Quotes

My Mother sent these to me this morning.

Love through me, Love of God,
Make me like Thy clear air
Through which unhindered, colors pass
As though it were not there.

Powers of the love of Good,
Depths of the heart Divine,
O Love that faileth not, break forth,
And flood this world of thine.

Amy Carmichael

In the first part of this poem about (Him making us as clear air that color can pass through), It made me think about what we are here on earth for. We are here to bring glory to the Father & to bring others to the Father. When people look at us they should not see us, they should see the Father and His beauty. When they are seeing the Lord through us, the Love of the Father will be able to come out and touch those around us.

Would it not be strange if a universe without purpose accidentally created humans who are so obsessed with purpose?
Sir John Templeton

:)

Devotional from today (Thinking)

My Sister and I are reading these devotional posts of Elizabeth Elliot's and discussing what we learn. I found the first section sad and ( convicting? thought provoking?). Are we teaching people to communicate? Do I find I have brought trouble to my own mind, will, or emotions by careless speech? Am I practicing self-control & working on thoughtful, purposeful communication?!

It reminded me of some verses:
Proverbs 10:19 - In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.
Ecclesiastes 5:3 - For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by a multitude of words.
Proverbs 22:23- Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tounge keepeth his soul from troubles.


Careless speech can be confusing, harmful and cause misunderstandings. I know I've thought I was being helpful explaining something in great detail when all I did was confuse by talking too much. Oh that I will practice what I know I should do.

.http://www.backtothebible.org/devotions/authors_attic/elliot
Thinking / Speaking

Question-and-answer is a vanishing art. We are so drowned and smothered and deafened by panels, dialogues, rap sessions, discussions, talk shows, and other such exercises in the pooling of ignorance that, far from developing the art of asking questions and giving answers, we have very nearly lost it altogether. The time allotted for a program must, it seems, be filled--it doesn't much matter with what.

When is the last time you heard a clear, short question asked and a straight answer given? My heart sinks when it is announced that, following the lecture, there will be time for discussion. People put up their hands, but it turns out that it is not information they are after at all. They want the floor. They go on and on.

I was one of the panel of experts (i.e., married women) discussing the subject of marriage in a college women's dormitory a few years ago. Afterward there were lots of questions. But it was hard to figure out just what the questions were. Here is one of them (verbatim--I did not make this up. It was taped and then transcribed): .

* Um--like--um--I have a couple questions. Do you think--like--that--uh--do you think a woman could have a call just to be--like--a wife, but not--like--not just to be a wife--like, say, you know--if you're gonna be personal--like--my own engagement--like--I have a gift of--you know--a talent in music, you know--like--I mean, I know you're not saying--like--you know, especially in that case, I mean, you're saying more like--you have--like--I think our greatest thing in common probably is--um--is that--you know--is the dedication to serve God--you know--in the desire to, to follow--you know--to do his leading and--like--neither of us, you know, and especially in this kind of life you don't have a blueprint of what you--what he's gonna be doing necessarily, you know--and I'm just kinda concerned because like--you know--I've even thought about that cause I've kinda had a conflict--you know--growing up that way--you know--I'm talented musically--you know--so therefore I should probably look for somebody that's talented musically but he--he likes it--you know--I mean, he doesn't understand it totally but I'm sure we could live happily together with it, you know, but I don't expect him to have a--you know--yearning to go to all the Beethoven concerts or anything--you know--but I mean--I've heard of very happy marriages where--you know--there's quite different--you know--interests--you know--there.

(I apologize for not knowing the rules of punctuation for this kind of English.) Nobody on the panel knew what the girl was asking. She was confused--that came through loud and clear, but she might have seen through some of the fog simply by making the effort to clarify and shorten her question.


Sometimes I have been tempted to tell the audience that only questions of twenty-five words or less will be entertained. But I don't want to put people off any more than I can help.

William Strunk, Jr., in his wonderful little book, The Elements of Style, gives this advice:

To air one's views at an improper time may be in bad taste. If you have received a letter inviting you to speak at the dedication of a new cat hospital, and you hate cats, your reply, declining the invitation, does not necessarily have to cover the full range of your emotions. You must make it clear that you will not attend, but you do not have to let fly at cats... Bear in mind that your opinion of cats was not sought, only your services as a speaker. Try to keep things straight.


Americans dearly love to be polled for opinion. They feel that they ought to have opinions, to "hold views," on everything, and polls give them a chance to let fly. It is interesting to note how small a percentage of those polled admit to having "No opinion."


If the answer is Yes, say Yes. If it's No, say No. (The Bible will back me up here.) If it's I don't know, say that--if you possibly can! My daughter had a classmate in the seventh grade who, when asked a question by the teacher, never raised his chin off his hand, but looking into space said glumly, "I don't know." To a second question he replied, in the same laconic tone, "I don't know that either." I couldn't help wanting to know which boy that was. I liked him. It was discouraging for the teacher, I'm sure, that he didn't know, but it was not nearly so discouraging to hear him say so in three words as it would have been to hear three hundred words which came to the same thing. Every day in the mass media we have to listen to palaver, twaddle, and balderdash which, when interpreted, means "I don't know."


Some people are constitutionally incapable of admitting they don't know. "Well, let's just say I don't know the answer to that one," a woman once said to me.

Great people, however, can often disarm us completely with a candid acknowledgment such as Samuel Johnson's when asked by an indignant woman whatever made him define pastern as he did in his lexicon. "Ignorance, madam, pure ignorance!"

The Quechua Indians of Ecuador have a way of dropping the corners of their mouths, thrusting out their chins, and gazing off across the treetops, saying "Hmm hmm?" which is supposed to convey the impression that the matter is a mysterious one which they are in on but which would really be beyond you. At other times they come up with ineluctable answers like the one a missionary got when he wanted to know the name of a tree with yellow flowers on it. The Indian studied the tree for a little while, shading his eyes with his hand, and then said earnestly, "Well, I'll tell you, Senor Eduardo. That tree over there, the one you point to, the tree with the yellow flowers on it--that tree, Senor Eduardo...we call The Yellow Flower Tree."


The late W. H. Auden once appeared on a television interview and it was delicious to see his interviewers thrown completely off balance by the clarity and the brevity of his answers. They had their questions carefully worked out and the timing approximated, but long before the show was over they were casting about for new questions. ; } When they asked if he thought of poetry as a means of self-expression, he said, "No, not at all. You write a poem because you have seen something which seems worth sharing with others." The ideal reaction from the reader is, 'I knew that all along, but I never realized it.' He could, I am sure, have lectured for an hour on that one subject, but he didn't. He had a sense of occasion.


"You will be living in Oxford, England, Mr. Auden. Do you expect to be teaching there?"

"No."

"You won't be teaching. (Pause.) Well, Mr. Auden, as you move into the more--shall we say--mellow years, would you say that you have any unfulfilled ambitions?"

"No."

One of my unfulfilled ambitions was to hear a simple answer on a TV talk show. Thank you, Mr. Auden.

Last few weeks

Time moves so quickly. It seems like I am usually trying to catch up with all of the things that are going on. We had a group come over the other night to go carol around the neighborhood and then go to our house for cake, games, hot chocolate, and fellowship. It was a wonderful evening! We celebrated my birthday along with a friend of mine that I have known since I was 8 years old. It was great! Since then my family and I have been trying to get ready for our family that is coming into town for Christmas, and all of the things that go along with that. I love this time of year, the chilly air, relatives, lights, Snow, and parties. I love to get together with the brethren and fellowship. My family with another family is also putting together a Barn Dance for New Years Eve. We are so excited! I have to say though, I have never called so many gyms, community centers, or churches. Dad and I were both calling places these last few days trying to figure things out. As usual everything will come together at the end, it always works out that way. :) Sigh. I have been thinking back on this last year though and all of the changes that have taken place. All of the new brothers and sister in the Lord I have met, and fellowshipped with. All of the friends that are now in college, married, and starting a family. It is amazing how quickly something can change. When we had some of our friends over to go carol through the neighborhood, and fellowship with, I was sitting in one of the rooms looking at all of the groups talking, laughing and enjoying themselves. We have all changed so much, but at the same time, we are still ourselves. It is like watching a family grow up and seeing them mature together as well as individually. It brought to memory the verse that says Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6 He (the Lord is perfecting His children, and I have been blessed to see it). I was thinking about it again this morning and read: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good work, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. He desires us to walk worth of the vocation which He has set before us. I am seeing my family in the Lord do just that and I am richly blessed by their willingness to be molded by the Lord.

Psalm 18:1-36

This passage of scripture reminded me what our Lord has done, and what He has promised to continue to do for the sake of His children. May His Word bless you today.

I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; My God, my strength in whom I will trust; my buckler and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of the ungodly men made me afraid. The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me. In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: He heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before Him, even into His ears.

David begins the passage above describing the strength and trustworthiness of our Lord. Then he talks about how hard it was to endure the trial he had been in. He was human & he was afraid. David knew from experience who he needed to put his trust in, so He cried out to the Lord for help. This next passage is full of David's testimony to the Lord's answer.

Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because He was wroth. There went up a smoke out of His nostrils, and fire out of His mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under His feet. And He rode upon cherub, and did fly: yea, He did fly upon the wings of the wind. He made darkness His secret place; His pavilion round about Him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. At the brightness that was before Him his thick clouds passed, hail stones, and stones and coals of fire. Yea, He sent out His arrows, and scattered them; and He shot out lightenings, and discomfited them. then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils. He sent from above, He took me, He drew me out of the many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me. The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath He recompensed me. For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all His judgments were before me, and I did not put away His statutes from me. I was also upright before Him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity. Therefore hath the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in His eyesight. (Interesting that David would repeat this verse) With the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful: with an upright man thou wilt show thyself upright. With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt show thyself froward. For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down the high looks. For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness. ( A promise that I claim; He will enlighten my paths). For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall. As for God, His way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: He is a buckler to all those that trust in Him. For who is God save the LORD? of who is a rock save our God? It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect. He maketh my feet like hinds feet, and setteth me upon my high places. He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms. Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great. Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, and my feet did not slip.

God faithfully keeps his promises. He promises to care for us. It never ceases to amaze me that He cares so much for me. He loves us all so much that He gave His only son, to redeem our lives.

New blogger..:)

My brother now has a blog. :) http://aj-life.blogspot.com/ He is just getting started so there isn't a lot on there yet, but you should check it out. He loves to take pictures, and if you visit you will see that he is good at it as well. I am sure there will be more pictures here as well, so keep visiting. :)

Communication...

I read Christian brother's blog this morning and he had a new post about communication. It is very good, and if you get a chance you should read it http://micahdavid.blogspot.com/2005/11/lets-talk.html. His post reminded me of somethings. Last year I did a speech on communication and the lack there of. My friend found a quote for me that went like this: "60% of all communication is miscommunication". Why is that? I think Micah has it right on with what he is saying in his post - "Let's talk. We have forgotten how to communicate with the brethren . We have begun to think all life is fast pace, large groups, computer screens, and telephones. We have forgotten how to sit with a person, or two people and just talk. To tell them what the Lord is doing, can do, and what we are learning from that."

We are afraid to share with our brothers and sisters in Christ and our fear and disobedience is robbing them from the blessing of seeing Christ being manifest through us. I wrote someone a few weeks ago about this very subject and we were talking about being willing to make ourselves vulnerable, for the Lord's sake. He said, it was hard to make yourself vulnerable to criticism, misunderstanding, and just plain old judgment, but once you have you are richly blessed. The brethren can comfort you when you need comfort, sharpen you when you are getting off track, and encourage you that you are not the only one out there with struggles, heart aches, and on going lessons. We as a body of believers need to go back to the basics and learn to love each other as the body of Christ. We cannot do this if we don't know each other, and we have to communicate to get to know each other. Thanks Micah for bring out some great points and making me think about this again.

I long to know my sister and brothers in Christ. To see what the Lord is teaching, blessing and bringing them through. I desire the Lord to use me to bless them, and the only way that is going to happen is if, I get to know them. I would highly recommend going to read Micah's post if you have not yet. May the Lord richly bless you all.

A

Morning and Evening / Dec 1

I 've been talking with a group of young ladies and this concept came up over and over again just this last week. So when I read 'Morning & Evening' this a.m., I was richly blessed. It is during the trials of our lives we can grow the most, we bless those around us (if we let the Lord use the trial), & that God can be glorified through our obedience. Our Father in heaven puts us into the trial and when it is time He will bring us out. Child of God do not yearn to be out of the fiery situation, learn from it, embrace it, learn what He has brought thee here to learn. God holds the moments in His hands; let Him place us where He wills.

December 1
Morning Verse "Thou hast made summer and winter." Psalm 74:17

My soul begin this wintry month with thy God. The cold snows and the piercing winds all remind thee that He keeps His covenant with day and night, and tend to assure thee that He will also keep that glorious covenant which He has made with thee in the person of Christ Jesus. He who is true to His Word in the revolutions of the seasons of this poor sin-polluted world, will not prove unfaithful in His dealings with His own well-beloved Son. Winter in the soul is by no means a comfortable season, and if it be upon thee just now it will be very painful to thee: but there is this comfort, namely, that the Lord makes it. He sends the sharp blasts of adversity to nip the buds of expectation: He scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes over the once verdant meadows of our joy: He casteth forth His ice like morsels freezing the streams of our delight. He does it all, He is the great Winter King, and rules in the realms of frost, and therefore thou canst not murmur. Losses, crosses, heaviness, sickness, poverty, and a thousand other ills, are of the Lord's sending, and come to us with wise design. Frosts kill noxious insects, and put a bound to raging diseases; they break up the clods, and sweeten the soul. O that such good results would always follow our winters of affliction! How we prize the fire just now! how pleasant is its cheerful glow! Let us in the same manner prize our Lord, who is the constant source of warmth and comfort in every time of trouble. Let us draw nigh to Him, and in Him find joy and peace in believing. Let us wrap ourselves in the warm garments of His promises, and go forth to labours which befit the season, for it were ill to be as the sluggard who will not plough by reason of the cold; for he shall beg in summer and have nothing.