The Four Seasons by Cora

The Four Seasons.

Each year I watch my favorite tree. It's a yellow plum tree that grows by our driveway. The flowers are the most beautiful you've ever seen and smell like a warm spring day. This year it gave me a picture of a woman's life.

Spring is where life begins. A tiny bud forms on the tree - the woman as a baby. She grows until she bursts into the beautiful, delicate flower of a young woman. All through this growth, the flower experiences trials like frosts, storms, and strong winds. Each trial brings strength to will and limb, preparing her to bear the weight of Summer.

Ah, Summer for the tree. The Summer of life. This is where the flower's petals - a woman's youth - transforms into fruit, be it children or otherwise. She covers these seeds with her love and her own flesh. She shades them under her leaves. She feeds them, and they grow. The pain she experiences in this time of life is when an insect or bird comes and attacks her shield on what she holds dear. But she does not give up! Each hole pecked in her precious fruit she covers over with a sweet syrup that hardens into a stronger shield. In such a way, the woman must cover wounds with sweet forgiveness and become yet stronger. She gives of herself for the sake of her precious seed. Then at the proper time comes the Autumn of the woman's life.

Leaves begin to turn as Autumn arrives for my plum tree, and with it the loss of the fruit on the tree. Children grow up and leave to start new lives and families. The woman hopes she has protected them so that they would survive. They are surrounded by their mother's love and care, giving them the power to grow on their own. She hopes they will grow straight and tall like she is. She fears her own future and what might happen if she had failed her seed in some way. She watches over them and hopes and prays. Some of her fruit fell to the ground before its time. She mourns their loss. But even as these trials face her, she does not give up. She dresses herself with brightness of the turning leaves and all who see her marvel at her beauty, less innocent than the flowers of Spring or the fullness of Summer. She is more fragile now, but strength remains. Now is the time to take on new responsibilities to fulfill before the Winter comes.

Winter steals upon the tree, cold and bitter. The snow falls, and with it the leaves. The woman's hair turns to the white of the falling snow. She knows she has little time remaining in this world, but she bears that knowledge with honor. This is the season of wisdom, and she has much experiences gained by the frosts of youth - a child's lost teddy bear; a best friend lost; a young, broken heart. She has brought her seed through the trials of summer as outsiders and at times her family attack her goal. She knows the loss felt when the children leave and even chores like laundry seem a heart-wrenching reminder as the sweet children's clothing is packed away for grandchildren. She has seen these things. She has wept these tears. But she knows this is not a season given to her for sadness! No, for the winter is when the woman shields the snow from the seeds sleeping about her feet and teaches them her wisdom. She shares all that she knows about the seasons of life and prepares them just as her mother and grandmother did before.

***

Spring comes, and a tiny bud forms on the branch of my yellow plum tree...

Dozy dotes and liddle lamzy divey...

...A kiddley divey too, wooden shoe?

At every sunny chance I get, I take my goats out of the barn and let them "nom" freely on all the grass surrounding the barn. Saves Dad from having to mow. :) But since they're free to go wherever, I stay with them and watch over them. Much like David the shepherd in Scripture. I find myself thinking of him often while I'm sitting there in the grass watching my goats. Spending days at a time with the flocks of sheep must have been long and lonely, and a lonely heart with the right perspective turns to YHVH/God rather than depression.

I also find myself watching the goats and wondering if we'd be healthier if we didn't cook everything we eat. I mean, here are creatures that are probably FAR more healthy than your average human, and they don't cook the stuffin' out of everything. So I just have to wonder if maybe it would behoove us (a little pun there) to re-think what and how we eat. "But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee" What should we be learning from the beasts in our care?

On Headcoverings And Such

The following items are highly debated around Christian circles:

Skirts for women
Headcoverings for women
Torah Observancy
Baptism
And bazillions of other things

I'll spell out my take on it here. *ahem*

Nothing but the blood of Messiah/Christ will get you into Heaven, so if you understand why He was crucified for you and accept His salvation, you WILL hang out with me in Heaven one day. The other things are unnecessary for salvation from the fires of hell, but the lifestyle parts are good ideas to incorporate into your life. Why? Because He (YHVH/God) likes it. He wouldn't have said to do something if He didn't like it. But they will not save you.

Baptism exists as a public symbol of acceptance of salvation. Just like a wedding is a public symbol of marriage. A marriage happens when a man and woman commit to each other for the rest of their mortal lives. Weddings are irrelevant to marriage. Salvation is between a man/woman/child and YHVH/God. Baptism is irrelevant to salvation. They are nice symbols, though.

The person whose life could only be described as an abomination that accepts the Lord as they breathe their last breath alone in that hospital room is just as saved as someone who accepted Him at the age of 10, was baptized, and lived a righteous life.

So there ya go. Good ideas, but they are not a path to salvation. More like a path after salvation.

Ummmmmm...

In the public speaking group Toastmasters, you are taught how to give speeches and critiqued on a number of things. One of the things you get "dinged" for is making a pointless syllable. Um. Uh. Er. Well. Hm. Oh. Etc. But why do we say them, anyway? Why are they habitual for nearly every person you run into? Do they have a purpose?

My answer: Yes. It has a purpose. (Everyone in Toastmasters cringes and protests) Hang on! I'll explain.

"Um" is often used to fill the silence that follows a question. Ex: "What would you like to do today?" "Uh... Go to town, I guess." In modern English conversations, silence during the conversation is dreaded, and either person will do anything to keep a silence from occurring. "Um" is a place-holder sound. It informs the person asking you the question that you are thinking of the answer and they should be quiet until you finish thinking. If you were to remain silent, the asker would assume they asked the question in such a way as it was difficult to understand. So the moment you begin to answer, they rephrase the question. Then there comes the awkward "You go first." "No, you." "I insist - what were you going to say before I interrupted?" "I forgot now."

Alternately, it can initiate a conversation by capturing someone's attention while you are thinking of what to say, "Ummmm, hey, I was going to talk to you about the concert tomorrow." And the "Um" is held out to the duration of the time to figure out what you're going to say. Convenient!

Perhaps it might have become a matter of etiquette in our society to include these little "nothing" sounds, maybe even as important as non-verbal cues. In the age of the telephone, they may be entirely replacing non-verbal cues. Rather than letting the phone line go silent and make the other person sit there and listen to nothing, you'll utter a long "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell..." so that at the very least they won't think you hung up or fell asleep!

I believe that is also why run-on sentences happen. How many "and"s can you fit in that sentence? My explanation: When someone comes to a punctuation mark, like a comma or period, in their spoken paragraphs, they panic. If they allow a full pause to indicate a period, someone might grab that moment and start talking, so, in preservation of their "speaking turn," they add on to a single sentence as much as possible to put out all the information they possibly can before the other person can jump on the break in their sentence and mess up your train of thought, because you have so much more to say and besides, if they take the "floor" with the conversation, you may never have a chance to finish what you were saying and then it would be a horrible tragedy so you go on and on without pausing or taking a breath until you finally gasp for a breath at the end of your monologue and let the other person speak.

Whatcha think?

Being the one who is guilty of LONG awkward silences and snipping ALL sentences short, this is what I've noticed around other people. Feel free to correct...

Ramblin' Man... Er, Woman...

I had a random thought the other day about a tiny subject that made me sad. With the trend of children using first names for adults (including their parents!), there is a distinct possibility that I will never be called "Mrs. Cowboy" by my children's little friends. I will merely be Cora.

All of my life, I've longed to be Mrs. MarriedSurname, but in our society of holding a greater value on childhood and youth than age and wisdom, people don't want to be thought of as "older" than the youth surrounding them. They take offense to being addressed as Mr. or Mrs. Surname. Even Sir or Ma'am, which were drilled into me as the most basic of decency are now abhorred.

Perhaps you think I'm strange. It wouldn't be the first time. I look forward to the gray hair and wrinkles in my future. To grandchildren. To growing old with my beloved Cowboy.

What do you think? Do you look forward to growing older? Would you be offended by being called Mrs. Surname or Mr. Surname?

...

My next ramble:

"'Um.' Society's Necessary Superfluous Sound"

Mighty Mike, February Edition

Mighty Mike should be coming home soon. Today or tomorrow. He posted on facebook that he hopes I'm his nurse because my cooking makes hospital food taste good. Hmm... I'm THAT bad? ...Narcotic pain killers, much?... He then apologized and said he meant to say my cooking is WAY better than hospital food and he can keep eating and eating and eating and eating...

***

I had an interesting thought earlier. It went like this...

Is YHVH-God more important than loyalty our country? What do you mean by that, Cora? Well, whenever we hear the National Anthem, we are compelled to stand, gentlemen remove their hats, and treat the occasion with utmost respect (unless you're the one singing, in which case you can apparently mess it up all you want...). How many of us totally zone out while singing hymns, praises, and psalms? We have rules regarding honoring our nation's flag by keeping it in as pristine a condition as we can. ...while our books of Scriptures are hidden under piles of junk on the coffee table or sitting on the floors of our cars to get stepped on or become moldy.

Is that ok? Please discuss...

Godless

I was speaking with a friend of mine a long while ago (years?). I think it was around Thanksgiving. Yes, it must have been, because I asked what T was particularly thankful for, given that it was the season that Americans traditionally think of thankfulness. She replied that she was not thankful. For anything. Naturally, I was surprised. "Nothing at all?"

"Yes, nothing at all," T responded. "Most people are thankful for health, general life happiness, or even life at all. I see those as personal rights that belong to me and not something to be thankful for. Nor is there anyone or anything to be grateful to. I simply am until I am no more. Anyone who thinks other than that is silly."

This gave me a profound insight into a human soul as I think it over these recent days (being absent from my blog, this is the main subject I've been pondering, along with a few other things). They say people have a God-sized hole in their lives that only He can fill. I think what I observe from my friend's conversation is that this is what it looks like when that life-void is embraced. "Life is nothing. Death is nothing. Live it up."

This insight also led me to a new understanding of how grateful I should be! My life is borrowed from YHVH/God. Everything in it was given to me for His good pleasure. Truly, I am a blessed daughter of Zion.

If the Lord so burdens you, please pray for T. She is a sweet lady, and I would love for her to know the Truth.

Behold, What Manner of Love!

As I was having adventures in the sewing room this morning, I got to thinking about "the manner of love the Father has given unto us," and I began to list them. My list is by no means complete, so feel free to comment with more!

The love of the Father for us:

As a father loves his child.
As a brother loves his sibling.
As a master loves his faithful servant.
As a devoted servant loves his master. (for our Lord came not to be served, but to serve)
He loves us as His bride.
Also as His greatest creation.


Then I thought of a favorite song "He's Everything to Me." As I thought about this list, I realized... We are everything to HIM.  As the Cowboy would say, "It really humbles you to think about it."

Interesting Experience

Have you ever felt like you stepped out of a by-gone era into this one? Yesterday as I went out to do chores with a long skirt* and big, white (stained) apron and head-covering, I felt like I'd stepped out of a time when women were taught to be more peaceful, feminine, and... pretty... into a world of rough and ragged lives where a woman's feminine and peaceful disposition is despised.

It was strange.

I like the old world. I like the old world where men do not swear before (or at) ladies, like what happened at work last week, when a man (I won't say gentleman as is my usual wont) directed the foulest language at me.

Something in me longs for society to return to where it was. And if a change can happen, it must happen with me.


*Yes, I did wear a skirt to do chores, which, if you know me, you know was in the past strictly prohibited by my father. Apparently yesterday he did not mind. So perhaps I will more often. :)

*Lightbulb Clicks On* Blended Fabrics

I was thinkin' about Deuteronomy 22:11, where YHVH tells His people that it is against the law to wear fabrics woven with diverse fibers, like wool and linen together. For a minute or two, I sat there thinking, "That's kind of random... What's so wrong with blended fabrics? Why is it against the law?" I'm a firm believer in God having reasons for all of his laws for Isra'el. So I go to thinking of it then. And this is what I thought up.

A few possibilities from my knowledge of cloth:

1. They are treated differently - Wool can't be at a high temperature or it will felt when wet or burn. Linen, on the other hand, gets wrinkled up and needs ironing. With a blended fabric, you can't iron the linen flat.
2. Different pHs. Animal fibers (like wool, silk, etc) like to be slightly acidic. If you put a little vinegar into the wash-water when you was them, they'll stand up a lot better. Plant fibers (like cotton and linen), on the other hand, will break down in acid. They like slightly basic solutions. With both together, you will invariably have weak parts with the acidic animal fibers woven with sensitive plant fibers. The integrity of the fabric is drastically weakened.
3. Take dye differently. You use different mordants (pre-dye solutions) to prepare the fabric for dye, and they take color radically different. So you have an uneven, mismatching dye that will fade out of one fiber (because you had to use a mordant that was bad for one of the two fibers).
4. Washing techniques. If you wash wool and linen together, the wool will shrink and the linen will stay straight. The result is a pebbly texture that is uncomfortable to wear.
5. Warmth differences. Linen is breathable, but wool will keep you warm. The mingled garment is pointless. Some parts of you will be warm, and other parts cold. Do you wear it in the summer or winter? I'd rather have all linen in the summer and all wool in the winter.

Who knew? Oh, yeah! Our God!

Have any more things to add to my list? This was all just off the top of my head in the last 10 minutes. If you've studied this at all, I welcome your comments!

On Teen-agers

I hear remarks on "teen-agers" a lot, from songs and movies to people making statements around me. These comments are to these effects: "Teen-agers naturally will be thinking of dark, depressing things." "Teen-agers just do strange [dark] things." "They're teen-agers. Of course they're rebellious." "I dread my sweet, little children becoming teen-agers --Teens are monsters!" "Teen-agers will never get along with anyone younger or older than them. It won't happen, and it doesn't need to happen. They live in their own little world, and eventually they will come out of it."

Come again?

Now, my knowledge of the average American "teen-aged" girl is somewhat lacking, because I grew up around non-average American "teen-aged" girls. Here are examples of our non-averageness: We had and shared too much joy to be depressed or ponder things of darkness and evil, and there was significant peer pressure among us.

I'm of the belief that peer pressure is a GOOD thing. Just as long as you have the right kind of peers. I Corinthians says that bad company corrupts good morals. For my friends and I, there was (and is) pressure to be respectful. To be obedient. To always put others ahead of yourself. To be reserved and quiet when around adults. To speak only of God-pleasing subjects. To be good role models to younger children and involving ourselves in their lives to lead them toward a strong relationship with the Lord. Not to draw unnecessary attention to yourself. To be pure and holy, set apart to God.

I suppose my question-for-thought of the day is: Who are your peers? What do they encourage you to do? Do they encourage you to draw closer to the Lord or push yourself away from Him? Think carefully about each and every bosom-friend you have.

And my encouragement to parents is this: Teach your young children to select as bosom-friends only people who are uplifting and honourable, and when they grow into their so-called "teens," they will have the strength of their bosom-friends to bring them through the darts of Satan. There is a reason that there is no night in Heaven: All darkness is of Satan. In the end, it is your son and daughter's decision which path to take, but if they are brought up with you (the parents) and bosom-friends who are strong in the Lord, they will be less likely to stray. Yet another reason to homeschool.

For a sword drill exercise, here a few verses to look up: (Yes, I did mean now, and I did mean all of them. It'll take you a minute to grab your Bible and then a couple of minutes to look them up... And that was five minutes of your day. You have five minutes, right?)

Dwelling in the joy of the Lord: I Thessalonians 5:16
Respecting elders: Leviticus 19:32
On bad company: I Corinthians 15:33, Ephesians 5:6-7
On obedience to parents: Ephesians 6:1
Placing others above yourself: Philippians 2:4, Mark 9:33-35
For ladies to be reserved and quiet, not drawing attention: I Timothy 2:9-12, Philemon 2:3-8
Speaking and thinking of God-pleasing subjects: Philemon 2:8, 2:12,  Colossians 3:8-9, Ephesians 5:22-32, Philippians 4:7-8
To be set apart and holy: Philemon 2:14 (I love his phrasing in KJV: "a peculiar people"), II Corinthians 5:17
Training up a child: Proverbs 22:6

Have some more verses to add? Give ME a sword drill!

Must-Read Post!

Our brother in Christ, Mr. Batson, wrote an excellent piece on character. I highly encourage you to read it.

Take a lesson on Character from the NFL; Who'd have thunk it?

 

The Writings of Cora

I write for a few purposes:

1. I have stories to tell, and I love to tell them.

2. I want to write stories that people enjoy. Not to teach lessons or have a subliminal message. There is no "And the moral of this story is _____" at the end to convict the reader and make them want to go home and re-think their life. Nope! Just a fun and exciting story. If you get something out of it, bravo for you! If not, I hope you liked the story and the people in it!

3. I've discovered a distinct lack of gripping fantasy novels that have no magic. I've gotten bored with magic, think it's dumb, and it tends to turn dark quickly. It seems like when an author can't possibly think of an explanation or a fix for a plot hole, he says, "Why, it's magic, of course! Didn't you know?" Blech! I was even encouraged to use magic in my stories by one friend because it was an easy excuse. Why do people buy that excuse so willingly? So. No magic. To the trash bin with it! *tosses magic into bin filled with crumpled paper, eraser dust, and pencil shavings* *fixes lid* Ah, that's much better!

4. ON THE OTHER HAND, lack of magic in fantasy is usually a synonym for boring, super-sweet, annoying stories. For example: genre Christian fiction. The main character is practically perfect, though they're allowed 1 flaw, and it's usually pride. Then they have some issue with that flaw, and the whole story takes a melodramatic turn for the worse. After a few pages, the main character says, "What have I done?" and apologizes, repents, and all is good again. Then an older, wiser character comes to the main character to say, "Son, this just goes to show you that nothing good comes of being proud." The authors avoid magic simply to create a super-sweet story that all Christian parents would let their children read. You can only read so many books like that before you can predict the ending after reading the book's first paragraph. Eventually, you have to look for something else. I'm writing that something else.

In my first book, the main character does not have a huge, glaring flaw because it did not fit the story. She does not have a flaw merely for the sake of having a flaw to teach the reader to be a better person. My goal is not to teach lessons on how bad pride, greed, etc. is throughout the story. I am assuming you know that already and don't need me to tell you.

I'm a Christian. I write fiction. I do not write genre Christian fiction. I write fiction from a Christian perspective.


So I am writing to fill the gap I've found in the "epic fantasy" genre. Swords, leathers, cloaks, dungeons, desperate ventures... and characters that are lovable. Or love-to-hateable. :)

All fueled on the power of coffee, M&Ms, and sheer willpower.

........Mostly the M&Ms.....

How Dare You!

"How dare you be so prideful that you say you know God gave you eternal life?" a non-believer challenged me years ago. "Who are you to say what God does or doesn't do? Some Christian you are."

Little me, having never been challenged about my faith before, stumbled around in shock for a suitable answer, which was cause for more challenge and ridicule by the non-believer. So how dare I make such a statement and not even be able to back it up? This person was looking for proof and was delighted when I had none. Well, now I do.

*brandishes the Sword of the Spirit, freshly charged with the Word*

How dare I believe and say I know that I have eternal life through Jesus Christ? Rather, how dare I disbelieve it! To disbelieve God's promise of eternal life is to call Him a liar.

I happened across 1 John 5:11-13, and the response I SHOULD have given came together like cement.

11. "And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son."
12. "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life."
13. "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."

There's your proof. "...that ye may KNOW that ye have ETERNAL LIFE..."

So, my beloved brothers and sisters, go out into the world to witness and be sure of your faith! Look these verses up and underline them in your Bibles (especially those of you that I'm tagging who are going on mission trips in the next few months).

Mawwige

I always thought marriage was inevitable. Whether I was interested or not, I would probably get married. So I might as well take stock of my options, right?

Every eligible bachelor I met after that, I analyzed. I went down a mental checklist.

I took into account his posture - Did he stand straight and tall like he knew who he was and what he was about? Did he slump like he didn't really care about his appearance and was living his life just to "get by"?

Did he carry himself like the man I would respect and honor for the rest of my/his life and be the man I want my sons to be? Did he make himself "available" to young ladies through flattery or flirtation?

I looked at his countenance - Did his face show an active joy? Did it show peace? Or did his face say, "It's all about me, yeah."?

And clothing, too. Did his pants hang down around his knees? Were they full of holes? Did his shirt have writing on it that would shame me? Were they expensive, snobby clothes? Were his shoes those shrimpy little whatchamacallits that are so fashionable these days?

Was he the type who would command and demand my respect and control my every move, or would he earn my respect through caring, love, and devotion, like Paul described to Timothy?

What about language? Were his words "drawing room fashion," as I like to put it?

Did his hands look like they were used to hard work, or were they soft and delicate?

Could I live, work, and sleep next to him every day for the rest of my life? You might think it forward of me to ask that the moment I met a man, but that's what marriage is.

That's a very small sample of my checklist. I set the bar high and would accept nothing less. Truthfully, I thought I'd set it so high that I would never find someone.


***


And... Then one day in late September 2008, while at college... Second day of choir... A young man walked in the room. He'd just switched classes and needed an extra credit to be a full-time student. I went down my checklist from across the room:

He stood straight and tall. His attention remained on the instructor. His face showed the joy and peace of the Lord. He wore work jeans, a long-sleeve, button-up flannel shirt, and work boots. His hands were massive and you could tell they hadn't rested for a day in his life. On and on the list went, and I put a check by each one.

On my way home from school, I said to myself, "Self! I could marry a guy like that." Then another voice answered, "Why don't you marry him?" So I thought about that. All weekend I thought about it. By the next time I saw him, I pretty well knew for sure. Now to actually meet him.

You can't just walk up to a man and say, "Hi, my name is ___, and I'm planning to marry you." Finally, I worked up the nerve to walk up and say hi while we were in the cafeteria (this being the girl who was so shy she had trouble saying "Hi" to acquaintances!). He knew my brother, David, and was around David rather often, so that helped me get to know him in the future.

Two months later, we were fairly certain we'd get married, but my parents had still never met him. I hadn't even discussed him with them. A few months after they did meet, the Cowboy asked Dad if he could "court" me. September 2009, the Cowboy asked for my hand. And now I'm wearing the ring the Cowboy designed (it couldn't be a big ring that would overwhelm my tiny hand or have pokey edges to get caught in my knitting or scratch a baby).

According to every conservative Christian book on courting, we did everything wrong. The woman took initiative to speak to the man. The man did not go to her father first. Neither met each other's parents. They never had chaperons as their parents trusted their judgment implicitly.

So that is how I came to be engaged to my best friend, high school sweetheart that I met in college, and my first love after Christ.

God works in odd ways sometimes. You have to be able to distinguish His voice from what you believe from the books you've read. Trust Him fully. You trusted Him to save you from eternal death! Trust Him to find your spouse!

The Passion of the Christian

Find your purpose. Find your passion.

I hear those phrases said a LOT by unhappy, teen/twentyish Christians this last year or two.

Here's an example: I was listening to a young man who was telling me about a conversation he'd had years before with an elderly missionary. The missionary told him: "Now, you can get a good job, a great wife, and be very content and happy until you reach about 40, then you'll feel like there's something missing. Or you can do what I did and be a missionary." The young man told me, "I can see the first part coming true with me - I have that stuff... I'm afraid of eventually feeling like there's something missing."

Well, I thought on what to advise him. First I had to clear up something that struck me wrong. I asked him, "So... Being a missionary solves all your problems and makes you content?" Not that I'm against missionaries; believe me, I hold them in high respect. But if you're going to be a missionary for the wrong reason, it is WRONG. Be a missionary to spread the Word, not to be your fix-all pill.

Then the young man said the phrase that grates on me like you have no idea: "That was back when I was trying to find my passion."

No. Hold the phone.

You don't find passion. Passion finds you.

There is such an emphasis on finding your passion/purpose/whatever among Christian youngsters in my current sphere of friendship. I blame this idea on people who want to write and sell Christian self-help books, and I don't understand it. Never before in my life had I heard it before going to college, and it struck me as very backward. Same as it grates on my when people ask, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Don't be stuck on the future, people! Be stuck on NOW. NOW is when you're alive!

Let's go back to my beloved book of James. James 4:13-17:

13 Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money."
14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
15 Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."
16 As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.
17 Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.

That blunt enough for you? So what is "the good he ought to do?" How about Ecclesiastes 9:10: "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom."

Whatever your hand finds to do. Anything your hand finds to do. Everything your hand finds to do.

Live this moment for Christ. Think this thought for Christ. Pray this prayer for Christ. Share the Word for Christ. Be the temple for Christ. If you do, your passion, contentment, and peace will find you.

A Journey Through Job

I've always been encouraged by Job, and yesterday afternoon Joey and I were reading the first few chapters. If you're not familiar with Job, here's his story in a nutshell:

He was a rich man with a bunch of wonderful kids and all of them loved God with all their hearts. Satan went before God and asked if he could try and break Job's faith. God said Satan could do anything short of killing him. So Satan sent men to kill Job's animals and servants. He caused all of Job's children to die. All Job was left with was his life and his wife, who told him to curse God and die. He was covered with boils and sat in ashes, scraping the boils with a shard of pottery. (Job 1+2, heavily generalized)

We think WE have it bad sometimes.

And through all of it, Job PRAISED GOD. I can't underline that enough times. There's so much in this book that you'll have to read for yourself. Go ahead. Set aside time to read the Word.


One of my favorite Bible passages comes from Job 12: 7-10. I remember the first time I saw a calf born, and afterward, Grandpa and I stood in the barn and watched the cow and her little baby as the calf struggled to stand up and then wobbled around the pen. Grandpa told me he'd seen calves born so many times, and every time, he felt again the wonder and amazement at God's world. Myself? I'm overwhelmed by it.

7. "But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:
8. Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee; and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee:
9. Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought [made] this?
10. In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind."

A study... and a challenge.

My Bible reading comes from Roman's 12. Go get your Bible. I'll wait...

And I didn't pick just one topic to write on, because this chapter is too amazing to say one thing. And this is MY blog. So there.

Okay, Roman's 12:1 "...by the mercies of God, present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable until God, which is your reasonable service." You are a child of God, and therefore a sacrifice. The person you were before might as well have died and been buried. It is "our reasonable service." It's our job. It's not God asking too much of us. It's required. And it's impossible.

For us, that is. God, in His mercy, will help us to accomplish it. We have to decide in our hearts and minds that we WANT to follow him. Be willing and able.

Verse 2 tells us to stand fast in this world. Don't let it change and conform you. Let God wash your mind clear of the world's snares continually. It's only this way that you can demonstrate to the world that a) you are God's personal ambassador to them and b) that they should be like you. If you let the world sway you in any way, even little things like things you say, things you wear, music you listen to... it will destroy your entire testimony. You're different. They're watching you. They're waiting breathlessly for you to fall.

Don't let the world win. You have brothers and sisters in Christ who will gladly get on their knees and pray for you if you start to slip. If pride gets in your way, tell him to leave, because it's just your old pal, Satan. Humble yourself in the sight of the LORD and He will lift you up.

Verses 3-8. These boil down to this: don't be proud and snobbish of your spiritual gift. We're all different in this body of Christ. You're a hand. The person next to you is a foot. The one beside him is the nose. Imagine life without a nose. It would kind of stink. Imagine if we were all prophets and none were teachers. No one would learn from the prophets. Or if all of us were teachers and no one showed mercy. There's be a total lack of 4.0s. Give deference to the gifts of others.



Your challenge from my rambling on verse 2: Practice humbling yourself and asking for prayer. Call, text, send an email to, or meet with your friends weekly to ask if you can pray for them and if they can pray for you. If there's nothing in your life needing urgent prayer, ask for prayers of spiritual strength, faith, or unwavering trust in the LORD. Or anything. Just ask and pray diligently.

An Unconventional Christianity

I believe in an unconventional Christianity when it comes to "God's will." I say unconventional, because every time I talk about my view to someone, they say, "Woah... I didn't think about it like that." Basically, it's like this:

You can't do God's will on your own. You are his vessel. The potter's clay doesn't up and make itself a pot on its own with directions from the potter. That's ridiculous! The potter forms the pot all by himself while the clay is soft and yields to his hands.

Yield. The word is more than the traffic sign in intersections. It's the motto we must live by.

But what does that have to do with the price of tea in China? Well... nothing. But it has a lot to do with discovering God's will for your life. Christians that I know spend a lot of time being anxious about discovering this "will" and then they can live the rest of their lives doing that will.

I've come to believe that you don't need to know the full plan. You don't need to spend your time worrying and losing your focus ("Maybe He wants me to do this with my life. Maybe it's this. God, tell me what You want me to do! Please? Why aren't you telling me? Are you even there? Have you abandoned me?"). You might think that's a little extreme, but I've heard many people come to the conclusion that God didn't care about them anymore. Not overnight, but over years.

So... What do we do about it? Should we just abandon faith entirely? No! Don't do that!

Take each moment by itself and keep your heart and mind yielding to the potter's hands. You don't know if you'll get zapped by lightning, hit by a meteor, or attacked by zombies in the next five minutes, so don't worry about it. Let Him worry about it. He knows all about your life, and if he cares for each sparrow, doesn't he like the masterpiece of his creation just a little bit more?

He loves you. He took all your sins and died for you.You trust Him for eternal life. You can trust Him for life in this world.

Here's your new motto: Pray, praise, and rely on HIM alone. (And remind me and all your brothers and sisters to do so, too.)

This Time of the Year

There's something about an Autumn day. Stiff maple leaves cover the sidewalks and blow around in the wind. I never step on them. I kick them and watch them fly through the air. Then the wind freezes your nose and ears and you come inside for a cup of tea or hot chocolate and read a book. That's the life right there. For me, at any rate. My darling brothers would say that "the life" is an endless stream of Mountain Dew and something on the X-Box, but that's why I am writing this post instead of them.

It's nice to enjoy a moment or two of God's creation between writing term papers, studying for midterms, working a part-time job, and cleaning your bedroom (Guess which one usually gets forgotten. Yeah.). He really likes it when you look at what He made and say, "Wow!" I know He likes this, because if He wanted us to take it for granted, he would have made everything in some ugly, dull color. Or not let us see at all. I look out my window and see hills covered with evergreen trees, orange maples, a red house... Colors everywhere!

You know why He gave us these colors? For us to enjoy. Why does He want us to enjoy so much? Because we are His children. So next time you open your eyes, look at the colors around you and thank Earth's Painter for everything you can see.