Beauty of the ages.

This Sunday I went back to First Baptist were the preacher talked about suffering for the Lord. The verses were from 1 Peter 3: 8-22. This is were I found the verse that I want to talk about today. 1 Peter 3: 3-6 " Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful." Wow, the world's view of beauty is so distorted. We think that you have to have the right clothes, the right jewelry, or be the skinniest. But look at what Peter says beauty is... "your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight." No where in there does it say anything about outward appearances. But instead we should measure our beauty by what lies inside us, by our gentleness and our quiet spirits. Think of how different the world would be if that was how we viewed beauty. So the next time you look in the mirror think about the beauty of God and how he judges our beauty not this world.

Out into the world....

I do not know if you have seen the movie Julie&Julia yet but the movie is about a girl who cooks her way through Julia Childs cookbook in a single year and she blogs about it. There is one time that she talks about toward the beginning of starting her blog...she says how she feels like she is just sending her thoughts out into the world and no one even cares. A little while later in the movie she gets all excited about a comment on her blog until she finds out that the comment came from her mother. Well I have been blogging for a couple of months and was beginning to understand how she felt. The only person reading was my mother (who I love very very much) but now I have two more!!! For me this blog is not about how many people read on a daily basis but that one who stumbles across it in a time of need and finds something that God has done for me that helps them find hope in him. I know that God has really cool was a doing that and I hope that this blog could be that for someone. God places people and things in our lives in our times of need that help give us the strength to make it through that trial. They are like his little love notes that are hidden in your suitcase by your spouse when you are going to be away from them for a while. When you stumble across this note you are so overjoyed not only by what lies inside but also by the fact that someone loves you enough to plan ahead and send you their love. God is sending us little love notes all the time. So for those of you who are reading I hope you can find something that will strengthen you and I encourage the comments not for the sake of say I have a comment but because you can also strengthen me with your words and thoughts as well.

Writer's block....

I think that I have hit a writer's block....I mean I have had tons of stuff going on in my life in the past couple of days, another fall, a doctor's appointment, I donated blood but every time I start a post it just doesn't sound right or the words I am looking for don't come. Maybe it is a way of telling me to be still and silent and listen for a change. When you think about it how many times do we pray and then wait for a reply. How much time a day do we spend listening to what God has to say. We say our prayers, ask for things and then go on. Prayer is suppose to be a conversation with God and I know I hate it when one person dominates the conversation. I like to put in my two cents. So today's post is short but still comes with a challenge....take some time to listen today see if you can hear what God is trying to tell you.
Verses for today were Job 12-16.
Have a wonderful Wednesday!!!

Family!!!!!

Today as been a pretty rough day. For some reasons kids tend to act worse on Friday. It is only lunch and I am completely ehausted from playing referee to these students. But the thing that is getting me through this day is the fact that I am going to get to see most of my family tonight!!! I love that God uses family anologies in the Bible... For instince he calls himself God the Father and we are his children. For those of you who know me there is no way you do not know my family. I have this incrediable mom/best friend. She is a true women of God like it talks about in Proverbs. A father who is active not only in the church but in each one of our lives. He is always looking out for us even when we don't see it that way. Then I have three brothers who are very different. There is John Mark...the quiet thinker. Jeremy.... the enthusatic wild child. Joshua...gears going 200 miles an hour all the time but is always good for an adventure. This is how it is in the Church. God has given each one of his children a unquie gift that he wants us to use to being more people into the family. Yes I have a wonderful family but that is not to say that we don't have our problems and we will have problems in the Church as well. The cool thing about family is they have your back and are always there when you need a hand or a shoulder to cry on. You don't always agree but what fun would that be. (I mean be honest how many of you use to purposially pick fights with your siblings. Guilty!!) That just gives you more ideas and different ways to look at things. God has blessed us with so much and that Family atmosphere for me is a huge blessing. So stop and take a second to look at what makes each member of your family special and tell them. Let them know that they are a blessing to you....even if you don't always think so.
Verse for today: Matthew 4-6
Have a great weekend!!!

Cloudy with a high of 61

One of my favorite music groups is Relient K and today one of their songs describes it all. "High of 75" the words go something like this...."We were talking together I said, "What's up with this weather?" Don't know whether or not how sad I just got was of my own volition. Or if I'm just missing the sun. And tomorrow, I know, will be rainy at best. And the forecast, I know, is that I'll be depressed. But I'll wait outside hoping that I'll catch sight of the sun. [Chorus:]Because on and off, the clouds have fought their control over the sky. And lately the weather has been so bi-polar and consequently so have I. And now I'm sunny with a high of 75 Since you took my heavy heart and made it light. And its funny how you find you enjoy your life when you're happy to be alive. [Chorus]And the temperature is freezing and then, after dark, there is a cold frost sweeping in over my heart and we might break up if I don't wake up to the sun [Chorus] Sunny with a high of 75 since you took my heavy heart and made it light and its funny how you find you enjoy your life when you're happy to be...Alive." Today it is fogging and 35 right now here in the big town of Levelland, Texas. And you really see on some days how the weather outside effects your mood. Take rainy days for instence, when it is rainy outside you just want to stay in bed all day or curl up in a blank and watch a good movie. When it is a beautiful spring day you want to be outside having fun. The fog makes you glumpy and sort of depressed and I am afraid that is how I am feeling today. Not really depressed but I don't want to be doing much and I am ready for that sunny day to come along. It is the same way with us Spiritually... those rainy days come around when it seems like everything is coming down around you and all you want to do is to stay in bed and hide under the covers until it all goes away. Then you have the sunny spring days when you and God are walking hand in hand laughing back and forth having a great time. Then there are the foggy days when you can't quiet see what the future holds. God is hiding or so we think. We haven't heard him in awhile and you are lost as to where you are suppose to be going and what you are suppose to be doing. But just like the song says God comes in and takes our heavy hearts and makes them light again and we get that sunny day with a high of 75. What is the weather like for you spiritually right now? Sunny...Cloudy...Rainy?
Today's verses are Job 6-11 Job is a great example of Texas weather in spiritual terms. His life starts out sunny then goes to rainy and then the fog sets in but through it all he is always looking to God and never doubts him.

Noah

Yesterday's chapters for reading the Bible in a year was Genesis 4-7. If I am reading it right then the story of the ark is more impressive than I had ever thought. We all know that God told Noah to build and ark because a great flood was coming. The ark was suppose to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet tall. This is the part that I think is impressive. God tells Noah in Genesis 7:4 "Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made." Now there could have been time between God giving Noah the dimensions of the ark and verse 4 but if there was not any time the Noah built the ark in seven days. Now my dad use to be in construction and let me tell you I don't think that they ever built a house in less than seven days and there was more than eight of them working at a time (That is if Noah's wife and his sons' wives helped out) If not then think about this for a second. Four men....Noah who is 600...seven days....atlest two of each animal of land and air...goal a huge boat...plus no power tools. The way I see it Noah and his family worked night and day to finish this ark and if it were me probably slept through the forty days and nights have rain after finishing up the ark. Like I said though these are just my thoughts and there could have been days in between so that Noah didn't build the ark in only seven days but if he did that is crazy and a bigger miracle than I had thought. Let me know your thoughts on this one.
Today's verses are Deuteronomy 3-4.

Darkness

I heard this statement yesterday and it has been stuck in my head. "The Darkness doesn't have any answers." Six words yet full of so much truth. It got me think about where I go when things go bad where do I turn to. I think a lot of times we tend to hold on to the darkness or dive further in because for some odd reason we think that will help. We hold that grudge, we let that anger boil over, we refuse to forgive, and we find needs was to hurt the ones who hurt us. Perfect example is this from a movie that is quoted quiet often in my family, The Princess Bride. Inigo Montoya is a man who has lived the majority of his life trying to hunt down the man who killed his father; all he knows is that the man has six fingers. Inigo finally gets his revenge at the end of the movie and what he keeps saying as he is battling this six fingered man is "My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father prepare to die." Then at the end of the movie he looks at Westley and tells him that he doesn't know what to do now since he had spent his whole life in the revenge business. Inigo thought that all his answers would come with his revenge but instead it left him empty. Emptiness is all that the darkness has to offer. The answers are in the light. Think about it. If you walk into a room that is pitch black you can't see anything so how would you find what you are looking for. However if you add just a little bit of little things begin to be revealed. So the next time something comes around and you want to find hope or the answer to the pain you have look to the light. God is there is show you the way. The Darkness has nothing for you.
Today was 1 Sam. 1-3 in the Bible reading. It actually fits quiet well with the post. It is a story of Hannah who is barren and is very upset about this. It is God who finally gives her a son, Samuel. Go read it. It is a cool story.

Home sick

Christmas break was just what I needed in so many ways. I got to see family and hang out with one of my really good friends for three days. Also this year we had a white Christmas....awesome I know!!!! But as good as the break was coming back to Levelland was super hard. If you know me at all you know how much of a people person I am. In Dublin I had family and friends to pass the time but here I do not have either (I have friend just not ones that hang out and go and do things with me.) Last night it was really hard walking back into my empty apartment knowing the people I had just spent two weeks with were a five hour drive away. It was crushing; I think I might have even felt the weight being placed on my heart. I had only been back for maybe ten minutes and I was already home sick. It was different in August, I had this huge adventure set before me and I was out to conquer the world. But now I know what lies ahead of me a lot better than that first day I step foot into my classroom and the excitement has left me with this longing for companionship. Just a friend to talk to, to hang out with, to cheer me up when my students have driven me to an inch of my sanity. I know it will all play out that God has people out there for me I just haven't found any of them yet. But it is God's timing not mine.
On another note, Sunday at church they handed out a schedule for reading the whole Bible in a year. So...........I am going to do it. I have never read through the entire Bible in a year so I am going to take 2010 to do so. Yesterday was my first day and I read Gen. 1-3 today is Deu. 1-2 I read half of it this morning and will read the other half later today. I am excited am will keep you posted on how I am doing and what God is revealing to me through his word. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's and that the time with family was a blessing. Have a wonderful Monday!

My Piece of the Puzzle

Two weeks off from school! So for the Christmas break I will be spending two weeks hanging out with my family. It will be the last time for a while that we are all in one place, and by one place I mean one country. Being around people every moment of the day is definitely a big change for me. If you have ever lived by yourself you might understand what I am going through. There is a lot of adjusting to do. I kind of had a break down the other day. It is really funny how you think you are so strong and then something little makes you believe otherwise. Let me fill in the rest of the picture for you. I have been searching for a church home ever since I moved to Levelland. I have found some great churches but none of them feel like home or have anyone close to my age. It has been a struggle for me, I am very much a people person and to think that I have no friends to just go and hang out with has been super hard. Then I come home and see how everyone in my family have these places that they belong and people to share their lives with, it is hard. It is hard to think that I have not found that special place for me and that special someone to completely share my life with. But then I stop and think, Jesus never really belonged either. He did have the disciples to share his life with but he didn’t have a place in this world. We as Christians are called to stand apart and not belong but that does not make it any easier. I can only imagine how alone Christ must of felt at times, I mean here is a man who came into this world to die for it and no one believed him. But he found peace in his Father and the cool thing about that is that he died so that we could do the same. So even though I am feeling very alone and longing to find a place that feels like home I know that one day I will find that place with God and that loneliness I feel now I will never feel again.
This post was from December 20 but we don't have Internet at my house in Dublin so you are just now getting it. :)