random snippets of ... conversation

i was going to say "wisdom" but it's definitely not that

"Always choose the better apple, that way every day is the best apple" - dad's profundity in picking an apple out of the crisper

"Honey, did I fill your daily love quotient?" - i overheard this as oma 'hugged' abba goodbye... SHUDDER SHUDDER SHUDDER.  i think sharing this with you, dear reader, helps ease my pain.

"you should work out now! when your butt's sore it's getting better - that's how i have this cute butt-" - mom yelling this to me outside in front of the neighbors as i protested having to work out....

"I'm glad you're not married and we get to live together longer" - mom
"Oh don't worry, when I get married, we'll live here." - me
"No - you have to be biblical - leave and .." - mom
"No no no, it's being frugal!  we'll stay here, it'll be great" - me
"No, you can marry a rich husband with a house and a car and you can spend his money! ... that's what God wants for you" - mom
"okay!" - me


Next Monday outing; redwoods.  I guess I'm now an official member of their Monday date days...

psalm 139

you search me you know me
you see my every move
there's nothing i could ever do
to hide myself from you
and even though you know
you will always love me
and even though you know
you'll never let me go
i don't deserve your love
but you give it freely
you will always love me
even though you know.
-rebecca st. james

i like when artists can take an old testament passage and re-write it with you know, new testament knowledge in mind.

this year, been dwelling more on the facts and truths behind my salvation.

spent a few weeks irked about the fact that for some reason, if i didn't talk about Christ explicitly, people seemed to assume that I'm works-based or something.  then as i was verbalizing my frustrations, it dawned on me that hello, out of the heart, the mouth speaks.
so then i began to consciously focus on ways to talk about my salvation.. even during prayers (which I used to think was so hokey and contrived by the way).. and realized how AWKWARD it was for me to verbalize thanksgiving over my salvation, or even verbalize how it came to be... so that was a wake-up call.

Ultimately thankful.  Ultimately filled with questions.

Ultimately comforted.
As He teaches me how to sing His love song.

reinstatement

so last Friday i rejoined 5am club... (i guess that 10am oversleep really was a wake up call...!!)

and Saturday was also a success.. not too painful either.

you know, even as i type right now i feel okay.

sunday is a rest day.
monday was a failure (abjectly so)
tuesday was an accidental failure... i woke up at 7:30 congratulating myself for waking before the alarm clock only to realize i mis-set it.

and today i'm back,.
except i'm going to take a nap now......
i went to bed waaaayy too late last night, it'll be insane to not take a nap.

which brings me to another pt:  perhaps i should also join the 10pm sleep club...  b/c yeah... otherwise it's a set up for failure.


5am club isn't that bad though. honestly.  and it's cool when you wake up late but it's still early.

one new way of helping me get up is i set my alarm to NPR, so i wake up to interesting conversation, so my mind starts thinking and.. i think THINKING helps me wake up!

sometimes when i sleep in, i wake up b/c i'm thinking about my toes.. b/c I think i start wiggling them before I wake up. hehehehe.

anyway, NAPTIME!

Fitting Sequence

The end of the first story:

These two things fight together in me as the snakes
      fight in the spring. The water comes out of my
      eyes; yet I laugh while it falls. Why?
I am two Mowglis, but the hide of Shere Khan is under
      my feet.
All the jungle knows that I have killed Shere Khan.
      Look—look well, O Wolves!
Ahae! My heart is heavy with the things that I do
      not understand.

The beginning of the next story:

Oh! hush thee, my baby, the night is behind us,
      And black are the waters that sparkled so green.
The moon, o’er the combers, looks downward to find us
      At rest in the hollows that rustle between.
Where billow meets billow, there soft be thy pillow;
      Ah, weary wee flipperling, curl at thy ease!
The storm shall not wake thee, nor shark overtake thee,
      Asleep in the arms of the slow-swinging seas.

Mowgli is a child/wild/wise/young/immature.  

i wish he had a mother who could assure him with that lullaby.

while i'm still young and spry.

what is it about night and lamp light
that makes a messy room softer
a rumbly tummy quieter
a racing mind calmer

a few days ago charles chang introduced me to john piper's prose poetry.
i am intrigued by piper's imaginative stories that bring parts of the Bible alive and point to Christ's redemption and is literary art.

November is around the corner.

I want to write a story on Elizabeth.
I need to understand more of the Jewish priesthood.

Article on Pride

Why it is hard to repent of pride

Posted on 30 September 2010 
Tags: Repenting of pride

Pride is a catch-all word for sin: pride is sin and sin is pride. Pride is a helpful word in that it accurately describes our fallenness. It is a word we know and a word we understand. When I say that I am proud, everyone immediately knows that it is not a good thing and that I need help. The word pride gets you thinking and moving in the right direction. Pride is like a warning alarm that calls the Gospel-centered man to action.

Let’s Get Specific

The downside to pride is that it does not get into the specifics of my sin. I can’t really repent of pride. I don’t know how. But if you tell me what specific manifestation of pride that you see in my life, then I can repent. While I don’t know exactly how to repent of pride, I can repent of self-righteousness, anger, arrogance, and laziness, which are all forms or manifestations of pride.

A helpful way for me to think about pride is by using the analogy of weeds growing out of a flower pot. You could say that pride is like the dirt in the pot, while specific sins are the various weeds that grow out of the dirt. In this illustration, pride is the fertile soul of the heart from which the specific weeds grow.

I find it much more encouraging to be told what forms of pride are being observed in my life than just being told that I am proud. I know I am proud, but what kind of pride are you talking about? When my friends point out the specifics of my sin, then I have the faith-filled and joy-filled privilege of going to God to receive his forgiveness and cleansing for my sin. (1 John 1:9)

Go West Young Man

Being non-specific about our sin is like being told to go west, but not told specifically where to go. I would point my wagon toward the setting sun and strike the mules to get them going, but without a clear destination in mind, I would only be heading somewhere toward the Pacific Ocean.

In order for me to be sufficiently helped I need to hear the specifics of my sin. The Gospel is ready, willing, and able to cleanse me from all my sin. Therefore I want to know the specifics so I can be changed by the power of the Gospel.

Through the years I have had the joy of training counselors, small group leaders, and pastors. Often I will hear them say that they need to repent of pride or someone they are working with needs to repent of pride. While their assessment is an accurate assessment, I appeal to them to be more specific in their observations and counsel by asking God to reveal to them what manifestations of pride they are talking about.

If you were to tell me that you struggled with pride I would not be surprised. You and I are fallen people living in a fallen world. However, I would not know anything new about you and my counsel could be reduced to praying and reading your Bible more often. Though praying and Bible reading is good, it is generally not enough.

By saying you are proud is to merely affirm what the Bible teaches. But if you tell me the specific manifestations of your pride, then I would know you in a very real way, as opposed to any other human on the planet. I would be able to pray specifically about you. I would also be able to bring specific Scriptures to bear on your pride.

Let me encourage you to learn how to be more specific with your friends. To say, “I am sick” is one thing, but to say, ”I have a flu” tells me a whole lot more. Let’s serve one another by thinking deeply about each other, while bringing the Gospel to each other in a “customized” kind of way.

The next time someones says you are proud be sure to thank them for caring for your soul as well as for caring about your relationship with the Father. But do not let them off the hook. Make them tell you exactly how they see your pride working out in your life. A true friend will work with you in the specifics of your sin. Between the two of you, you should be able to get down to the nitty gritty of your sin so you can fully repent.

http://www.competentcounseling.com/2010/09/30/repent-of-pride/

maggie

““NBA players are variable; thus we can touch them.””

-
-a sentence from a Semicolon homework set that I received from an 8th grade student.
i don’t get it either.