A Bear-y Dumb Joke

Well, after two years of blog hibernation, this bear.....nope. Allow me to sensor my own stupidity.

As I was leaving Tennessee, I told my CRC [Christ-Reconciled Church, y'all] friends that I would try to blog and/or email to keep them updated on life in the Valley. Since I don't want to be a fibber, and since I want to be more consistent in writing, here I am. A truth-telling, Dickens-wannabe. Or something like that.

Yesterday I was reading the genealogy of Christ in Matthew 1, and God showed me how many absolute losers He used to bring about the birth of Christ. [Maybe that's harsh, but let's not forget that Abraham lied and told not one, but two men that Sarah was his sister. And remember David and Bathsheba? Yeah, that happened.] My boss always says, "God can use sin sinlessly." And He can! The great thing about that [there are many great things, but let's stick with one for right now] is that God can use sinful, crooked people to bring about the single greatest victory of all time.

I believe in God's sovereignty completely, but I was struggling with the thought of Him arranging Jesus to come through the line of Solomon, [David and Bathsheba's kid.] but then I thought about how the sin of adultery had already been punished through the death of their first child [and ultimately through Christ's death on the cross, which could only come through their line! What?! I just realized that! God was gracious enough to allow David's sin to lead to his salvation and the salvation of all nations. My brain just exploded. I don't even know how to finish this paragraph anymore. My heart is just full of worship to the God who directs history!] What do you think about God's sovereignty and sin?

My friend, Kiley, came over the day I left Tennessee, and she was telling me about how she wanted to give her life completely to God and that she would go and do whatever He asked. That theme has been running through my mind since we talked. My prayer is that God would use me in any way He wants, and that I would be joyfully obedient to pour myself out for Him.

What are you learning? How can I pray for you?

Thankful

I am thankful for MIRACLES!!!

Thankful

Today, I am thankful for godly roommates who give wise counsel and are an example to me.

Cornelius Plantinga, Jr.

“But just here lies our main evasion, the one we have all practiced a thousand times: like the Israelites indicted by Jeremiah, we ‘forget God.’ (Jer 2:32; 13:25; 18:15). For weeks at a time we go through the motions, never seriously attending to God, never focusing on God, never--with all the weight of mind and heart--turning ourselves over to God. The thought that by such negligence we keep on wounding the only being who loves us with a perfect and expensive love, the thought that we are deeply entangled not only in our sin but also in the bloody remedy for it--these thoughts become bearable and routine. At last we put them away and sink into functional godlessness. When we are in that state, God does not seem very real to us. So we do not pray. The less we pray, the less real God seems to us. And the less God seems real to us, the duller our sense of responsibility becomes, and thus the duller our sense of ignoring God becomes.”

That is so true of me! But we have hope in a good and gracious God who pursues us.

“Human sin is stubborn, but not as stubborn as the grace of God and not half so persistent, not half so ready to suffer to win its way.”

Psalm 19:1

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.



The Mountain from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.

100th Blog Post -- A few of my favorite things

I've seen some pretty sweet videos lately, so I've decided to post them for you so you can enjoy them with me. Here we goooooo.

1. Come On - Rend Collective Experiment: Ok, I love this group of Irish lads and lassies. They are super-cute and I want to be their friend like yesterday.







2. I'd Rather Dance With You - Kings of Convenience: Awkward dancing + Ballerinas = Awesome





3. Her - Steve Moakler: Messy hair, check. Acoustic guitar, check. Gigantic chiclet teeth, check. I'm in love.





4. I Will Wait For You - Janette...IKZ: All I can say is preach it, sister.





5. Ysketball Instructional Video: Thanks to Erika for introducing me to this gem. This video is fun. You know what's not fun? HIV.

The Beauty of Uncertainty and Signing Contracts

“Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life – gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, not knowing what tomorrow may bring. This is generally expressed with a sigh of sadness, but it should be an expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God. As soon as we abandon ourselves to God, He begins to fill our lives with surprises.” - Oswald Chambers

This just in friends, [ok, not really JUST in, because this actually happened on Monday, but whatever!] I signed my contract and will be coming back to MCA next year as a TEACHER. For those of you who don't know, I have never taught, ever. I'm a little scared but I'm embracing the uncertainty! By choosing to do something so different, I will get to see God work and make me into the teacher He would have me be. And that, my friends, is very exciting.

Throughout this year God has given me such a desire to get into the lives of our students, and while I get opportunities to do so while working in the office, I want as many as I can possibly get. I can't wait to get into the classroom and be able to teach them about English and literature, but then also have so many opportunities to pull students aside and ask them about their walk with God and share Truth with them.

I have no idea what tomorrow will bring, but I know that God is leading me and showing me amazing things that I would not have seen had my life been lived full of certainty about what tomorrow holds.

Tell me, where is God taking you?