Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep? Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this.
This past year has been a time of wrestling. A page in my journal from last summer says, “My mornings are filled with dreams, my afternoons with questions and my nights with desperate prayers”. It hasn’t changed much since then, I guess. I can’t really say it’s been a bad year, just dynamic. The joys and sorrows have intensified proportionally, along with the lessons God has been teaching me–especially on faith. I’m learning that a step of faith means being willing to risk something: safety, pride, comfort, reputation. I’ve never actually seen this movie, but I saw a pastor once use this clip as an illustration of faith and I liked it:
I think a step of faith is even more difficult than following your friends off the cliff. It’s taking a step off the edge when no one is standing next to you and it looks like there’s nothing there to catch you.
The entire house is breathing a huge sigh of relief as my dad finally got home from his two-week trip to India. He met up with some friends of ours there, originally from India, but they have been living here for the last couple of years. Though he is very much a frequent flyer, it seems as though it was a very impacting trip. It’s fun to watch how people react to little things when they get home from a trip abroad. He spent about five minutes marveling over the new rustic place mats mom bought for the table, and I marveled at the marvel. I’m excited to hear stories (maybe he’ll even type one up for me to post), but for now I think I’ll have to just let him catch up with the jet lag and familiar food. Good to have to you back, daddy!
Pre-Trip Excitement
Traditional Formal Sari
P.S. Don’t think I’ve ever posted pictures of people here in two years. Meet my family! Part of it anyway…
We all watched Fireproof tonight. It was my first time, but my parents saw it when it came out in theater. I don’t think they have ever gone out to see a movie together–nothing much to see I guess. This one was special though. Apparently they went on a blizzardy, Monday night and there was no one else in the entire theater. Anyway, I thought it was pretty good. It reminds me of Alan Jackson’s, “…but love can walk through fire without blinkin’ “. I do recommend seeing the whole thing if you have the chance, but if not, here’s Fireproof in 60 seconds. Enjoy.
Yes, my gazpacho recipe is indeed POWER-PACKED. It is the fuel-up food of superheroes… and it is delicious. It’s fresher and tastier than V8, with the same amount of vitamin-filled veggies. The recipe is really just a guideline. Feel free to throw in a bit of your own creativity. Cold, crunchy vegetables are the best, and herbs are to taste. Here is mine anyway:
2 large, chopped tomatoes
6 cans of fire-roasted, diced tomatoes
1 chopped zucchini
1 chopped, red onion
1 stalk of celery, chopped
4 small bell peppers (I do green, yellow, orange and red for color)
1/4 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
1 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
A few sprigs of basil, parsley and cilantro, chopped
Quick sprinkle of garlic and sea salt
Throw it all in a bowl together and let it sit in refrigerator till chilled. This is your summertime soup. Yum!
You spoke
and there was light
You breathed
and there was life
You gave
Your life for me
So I give mine back to thee
Chr.
Storms rocked
my tired faith
I gave
my heart away
Your love
stayed strong and true
So I give my heart to you
Chr.
You healed
my broken soul
New life
You made me whole
You gave
me words anew
and I give my song to you
Your sweet unending grace is all I need
The beauty of your love enraptures me
To thank you there is nothing that I could do
but offer up my life, my all to you
God certainly works in mysterious ways. I asked the Lord to help me find work this spring. After a few months of banging on closed doors and running down dead ends He led me to the job I have now. When He offered it to me, my first thought was, “You want me to work there?!” I was pleased with the manager and the fact that my cousin would be one of my co-workers, but other than that I saw it as a very secular, distressing environment. Before my first shift I remember sitting in my car, slightly terrified and praying for enough grace to get through the day. The first day seemed to go well. So I experimented. The next few shifts I sat in my car before work and this time I prayed specifically for help accomplishing certain sales goals for the company. Apparently these goals were a bit higher than average for a new employee and even better results than some of the long-time veterans were turning out. I wasn’t aware of these limitations, however (what you don’t know won’t hurt you ), and miraculously received everything I prayed for. I got excited. This is pretty cool! I took it a step further and began to develop a habit of praying over everything I could think of before and during the job: my sales, quick learning of new tasks, my interactions with everyone around me… Now, despite being constantly bombarded with various forms of twisted and depressing media, I leave work feeling sort of refreshed. It’s so strange. My dad used to impress upon us the importance of living in “a constant state of prayer” and I believe this is the secret. By keeping in constant communion with the Lord, our spirits can be edified no matter where we are, like Paul in prison, David in a cave, Daniel as a servant in a wicked city. The books of Galatians and Ephesians instruct us to live in this way:
Galatians 5:25 “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” and Ephesians 6:18 “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.“
…and I Peter tells us why: 1 Peter 3:15 “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.“
Prayer should be a natural to us as “taking a breath of air”. It’s certainly just as refreshing. So take a deep breath this morning and expect great things to happen. I promise… it’s exhilarating.
I must admit that am feeling very accomplished today. I helped my dad wire electricity in the basement, hacked the dead branches off one of our garden trees, hauled tractor-loads of composted soil up the hill (mother ordered 10 cubic yards, so we’re nowhere near finished), made lunch for the “farm” hands, installed a door (that was between typing “basement,” and “hacked”) and finished painting my Musical Chair. My grandfather had a garage sale last week, mostly consisting of the antique furniture my grandmother used to collect for refinishing. I fell in love with the one that had a wooden lyre on the back. He said I could keep it and fix it up if I wished, along with a grow light and a huge rubber plant. I think he’d rather give our grandmother’s things away than sell them. Anyway, here are the before and after pictures of my chair, but I still need to upholster it.
Before:
After:
So that’s a bit of what I’ve been up to lately. The gardens have been consuming the majority of my time so I should probably post about them in proportion. Pictures and stories to come…
), and miraculously received everything I prayed for. I got excited. This is pretty cool! I took it a step further and began to develop a habit of praying over everything I could think of before and during the job: my sales, quick learning of new tasks, my interactions with everyone around me… Now, despite being constantly bombarded with various forms of twisted and depressing media, I leave work feeling sort of refreshed. It’s so strange. My dad used to impress upon us the importance of living in “a constant state of prayer” and I believe this is the secret. By keeping in constant communion with the Lord, our spirits can be edified no matter where we are, like Paul in prison, David in a cave, Daniel as a servant in a wicked city. The books of Galatians and Ephesians instruct us to live in this way:
*ashamed*
