As with many things, an update there necessitates an upgrade here.
For reasons stated on RevGalBlogPals, there is a change related to the ring.
That is perfectly fine with me. It really doesn't matter much to me.
However, when I went to make the "simple" change on my blog. I discovered that I needed to upgrade the template.
It's not hard. not at all.
One might even make a straightforward and quite convincing argument that since this is digital media the template should have changed sooner.
So, while it was not sooner, the template has changed.
What has not changed is the deep and profound blessings that come from relationships that began from a webring and pseudonyms.
Happy Birthday RevGalBlogPals!
Philippians 1:3-6 "I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ."
Monday, July 19, 2010
upgrade
Friday, July 09, 2010
Friday Five: Forgetful Jones Edition
Friday Five: Forgetful Jones Edition as posted by Songbird on RevGalBlogPals
No, it wasn't my turn to do the Friday Five, but it was my job to confirm the new person whose job it is, so herewith, the Forgetful Jones Friday Five, complete with Sesame Street video for those who like such things.
a) What's the last thing you forgot?
I can't remember. Really, yesterday, I had Skittles to give to some great high schoolers and forgot to get them out of the box sitting right there. But today they will get frozen popsicles and, if I remember, Skittles, too.
e) How do you keep track of appointments?
Outlook on my smartphone and computer. Before electronics, Daytimer. Everything on one calendar, every "kid" event, every "church" event, every "me" event, everything!
i) Do you keep a running grocery list?
Yes, most of the time. However, it is usually on the counter while I am at the store because I forgot to bring the list. If I'm lucky, there's a kid at home that can look at the list.
o) When forced to improvise by circumstances, do you enjoy it or panic?
I am pretty good at improv and assessing the resources available to address the need of the moment, depending on the situation, so I don't panic often.
u) What's a memory you hope you will never forget?
*A* memory!?!?! I'll make this a bonus answer! Here are some highlights: presiding over communion in international waters, in a Choctaw church, at church camp with 3rd & 4th graders, during Mission Trips with jr high & high schoolers; watching my children live their faith in ordinary and extraordinary ways; connecting with others God put in my path in ways that brought joy and wholeness (that includes a particular geocache in Mexico)
No, it wasn't my turn to do the Friday Five, but it was my job to confirm the new person whose job it is, so herewith, the Forgetful Jones Friday Five, complete with Sesame Street video for those who like such things.
a) What's the last thing you forgot?
I can't remember. Really, yesterday, I had Skittles to give to some great high schoolers and forgot to get them out of the box sitting right there. But today they will get frozen popsicles and, if I remember, Skittles, too.
e) How do you keep track of appointments?
Outlook on my smartphone and computer. Before electronics, Daytimer. Everything on one calendar, every "kid" event, every "church" event, every "me" event, everything!
i) Do you keep a running grocery list?
Yes, most of the time. However, it is usually on the counter while I am at the store because I forgot to bring the list. If I'm lucky, there's a kid at home that can look at the list.
o) When forced to improvise by circumstances, do you enjoy it or panic?
I am pretty good at improv and assessing the resources available to address the need of the moment, depending on the situation, so I don't panic often.
u) What's a memory you hope you will never forget?
*A* memory!?!?! I'll make this a bonus answer! Here are some highlights: presiding over communion in international waters, in a Choctaw church, at church camp with 3rd & 4th graders, during Mission Trips with jr high & high schoolers; watching my children live their faith in ordinary and extraordinary ways; connecting with others God put in my path in ways that brought joy and wholeness (that includes a particular geocache in Mexico)
Labels:
Friday Five
Saturday, June 05, 2010
Parrot stewardship
Suzi Orman is a financial guru. She regularly tells people how to have more money. One of the things that fascinates me about Suzi Orman is that she tells people, “You must give away a significant amount of your money to someone else. Someone who is not related to you. Someone for whom you are not obligated to care.”
She tells this story to illustrate her point. In Mexico in the Mercado, she saw a man who was selling parrots. All of the parrots were perched with no cages, yet the parrots were not flying away. Suzi talked to the man to find out how he could keep the birds from flying away. He told her that he trained them to believe that if they let go of the perch they would die. Suzi says, “And that’s how we are about our money. We clutch it so tightly that we believe that if we let go of it we will die. However, what we need to realize is that it is only when we open our hands to give away what we hold so dear that our hand is open to receive the gifts that can come to us. We cannot receive anything with closed fists. Only open hands can give and receive.”
I find it fascinating that a completely secular financial guru gives advice that has such a profoundly religious basis. When we focus on hanging onto our stuff, we make our stuff our God. When we listen deeply and intently for God’s voice regarding the use of the stuff, we discover that God provides.
She tells this story to illustrate her point. In Mexico in the Mercado, she saw a man who was selling parrots. All of the parrots were perched with no cages, yet the parrots were not flying away. Suzi talked to the man to find out how he could keep the birds from flying away. He told her that he trained them to believe that if they let go of the perch they would die. Suzi says, “And that’s how we are about our money. We clutch it so tightly that we believe that if we let go of it we will die. However, what we need to realize is that it is only when we open our hands to give away what we hold so dear that our hand is open to receive the gifts that can come to us. We cannot receive anything with closed fists. Only open hands can give and receive.”
I find it fascinating that a completely secular financial guru gives advice that has such a profoundly religious basis. When we focus on hanging onto our stuff, we make our stuff our God. When we listen deeply and intently for God’s voice regarding the use of the stuff, we discover that God provides.
Labels:
sermon stuff
Thursday, April 15, 2010
dormant
I realize that, like many, I have invested much more time in twitter and facebook than in this blog. While I don't always appreciate the constriction of 140 characters, I have become fairly adept at expressing myself within the constriction. The "payoff" is a more immediate response and high interactivity. Those are huge dividends for this extrovert. All that is to say, while I highly value those venues, I don't want to let go of this one. So, to the one reader who checks regularly, here is a post. And when I go months without posting, remember that this blog may be dormant but it has not been abandoned completely.
Labels:
just thinking out loud
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Fearless by Max Lucado
I signed up to review books for Thomas Nelson. I'm kind of concerned about maintaining this blog as anonymous because of their sign up process and publishing requirements. But, nevertheless, I entered an agreement to read, review, and post in return for the free book. So, here's the review.
The best part of Fearless is exactly what is best in all of Max Lucado’s books: namely, great stories, vivid descriptions to make a point, and an easy read full of a God of love and grace. Lucado describes well the experience of many today, “Fear, it seems, has taken a hundred-year lease on the building next door and set up shop” (p. 5). It was via Twitter that I first read Lucado’s response to the shop set up by fear. “Fear never wrote a symphony or poem, negotiated a peace treaty, or cured a disease” (p. 5). Throughout the book, Lucado vividly describes the desolate and desperate landscape that over exaggerated fear says is our home then he reminds us that our home is created not by hands but eternal in heaven. For every tremor of fear, we have a God who repeatedly and continuously says, “Do not fear.” “For God has not given us a spirit of fear” (2 Tim. 1:7).
I have one major complaint about how Lucado addresses a grieving parent and the questions that come in the face of grief. He says that God understands because, “He buried a child too” (p. 61). I completely agree that God knows humans more fully and more compassionately than any other human can but I do not agree that God should be equated with humans in levels of grief. God is so much more powerful than any human and had options available that no human parent has. God’s choice to not use the power and options available does not equate to the depths of grief of a parent who has no options and no power. Further, while death is a transition to heaven, to say “For those who trust God, death is nothing more[emphasis mine] than a transition to heaven” (p. 64) sounds dismissive of those Christians who do trust God and, at the same time, have profound and devastating grief. The Psalms of lament might be a better choice for acknowledging the depths of grief and profound trust simultaneously.
However, even with this complaint, I think this book is a terrific reminder that “perfect love casts out fear” (I John 4:18). Regardless of the circumstances, God is with us, we are not alone.
The best part of Fearless is exactly what is best in all of Max Lucado’s books: namely, great stories, vivid descriptions to make a point, and an easy read full of a God of love and grace. Lucado describes well the experience of many today, “Fear, it seems, has taken a hundred-year lease on the building next door and set up shop” (p. 5). It was via Twitter that I first read Lucado’s response to the shop set up by fear. “Fear never wrote a symphony or poem, negotiated a peace treaty, or cured a disease” (p. 5). Throughout the book, Lucado vividly describes the desolate and desperate landscape that over exaggerated fear says is our home then he reminds us that our home is created not by hands but eternal in heaven. For every tremor of fear, we have a God who repeatedly and continuously says, “Do not fear.” “For God has not given us a spirit of fear” (2 Tim. 1:7).
I have one major complaint about how Lucado addresses a grieving parent and the questions that come in the face of grief. He says that God understands because, “He buried a child too” (p. 61). I completely agree that God knows humans more fully and more compassionately than any other human can but I do not agree that God should be equated with humans in levels of grief. God is so much more powerful than any human and had options available that no human parent has. God’s choice to not use the power and options available does not equate to the depths of grief of a parent who has no options and no power. Further, while death is a transition to heaven, to say “For those who trust God, death is nothing more[emphasis mine] than a transition to heaven” (p. 64) sounds dismissive of those Christians who do trust God and, at the same time, have profound and devastating grief. The Psalms of lament might be a better choice for acknowledging the depths of grief and profound trust simultaneously.
However, even with this complaint, I think this book is a terrific reminder that “perfect love casts out fear” (I John 4:18). Regardless of the circumstances, God is with us, we are not alone.
Labels:
book review
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
