love dad.

Lately my dad has been texting me verses to read each day. He just got a new phone and has figured out how to use texting and also realized that it's free from Verizon to Verizon....so needless to say, I get a lot more texts now. But I'm ok with that. After he gives me the scripture reference to look up he ends his text with "love dad."
Today's passage that he wanted me to read was Psalm 103. I felt that I should encourage those who may be reading this blog with it too.

Bless the Lord

O my soul

and all that is within me, bless his holy name

Bless the Lord

O my soul,

and forget not all his benefits

who forgives all your iniquity

who heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit,

who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy

who satisfies you with good,

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's

The Lord works righteousness

and justice for all who are oppressed.

He made known his ways to Moses

his acts to the people of Israel

The Lord is merciful and gracious,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

He will not always chide,

nor will he keep his anger forever.

He does not deal with us according to our sins,

nor repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west,

so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

As a father shows compassion to his children,

so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

For he knows our frame;

he remembers that we are dust

As for man, his days are like grass;

he flourishes like a flower of the field;

for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,

and its place knows it no more.

But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,

and his righteousness to children's children,

to those who keep his covenant

and remember to do his commandments.

The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,

and his kingdom rules over all.

Bless the Lord

O you his angels,

you mighty ones who do his word,

obeying the voice of his word!

Bless the Lord, all his hosts,

his ministers, who do his will!

Bless the Lord

all his works,

in all places of his dominion.

Bless the Lord, O my soul!

♥

Acts 20:24

"But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God."

- Paul

Socrates, on Life

The following is from my discussion board for my class, Philosophy. We had to talk about Socrates quote, "The unexamined life is not worth living." We were asked "what does it mean to me?" and "is it true?" Here were my thoughts:

1. What does this mean to me? To me, I'd have to take the position of looking at other people's lives and not just taking the position of evaluating whether or not my life is being examined by people. We all know at least one person in this world, so therefore, your life could never be unexamined. We all have friends we all know people, those people are involved in our lives in one way or another, so therefore, our life is being examined. But also, are we examining other's lives? As Christian, we are called to bear each other burdens (Galatians 6). Bearing each other's burdens includes examining each others lives. "Iron sharpens iron".
2. Is it true? In the first question, I tackled the first part of the quote: "the unexamined life." For this question, I will be tackling the second part: "is not worth living". I have to say a hearty, No, this is not true. We are created in the image of God. God gave us life. Therefore, our lives are worth living. If you watched the powerpoint presentations, you would have known the the artist, Monet, killed himself after doing a brilliant painting of a wheat field and birds flying around. He apparently agreed with Socrates on this, because he killed himself. Monet thought that life was of no value especially when it's not being examined. Well, i'd have to say to Monet that if you examine someone else's life, your life will be examined too.

In the Raw

This morning, as I opened up my internet browser, on my homepage on MSN.com, there was an ad about beauty and the Dove campaign. I love the Dove campaign for real beauty. It's about time, something in the media puts modest, imperfect women on the screen. Well, there was a blog that I read about loving women and seeing them for who they really are in their Raw Beauty. It's a great blog, and I totally agree with everything she said in there. She commented that it's refreshing to see someone who is a mess. Who's hair isn't perfect that day and their clothes are a bit wrinkled. But she mostly comments on the raw beauty of being yourself. I'd like to add on to Ms. Nadeau's comments. Here it is again, I've quoted it many times, "Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord she shall be praised." You can be the most beautiful woman God ever made, but if you don't have a character to match your beauty, then your beauty is worthless.

I thought of our state with God when I read this. God doesn't care about what we put on that day or how our hair looks or even if our teeth are brushed. He sees us for who we are. He sees us in the raw. He saw our sinfulness. But he still wanted to give us grace. He saw the state we were in before we repented and turned to him for forgiveness. But he still loved us enough to send Jesus Christ to pay our debt in full so we may be completley loved by God the Father. We are in the raw before him. Isaiah 6 comes to mind when I think of God seeing our raw state. Isaiah saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and as he nears him, he drops to his knees and says, "Woe is me! For I am a man of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." Isaiah recognizes that he is completely undone before a Holy God. Because of his humility and remorsefulness, God declares his guilt is taken away and sin is atoned for (vs. 7). This is a beautiful picture of how God loves us in the raw.

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Do You Have Change For A...

I have been sitting on this thought for weeks now, and I think it's time to let it loose.

CHANGE. We see it all around. We see it coming. We see it everyday. Everywhere you look there is change. Computers are daily coming out with the latest technologies, especially the Apple community. This being said, it is a sad sad thing to a MAC user because our computers are constantly being upgraded and so is the price. (here's a quick little plug: MACS ROCK!!!). Camera's are even being upgraded by the minute. I went to a camera store a few weeks ago to see if I could sell my camera, which is not even a year old yet, so I could hopefully buy another brand. Come to find out, they would only buy it for a little over $100!! (I bought it for $500) and to buy another camera would cost about $800. Yickes! Having camera equipment is like buying a car.

Even in our own lives, we want change. I need to change my clothes. I need to change my diet. I need to change my baby's diaper (again). I need to change my hair style. I need to change my oil. I need change for a $100 when I just need a dollar for the candy machine at work. I need my marriage changed. I need my relationship status changed. (by the way, I'm not saying all of these because they deal specifically with me. I don't have a baby or even $100 bill...I'm speaking in general) I need my sheets changed. I need my name changed because I am now in the protective service community. All of these changes are not bad at all. I think it depends on where your heart and motives might be in them, especially in the marriage one, but change is a good thing. Change comes in many forms and can often be major blessings from the Lord.

Well, as you may know (or not know if you are completely ignorant of any kind of news lately) President-elect Obama is being sworn in on Tuesday, January 20. Living in DC, I am seeing it everywhere...from getting letters in work emails and snail mail about the parking system this weekend to seeing the Capitol stage being built, it's everywhere. Obamanation is on it's way and for a crazy weekend in the District of Columbia. It's exciting, that's for sure! But one major slogan has been piggy-backing with Mr. Obama and that is CHANGE. "Change Can Happen". "It's Time For Change." "A Change We Can Believe In". It's everywhere. I even see it in advertising ads like Pepsi and Ikea. I walked past a Pepsi advertisement ad this morning with their newly designed Pepsi symbol looking like the Obama symbol with a website underneath that says, Refresheverything.com. Then walking in and out of the metro has become quite entertaining as we are constantly being bombared with new Ikea posters leading from the moment we step out of the turn style all the way up to the metro escalators with the bright yellow and blue signs that say something about change. Every other sign will be "Time for a Change", "Change can Happen", "Need a Change?" with pictures of new couches, the latest book stalls, and cute little lamps. The signs are also accompanied by the kind of stars you would see on a patriotic symbol like the American flag or something you might see in the Oval office. Just yesterday, I walked into Union Station and there was a huge crowd surrounding a white circular room. As I turned the corner, I saw two guys standing there in black suits and sunglasses. Then it dawned on me. They were pretending to be secret service men and they were standing in what looked like and Ikea-made Oval office. People were sitting in the Ikea-made president's chair and desk taking pictures. It was a cute scene.

Being apart of this history in the making is really great! One day, I can say to my kids or grandchildren that I lived a few blocks away from that moment in history. I'm not the most political savy person...at all. I mean, ashamedly, I couldn't tell you the difference between the Congress and the Senate and what their functions are. Yes, I did take government in highschool, but political science was never something I enjoyed reading about. Taking about politics doesn't necessarily get my britches in a twist. I have been bitten by a tiny political bug though. I now have a TV in my office and MSNBC is on constantly. So I do know a little bit about what's going on in the world.

President-elect Obama has come in full force representing a new Hope or a new Change for all. But what kind of change and hope are we looking for? Is there some kind of universal change that is going to make everything better for everyone? What kind of change are people looking for? Do they want the abortion law to be different? Do they want our troops pulled out of the war? Do they want the economy better (as we ALL do)? Do we want more freedom of religion or do we want to abolition the church all together? Is it that more states need to legalize same sex marriages? What about those women and not only women, but 10 month old babies being raped in the Congo? Can we send more troops there? What about all the trafficing that's going on? How can we change that? This world is fallen. We need a savior! Obama is definitely not a savior, and he never claimed to be. But if only this country would look to the true savior. If only they would look to where our forefather's looked, to the sovereignty of God. They knew his faithfulness endured forever. They knew that the real change would be in the heart's of people. There are definitely major things that need to be changed in our country. But is Obama the only hope we have? Absolutely not! What happens when all these things change? What happens when Obama is going to fail his most faithful followers? He's human, he will fail. I wonder what our forefathers would have said about all this change that people want? Well, I think we can see it written all over the walls in the Lincoln and Jefferson memorial. The big theme in those writings are based upon the sovereignty of God.

Change in this country will happen. But any time, I see a new sign talking about change, my mind is drawn back to the sovereignty of God. He doesn't change. He is faithful and won't let us down. There's something we can hope in and put our trust in. Seeing those signs also makes me think about the change that we do need. We are a fallen nation. Sinful. Evil. We desperately need a change, but change in economic status or legalizing abortion isn't going to help. We need a change of hearts. David's cry in the Psalms is one that we all need. "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Restore unto me the joy of my salvation." We need a heart change here, people. Change is talked about all over the Bible. Paul writes about it in Colossians 3:5-14 when he talks about putting to death what ever is earthly in you and then putting on Christ's character which is love, compassion, patience. This the kind of change we need to have.

With that being said, President Obama, I look forward to what you are going to do in this country. I may not agree with everything you do, but no one's perfect and this country doesn't run on my opinions, though they may be very few. It's exciting to be witnessing history. But thankfully, for you and for me, I don't depend on you for my hope. God is my King. He is my Sovereign Lord. He is the one who gives and has given hope and change to a dieing sinful wretch like me. I sing a long with the Psalmist David as he declares God's faithfulness that reaches to the skies. I sing praises to him for his steadfast love and faithfulness for I know, he will never let me down.

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