Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi
Day four of yet another upper respiratory ailment. This is the third one since Thanksgiving.
I had an errand this morning that couldn't be skipped; as I was driving down the road breathing through my mouth, experimenting with a little singing, just to see if choir on Sunday is going to be a possibility (doesn't look like it), I reflected on other times and events when I came down with the nasty coughy croakies.
With the exception of the one I had over New Year's, which has an identifiable moment of exposure, most of the time I really don't know where the bug came from.
But it hit me that almost always I was in 'push' mode...with projects or schedules that just didn't allow me much down time. Times when I just had to put my head down and work...and then come home and try to just keep the family functioning; a clean house and caught up laundry weren't even on the radar. Food for tonight and clean underwear for tomorrow was as good as I could manage.
And...ding ding ding...as I had less time for down time I realized I was more likely to get sick.
Now, we are discussing 'Commitment to Christ' in my middle school girls classes, and somehow some discussion of the Ten Commandments has slipped into the discussion. Two in particular, because I don't think we give them the right connotations all the time:
Taking God's name in vain and keeping the Sabbath.
I'll discuss the first one another time; our discussion of the Sabbath is what has smacked me this week.
Because, if you read through the scripture, you will find that the observation of the Sabbath had virtually nothing to do with corporate worship. It was to be a day of rest. A weekly Jubilee. One day a week in which obligations to provide were laid aside, with the understanding that God would cover things. The manna wouldn't spoil. A test in trusting Him.
Do we trust God enough to lay down our work for one day and spend it with family and friends, talking and laughing and not be 'anxious and troubled about many things' ? To sit down at His feet and chose the good part?
I told the girls, mentioning that our bodies are not made to stay in work mode day in and day out; we were given a Sabbath so we could rest and restore.
So...how ironic that less than a week later I am coughing and stopped up and achy. And I realize that I have been in 'go' mode for a while now...and there really is no end in sight.
I spent most of my Jubilee year trying to figure out the balance between service/obligation and rest. When am I Martha, anxious about many things...and when am I Mary, choosing the good part?
A year and a half later I had a bout of mononucleosis; even though I had every reason to rest...I still didn't. Not entirely. It wasn't until the April 2011 storms knocked power out for a week and we had enforced down time that I finally felt anything like normal again.
But...and here's the bazillionth verse...how do I cut back? What can I release and trust to God? Aye, there's the rub...I have to admit that I am replaceable.
After the school musical costuming is done and the data base has migrated at work and I have someone who is called and eager to teach at least one of my three classes and we have our finances caught back up so my salary isn't required...
Um, yeah. I still haven't got it. I see it, but I haven't GOT IT. When I get it, I'll know what to put down.
Maybe I'll even see how to do that.
Friday, February 22, 2013
Friday, February 15, 2013
Verse 4 - Micah 2:13
Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi
It's been just exactly a year since the contractor cleaned up his work, packed his tools and went on to other jobs.
Not because our job was finished, but because we'd gone as far as we could go with the resources we had.
All the resources we could muster together, actually. So the project wrapped up at the end of phase 1.
Phase 2 is a new door. On Leap Day last year, I posted a photo of the spot where the door is destined to go, and a list of the scriptures that I had written on the wall that will come down.
Today, as I pondered what my fourth verse for the Siesta Scripture Memory Team should be, I walked through the den and opened the blinds on the windows that will be replaced by a large, light filled sliding door, and realized I had gone slack on declaring the verses over the situation.
And it's no wonder...in the past year, the rest of the insulation for the project (along with a few boxes of other stuff...) has moved from the garage to the porch. It makes sense for it to be there, but... I can't see the verses to declare them
I suppose we must be closer to being in a position to finish than we were a year ago; we've had a year to fill in the financial holes we dug to just get the room enclosed and stable. But we're still a long way from having the resources we need to knock out the wall and windows and put in the door.
So I decided I need a warfare verse; a verse that I can declare every time I open the blinds. So verse number four is Micah 2:13, which is visible in the middle of the wall:
One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break through the gate and go out. Their king will pass through before them, the LORD at their head.
It's been just exactly a year since the contractor cleaned up his work, packed his tools and went on to other jobs.
Not because our job was finished, but because we'd gone as far as we could go with the resources we had.
All the resources we could muster together, actually. So the project wrapped up at the end of phase 1.
Phase 2 is a new door. On Leap Day last year, I posted a photo of the spot where the door is destined to go, and a list of the scriptures that I had written on the wall that will come down.
Today, as I pondered what my fourth verse for the Siesta Scripture Memory Team should be, I walked through the den and opened the blinds on the windows that will be replaced by a large, light filled sliding door, and realized I had gone slack on declaring the verses over the situation.
And it's no wonder...in the past year, the rest of the insulation for the project (along with a few boxes of other stuff...) has moved from the garage to the porch. It makes sense for it to be there, but... I can't see the verses to declare them
So I decided I need a warfare verse; a verse that I can declare every time I open the blinds. So verse number four is Micah 2:13, which is visible in the middle of the wall:
One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break through the gate and go out. Their king will pass through before them, the LORD at their head.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Thoughts on the Day of Chocolate and Roses
(posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi)
..and, if the advertising is to be believed, iPads and flat screen TVs and if you're very, very special, maybe a new car.
Really.
I remember Valentine's day being special because it was a party after Christmas...something to look forward to after the tree was discarded and the lights packed away and the presents relegated to the bottomless Toy Box.
I remember having a tiered red dress when I was about in 2nd grade...a hand me down from an older cousin...that I wanted to wear on Valentine's day. But it was a lightweight, warm-weather dress and the chances of the weather being fit to wear such a thing in central Indiana in the middle of February were truly non-existent.
I thought if the groundhog could manage not to see his shadow, spring would be early and I could wear the pretty red dress for the Valentine's party at school.
The groundhog let me down. I think by the time it was warm enough to wear the dress, it was too little.
I remember making special receptacles for the Valentine's exchange every year; always one of my favorite crafts.
And I remember the year that I noticed that I did not have as many Valentines in my decorated shoe box as a number of my classmates...when I went home and actually looked at the signatures on the back and found that a number of the names were missing.
'Singles Awareness Day' is what the Actor is fond of calling the day; for me, in fourth and fifth grade, it was an unawareness day...the day I was relegated to second class citizen, not even worthy of a cheap paper smile.
Stuff like that stays with you a long, long time.
Fortunately, after 5th grade, the parties went away and there were no more opportunities for me to be left off that particular list. Valentine's Day moved down...way down...the list of important days. Oh, I had a couple of 'boyfriends' in Junior Hi and High school; I remember getting a small box of candy from the first one. I kept the heart shaped box until the glue gave out and it fell apart, but I really don't remember specific celebrations for most of my coming of age years.
But I do remember a cold, blustery, sleety Valentine's Day in 1979. A local florist called the house about 8 PM to get directions out to the farm and, to everyone's surprise, about half an hour later delivered a box containing a dozen long-stemmed roses from a certain blond engineering student at Purdue. That was the first time anyone had ever given me flowers on Valentine's Day. In years to come, I would tell him he could buy me flowers any day BUT Feb. 14, as the prices were jacked up beyond belief on that day, but in 1979 my little heart that had counted the noticeably short number of cards in my fifth grade box was filled in a way I had not experienced before.
I married him about a year and a half later.
There have lots of Valentine's days since then; some have left very fond memories. But tonight will make the highlight film - I stopped at the grocery store and got a large sirloin steak for grilling, a fresh store-made salad and a bag of onion rings; I made a decadent chocolate dessert, and two of the four-plus-one kids managed to have dinner with us. I doubt it will go on their 'best Valentine memories' list...but this is exactly what makes my heart smile now.
And I think St. Valentine, who was killed for uniting Christians in holy matrimony against the decrees of the Roman government, would approve.
..and, if the advertising is to be believed, iPads and flat screen TVs and if you're very, very special, maybe a new car.
Really.
I remember Valentine's day being special because it was a party after Christmas...something to look forward to after the tree was discarded and the lights packed away and the presents relegated to the bottomless Toy Box.
I remember having a tiered red dress when I was about in 2nd grade...a hand me down from an older cousin...that I wanted to wear on Valentine's day. But it was a lightweight, warm-weather dress and the chances of the weather being fit to wear such a thing in central Indiana in the middle of February were truly non-existent.
I thought if the groundhog could manage not to see his shadow, spring would be early and I could wear the pretty red dress for the Valentine's party at school.
The groundhog let me down. I think by the time it was warm enough to wear the dress, it was too little.
I remember making special receptacles for the Valentine's exchange every year; always one of my favorite crafts.
And I remember the year that I noticed that I did not have as many Valentines in my decorated shoe box as a number of my classmates...when I went home and actually looked at the signatures on the back and found that a number of the names were missing.
'Singles Awareness Day' is what the Actor is fond of calling the day; for me, in fourth and fifth grade, it was an unawareness day...the day I was relegated to second class citizen, not even worthy of a cheap paper smile.
Stuff like that stays with you a long, long time.
Fortunately, after 5th grade, the parties went away and there were no more opportunities for me to be left off that particular list. Valentine's Day moved down...way down...the list of important days. Oh, I had a couple of 'boyfriends' in Junior Hi and High school; I remember getting a small box of candy from the first one. I kept the heart shaped box until the glue gave out and it fell apart, but I really don't remember specific celebrations for most of my coming of age years.
But I do remember a cold, blustery, sleety Valentine's Day in 1979. A local florist called the house about 8 PM to get directions out to the farm and, to everyone's surprise, about half an hour later delivered a box containing a dozen long-stemmed roses from a certain blond engineering student at Purdue. That was the first time anyone had ever given me flowers on Valentine's Day. In years to come, I would tell him he could buy me flowers any day BUT Feb. 14, as the prices were jacked up beyond belief on that day, but in 1979 my little heart that had counted the noticeably short number of cards in my fifth grade box was filled in a way I had not experienced before.
I married him about a year and a half later.
There have lots of Valentine's days since then; some have left very fond memories. But tonight will make the highlight film - I stopped at the grocery store and got a large sirloin steak for grilling, a fresh store-made salad and a bag of onion rings; I made a decadent chocolate dessert, and two of the four-plus-one kids managed to have dinner with us. I doubt it will go on their 'best Valentine memories' list...but this is exactly what makes my heart smile now.
And I think St. Valentine, who was killed for uniting Christians in holy matrimony against the decrees of the Roman government, would approve.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Link Worth Watching
Ok, I admit it...I'm posting this mostly so my mother can see it.
This video was played at the overnight prayer meeting we had at church last weekend. It's about 35 minutes long, but...wow, well worth it.
Jonathan Cahn address at the 2013 Inaugural Prayer Breakfast
I've been told that a prayer service spontaneously erupted at the end of the message....
This video was played at the overnight prayer meeting we had at church last weekend. It's about 35 minutes long, but...wow, well worth it.
Jonathan Cahn address at the 2013 Inaugural Prayer Breakfast
I've been told that a prayer service spontaneously erupted at the end of the message....
Friday, February 1, 2013
In Memory of STS 107
But the impact on us was not nearly as great as the impact on the families of the folks who were on that flight. My prayers are with them for God's strength and comfort at the ten year milestone.
Verse 3 - Is. 30:15
Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi
Is it just me, or did January disappear like a puff of smoke? Today being Feb. 1, it's time for me to choose verse three for the Siesta Scripture Memory Team.
This time, I don't think I chose this so much as got it assigned. When a verse lands squarely in your face twice in one week, from two unconnected sources...well, I figure God is trying to tell me something.
The first time was in last Friday's study challenge from Beth; she posted a photo of the verse written on a 3 x 5 card.
Then, earlier this week, I encountered the same verse a second time. Lisa Bevere is going to be speaking at our quarterly women's gathering next Friday (woot!), so I thought it would be a good idea to snag a copy of her latest book , Lioness Arising, and read through it before the event. And there, on page 23, she quoted
Your salvation requires you to turn back to me and stop your silly efforts to save yourselves. Your strength will come from settling down in complete dependance on me
Now, both ladies quoted from The Message but, while I loved the rendering stop your silly efforts to save yourselves, I decided in the beginning that I would do my memory work from the NIV 84, just because it's very, very confusing to carry around multiple translations in my head. So here it is...the whole verse, as it is written on my notecard:
This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: 'In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength. But you would have none of it.' - Is. 30:15 NIV 84
That 'but' really hits me. I must must must learn to rest, be quiet and trust...while still doing what I am called to do. I think the secret is going to be that I have to learn to be ruthlessly honest with myself about why I am doing what I am doing...is it because I'm called, or because I feel obligated in order to not disappoint people? How much of it is really God and how much of it is my own silly effort?
How appropriate that I have been assigned to memorize a verse that will continually ask me those questions.
Is it just me, or did January disappear like a puff of smoke? Today being Feb. 1, it's time for me to choose verse three for the Siesta Scripture Memory Team.
This time, I don't think I chose this so much as got it assigned. When a verse lands squarely in your face twice in one week, from two unconnected sources...well, I figure God is trying to tell me something.
The first time was in last Friday's study challenge from Beth; she posted a photo of the verse written on a 3 x 5 card.
Then, earlier this week, I encountered the same verse a second time. Lisa Bevere is going to be speaking at our quarterly women's gathering next Friday (woot!), so I thought it would be a good idea to snag a copy of her latest book , Lioness Arising, and read through it before the event. And there, on page 23, she quoted
Your salvation requires you to turn back to me and stop your silly efforts to save yourselves. Your strength will come from settling down in complete dependance on me
Now, both ladies quoted from The Message but, while I loved the rendering stop your silly efforts to save yourselves, I decided in the beginning that I would do my memory work from the NIV 84, just because it's very, very confusing to carry around multiple translations in my head. So here it is...the whole verse, as it is written on my notecard:
This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: 'In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength. But you would have none of it.' - Is. 30:15 NIV 84
That 'but' really hits me. I must must must learn to rest, be quiet and trust...while still doing what I am called to do. I think the secret is going to be that I have to learn to be ruthlessly honest with myself about why I am doing what I am doing...is it because I'm called, or because I feel obligated in order to not disappoint people? How much of it is really God and how much of it is my own silly effort?
How appropriate that I have been assigned to memorize a verse that will continually ask me those questions.
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