la vida es bella

"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me...I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Phillippians 3:12-14

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Location: Twin Cities Metro, Minnesota, United States

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

breathing life...

I want to link to an old chum's post. For some reason, it reminded me and forced me to look up the following passage in Acts 17...

"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'

"Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone - —an image made by man's design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead."

Are we breathing the breath that he gave us to breathe to worship him, or is it polluted with all of the idols that pervade our world today? We have all been searchers, and will continue to be, but those of us who have received the gift of Life have a great responsibility. Thanks, Lisa, for a creative reminder, as always.

"Don't ever wonder what you can offer when inside you carry Life..."

Friday, February 17, 2006

random thought

Relationships are like homemade by D and E, fresh out the oven cinnamon rolls. Unless you take the time to unroll and savor every layer, you will miss out on the beauty of the best part: the raw, rich, soft, ooey, gooey, scrumptious center. Nothing like deep thoughts from sugar indulgences...

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

feliz dia de san valentin

Happy Love Day.

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

1 John 3:16

On a separate, yet analogous note, I happened upon this picture as I have been doing what I wish was spring cleaning, and thought today would be a perfect day to pay homage to mis padres for being true exemplars of how to live this out on a daily basis. So, thanks guys. Les amo!

A mi esposo - "Loving you, I know that I can face tomorrow..."

Saturday, February 11, 2006

why a stranger blogs

I was blog surfing today when I came across a post by Mark Batterson on why he blogs. Brenton was the one who first linked me to his site. Mark is the Lead Pastor of National Community Church in Washington, DC and a blogging power house if you were to ask my opinion. Dude has more updates than most of my feeds combined! (= Funny how though most of us on this earth have never met, this virtual world we are a part of unites us in some way, bringing yet another intense element of presence as we strive to bring fruition to our mission. And so, though someone like Mark and myself have never had any form of contact, I would say he has made himself anything but a stranger. As I have been reading quite deep - too deep, probably - into the purpose of this whole blogosphere, I was enlightened by his reasonings. They reminded me of why I was so encouraged by all of this when I began...

Friday, February 10, 2006

jumping on jesus

Most every day for the last couple of months finds me in awe of the complexities of the maturing thoughts that run through my son's mind. Many of these have had something to do with the things of God. I find myself encouraged in that though the negative responses to parenting seem to sometimes outweigh the positives, the positives shine so very bright. This is something I have mentioned previously, but more importantly something I don't want to forget.

I gave Devin a consequence earlier this afternoon for reasons that now elude me. He had to go to his room and sit in his chair to contemplate the meaning of his four year old life, and when he had it all figured out, he was to tell me so I could excuse him from his room. I was nearby when I heard him start to call out, "Jesus. Jesus... Jesus? JESUS??" which was then followed by much of the same, the volume and intensity heightening with each word. It turned into a pattern interrupted by shortness of breath... "JE - ee - ee -SUS!! JE - -SUS!" I knew then that he was jumping on his bed. This spell finally ended with a loudly dramatic and frustrated, "Huummpphh!!" followed by a big plop and then silence.

When the time had passed, I called him into my room and asked him what he had been thinking. I should preface his response by saying that we have had much discussion as of late regarding the Trinity, location of heaven, location of Jesus and His daddy God, et cetera et cetera. Jesus is number one on his radar, with due reason, of course, as most stories he hears have to do with His life. He said something along these lines....

"Mommy, Jesus is always with me, right?...Jesus is everywhere, right, he is just invisible?... Jesus is even on my bed, right?...Well, mom, I can't find Him. I was calling Him and he didn't answer. I even jumped on Him and He still didn't say anything....Is it bad to jump on Jesus?"

The boys and I then took a nap, and I smiled to myself knowing my son is searching for Jesus everywhere. He will surely find Him, very possibly on his bed...

Monday, February 06, 2006

slide

I reread something tonight that I had been convicted about after reading it the first time a little while ago. There were many things that I had thought of that I wanted to be sure and sort through. Yet as I read this again, I realized that I had let it all slide under the rug without much conviction at all. How easy it is to let things such as these fade out of our priority lists when they are things we don't necessarily want to face. It was a good reminder that letting things slide means it will inevitably be downwards.

Thursday, February 02, 2006

4 year old theologies

"I'm sad tonight because the earth is lost. Please help me feel better, Jesus. I love the earth. If You could find it, I wouldn't be sad anymore." -DJC (spoken in his bedtime prayer in regards to having misplaced part of the solar system he got for his birthday)

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

gas leak?

We were sitting downstairs, having a quiet evening, when I decided that I smelled something fishy. Well, not fishy, but gassy. And not human, but elemental. And funny thing is that I am all stuffed up and not really smelling anything at all. We called the 'rents and were advised to call the gas company as this is something you don't mess around with. Gas company called, we were told to get out of the house but stay close by as we would be arrested if we didn't let them in (or something like that). Out we went, all in our pj's, into our car to wait. And wait. And the moral of the story is...

As we were contemplating the complete demolition of our house by the explosion we were sure we would see, I asked myself if there was anything of value that I should attempt to run in and grab. I thought about grabbing the million dollars cash we stash in our freezer, or my favorite pair of shoes, but decided I would rather live. Instead, I looked over and saw my beautiful family and realized there was nothing in the world that comes close to how much they mean to me. I was overwhelmed by love on this cold night in our car singing silly songs, waiting for a flash.

(I might add that Peter and I thought it may be beneficial for the thing to blow as it would make our move quite easy. I will also add that after all of these incredibly deep thoughts had passed, I then thought of my amazingly crafted Ecuadorian watercolors, my unique red chaises, and all of our pictures, and how I really would like to have those around for a long time. So I guess I am human after all.)