows that it is only through actual obedience that a man can become liberated to believe."
--Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship
What does this quote stir in you?
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
A new fave...
Just so you know this is a downloaded image from Target, I am not the model.
Today is a warm wonderful day and I am sporting my Gaucho pants. Although some may think this strange little pant is ugly or weird, I say every day a gaucho pant day!
Several times today I have just thought, "I love it that I am wearing my gauchos." Really I have.
I feel so much freedom to move around and I think they're cute.
Today's new Fave: A Gaucho Day...with flipflops of course.
Today is a warm wonderful day and I am sporting my Gaucho pants. Although some may think this strange little pant is ugly or weird, I say every day a gaucho pant day!
Several times today I have just thought, "I love it that I am wearing my gauchos." Really I have.
I feel so much freedom to move around and I think they're cute.
Today's new Fave: A Gaucho Day...with flipflops of course.
GROSS!
The following post is not so "sweet" and is atypical of the Sweet Spot.
Someone joked with me today that I "actually" wash my bed sheets. The truth is I am teased occasionally by several people because of my slight paranoia of dust mites. I thought I would educate you all on dust mites for several reasons. One, I think people need to know this. Two, I want to blog but can't think of anything to say and this came to mind today. Three, you may be glad to know you should wash your sheets and vacuum your mattress.
"We live surrounded in filth. Sorry, but it's a fact. All humans shed about 5-10 grams of dead skin each week. About 80% of the material seen floating in a sunbeam is actually flakes of skin.
House dust mites are nearly universal in occurrence - a typical bed mattress may have contain anything from 100,000 to 10 million mites. Ten percent of the weight of a two year old pillow may be composed of dead mites and their droppings. Carpets and household upholstery also support high mite populations. What do house dust mites eat? Human and animal skin flakes (Dermatophagoides - "skin eater"). So in some ways house dust mites are a good thing - they help stop us drowning in our own filth."
Source: http://www-micro.msb.le.ac.uk/video/mite.html
Here's a picture of our little "friend"
These are living things and they are eating stuff, which means they also have waste. Their waste is where they are which means although you may be glad they are eating your dead skin, they are still leaving behind some things too, nasty! Also these little guys are carriers of germs, the cold, the flu, whatever is going around or a part of what they are eating.
So now that I have totally grossed you out and possibly made you a germophobe. Here are some tips to keep your home sanitary. Keep in mind the following are extreme measures you should take if you are highly allergic to the dust mite...so for all of us who are not allergic I think washing your sheets every week or so and doing some weekly vacuuming may just be enough.
"Recommendations focus on "dust control." One must reduce the concentration of dust borne allergens in the living environment by controlling both allergen production and the dust which serves to transport it.
For the bedroom environment:
Replace feather and down pillows with those having synthetic fillings.
Enclose the mattress top and sides with a plastic cover, thoroughly
vacuuming mattress pillows and the base of the bed.
Daily damp dust the plastic mattress cover.
Weekly change and wash pillowcases, sheets, and under blankets, and vacuum the bed base and around the covered mattress.
Replace woolen blankets with nylon or cotton cellulose ones.
Frequently wash all bedding (blankets, mattress pads and comforters) in hot water (130 degrees F weekly). Also wash curtains.
Remove carpet and replace with wood, tile, linoleum, or vinyl floor covering. (If you have carpet, vacuum every day.)
Mattresses covered with "fitted sheets" help prevent the accumulation of human skin scales on the surface (an alternate to encasing mattresses and box springs in non-allergenic, impermeable, plastic covers). "
Source: http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2157.html
More info than you ever wanted to know! :)
Someone joked with me today that I "actually" wash my bed sheets. The truth is I am teased occasionally by several people because of my slight paranoia of dust mites. I thought I would educate you all on dust mites for several reasons. One, I think people need to know this. Two, I want to blog but can't think of anything to say and this came to mind today. Three, you may be glad to know you should wash your sheets and vacuum your mattress.
"We live surrounded in filth. Sorry, but it's a fact. All humans shed about 5-10 grams of dead skin each week. About 80% of the material seen floating in a sunbeam is actually flakes of skin.
House dust mites are nearly universal in occurrence - a typical bed mattress may have contain anything from 100,000 to 10 million mites. Ten percent of the weight of a two year old pillow may be composed of dead mites and their droppings. Carpets and household upholstery also support high mite populations. What do house dust mites eat? Human and animal skin flakes (Dermatophagoides - "skin eater"). So in some ways house dust mites are a good thing - they help stop us drowning in our own filth."
Source: http://www-micro.msb.le.ac.uk/video/mite.html
Here's a picture of our little "friend"
These are living things and they are eating stuff, which means they also have waste. Their waste is where they are which means although you may be glad they are eating your dead skin, they are still leaving behind some things too, nasty! Also these little guys are carriers of germs, the cold, the flu, whatever is going around or a part of what they are eating.
So now that I have totally grossed you out and possibly made you a germophobe. Here are some tips to keep your home sanitary. Keep in mind the following are extreme measures you should take if you are highly allergic to the dust mite...so for all of us who are not allergic I think washing your sheets every week or so and doing some weekly vacuuming may just be enough.
"Recommendations focus on "dust control." One must reduce the concentration of dust borne allergens in the living environment by controlling both allergen production and the dust which serves to transport it.
For the bedroom environment:
Replace feather and down pillows with those having synthetic fillings.
Enclose the mattress top and sides with a plastic cover, thoroughly
vacuuming mattress pillows and the base of the bed.
Daily damp dust the plastic mattress cover.
Weekly change and wash pillowcases, sheets, and under blankets, and vacuum the bed base and around the covered mattress.
Replace woolen blankets with nylon or cotton cellulose ones.
Frequently wash all bedding (blankets, mattress pads and comforters) in hot water (130 degrees F weekly). Also wash curtains.
Remove carpet and replace with wood, tile, linoleum, or vinyl floor covering. (If you have carpet, vacuum every day.)
Mattresses covered with "fitted sheets" help prevent the accumulation of human skin scales on the surface (an alternate to encasing mattresses and box springs in non-allergenic, impermeable, plastic covers). "
Source: http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2157.html
More info than you ever wanted to know! :)
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Think think (part 2 of 2)
In my previous post I mentioned reading and thinking...here are some thoughts rolling around in my head from my reading...
I began reading chapter 3 in a book called Revolution of Character: Discovering Christ's Pattern for Spiritual Transformation, by Dallas Willard with Don Simpson. It's alright. I am learning things and it helps that my co-workers and I are discussing it. I need the cooperative process time for retention. Anyway, here is something I read today that got me thinking... "God is not mean, but he is dangerous..." I'll try to give you just enough context to keep it short, but long enough that hopefully it won't be out of context.
"...Paul summarized the prophetic account of the human self and traced the problem to its root:... Roman's 3:10-18... The very last statement from this collection of Old Testament diagnosis of the human condition reaches to the core of the matter: 'There is no fear of God before their eyes.' Fear of God, the proverb tells us, is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 9:10). Although not the outcome of wisdom, to be sure, it is the indispensable beginning. One begins to get smart when he or she fears being crosswise of God - fears not doing what he wants and not being what he requires. Fear is the anticipation of harm. God is not mean, but he is dangerous....electricity and nuclear power, for example, are not mean, but they are dangerous. In a certain sense, if we don't 'worry' about God, we simply aren't being smart. And that is the point of this verse."
WOW! What do I think about that? Still not sure. I think C.S. Lewis was saying the same thing in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, when he described Aslan as being good but not safe. Is my problem here just with vocabulary? Is it just that the words "good" and "safe" are more PC or palatable for me than "not mean" and "dangerous?"
A mediation question given at the end of the chapter is, "How can God be dangerous and still love you?" I found myself asking, "Is God dangerous? I'm not sure I can agree with that. I do agree that He is not "safe," is that the same thing?
Just now I checked out dictionary.com to find the meaning of danger, fear and safe, which also got me thinking about the word "awe," click on the words if you are curious too.
Other thoughts on this... In the end I agree, God is dangerous, he will not remove risk from my life, he will not remove all harm from my way, life in this fallen world will not leave me unharmed; but God does promise to go with me, even before me and behind me, I am not alone, I am not left to die or be destroyed and when I leave this fallen world there is a home prepared for me that is safe. All that said, I think I'll still choose to think of God as good but not safe rather than "dangerous" but "not mean." So how can God be not safe but still love me? In the midst of "danger" I am given the opportunity to see where Jesus is, to trust Him and cleave to Him. I also have the opportunity to know more of God, his love, his provision, his rescue, his strength, his sufferings, his refuge, his comfort and his victory; I think this list could go on and on. In safety would I really understand my need for God? I can even lose sight of that need in midst of danger. God is my Father and he knows what I need to learn and to grow and most of all what will bring glory to himself. So as someone who is scared of risk but in love with Jesus, I have found the dangerous parts of my journey worth it. Although, I really enjoy the safe parts! :) I have so many other thoughts and questions about "fear[ing] being crosswise of God - fear[ing] not doing what he wants and not being what he requires" and "In a certain sense, if we don't 'worry' about God, we simply aren't being smart."
Something in me says, what about grace vs. works (this is stirred with the word "requires" but I do long to please God, I don't think I need to be walkin' around shaking in my boots all the time waiting for lightening to strike, but I do think awe and respect are essential, this is God we're talking about - Creator of all things, Savior and Redeemer, etc.
Why do I have so much to say today....longest post ever!
Thoughts to come in shorter posts.
I began reading chapter 3 in a book called Revolution of Character: Discovering Christ's Pattern for Spiritual Transformation, by Dallas Willard with Don Simpson. It's alright. I am learning things and it helps that my co-workers and I are discussing it. I need the cooperative process time for retention. Anyway, here is something I read today that got me thinking... "God is not mean, but he is dangerous..." I'll try to give you just enough context to keep it short, but long enough that hopefully it won't be out of context.
"...Paul summarized the prophetic account of the human self and traced the problem to its root:... Roman's 3:10-18... The very last statement from this collection of Old Testament diagnosis of the human condition reaches to the core of the matter: 'There is no fear of God before their eyes.' Fear of God, the proverb tells us, is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 9:10). Although not the outcome of wisdom, to be sure, it is the indispensable beginning. One begins to get smart when he or she fears being crosswise of God - fears not doing what he wants and not being what he requires. Fear is the anticipation of harm. God is not mean, but he is dangerous....electricity and nuclear power, for example, are not mean, but they are dangerous. In a certain sense, if we don't 'worry' about God, we simply aren't being smart. And that is the point of this verse."
WOW! What do I think about that? Still not sure. I think C.S. Lewis was saying the same thing in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, when he described Aslan as being good but not safe. Is my problem here just with vocabulary? Is it just that the words "good" and "safe" are more PC or palatable for me than "not mean" and "dangerous?"
A mediation question given at the end of the chapter is, "How can God be dangerous and still love you?" I found myself asking, "Is God dangerous? I'm not sure I can agree with that. I do agree that He is not "safe," is that the same thing?
Just now I checked out dictionary.com to find the meaning of danger, fear and safe, which also got me thinking about the word "awe," click on the words if you are curious too.
Other thoughts on this... In the end I agree, God is dangerous, he will not remove risk from my life, he will not remove all harm from my way, life in this fallen world will not leave me unharmed; but God does promise to go with me, even before me and behind me, I am not alone, I am not left to die or be destroyed and when I leave this fallen world there is a home prepared for me that is safe. All that said, I think I'll still choose to think of God as good but not safe rather than "dangerous" but "not mean." So how can God be not safe but still love me? In the midst of "danger" I am given the opportunity to see where Jesus is, to trust Him and cleave to Him. I also have the opportunity to know more of God, his love, his provision, his rescue, his strength, his sufferings, his refuge, his comfort and his victory; I think this list could go on and on. In safety would I really understand my need for God? I can even lose sight of that need in midst of danger. God is my Father and he knows what I need to learn and to grow and most of all what will bring glory to himself. So as someone who is scared of risk but in love with Jesus, I have found the dangerous parts of my journey worth it. Although, I really enjoy the safe parts! :) I have so many other thoughts and questions about "fear[ing] being crosswise of God - fear[ing] not doing what he wants and not being what he requires" and "In a certain sense, if we don't 'worry' about God, we simply aren't being smart."
Something in me says, what about grace vs. works (this is stirred with the word "requires" but I do long to please God, I don't think I need to be walkin' around shaking in my boots all the time waiting for lightening to strike, but I do think awe and respect are essential, this is God we're talking about - Creator of all things, Savior and Redeemer, etc.
Why do I have so much to say today....longest post ever!
Thoughts to come in shorter posts.
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