27 Quotes/Phrases/Thoughts/Lyrics to live by: #1

My facebook "religious status" is a line from a Jeremy Camp song: "Show me how to live my life, a sacrifice.." which he "lifted" (can you "steal/plagiarise" the Bible?) from Romans 12:1-2. I'm a fan of J.Camp precisely for this reason. Most alllll of his songs come from scripture. I find this refreshing especially since it's not just the "Jesus-God-love-peace-happy" kind of stuff that is mainly "mainstream Christian radio".. Not to say that all Christian pop/current songs are all bad (and that shallow), but most are not that good (theologically sound) either.. Thus, I can't think of a better way to end this series than with this quote..


"My aim is to hold tightly to my Savior while keeping a loose grip on the world and this temporal life, remembering the words of Jesus: "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." - Jeremy Camp

Oh that my aim *daily* would be so pointed! I am continuously spurred on toward love and good deeds by J.Camp's lyrics. For my birthday (yeah, the day I was suppose to finish these.. THANKS Cory for letting me borrow your birthday!) my sister gave me his book, called "I Still Believe: Discovering hope and healing in the midst of life's deepest valleys". Towards the end of the book, he makes this point.. hmm, *picks up book* *flips pages*.. I'll just let you read it.. 

"One of the challenges we face in our culture is that even followers of Jesus have drifted away from a basic literacy of God's Word. At best, we tend to ignore the Scriptures and look first to other books (or movies or music) for inspiration and wisdom, rather than soaking ourselves in the Bible like "a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season." If our generation would see the Lord's hand move in a might way in our land, we must get back to the building blocks of personal prayer, Bible study, fasting, exuberant worship and other spiritual disciplines. We are called to "spur one another on toward love and good deeds", whatever that looks like where we live, work and play." Jeremy Camp (p121)

Convicting to the core! Every year, on my birthday, I make my "What do I want to be true of me in my "age#" year?" list.. I don't do the New Years ones, cuz.. eh.. I don't like peer pressure.. and I want things that personally apply to my walk with God.. things that He's showing me, or helping me to process through. I want this to be Karios time, not Chronos (I'll expand on this at another time, you can Google it, if you don't know the difference).

And so, one thing I want to be "true of me in my 27th year" is that I read the Bible, cover to cover, in a chronological method - so that I can see, and know the story for myself - and not just depend on someone else giving me a "review" of it. I've read the Bible cover to cover before, but not in this format. If you'd like to read along, I'm using the "Reading God's Story: A Chronological Daily Bible" in the Holman Christian Standard version compiled by George H. Guthrie. 

Let the story begin! I'm off to read the first part now.. I'm excited.. 


Soli Deo Gloria
:D

27 Quotes/Phrases/Thoughts/Lyrics to live by: #2

This has been the theme of my last - oh, I'd say - 5 years.. 

because, in my "what do you want to be when you grow up" world, I was going to be married at 21/22-ish, and by 28 have 3 or so kids (depending on single birth or twins), spending my days as a stay at home mom.. However, God's plan seems to be different than my childhood dream..

When I was first "licensed to drive", my parents would send me to get milk at the store, or have me drive the kids to school, ect.. When I  would come home well after the estimated allotted time it should have taken, they'd ask where I'd been. You see, I like to drive in a circle.. If I take one route to get to my destination, I can't take the same way back. If there's a road in between there and here that I've not traveled before - if it's "on the way" - then why not check it out? These slight detours became known as "Billy trails".. named after the Family Circus character Billy, and his travels..

.. at times I feel like I'm on a never ending "Billy trail" to that husband and kids and stay-at-home-mom-ness.. that I'm just wandering through these 20-something years, trying to find where I fit..

And yet, J.R.R's quote reminds me that wandering is really not so bad.. In fact, it's not even necessarily an indicator of "lost-ness"..  and while I will admit to wondering sometimes if God's forgotten the desires of my heart, and to crying out, "what abt me, God?.." I am mostly grateful for where I am currently..

When I look around at my life right now, I see many things I didn't have the capacity to "dream" into my future, but that God has graciously allowed me to "taste and see" that I enjoy! Never in a million years did I think I'd be an interpreter, working with Cru and college students on Summer Projects. Nor did I foresee mentoring a young Deaf girl and her family.. or high school kids at a youth group.  I didn't think about all the volunteer opportunities with Compassion that I'd have time for if I didn't get my dream.. Or the shift in perspective of my world and of living singularly while in community.


So, while I still hope to be that stay at home mom, with 20-some-odd kids running around in a controlled chaos called "home school", this billy trail to that destination obviously has merit in God's path for my life. So I'll continue to wander it, taking in my surroundings, and knowing that while "the shortest distance between point A and point B is a straight line" - there's also a beauty in the wandering one.. 


Soli Deo Gloria
:D

27 Quotes/Phrases/Thoughts/Lyrics to live by: #3

You may have noticed by now, or you may not, but I sign off all of my blogs,


"Soli Deo Gloria" -Latin


It's a tag line I picked up a year ago or so now.. I started noticing the phrase a couple of places that I frequented (a blog, a YouTube channel, and few articles I was reading at the time) so I looked up what it meant. 


Wikipedia says, "Soli Deo gloria is a Latin term for Glory to God alone. It has been used by artists like Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel and Christoph Graupner to give God credit for their work. The phrase has become one of the five solas propounded to summarise the Reformers' basic beliefs during the Protestant Reformation. As a doctrine, it means essentially that everything that is done is for God's glory to the exclusion of humankind's self-glorification and pride. Christians are to be motivated and inspired by God's glory and not their own."

For me, it's become a litmus test for everything I write. Since I was a yearbook editor in high school, it goes against my grain to not proof-read something I write. And, yes, I realize my grammar may not be that of an English major - mostly because I prefer to "write like I talk" - to be more informal than formal.. but I digress. So, every e-mail I send, or post I write, I've written/re-read/altered/re-read/proofed again/and then sent/published.

That being said, I sign off with 'Soli Deo Gloria' as a frame to my comments and my thought before I press send are ".. is what I just wrote something that I want to be attributed to me of a reflection of Christ?".. "is this something that I am proud to say, 'yes I wrote that' and 'yes, I love Jesus' in the same sentence?" .."to the best of my knowledge am I being faithful to my Heavenly Father's challenge: "be holy as I am holy"?"


In light of all that..
Soli Deo Gloria!
:D

27 Quotes/Phrases/Thoughts/Lyrics to live by: #4

On Thursday, I told the youth group that I work with, that last Monday I turned 27.. and they all (high school/middle school students) responded with "you're so old!".. *hahahaha* I remember being there.. and remember thinking (in h.s.) that, at 25 - you should know who you are, what you are doing in life, and be acting accordingly.. *bahahah* Now here I am, at 27, and still living at home, with no family and kids of my own, spending 3 months out of the year at a beach with college kids using this crazy "flapping hands" language that I love and trying to figure out who I am, what I'm doing and how to act accordingly. ;) In light of that, I am a fan of this quote (for multiple reasons).


"Don't take life too seriously, nobody ever makes it out alive anyway." - Van Wilder (and wiki says previously Bugs Bunny?)


1) Statements like these always make me chuckle, cuz while it's a generally correct principle, there are those people - like Enoch, Elijah and Jesus - that technically didn't "pass away".. and then there are those people (Lazarus, "Talitha", the widow's son) who got a second chance, but I digress.. 


2) In the materialistic world we find ourselves in today, it's a good reminder of the finite-ness that is our human condition. 


3) I find hope in this comment, too (though as a stand alone quote, I don't think the intent was to remind us that we were made for something more). I think it causes us to "contemplate the meaning of life" (2:23), and to realize that we were made for something more (0:38)


I'll close with this quote that has become a mainstay for me, in light of the "supposedly knowing who you are and what you're doing in life".. "The only constant in life is Change." - Heraclitus.. meaning that even if you "find" what you're suppose to be doing.. it's prolly gonna change, or circumstances are gonna change, or people are going to come in and out of your life.. which is hard for a closet perfectionist like me to accept.. so embrace the mess, and keep in mind that in this life, all we have to do is glorify God and enjoy him forever.. If you can do that, you've got it made! :)


Soli Deo Gloria
:D

27 Quotes/Phrases/Thoughts/Lyrics to live by: #Bonus#

So my friend Courtney (from college) sent me this book after I complained about having to walk in high heels at my bro/sis-in-law's wedding.. And while everything in it is pretty ridiculous in my opinion, I did have a good laugh about the specific chapter describing how to actually walk in heels - who knew there was a science to it?? (not me!) 
In light of turning 27 though, I think this quote is fitting..


 "Know, first, who you are; and then adorn yourself accordingly" 
- Epictetus  (From How to walk in high heels, a girls guide to everything: Camilla Morton)


Today you get a quote AND a picture.. because, the more I "know myself" (you'd think by 27 years I'd be an expert on myself - but I'm still learning things about me!) the more comfortable I'm becoming in my own skin.. 

I've always been a pretty confident person, but I've also been a pretty athletic person.. So I think the fear came from "loosing" my athletic-ness if I donned a skirt and became "girly".. I know, I know.. makes no sense, but the older I become, and the more I "know myself", the more I can see these silly conundrums in my thinking.. let's just say, "I not skurd no mo'.." At least, I don't think so.. I will now wear a skirt on my own free will..  
Dresses, however, are a different story.. and heels, you can forget those - I'm tall enough, thankyouverymuch! :D
 ["The only people who can stand in heels all day, every day, are mannequins, and they are plastic and have screw-off feet." also Camilla Morton... maybe she's not as crazy as I thought..] ;)


Soli Deo Gloria
:D

27 Quotes/Phrases/Thoughts/Lyrics to live by: #5

The about me section on my facebook profile starts out with this quote..


" Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt."  -Abe Lincoln 


..and I think this is one of the main reasons I have such a hard time spitting out these blogs (that I naively thought 27 would be a good #, and wouldn't take me any time at all to type up *shakes head*).. Because I'm a teensy bit fearful that by posting a quote or writing my thoughts about it, I'll remove all doubt.. 


Obviously the fear is pushed to the back burner, and the blog-full-of-wordy-ness eventually comes out.. 
and then there's those individuals who comment positively on the post, and I think 
"yay.. at least they didn't think I was a fool.."


And in the grand scheme of things - if I think something, my thought is not going to change whether I say it out loud to a person, in a public forum on the internet, or in the silence of my own head. I'm not one to alter my thoughts to fit yours.. but I do have a "Prideful" side.. one that wants to be liked.. and not thought the fool.. *shrug*


It sure is a good thing, that God knows I'm a flawed fool, and yet chose to use the foolish things of this world to shame the wise.. 


Soli Deo Gloria
:D

27 Quotes/Phrases/Thoughts/Lyrics to live by: #6

I've had this quote "drafted" for some time now but have struggled with the words. But because of this post, I think the Holy Spirit is ready to articulate what I want to say about the quote. It's succinctness is powerful to me.. before you read it though, I need to be clear that Francis is coming from a Judeo-Christian background (as am I) and discipleship is in the context of this kinda challenge, this kinda commitment, and this kinda commission..


“The solution to many of the world’s problems is discipleship.” -Francis Chan


It's this kinda discipleship that we need. And the wonderful/humbling/freeing/amazing/crazy thing is: we don't have to "get it right" all the time to be in this position.. in fact, we won't get it right most of the time - and that's OK! 


(You're getting 2 for the price of one today- but there's back story to this quote..)
When I was in college, I sat under a God-appointed man named Travis Tamerius. Travis was the Chaplin at Woods and provided a wonderful greenhouse in which to grow in my understanding of God as Redeemer. Travis studied under a man named Eugene Peterson (who authored the Message translation of the Bible..) while in Seminary in British Columbia. During our weekly Chapel services, Travis would often recall things Eugene had said to him.. One story resonated so deeply with me, that I often play it on repeat in my minds eye.. 
Travis began this tale by saying that Eugene was being interviewed and the question came, asking why he continued to Pastor after so many years. Travis, with a glint in his eye and the corners of his mouth upturned, enjoying the story of his mentor, then says that Eugene - without missing a beat - responds with
"..because I love the mess."
The interviewer was taken aback, and Travis goes on to explain that Eugene had to stop and expand his comment, but essentially he was saying: I love having a front row seat to witness God's redeeming power and restorative work in the broken lives of the people in my congregation. 


And that's just it.. discipleship means walking with people through those broken times.. and it's hard ya'll.. it exposes in you the nastiness that sin stains you with - namely (in me) Pride and Selfish Desires.. It reminds me that "I" am that sinner saved by grace. "I" am the one in need of the gospel - not just this other person that I'm suppose to be "teaching".. not just those people who's lived mimic a Jerry Springer episode.. me too!

And -speaking of Jerry Springer- it's messy.. It's not cut and dry, textbook answer, put a band-aid on it and go home kinda thing.. it takes time and energy. Physical + emotional + spiritual investment of your flawed self into another flawed person = MESSY .. but think back to Biblical times, when Jesus lived those 3 years with the 12 disciples..*shew* were they a motley crew! (getting it wrong more times than they got it right..)

So - step up, take courage, extend grace to others just as it's been given to you and embrace the mess..

..then witness the Redeemer's handiwork!

Soli Deo Gloria

:D

27 Quotes/Phrases/Thoughts/Lyrics to live by: #7

I often find myself speechless.. not because I don't have an opinion (if you know me, I tend to have opinions) but it's normally because I'm not quick witted, and my comeback lines come 20 minutes late.. then there are the times that I'm caught off guard by emotion.. or circumstance.. or comment.. and I just don't know what to say.. Sometimes it's deep and heady stuff.. other times, it's just fluff.. either way, I'm a fan of this chorus in Aaron Shust's song "Give Me Words to Speak"..


"Give me words to speak, don't let my spirit sleep..
Cuz' I can't think of anything worth saying, 
but I know that I owe you my life.."
-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6b1Cb_2Ls1E&feature=related


I think these lyrics resonate with me because they remind me of David and his Psalms.. I'm a fan of David's vulnerability with God.. and the ways that God showcases David's flawed-ness.. Regardless of the circumstances though, David knew that he knew that he knew (realllllly knew) that he could always go to God and that he had an ally.. a strong refuge.. a wonderful Adonai!


One of my favorite signs in ASL is the idiom for "cat got your tongue".. It can be signed a few different ways, but I guess I just like the idea of being "speechless" in more than one language.. :)


I am also comforted by these lyrics in the way that they mirror what Paul says about the Holy Spirit in Romans 8 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+8:25-27&version=NIV) taking up the "wordsmith job" when our words fail us.. Who better to "put words in our mouths" than the one who created them! :D


Soli Deo Gloria
:D

27 Quotes/Phrases/Thoughts/Lyrics to live by: #8

Ready for the first "lyrics" of the theme'd post? After completing my "birth day", people have been asking "how was it.." I don't really know how to answer that question.. It was a grown up birthday.. No party, no cake (we did a joint family birthday this year in Feb), lotsa rain, working all day.. it just was ;) 


but -in "being"- it was fine/good/not bad :) I realized tho, that instead of saying "fine/good/not bad", I should be responding, "My day was..


Blessed, for my heart is found in thankfulness, 
takin' in these mercies
Blessed, oh yes i have the way
for my heart is found in thankfulness
givin' me new mercies 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzzK_WGOCE8&feature=related 
(for the whole song, see the lyrics in the description under the video)


and after harping on lyrics and meaning in the past few posts, I will say:
I'm a linguistic nerd, a sucker for rap/clever-double-meaning lyrics in a poetic way..
and the irony of the unexpected = Asian's rapping with Spanish lyrics.. 
I'm a fan of the multi-lingual-ness of the song too.. 

and the story-like quality of the way the song builds.. 
and the direct biblical references/Christian culture things
(reminds me of theologically sound stuff like Lecrae)
and the salsa/reggae beat.. 

and.. and.. just enjoy! :)


Soli Deo Gloria
:D

27 Quotes/Phrases/Thoughts/Lyrics to live by: #9

It's been said that the longer you're a Christian, you don't become "sinless", but you will begin to "sin less" (as you learn more and more about what pleases and displeases God).. And while I can see evidence of this quote from time to time, I think it's not so much that we "sin less" the more mature Christian we become, but we become more aware of our short comings and God's perfection.. and recognize more deeply the PRICELESS gift that Jesus Christ's righteousness credited to our account brings.. 


It's kinda the same way that a surface of a counter can be dirty.. so I wipe it off.. 
but then I put on my glasses.. and I can see I missed some spots, so I wipe it more..
but then I pull the magnifying glass out of the drawer, and there's still some dirt.. so I wipe some more
and then I bring over my sisters microscope, and I find yet more that needs to be cleaned up.. 
and it seems like this never ending job.. 


and in reality - "cleaning up our lives" is a never ending job.. at those times, it's good to remember that I'm just a sinner saved by grace.. And I am clothed in HIS Righteousness.. so while I strive to honor my Creator, I'm constantly humbled by his gift to me! It always amazes me, how I can be meditating on a Praise and Worship song while driving down the highway, and so easily get "derailed" when someone seemingly cuts me off, or how I can be thinking about things that are pure and lovely, and then *BAM* something disgusting pops into my thoughts.. but that's for another time and another post.. ("Who will save me from this wretched state I am in.. but thanks be to God.. who delivers me through our Lord Jesus Christ..")

Soli Deo Gloria
:D

27 Quotes/Phrases/Thoughts/Lyrics to live by: #10

In lieu of yesterday's post, I think this is one of the reasons that I find lyrics, poetry and spoken word in general so -dangerous? misleading? in need of being scrutinized? Those things all seem so harsh, and negative.. When I don't mean to be a debbie-downer.. I just want to point out that:


"A thing is not necessarily true because badly uttered, nor false because spoken magnificently."
Saint Augustine


At times I'm jealous of people like this guy or this girl (sorry Deafies - find me a grant, I'll take up a part time job and I'll fix Google's captions by inputting them all manually..), and I wish I could be as eloquent as they are.. I find myself linguistically drawn to the "I see what you did there!" manipulations of their words, weaving a brilliant tapestry of sounds and syllables into a picturesque scene that some one will pay money to hang on their wall..


..but then I think of this quote, and it's implications and my utmost desire is that the things I utter are TRUE.. 


I want to be a "person of my word".. but now-a-days, it seems (myself included) that our "Word" doesn't carry as much weight.. 
"I'll get that back to you tomorrow".. (a week passes, and it's not completed).. 
"Yes, I will be there".. (Something else comes up and we don't make it).. 


It seems like it's deeper than even that, though - I guess it goes back to Paul's admonition to "test everything; keep what is good".. which brings me full circle to yesterdays quote.. Don't just swallow everything that's given to you. Life comes with instructions: discernment required!


Soli Deo Gloria
:D

27 Quotes/Phrases/Thoughts/Lyrics to live by: #11

I realize I've labeled this blog series "quotes/phrases/thoughts/LYRICS to live by".. and haven't used any song lyrics.. yet.. mainly, cuz I find myself frustrated more often than not with lyrics of songs [namely Christian "praise and worship" - as clearly they are synonymous *rolls eyes*.. am I insinuating that someone can worship God without singing?? *gasps*! but I digress].. and don't feel like I can just throw lyrics up here carelessly..  Here's my main beef with to days "P and Dub" (praise and worship - for those of you who don't speak "christianese"):


"Christians don't tell lies, they just go to church and sing them" - A.W. Tozer

Most "modern praise and worship" makes my eyes squint, and my nose crinkle..  because if people actually sang what they lived out, it'd be more like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTXyKfD55p8 
("I Surrender Some")


And, I will admit, there are just many songs that I can't/won't/don't sing at Church. I know some people will say those lyrics are suppose to be the "desire" of our hearts.. and I know some people just like the way the music sounds and don't really pay attention to the lyrics.. and I get art, and creative license (and am not a "lyric Nazi" abt every song) - BUT - I mean, if we analyzed 1/2 the stuff that we listen to daily on the radio (christian OR secular), do you really know what you're singing about? most of it is *not* appropriate or accurate! 


I guess -for me- since lyrics get stuck on repeat in my head like a broken record, it's something that I've come to realize can do a lot of destruction to ones thought processes.. or, on the flip side, can really brighten the outlook of a situation.. 


I guess what I'm trying to say is 1) if you're singing at Church - just make sure you *comprehend* what you're singing, and don't sing things that you don't mean.. 2) if you're not at Church, and you're jamming along to a song, but you'd never *say* those things to someone in public, then quit singing it!


Ok, I'll stop there.. I don't really want to rail on music, as I enjoy music just as much as the next person.. it's just the little things that get swept under the rug in lyrics that get me.. but I'll leave those for another post and another time..


Soli Deo Gloria
:D

27 Quotes/Phrases/Thoughts/Lyrics to live by: # 12

In keeping the previous entry in mind.. I don't know that I need to say more than the quote itself for this one.. it ties into the same idea, it's just expressed differently..


Soli Deo Gloria
:D

27 Quotes/Phrases/Thoughts/Lyrics to live by: # 13

For this quote, as well as quote #16, I found out that it's most likely not really said by the person it's widely attributed to.. However, I don't think that diminishes the quote itself.. So, while this quote is often connected to Eric Liddell, Google tells me it's only the "movie version of him" that says this..

"God made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure."

So whether he really said this while he was living/breathing here on Earth, or if it's something that he just might of said, I think it still rings true. If the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever, doesn't it make sense that He would put in us something that allows us to feel that pleasure? We can discuss the nature of giftings on many different levels, but I know that when I sign (use American Sign Language) I feel God's pleasure. When I teach - specifically kids, and Bible lesson's - I feel God's pleasure. When I create "artsy-craftsy" things, I feel God's pleasure. When I am involved in athletic activities and compete well, I feel God's pleasure.. 

It seems to me, that America in general, has gotten away from this concept of "whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord and not for men." I know there are some people that will say "watching sports isn't' "Christian".. "working for Walmart isn't "Christian".. "making movies isn't "Christian".. But Paul doesn't remind us to "be Christian".. He says *whatever* we do.. do it in the presence of the Lord, our Adonai.. and *enjoy* Him, and his giftings.. 

I'll close with a quote that supposedly Eric Liddell did say, "In the dust of defeat as well as the laurels of victory there is a glory to be found if one has done his best." *whatever* He's gifted you in.. find the glory in doing your best! :)

Soli Deo Gloria

:D

27 Quotes/Phrases/Thoughts/Lyrics to live by: #14

Math and I are like oil and water.. 

we just don't get along.. 

I've tried.. for years I have..

but math is just one of those things that I can't reconcile.. 

(pun intended)

I don't know why, ..

but numbers think they have the freedom to swim in my head

thus you even say "Math.." and I tend to say NOOOOOOO... 

So these are all things I wish I would have thought of when I was in Mrs. Langbartels' Math classes.. 
or Mrs. Wests' Pre-Algebra (for the 3rd time).. 
I think they would have appreciated my humor.. but alas, now there's no math tests to copy all these brilliant answers to math's ever repeating problems! 
Enjoy.. 

Soli Deo Gloria
:D
 

27 Quotes/Phrases/Thoughts/Lyrics to live by: # 15

If you know me (in a face to face sense), you know that I'm a huge fan of languages and the respective cultural differences that accompany them.. "How do you say..?" "What are idioms in ________ language?" "How do you sign ________ in Russian Sign Language? Taiwanese Sign Language? Honduran Sign Language?.." 
I'm a linguistic nerd - and I own it ;)


This quote comes off a banana sticker..  El sabor de tu tierra


translate.google.com (my virtual best friend) tells me that it translates to "The taste of your land.."


For me, I take this a couple different ways.. first off all, it's my daily reminder (since I took the sticker off the banana and stuck it on my computer) to "TASTE and see that the Lord is good".. to experience HIS land as often as I can.. 


It also reminds me that there are so. many. different "lands" here on this planet we call Earth.. It makes me want to "taste the land" of  my compassion kids in Ghana, Haiti and the Philippines.. It causes my heart to be aware of the beauty that can be in the pain, and the repulsiveness that can come with stagnant indifference. It makes me think about the correlation to "tasting" and "seeing" something in a fuller light..


I want to "taste your land" - whether it's getting in my car and visiting where you live, and seeing your house, your family, your floor plan, your school, your co-workers, your pets - or if it's boarding a plane and stepping into the unknown.. By tasting it - I feel like it helps me to get a fuller picture of who you are.. like I know you a little better and get see you in your land! 


Soli Deo Gloria
:D

27 Quotes/Phrases/Thoughts/Lyrics to live by: #16

In light of some recent conversations I've had with a few different friends, here's a quote that I find both a challenge and a comfort..

“We do better to put saints on windows than on pedestals, for we are not meant to focus on them but to see through them to God who stands beyond." (when I first found it, the quote was credited to Saint Augustine, but I can't find proof.. no se)

If you have ever known me in a teaching setting, one of my favorite things to do is to make sure the information comes alive.. Whether it's a history lesson or a Bible story; a song lyric or a poem, I want it to be more than just words on a page.. I want you to understand that it really happened! It's someones experience that had a life attached to it.. it's not just a fairy tale (ok, songs and poems can be, but I'm talking abt the circumstances of the author that wrote it)..

I find myself on that pedestal from time to time by well meaning people - and I want to say "I'm just like you!" I'm human, I make mistakes, I'm not perfect.. 

But then I find myself pushing others up on to that same pedestal I so desperately try to get off of, and I think to myself - isn't it ironic? The very thing I want to do, I don't, and those things I don't want to do, I do - who will save me from myself? .. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ for his deliverance! (my paraphrase of the end of Romans 7..)

When I remember that the highest end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever - and that through other people, I get to see a deeper glimpse of who God is - I find myself offering a hand up to those I've placed on pedestals to help them step down off of it, and offering a hand down to those who've set me up on it to pull them up to a place of level ground.. 

Soli Deo Gloria

:D

27 Quotes/Phrases/Thoughts/Lyrics to live by: # 17

Today (well, what's left of it), I've got 3 quotes.. Three different men. Three different venues. But I don't think individually they hold water.. Only in triangular fashion do they dove tail into each other to create an honest and uplifting "quote to live by".. 
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"God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life." 
- 4 spiritual laws booklet composed by Bill Bright. 
"God loves you and has a difficult plan for your life." - Mark Galli 
"Life wouldn't be so hard, if we didn't expect it to be so easy." 
-Dan Allan
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The first quote I've said many times in my past 7 years involvement with Cru (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ). The four spiritual laws are like the laws of nature - we can't see gravity, but we know it exists.. right? So, the first spiritual law is this "God loves you.. and has a wonderful plan for your life".. however..
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The second quote comes from a book entitled "Jesus: Mean and Wild".. (worthwhile read, as our "Jesus of the 20th century" is quite watered down..) Mark Galli takes a good look at what a realistic Jesus of Nazareth might have been like.. and challenges the "daisy's and roses" paradigm of God's plan for us - Jeremiah 29:11 does say "plans for hope and a future.. to prosper and not to harm".. but what does that mean in light of Joseph being sold into slavery, and thrown unjustly into jail? What if God's difficult = for our good? 
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Which leads me to the last quote, one that resonated deeply with me while I was on my first Summer Project in San Diego California, experiencing what I felt like was an unjust situation of my father being unemployed for 9 months.. Dan's comment shook me to the core, and woke up that concept of "difficult does not = bad/easy does not = good".. 
.
So there you have it.. mis-match the quotes up and you get "God loves you, and has a wonderfully difficult plan for your life. It won't seem hard though, if you don't expect it to be a walk in the park. Expect life to be hard, and it'll be wonderful!"
.
Soli Deo Gloria
:D 

27 Quotes/Phrases/Thoughts/Lyrics to live by: #18

I think this is why I call most people "Friend".. it doesn't matter to me if you're one of my best and closest friends or I've just met you the week before and had that "What! You too?" moment while chatting these past 20 minutes.. 

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one.’” – C.S. Lewis


I prolly use the term "Friend" to liberally.. I should probly use acquaintance more.. *shrug*.. I probably sound "Quaker-ish".. but I like friends.. and who's to know an aquaintance won't become one of those ISI (Iron Sharpens Iron) kinda friends? There's just something happy about being addressed as "Friend" - wouldn't you say? :D

Because of this, I also have 2 "twin-friends".. 2 girls, from totally different places. These 2 girls - whom, when we joined the respective groups where we met - became "identical" to me (for whatever reasons of the others in the groups, just kept confusing us).. 


This post was suppose to be on March 1st (but because of my Souper Sunday Coma, it was delayed) in honor of our "in-be-Twin" birthday with my lovely friend Sheila! (pictured on right). March 1st is the midian of our birthdays, thus it's our "twin" birthday.. She's from Georgia, and when I met her, everyone thought I *was* her..  Thus started our twin story.. I miss her.. sad day we live so far apart..


My second twin name is Andrea.. (And yes, I realize you can't technically be twins with 2 people at the same time, unless ofc you're triplets.. but I digress.. just roll with it).. :)  we met on Summer Project, and she's 2 years younger than me.. Our "mom" had a suuuuper long delivery, we joked. Same thing happened to she and I - we were constantly confused for the other while we lived together for a 2 1/2 month stent one summer.. (Picture below) 

Instead of being annoyed by it, we decided it'd be best to embrace our new found "twin-ness".. Sure miss my Gorgeous friend! (cuz when you compliment your twin, you're complimenting yourself too - we were told from a true-twin.. ) ;D


So.. if I ever address you as "friend", now you'll know why.. cuz at some point, there was a moment in a conversation we had where I thought "What! You too? I thought I was the only one..)


Soli Deo Gloria
:D

27 Quotes/Phrases/Thoughts/Lyrics to live by: # 19

Lately, I'm more and more aware of my "limitedness" to know the full story about.. well..  anything.. :D
which brings me to this comforting quote..


"With every step of our lives we enter into the middle of some story which we are certain to misunderstand" - G. K. Chesterton


So - I try my best to remind myself to stay humble, and to enter the story with grace.. Sometimes grace is accomplished, most times though, I feel like I'm just a messy flailing fish, flopping around where I don't belong. I'm trying to learn the art of tact.. it's a slow process for me.. but I'm trying..


Thus G.K.'s quote reminds me it's a life long lesson.. here's to never graduating! ;)


Soli Deo Gloria
:D

27 Quotes/Phrases/Thoughts/Lyrics to live by: #20

For those of you who know me.. It's also too short to care more than a 1/2 cup about if they match, are in style, or have a small hole in them somewhere.. 

at a conference with co-workers, this picture was posted on an overhead projector and we were asked to say the first thing that comes to mind

all my co-workers said "Jenna, in 50 years, minus the cigar".. 

That's not necessarily a bad thing.. is it?

 

Soli Deo Gloria

:D

27 Quotes/Phrases/Thoughts/Lyrics to live by: #21

(Sorry for my delinquency in posting. I've been in a Souper Sunday Coma for the last 3 days.. And I'm just "waking up, not out of the woods" yet. Souper Sunday is tomorrow.. so in this "calm before the storm".. I'm trying to get some things done that I've been slacking on..) 

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not promoting situational ethics.. per se.. But I've always been fascinated that it's not good to smuggle drugs and people into countries, but it is good to smuggle Bibles.. That speeding is generally frowned upon by cops, unless you have an injured person in the car or a woman in labor.. and that killing is bad: God actually calls it murder, but in the old testament he commanded that certain people groups be "wiped out" (a.k.a. killed)..  As black and white as we'd like the world to be, I have to conclude there's a whole lot more shades of grey.. 

So this quote reminds me to go back to the Book, and seek to understand more God's character. To make it a priority to "walk in step with the Spirit".. To remember it's not about a list of "do's and do not's", it's not about legalism, but God want's our hearts..To know that Jeremiah captures it well, when he says in chapter 17..

⁵ This is what the LORD says:

   “Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
   who depends on flesh for his strength
   and whose heart turns away from the LORD.
⁶ He will be like a bush in the wastelands;
   he will not see prosperity when it comes.
He will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
   in a salt land where no one lives.

 ⁷ “But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
   whose confidence is in him.
⁸ He will be like a tree planted by the water
   that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
   its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
   and never fails to bear fruit.”

 ⁹ The heart is deceitful above all things
   and beyond cure.
   Who can understand it?

 ¹⁰ “I the LORD search the heart
   and examine the mind,
to reward a man according to his conduct,
   according to what his deeds deserve.”

Soli Deo Gloria

:D