Woody Places

I'm posting again ... whatta ya know. ;)

Judy recently posted about violin music.  She said that hearing the sweet strokes of a violin is one of the gifts God uses to draw her into His presence the best ... violin music takes her to a place where she can simply bask in God.  She asked her readers to think about a similar gift in their lives ... so that's what today's posting is all about. :)

What makes me feel and know God's presence the best??? ..... Well, I didn't have to think too long .... I think it's an easy answer for me. .... There are a few places ... a few people ... that help me know God better ... but the place where I can sit and bask in God's presence the best is in the middle of the woods.  Any woods.  My best times in the presence of God are when I go hiking with friends or when I sit and simply listen to the sounds of nature.  In my Mammoth Cave posting, I mentioned the "devo. rock" .... and my devotions were so good that day because I got to sit on this huge boulder and be silent before the Lord.  The only sounds were the wind rustling the trees, squirrels running through the leaves, making them crunch, birds chirping, and the soft voices of my friends far off in the distance.  I sat on that rock for several minutes ... silent ... trying to hear from the Lord.  I love the feeling of cold, fall-heading-into-winter air when I take deep breaths.  I love the sound of crunching leaves.  I love the sound of the wind blowing the tree branches.  And I love to see the beauty of God's creation.  He knew what He was doing when He created hills and huge boulders and tall trees and brown and red and yellow and green leaves that crunch when you walk through them.  God's creation is one of His greatest gifts to us.  Bask in it sometime .... it helps you know Him better!  It helps you know His character and His love for us better.

Hiking through woody trails with friends .... or sitting in silence, with nothing by God and His creation ... that is where I know God's presence the best. :)  What about you?  I'm gonna ask just as Judy did. :)  You don't have to post it anywhere (although you should!) ;) .... but think about it. :):):)

Have a great day, everybody!  And go drink some hot chocolate! :D

A Yummy Donut and No More Zombie

Alright .... so I was eating a yummy donut on my way to a writing center staff meeting this morning, and I started thinking. It was all because of the yummy donut too. Some "food for thought!" Whatta ya know! ;) ......... This donut was made up of some kind of sugar bread ... AND it had sugarful icing on top ... with sprinkles. (Yes ... sugarful is a word - a Mical word, at least - and yes ... I was loading up on the sugar. Sorry, James.) ;) ...... Like I said earlier ... It was a really good donut ... and its yumminess factor spurred on thoughts about Jesus. Yep. :) The question popped into my head .... "How can I get Jesus to taste this good?" Of course, Jesus DOES taste good, and it's not because I make Him good .... I just meant ... How can I make Him taste good in my life? How can I really savor Him in my life? .... Like I was savoring that yummy donut. I got to thinking about Psalm 34:8, which says, "TASTE and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him."

TASTE the Lord. How do you do that? I was talking to my friend, Ben, last night .... and we got to talking about the crazy stuff God's been allowing into my life over the past several months. He was asking me about how I've grown in the Lord through all of it .... and I brought up the word "communion." I was telling him about how my time with God has NOT be another thing on my "to do" list lately. It's been real communion with God. I knew what I meant by this word when I was talking to Ben about it last night, but I just looked it up in the dictionary, and Webster defines communion as .... "fellowship; interchange of thoughts or interests; a state of giving and receiving." These are all good definitions, but I really like the last one ... "a state of giving and receiving." That's what real communion with God is. So often we get caught up in other things during our "quiet" times, our times for just Jesus and us. (Did you notice that quiet is in quotations? ... It is difficult to really get quiet before the Lord. How often do you do it? I know I have trouble.) I was describing to Ben how my time with the Lord before all of the trials was me saying my two bits ... then God saying His two bits. It wasn't really a conversation ... it was more like an awkward .... hmm ... I can't think of the word I'm trying to get across. My quiet times were kind of zombie-like. Zombies (yes, they are not real ... but work with me here.) can walk around and perform "normal" tasks ... but they are not engaging in any of those actions. They don't even know they're doing them. It's just something they do to get by. ....... Okay ... that was a lame example ... but it was the first thing that popped into my head. I was a zombie quiet time Christian before all of these trials were thrown in my path. I read my Bible every night. I prayed. But I wasn't engaging in those activities that produce growth and joy and ... LIFE! So I wasn't growing in my faith ... I wasn't living in joy ... I wasn't being filled with the life of Christ. I was a zombie ... walking around, maybe performing Christianly tasks (reading my Bible, praying, ect.) ... but completely oblivious to the importance or the depth of those tasks. I wasn't engaging in my prayer and devotions. I wasn't engaging myself in getting to know God better. I wasn't communing with God.

TASTE and see that the Lord is good! We know that God is good. We've been taught that all our lives. We've said it countless times. ....... But to TASTE that He is good ... to SEE that He is good. How do we do that? ........ No more zombie ... that's how. To taste the Lord, we must eat His word. We must spend time with Him. We must LOVE HIM MORE THAN ANYTHING OR ANYONE! Yep! I said it! MORE than all things!!!! ....... This is what God's been pressing upon my heart for the past 3 or so months. Our primary calling is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever. We can glorify God in tons and tons of ways ..... but the foundation is a right relationship with Him. And we experience a RELATIONSHIP with Him by tasting and seeing that He is good ... by COMMUNING with God. Think about that for a little bit. It's a bit deeper than you think. Or as my pastor says, "That's better preachin' than you think." ;)

Huh. This post took a crazy turn early on ... one I wasn't expecting. I was planning to simply tell you all that I ate a yummy donut today and that it made me think of Psalm 34:8. .... And somehow I got to talking about communion and ..... what? Zombies??? .... Wow. The side note/tangent Queen strikes again! ;) Okay ....... well, I'm done with my ramblings. At least for now. ;) Have a great weekend! Allow God to teach you something new this weekend .... keep growing in Him. :) I'm off to hang out with my youth group kids! Sweeet! :D

Outdoors ... ah, yes!

Hey, all! :) Short and swweeet post .... I love pictures. I'm a photographer ... not a very good one. But I really like taking pictures. Pictures of friends ... pictures of outdoorsy stuff. Yep ... that's what I like. So .... I have tons of pictures of my friends all over my blog ..... but not many outdoorsies. Here are some shots I took today ... I really like clouds and trees ... and even leaves. Ha ha! I love pictures ... and those who like the outdoors will probably enjoy these almost as much as I do. ;)

"L" in T.U.L.I.P.

Wow! My brain is getting a workout! Don't you love that feeling?! Especially when it is a result of grappling with the things of God! Swweeet!!! Alright! Well ... that said ... just warning you that I'm about to spill some thoughts about a controversial issue within our faith. You can agree. You can disagree. But think about what GOD'S WORD says rather than whether or not YOU think it is in or not in God's character. This is deep stuff! The deepest stuff I've ever thought about! ......... But when some of your best friends are Ben and James Nilsen - it is inevitable that this will come up in conversation. :) I love those guys!

A couple weeks ago, I went to Mammoth Cave with the Nilsens and some other fun folks. I rode down with James, Kim, Elise, and Elise's friend, Drew, and we got to talking about Calvinism. Yep ... I know you're afraid! A crazyily controversial issue! .... You just mention Calvinism or something with one of the points in it (... I think James and I like to talk about predestination the most ... ha ha!) to Ben or James ... and you better be ready to get deep! ;) .... I forget how we got talking about it, but I started asking what the 5 points are (because I always forget) ... and after James told me a little about each one, I started asking about limited atonement. James said this is the toughest point of the 5 to grasp. ........ Well, I've been thinking about it a bit since then ... trying to wrap my mind around this crazy concept. I didn't get too far ... but I'm a bit farther than I was, so that's fun! .... I've been trying to e-mail my thoughts to James this week ... but he's an oober busy guy. I'm gonna post my last e-mail to James here .... to get some thoughts out about some of this mind-boggling Calvinist stuff. It should be fun ... and only a little scary. ;) I hope ... if some of you don't believe anything about Calvinism .... you will still be my friend after this post. ;) ..... Here it is!

Alright, James .... I'm still grappling with this. Ha! Ha!

I googled TULIP this morning, and here's what I found about limited atonement. Here are the scriptures this site gave me (the site is www.calvinistcorner.com/tulip ... in case you were wondering). ;) .... Matthew 26:28, John 10:11&15, Matthew 25:32-33, John 17:9, Acts 20:28, Ephesians 5:25-27, and Isaiah 53:12. I was also given 1 John 2:2 on another site, which threw my mind into a tailspin! Sheesh!

The site talked about how Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross (His shed blood) is sufficient for everyone but how it's not efficacious for everyone. Efficacious. Big word, I know. I looked it up ... and it means: "capable of having the desired result or effect; effective as a means, measure, remedy, etc." Some synonyms for it are: effectual, efficient, productive, active, capable, effective, forcible, potent, powerful, prevalent, useful, valid. Yeah ... I gave you the whole list ... don't you love copy and paste? ;) .... Anyway ... I was glad I looked it up. ... Jesus' sacrifice was more than able to take care of everyone's sins, but it was not effective in taking care of everyone's sins. Does that sound right? .... I can't fully wrap my head around this concept ... but I think I am getting there (a little). Going back to unconditional election .... since God chose the people who would come to know Him, it sort of makes sense to me that Christ's sacrifice was not effective for those who were not chosen. 'Cause if Christ's sacrifice was effective for everyone, then everyone would have been chosen ... right? Does that make sense? .... So I think I can grasp that part of it. But then there's the question of ... why did God only choose certain people? ... That goes back to the second point, unconditional election. Ha! Wow! This is crazy! And another thing ... backing up a bit .... the verses this site gave me don't really prove anything about limited atonement. They are pretty vague. In Matthew 26:28 and Isaiah 53:12 --- these verses talk about Christ's blood being shed for "many." Vague. And the sheep and the goats talked about in John 10:11&15 and Matthew 25:32-33 ... how do we know the goats are those who were not chosen? Couldn't they just be people who are not saved? Granted, the whole limited atonement thing says the unsaved are the ones who were not chosen (those whom Christ's sacrifice was not effective for) ... but these verses in and of themselves don't prove that the goats are those whom God did not choose. ....... Wow! Crazy stuff.

I'm not presenting this to you or asking you about it because I am trying to disprove the "L" in TULIP. If point #2 is valid (unconditional election) ... and I believe it is (even though I think it's nuts!) ... then point #3 (limited atonement) makes more sense to me. But I don't think the verses that this website provides help support this point. I think it comes down to if you don't believe unconditional election is valid, then you can't believe limited atonement is valid. Unconditional election is what affects/brings about limited atonement.

Ahh! It still doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me ... but I'm gonna trust that God knows what He's doing. ... I know this is long .... and I know you're busy ... but I'd love to hear some of your thoughts on this if you get some time .... even if your reply is a month down the road. Reply when you can ... if you can. :) I hope your week is going well! Praying for you, friend --- everyday! :D

Bye for now,Mical :)


So what do you all think?? Don't hesitate to leave your thoughts! And let's keep grapplin' with the things of God!!!!

Fasting .... Any Thoughts?

Alrighty! I'm back at it already! ;)

I've been thinking a lot about fasting lately. Ever think about this aspect of being a follower of Christ? I'm not sure why I've been thinking about it so much ... but I have a lot, on and off, for the past several months. I have a few thoughts about it .... and a few questions. And I thought I'd share them with you all and see what YOU guys think. :)

Matthew 6:16-18 talks about fasting ... briefly. But it's definitely there, and we shouldn't avoid or dismiss it. It says not to parade around shouting "I'm fasting! .... I'm abstaining from something I really enjoy so that I can be more spiritual!" Although this is a good goal (take out the spiritual and insert "so that I can be more like Jesus!" ... this sounds better!), God doesn't want us to let everyone know about our fasting excursions. ... Perhaps I've been thinking about this lately because a little over a month ago, I sent out an e-mail letting everyone know I was fasting from e-mail/blogging for a couple of weeks. I was a little apprehensive about letting everyone know ... but I think in that case, since e-mail is one of the biggest ways I stay in touch with a lot of people, it was alright. I didn't want everyone to think I was ignoring their wondrous e-mails. ;) ..... Perhaps that's why I've been thinking about it. And this leads me to some questions .... Is it okay to mention that you are fasting (from whatever) when it comes up in conversation? If it affects other people ... is it okay to mention it? .... Matthew 6:17-18a says, "But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so that your fasting will not be noticed by men." After looking at verse 16, I think the context concerns "parading," like I mentioned earlier. God doesn't want us to boast about ourselves. "Hey, look at me! I'm being spiritual! You should think I'm great because I am great!" .... Umm ... no! God doesn't want us to boast in/about anyone but HIM.

This leads me to some more thoughts ... we shouldn't fast just so we look more spiritual. We shouldn't fast just to say we fasted. I've struggled with both of these things in the past, but the more I meditate on WHY God commands us to fast, the more I want to try it out. ... Did you catch that? God COMMANDS us to fast. Yep ... check out Matthew 6:17 ... "But you, WHEN you fast ..." He didn't say "if." He said WHEN. That is something I've been grappling with for quite some time. Fasting is hard work. Fasting is all about giving up something that you enjoy/desire/even need, at times. And since scripture says "when you fast" rather than "if you ever get around to it," that means I have to find ways to fast. .... I think many of us think about food when we think of fasting. Growing up, that's what I always thought of - food. Food is a great thing to fast from ... whether you cut it out altogether for a short time (a day, a week, ect.) or if you cut out certain foods for a time .... like I've fasted from sugar or carbs before ... even gotten as specific as cutting out sweet tea for a whole week! I know ... crazy! ;) .... So fasting doesn't have to be just starving yourself. It can be a fast from anything.

My only suggestion ... make it a sacrifice of some kind. Fasting is all about focusing our attention on Jesus. With all the craziness and business and selfiness we possess in our lives (in our very beings!), it is a tough task to focus all our energies on Jesus. Fasting is a great tool in helping get our focus off of ourselves and back on Jesus! :) And my last thought .... yes, fasting is about sacrifice ... it is about obedience ... but it is also about prayer! This is the part of fasting that I really struggle with. Pathetic, I know. Abstaining from some sort of pleasure (or we can make it plural - pleasures!) leads us to depend on Jesus. Even if it's something small like not drinking sweet tea for a week ... when I crave sweet tea and know that I'm committed to NOT drinking it until Sunday night at 5:03pm (or whatever), I am pushed to talk to God about it. Yep, even something as small as that. It is amazing how our desires for the things of this world (whether they be godly or not) push us in the direction of Jesus ... at least hopefully they do ... and I mean in the "I need Jesus to help me overcome" kind of pushing towards Jesus. So when I desire sweet tea (or whatever I'm fasting from), my desire for that sweet tea leads me to desire more of Jesus. And so I pray. And prayer is the most essential part of fasting. Prayer draws us closer to Jesus. That is the part I don't spend enough time doing. ... I guess I'll have to keep fasting from things until I get it right, huh? ;)

Well ..... I think those are all my thoughts ... at least for now. I can't get the "WHEN you pray" out of my mind ... so that's why I'm posting about it. :) And thought I'd ask for ya'll's feedback. What do you think about fasting? Do you ever fast? What do you fast from/have you fasted from? What do you think about the context of Matthew chapter 6 in relation to fasting? .... If you get a minute or two, leave me a post - I'd love to hear your thoughts on this! :)

Alrighty! Gonna check my e-mail from Ben and then start on some homework! Have a great day, everybody! :D

5 Things I'm Thankful For Today :)

Ha ha ha ha ha! Another post!!!!! #7 for this weekend alone! I think I've made a new blogging record!!!! ;)

Well, earlier today I sent out another "Randomness with Mical" e-mail .... and I forgot to put my answer in the e-mail. "Randomness with Mical" is an e-mail I send out once a week (or once a month ... or once ever couple of months. Ha! I kind of forgot about it for awhile). I ask a question - something out of the blue (random) ... and I await replies. :) I love getting to know people better ... that is the #1 goal of "Randomness with Mical." :) .... So ... I sent out a question today. I usually include my answer, but it slipped my mind. The question is a great blog post ... so here ya go!

Randomness with Mical (Part 8) --- Question of the Week ............

In light of the Thanksgiving season .... What are 5 things you are thankful for today?

My answers:
#1 - My youth group girls .... SoZo is the ONE area of my life that God is being clear about - "Mical, I want you HERE." I love hanging out with young people. I love hanging out with my girls!
#2 - My brother came home from USI this weekend. We worked on a paper for his English class together ... had lots of laughs ... it was just a really good time with my little brother! :)
#3 - I only have 2 full weeks left in this semester!!!! This week - full week of school ... next week - Monday and Tuesday and then I'm off for Thanksgiving break! Sweet!!! ... The following week - LAST full week of classes! Then - a few papers/finals - done with the worst semester of my college career on December 10th! Waaahoooooooo!!!!
#4 - My friends. I don't think a girl could be more blessed. Actually, I'm gonna be bold and say ... it's impossible for someone to be more blessed than I am in the friends department. I have the most godly, most consistent, most amazing friends in the world. I am incredibly thankful for each of them!
#5 - The promises I've been finding in God's word during this crazy transitioning stage of my life. I have gone through the toughest challenges of my life over the past year ... but I've also experienced the greatest joys of my life! And God's word has been THE Rock of my life over the past year. The promises found in God's word blow me away! Psalm 16:11, Psalm 62:5-8, Psalm 73:23-28, Romans 8:28, Philippians 1:6, and Revelation 21:4 .... just to name a few! Our God is amazing!!!! And His word is the foundation of my life!!!!

What are YOU thankful for today? Make a list (yep ... I like lists! They are pretty amazing tools of worship!)

Lastly ..... It's the very beginning of the week! God has great things in store for each of us! Check out Psalm 16:8-11 every morning this week. That's my challenge for you! That's what I'm gonna try to do! Wanna try it with me??? :) .... You don't have to choose this passage of scripture ... God's just been using these verses, especially verse 11, in my life lately - reminding me that even though God isn't saying "Mical, this is where I want you to go. This is what I want you to do." He's not giving me any specifics whatsoever ... but He IS giving me His word! And it is sustaining my life .... right down to my core! ...... So that's why I suggest this passage. But whatever you do .... meditate on God's word this week! Let's grow closer to our amazing Savior and King! He is the song of our hearts!

Have a great week, my blogger friends! ......... Much love to you all! :D

The Adventures of Patrick and the CC Ladies!

I am obsessed with blogging. I'll admit it. This is my sixth post in 3 days. I think I can officially label myself as a "blogger addict." (I could be addicted to much worse things, don'tcha think?) .... Alrighty ... well for my sixth post in the same weekend, I'm finally gonna post about a little guy that I introduced you to about a month ago. .... Yep, I'm talking about Patrick .... Patrick the Persimmon, whom I met (and helped create) at the Calvary Chapel Ladies Retreat last month. I've been meaning to post about him for a long time and haven't gotten around to it. Too many ideas rolling around in this brain, I think! ;) ... I was talking to a super great lady at my church this morning, Kelly Atkinson, who led the Calvary Ladies Retreat last month ... and she asked about my blog! Yeah! She said that someone told her about my Patrick post (Sweeet! Word is getting out about my blog!), and she wanted to check it out. So ... that clenched it! From that moment on, I was determined to finish my story about Patrick - today! So ... without further ado ... this is what Patrick and the ladies of Calvary Chapel did at the CC Ladies Retreat back in the middle of October. :) Get ready! This'll be the best thing you see all day! :D

This is where Patrick and the ladies spent the weekend ... a "quaint" little camp down in Oolitic, Indiana. :)

In case you haven't met Patrick (in case you missed my introduction of Patrick a month ago) ... This is Patrick the Persimmon ... the short version is that Patrick was created in a game that the CC ladies played on the retreat. Yep ... he is a persimmon with screw legs, pebble eyes, a pine mohawk, and he flies around on a wild turkey feather.

This is Patrick with our coolio speaker, Michelle Lampton. She is an extraordinary woman who has overcome crazy obstacles and all the while kept her eyes and heart stayed on her mighty Jesus! She talked to us about being "Beautiful Warriors" for Jesus ... and reminded us that no matter how tough our lives get, God is calling us to "stay at our posts." We are NOT to abandon the talents and callings and responsibilities and people God has placed in our lives! Great messages that weekend - fo sho!!! :D

Patrick and our worship leaders, Cheryl and Tiff! :) .... Worship must've been pretty impactful for Patrick because on the last morning of the retreat, someone wrote a ransom note for Patrick. No joke! Someone STOLE Patrick ..... but one of the ladies found him later with a note attached to him that said, "Take him back! He won't shut up! He keeps singing 'Jesus loves me' over and over and over!" So Patrick was returned to us. .... Yep. God can even impact a tiny little persimmon man.

We had lots of down time during our weekend getaway, and there were prayer stations set up all over the camp. Many of the ladies took several walks of silence and solitude throughout the weekend ... and some stopped at the prayer stations to focus on specific aspects of prayer. ..... Patrick also took some quiet time away with God, to read his Bible and pray. ;)

There was lots of time to fellowship on the retreat. We chatted for hours, played games together, broke up into small groups after sessions, and did "get to know you" activities. Patrick even made some friends ... Gilbert the Grape and Mr. Smiley. :)

We played a "get to know you" game on Friday night after everyone arrived. The idea was to take a handful of M&Ms, and for each M&M color, we shared different things about ourselves. Green M&Ms were our favorite foods, red M&Ms were our hobbies, orange were places we wanted to travel, brown - embarrassing moments, yellow - our favorite movies, and blue was anything scary/exciting/fun fact about ourselves that we wanted to share. .... And believe me! There were some pretty scary stories ... mostly about .... poop. ..... And you think I'm joking! I have never heard a group of people (a group of LADIES!) talk about poop as much as we did that weekend! No joke!!!!!!! We were worst than Jared Wade on a good night!!!! It was hilarious! (So much for being "ladies," huh?)! Ha ha ha!

It's too bad Patrick ended up eating all of his M&Ms ... we didn't find out much about him.

One of the yearly traditions at the retreat is cooking meals together. Saya, a super fun, mom-kind-of-figure in my life, and I cooked some amazing cinnamon french toast and tons of yummy sausage on Saturday morning. Patrick was pretty excited about cooking too ... except when we cracked jokes about persimmon pudding. ;)

Patrick and I agreed that sitting by the fire with all the ladies was one of the best parts of the weekend. It smelled like a campfire in the retreat lodge all weekend! (My favorite smell in the whole wide world!) .... It was ggrreeat! :D

Ha ha ha! Patrick the Persimmon. He was definitely the highlight of the ladies retreat for me. Heck! He's a persimmon man! If that isn't entirely hilarious and completely laid back (two things I LOVE being!), nothing is! And what made it so great is that every single lady on that ladies retreat ... all 17 or so of us, got a kick out of Patrick! EVERYONE joined in on the fun! Like I said earlier ... Jenny Freouf, a fantastically hilarious and fun woman from Calvary, decided to plot a kidnapping just to get me all worked up! Patrick was my little buddy, afterall. ;) It was hilarious! I think I can post the ransom notes here .... let me see. They are too hilarious! ...........

And the kidnapper pleading with us to take Patrick back ...........

It was entirely too much fun!!! Everyone on the trip played along with this crazy-fun ... well .... craziness! It was a blast! We laughed together! We worshipped together! We learned more about God together! We ate together! We talked together! We loved on each other TOGETHER! ..... Togetherness! ........ It was a really great time!

And many of you who read this blog .... you are Grace ladies. Don't ya think you all should join us next year??? With all the coolness of the amazing Grace ladies and the awesome Calvary ladies ... maybe we could make new fruit buddies next year! ;)

ENTIRELY TOO MUCH FUN! ..... Yay for Patrick the Persimmon and the Calvary ladies! :)

Some More Wisdom from Kung Fu Panda ....

Ha! Yet another post! This one's a short one though - I promise! .... I was watching Kung Fu Panda again today while I was eating my lunch, and the scene I finished my lunch with had some more simple wisdom from that old and wise Oogway. Although this is not from scripture, Roger Shuman, it is good stuff. ;) Ha ha! Here it is ....

"Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it's called the present."

Short. Simple. Completely true. And whatta ya know ... something God's been teaching me lately (yep, He's been teaching me a lot!) .... living each day to the fullest - counting it as a gift from the Lord.

And while I'm at it! ... Let's throw in a perfect "tie-in" verse! :) .... Colossians 3:23 --- "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord and not for men."

So let's do that today! No matter if you're excited ... discouraged ... bored ... whatever. Make the most of today!

This post is as much for me as it is for any of you, my fellow blogger friends. :) Let's keep living each and every moment for Jesus! :)

....... Still striving after that goal .... love you all!

Mical :)

Stolen Post from Alec :)

Alec - yep, the super cool guy from "a little bit of nothing" - posted a simple but amazing post a few days ago ... and I'm gonna steal it! You should too! It helps us get to know each other better! Love you all! :) ..... Man! That crazy "enter" button. There is something wrong with my computer! I know I keep going on and on about it ... but I think it is becoming one of my biggest pet peeves. Posts that run all together are just bluck. Bluck to look at. Bluck to read. Bluck! .......... Okay, I'm done. This is a happy post ... so let's make it happy! ;) --- Stolen from my buddy, Alec Nilsen --- THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY (Senses style!) ------- Sight: Showchoirs performing (I love singing and dancing - to watch and to do it myself!), Sunsets, stars, clouds, mountains, smiles, watching James lean forward (often over his knees) when he finds something really funny. Touch: hugs from Emily - it feels like Jesus is wrapping His arms around me when that girl hugs me :), handshakes from my "big brother," Adam, the feel of my feet in my comfy crocs. Smell: campfires, grilling out hamburgers, red roses. Taste: sweet tea!, steak, potatoes (baked, fried, mashed - I just like potatoes!) ... yep, those are my favorite. :) Sound: David Phelps singing (the best singer in the world) ... my buddy, Jon, singing (2nd favorite singer in the world) ... when Adam, Jon, Jason, and Uncle Mike sing quartets at church, listening to Ben and James sing - I'm really not kidding, guys! I love it when you sing! (Did you notice that I like it when people sing???) ;) .... And lastly, sitting in the middle of the woods, in silence - listening to the wind blow through the trees, squirrels jumping through leaves, making them crunch, birds pecking and chirping (sounds from my devotional rock on our Mammoth Cave trip!). ............... Oooo, that was fun! Great idea, Alec!!!

50 BLESSINGS

So my friend, Alex (over at Rant, Repose, and Ruminate) and I have been e-mailing back and forth for the past few months ........ it has been a huge blessing in my life. It is amazing to have a someone to sit down and talk with - through e-mail or in person (we've also been meeting here and there for, what I like to call, "Jesus talks.") When you sit down with Alex, it's like Jesus is sitting down right next to you. She is pretty amazing. :) She is striving after Jesus with all that she is, reading His word, meditating on His word, striving to love Him with all she's got! She is so full of Jesus that when she talks to you, it's like Jesus is talking to you. At least ... that's what it feels like to me. That's why I call our chats "Jesus talks." :) ........ Alright. That was a side note. I am the "side note Queen!" :D ....... Back to where I was headed --- in her last e-mail to me, she encouraged me to make a list of 50 blessings. She mentioned to me how she's been trying to dwell on God's blessings in her life ... and she encouraged me to do the same - by making a list of them! :) Of course, that is a marvelous idea ... so that's what I set off to do! And needless to say ... I'm finished, and I'm gonna post 'em here! :) ......... and my "enter" button isn't working again. Man, that drives me crazy ... so this list is all gonna run together. Blah. But God is still good! Even when blog posts that have no spaces drive me crazy! These are in no specific order ... just wrote 'em down as I thought about 'em. :) .......... 50 BLESSINGS ---- #1: Starbucks friend dates with Ben #2: Jesus talks with Alex #3: Laughing with James #4: Higher Ground #5: Football with the Cooks/Adamsons gang (for those who don't know them - they are my favorite family in the whole world - they go to Calvary with me!) #6: Handshakes from my "big brother," Adam (a part of the Cooks/Adamsons gang) #7: Bosom Buddy Hugs (Emily is my #1 favorite hugger!) #8: Los Rancheros dates with Tiff and Hannah #9: Hanging out with Jared and Maggie WADE (Wow, that's still crazy and fun to me!) #10: Movie nights with Justine #11: E-mails from Judy (they are empowering and always brighten my week!) #12: Blogging :) #13: Getting picked on by Jason (another big brother figure in my life - from the Cooks/Adamsons gang) #14: Uncle Mike's big, belly laughs (yep ... another member of the Cooks/Adamsons gang) #15: Sweet tea ... it's one of those comfort drinks :) #16: My Malibu - my parents are amazingly generous! #17: Tutoring in the IUPUI Writing Center #18: Family Fun Nights at Calvary #19: Calvary Chapel and Grace Fellowship (my TWO church families!) #20: SoZo (my youth group) #21: Kids!!! #22: My dad's gas card - he is paying for half of my gas this semester! Wow! #23: Sunsets #24: Campfires #25: String cheese .... yep, it's the simple things in life. ;) #26: "Yo Mike's" from my brother, Wes #27: Watching my mom's perseverance #28: My dad's godly and upstanding example #29: My crocs ... comfiest shoes in the world! #30: Having God's word in my hand everyday and wherever I go! #31: Freedom to read and pray and express my love for Jesus everywhere I go - freedom! Freedom!!! #32: Getting a rub on the arm from Shelley #33: Hearing Pastor Mike call me Junior #34: Questions from Kim Svoma - I love talkin' to that lady! :) #35: Rachael Miller's laugh - love it!!! #36: I'm saved by GRACE - NOT by what I do/say/think --- praise the Lord!!!!!!!!! #37: I have TONS of godly friends! #38: My college-age small group at Calvary #39: Christina Adams "looks" - read my post called "One of my greatest joys" to find out what I'm talking about :) #40: Music!!! #41: My house - not only do I have one, but it's the best house in the world! ##42: The foundation I have from being homeschooled until 7th grade and then going to a really great public middle school/high school #43: Phone calls from my buudy, Ben, just to see how I'm doing :) #44: People posting on my blog #45: Photography #46: The sky - it does such cool things! #47: Mountains #48: Taping encouraging notes to my desk - it's covered!!! #49: Interacting with people on campus #50: "Hi's" from complete strangers ............... How is God blessing you today? You don't have to post it on your blog ... but make a list of blessings! It is a blessing in and of itself! :) ....... Have a great day, all!

Kung Fu Panda Analogy

Alright! I've got an amazing analogy to share! (Again ... Alex and Alec ... aren't you proud?) ;) ....

Have you ever seen the movie, Kung Fu Panda? ...... I've been wanting to see it for a long time and hadn't gotten the chance until last night. :) .... My mom bought that movie for me yesterday, so I popped it into the DVD player as soon as she got it home. ... I love animated shows and Jack Black was the voice of Po, the panda in the movie. He's hilarious. I was pretty excited to finally be watching it! Well ... there is an amazing analogy wrapped up in this movie. As I was watching the scene I'm gonna tell you about, my mind started freaking out (as it often does), and I actually watched the scene again to catch the whole story. It is amazing! Enjoy!

Okay ... here goes! ........ There was a scene in the movie where this old, wise turtle (Oogway) was talking to some endangered specie (?) of panda (Shifu) ... I don't know what he was exactly ... these animated shows are always throwing funky creatures atcha! But anyway ... he was a kung fu master in the movie. Shifu was panicking because some evil tiger (Tai Lung) had escaped from prison, was on his way to destroy the village, and the "chosen" warrior (the only one who could supposedly defeat Tai Lung) was a fat, clumsy panda (Po) - so Shifu went to the old and wise Oogway for guidance. They were standing under a peach tree ... and after Shifu got done freaking out, Oogway warned him of his "illusion of control." Oogway said, "Look at this tree. I can't make it blossom or bear fruit before its time." .... Shifu got upset ... (the "how dare you say I don't have control" kind of reaction). He hit the tree, and the peaches fell to the ground. He said, "I can control when the peaches fall." He then threw a peach in the air, did some cool, kung fu mega chop (something cool that got the pit out of the peach) ... landed on the ground, kung fu chopped a hole in the ground, and stuck the peach pit into the hole. He then said, "I can control where the seed is planted. How is that not control?" (See his issues with control???) ... Then ... Oogway simply said, "But no matter what you do ... it will be a peach tree. You may want an apple or an orange, but it will be a peach tree." ... Shifu cried, "But a peach won't defeat Tai Lung!" (The peach, referring to Po). And Oogway said, "Maybe it (the peach) can if you are willing to nurture it ... if you are willing to believe in it." "But how!?" Shifu cried. "You must tell me how!!" ... "You just need to believe," Oogway said.

Amazing, huh? ....... I'm sure you can find several analogies in this scene, but the one that sticks out to me the most is something God's been dealing with me about ... imagine that. ;) ..... We all want control. We want to control everything that goes on in this crazy life. And sometimes we think we have control. ... In reality, we can do whatever we want to ... we can try to fix things, try to make things go our own way ... but it never happens our way. We may want apples or oranges ... but in the end, we're gonna get a peach tree! In the end ... God's plan is going to prevail. .... Oh my gosh! I just thought of another connecting idea!!!!! Hold on! Let me get my Bible! ........... It's just like Proverbs 19:21 - "Many are the plans of a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." And sometimes we think that a peach (whatever it is that God is putting before us right now ... whatever we are doing/experiencing right now) will not "defeat." We think that what we are going through right now will not help us get to where we want to be in the future. Then God says, "Grow in your walk with me. Trust in me." ... Just as Oogway told Shifu to "nurture the seed and believe." When we grow in our walk with Jesus ... we are on our way to getting that peach tree (which is God's perfect plan and path for our lives). We can ask "How!? I've gotta know how! And now!" ... just like Shifu did ... but God's gonna say " just trust me" every time. He doesn't lay everything out for us because He wants us to learn to trust Him completely ... and for the long term (forever). Isn't that amazing?! What an amazing analogy!

Keep trusting Jesus! That peach tree is on its way! :D

Dancing with Jesus

Hey, all! :) .... Rachael Miller sent this forward to me. I'm usually not a fan of forwards, but this analogy is amazing! (Yep, another analogy, Alex and Alec! Aren't you excited!?) :) ...... I love to dance. I need guidance. So this picture is an amazing blessing from a friend, from the Lord! Hope you enjoy it!

Dancing with Jesus

"When I meditated on the word Guidance,
I kept seeing 'dance' at the end of the word;
And I remember reading that doing God's will is a lot like dancing.
When two people try to lead, nothing feels right.
The movement doesn't flow with the music,
And everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky.
When one person realizes that, and lets the other lead,
Both bodies begin to flow with the music.
One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back
Or by pressing lightly in one direction or another.
It's as if two become one body, moving beautifully.
The dance takes surrender, willingness,
And attentiveness from one person.
And gentle guidance and skill from the other.
My eyes drew back to the word Guidance.
When I saw 'G' I thought of God,
followed by 'u' and 'i'. 'God, 'u' and 'i' dance.'
God, you, and I dance.
As I lowered my head, I became willing to trust
that I would get guidance about my life and once again,
I became willing to let God lead.
My prayer for you today is that God's blessings
And mercies are upon you on this day and everyday.
May you abide in God, as God abides in you.
Dance together with God,
Trusting God to lead and to guide you through each season of your life."