Saturday, March 30, 2013

"Stupid, that was stupid...

...no one would say that that was smart..."

Anyone remember that song?

(Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi)

Easter weekend services commenced last night; we had our first of 7 services at 7 PM.  It continued today at 4 PM and 6 PM and, after the choir warmup before the earlier service, we were encouraged to spend some time praying for the service.

So I decided I'd walk through the auditorium, up and down some of the rows, and pray.  It's a common thing to do, nothing unusual about it.  The band was still working through one of the songs, so the music was cranked as I walked.

Then, as I came down one of the chair rows towards the wall, I noticed some response cards on the floor.  They'd obviously fallen off the 3 1/2-foot sub woofer speaker that was backed up against the wall, blasting away facing the platform, and, without really thinking, I crouched down and leaned over in front of the speaker to pick them up.

Y'all.  I put my upper chest and head...and left ear...about 6" away from a cranked and blasting sub woofer.

The first thing I noticed was the throb in my chest that almost took my breath, so I quickly picked up the cards and put them back where they came from.

Stupid.  Stupid stupid stupid stupid.

After I stood up,  I noticed the odd feeling in my ear. Not exactly pain...but not good.

I went back into the choir room just as our corporate prayer time started and joined in, still feeling...odd.  When we finished, I decided the smart thing to do would be to get some prayer warriors on my side, so I grabbed a handful of the choir ladies and told them my story.

And they prayed for my ear.

Yeah, I felt foolish.  But that was the ONLY thing I could do for my ear at that point...and just after that we went out for the first service worship.  My ear still felt...odd...but as the music cranked up it actually began to hurt, just a little.

So after the choir left the platform I went looking for a cotton ball, but there were none anywhere around. I finally tore a bit of tissue to stuff loosely in that ear before second service; not enough to affect my singing, I hoped, but something to cut the sound coming through.  Second service worship sounded to me like listening to music through blown speakers...all splatty with a tinny ring.

I have tried to keep very quiet this evening and, while I still have a very slight dull earache, the splatty has gone; I don't have any unusual ringing, so I am hopeful that I haven't permanently damaged it.

And I'm grateful to my friends who prayed that very thing over me.

But, wow, what a crazy thing to do....

Thursday, March 28, 2013

The Significant Moment

Posted By Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Sacrifice is a common theme among world religions.

The Greeks and the Romans were perfectly familiar with the concept of a son of a deity walking around on earth; part of the reason Pilate freaked out when the Jews said Jesus claimed to be the Son of God.  Pilate, a Roman who no doubt worshiped Zeus and Mercury and the like, had no problems with the notion that the Son of God could be standing before him.  So the idea of God coming down to walk around with people isn't unique either.

But...God sacrificing Himself on behalf of the people He loves is unique.

All other religions require people to sacrifice to appease God.  Christianity states that God sacrificed himself so that sin could be removed and His relationship to people restored.

Good Friday is dark and grim and shocking ... Resurrection Sunday is the miraculous fulfillment, and together they are the difference that makes Christianity unique.

And...this year, it is nearly lost...on a national level;  over looked in debate and argument and lines drawn.

Should I get brave enough, I might attempt a post on that topic, but not tonight.

Tonight I'm confessing that the season is nearly lost on my own personal level.  Sewing costumes for the school musical has  consumed all of my time.  Not just my spare time...my time.  Multiple services at church are going to consume the weekend; I need to be there because I'm on staff and the first step of the crucial follow up for the weekend will cross my desk. No one expects super human effort to get it done ASAP, but it needs to be done ASAP nonetheless.

And I truly do not mind doing any of it, but it all combines to make me get my focus on what I have to do in short time...not what He did.

I haven't taken the time to contemplate the sacrifice He gave; I'm just trying to keep stuff from flying off the plate as it spins.

So, sometime this weekend, all on my own, I intend to grab a sip of grape juice and a bit of cracker and have a little remembering time.  It may not be long, but it will be there.

Because I am grateful and amazed and awed, even in the midst of the busy, that He would do such a thing...for me.

Friday, March 15, 2013

Verse 6 - Is. 64:4

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

I sat down today, in the back of my head thinking I would post something about food or eating or some such thing, and my reading for today was in John chapter 6, where Jesus announces that he is the bread of life.  Perfect!  I read it carefully and, while I really enjoyed the reading and had a fresh recognition of the need to consume the Word, not one of  those verses jumped off the page and presented itself as my next SSMT memory verse.

So, I had some reading left to do in Proverbs to finish it up for this year's portion of the Bible Survey and I thought I  might find something there.  So I flipped back towards Proverbs, and, wouldn't you know, my eyes alighted on a verse on the way that DID jump off the page...

Since ancient times, no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him -- Is. 64:4 NIV 84

I think I'm starting to see a pattern here...it will be interesting to aggregate them all together at the end of the year and see if there really is an over riding message...

PS.  I'm turning the word verification back on...I didn't mind deleting the daily 'visit my site' spams so much, but when it gets vile and obscene then I'm done.  I didn't get any more 'real' comments without it, so, in the interest of keeping my blood pressure down, I'm axing the robots... my apologies for the inconvenience to anyone who wants to leave a real comment...

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Where's the Beef?

It ain't gonna be on my plate...

(posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi)

I've made jokes here and there about suffering from 'old people digestion', but the truth is I've been having a real go round with acid -- you know -- reflux (don't want search engine hits...)

Had the scope about 3 years ago and the dr found nothing serious enough to cause my symptoms; I've been on increasing doses of the expensive anti-acid pills and finally got disgusted enough that my family dr sent me back to the specialist.

It all comes down to diet, she said, and asked me questions like...'How much water do you drink every day?' and 'How much fiber do you eat?'

Um...I know I don't drink enough water.  I just don't think about it.  But I have never paid attention to fiber content. 'I eat oatmeal for breakfast!' I offered.

'3 grams.' She said.  'You need 20 every day.'

'I eat a lot of salads!'  I thought I'd get brownie points.

'Don't you know salads are bad for reflux?'

*jaw on floor*

'There really isn't much fiber in salads anyway.  You can eat any cooked vegetables you want, except tomatoes.  But you must cook them.  No red meat.  That means you can have pork, chicken, turkey and fish...no beef.  Drink eight glasses of water a day.  Whatever you need to do to make that happen, do it.  You can't go to bed at night unless you have drunk your water.'

I knew my diet needed to change.  I'd done well during the fast but lost focus a bit. I even prayed within the last week or so for the backbone to eat right.  Lean protein and green veggies, I thought.

Well, sort of. 

So, we'll do another scope and small test, just to make sure nothing has significantly changed in the past 3 years, and I'm to be Very Strict with my eating.

A doctor looking over my shoulder wasn't exactly what I had in mind for backbone, but He knows what I need.

Now I'm off to sort thorough a bag of HamBeens  15 bean soup mix (the kids will NOT eat limas, so I pull them out).  9 grams of fiber per serving.  Yeah, I'm paying attention now...

Friday, March 1, 2013

Verse 5 - Ps. 122:6 - 7

Posted By Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

I stumbled across a verse today that I've heard repeated many times; I even have it underlined in the NEW Bible.

But sometimes something familiar suddenly comes into sharp focus.

Verse 4 was about building my own house and opening the door; today as I passed by Ps. 122 I suddenly realized that I should not be praying for my own house alone. And, although I surely must have noticed this before, it hit me fresh today that this verse isn't just an instruction TO pray but also an instruction of WHAT to pray.

A good passage; I've heard the first part all my life, I think, but it's time for me to commit the whole thought  to heart.  So here's my SSMT verse for March 1:

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: 'May those who love you be secure.  May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.' - Ps. 122: 6-7 NIV 84