Down on the farm...

Headed to the farm!

www.weheartit.com
Off the the serene and wintery eastern side of Washington to Bekah's house.
Thankful for the laughter, card games, catchphrase, bustling bodies, french toast with oats, lots of hot tea, Friends episodes, generosity, hospitality, adventures in the guest house and kittens that Thanksgiving at Bekah's brings!

Thanks

This is sweet:

Go here and pick a FREE Thank You card for a solider serving overseas this holiday season, courtesy of Xerox.

Won't you join me in saying thank you?

Hope in Words

A few words on Wisdom for your Wednesday:

"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends" (John 15:12-15)

"You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. You are the light of the world. A city build on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:13-16)

"For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline" (2 Timothy 1:7)

"For the grace of God that brings salvation as appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious manifestation of our Great God and Savior" (Titus 2:11-13)

Habitat Build!

Last week on Veteren's Day I was able to take 17+ students part of the SPU Habitat for Humanity Club on our first build of the quarter!! My brain was overflowing with the details, months of preparation and stress of it all running smoothly but God provided: it was a bea-u-tiful day! No rain, sun shone the whole day it was glorious.

We worked hard laying the floor inside, putting in floor boards, and overall clean up. I worked with the outside crew (2 other students) setting a fence. Here are the highlights below:

Our group:

Yay Habitat!

The four-plex project that's almost completed!

We spent all day mixing cement, leveling posts, pouring cement, then making more cement!

Reunion building with Bri! (We built in South Africa together)

Swept up in the rain

http://www.manzanilloblog.com/living/manzanillo-rainy-season

5 Reasons why I love that it's raining BUCKETS outside!

1. I got soaked on my way back to class, got home and changed into warm, fuzzy sweats-and after drying my hoodie, put it on fresh out of the drier - so cozy.
2. I feel focused and inspired when it rains
3. The methodical sound soothes me and lulls me to sleep.
4. It's an excuse to stay inside, curl up and have a girls night
5. Rainboots!

Are you a cooperative pot?

Isaiah 29:13: "This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD : "Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message." So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
Then the word of the LORD came to me: "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel."

Back during PA training I went to a lecture by Dr. Smyth who talked about sacrificial leadership (the theme of our conference) and he used the above passage as well as Isiah 29 and Isaiah 45:9. He posed the question: what does it mean to be shaped by God? I've been thinking about that lately, am I unreasonable clay that insists I know more about what I'm supposed to be than the hands shaping me? Or will I willingly let the Master work?

I stumbled upon a reflection on this same passage a day ago while reading Oswald Sanders: Spiritual Discipleship. These are my favorite excepts, the ones that challenged me and happened to address what I've been ruminating on lately:

"...a pile of clay inert and unable to improve its condition, of no intrinsic value; a pot of water for use in softening the clay and rendering it malleable; a scrap heap on which the potter cast the pots that had failed to realize his design; and, of course, he [Jeremiah] saw the skillful and experienced potter himself..." (p 144, emphasis mine)

"The tragedy is that sometimes we arrogantly assume the role of the potter and try to shape our own lives, with disastrous results" (p145).

"Clay is without value apart from the touch of the potter" (p145).

"The collapse was not due to any carelessnes or lack of skill on part of the potter...Sin of any kind will mar the vessel" (p146).

"Without the fire of the kiln, the vessel will not retain its shape...As the temperature rises, the clay becomes purer, and the beautiful colors of the potter's pattern are burned in" (p148).

"When we are passing through the dark and testing experiences of life, we tend to see only the black. We forget that there is, underneath, the gold of purified character - more likeness to Christ" (p150).

"Marvelous grace of the undiscourageable Potter" (p148).

And last but not least, one of my favorite stories (a Chinese parable) about a cracked pot:

A water bearer in China had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do. After 2 years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself because this crack in my side causes water to leak all the way back to your house." The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house."

Lie still, and let Him mould thee! O Lord, I would obey, Be Thou the skillful Potter And I the yielding clay. Mould me, O mould me to Thy will, While I am waiting, yielded and still. (Author unknown)

Tired of "to-do"

Some days are just a pain.

http://www.quefofo.com.br/2009/10/21-fotinhas

Do I have to do everything?

Forced flying

Due to my Discipleship class I've been reading three amazing books which I highly reccommend:
Transformational Discipleship By, Greg Ogden
Spiritual Discipleship By, Oswald Sanders
Discipleship (or Called and Committed) By, David Watson
These books have me thinking and are quite convicting. Below was from an assignment but it touches on many of the things I've been thinking of writing about here lately...this coming season of change.

In Transformational Discipleship, Ogden references a quote from C.S. Lewis that was a beautiful description of finding your identity by losing it. Lewis says: “The more we get what we call “ourselves” out of the way and let Him take us over, the more truly ourselves we become” (108). I think this is the root of why transformation is so difficult for me. I’ve gripped onto an identity, a sense of myself that I’ve mostly constructed and to lose that is a scary proposition! Watson spoke of this in Discipleship as: “dying to our rights and privileges, dying to our respectability, dying to our ambitions, dying to our comforts, dying to our independence and self-sufficiency, dying to our self-preservation” (250). Transformation is glorious and joyful as we enter into our new identity with Christ, but the pain and difficulty of transformation is never really mentioned. The list Watson gives encompasses the very things we so precariously cling to in order to define ourselves as valuable beings, yet Christ is asking us to give those up for His sake, for the Kingdom’s sake and because it is what we are called to do. And, most importantly, only then we will find who we are: “It is when I turn to Christ, when I give myself up to His Personality, that I first begin to have a real personality of my own” (Ogden 108). 1 Peter talks about purification by means of fire: “…so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may resound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1:7). Transformation is not painless as it involves sacrifices, giving up your cushion of illusory control and quite frankly, this scares me to death! Oswald Sanders mentions in Spiritual Discipleship this idea of change: “The presence or absence of spiritual maturity is never more noticeable than in one’s attitude to the changing circumstances of life. Too often they generate anxiety, anger, frustration, or bitterness, whereas God’s design is always for our spiritual growth” (83). This season of my life constitutes a lot of imminent change. I’ve nestled like a baby bird into this warm and comfortable nest called SPU keeping low and tucking my wings tightly away ignoring the coming boot that will force me to spread wide those wings and pray like hell they work during the terrifying free-fall. Am I going to find a job? Where will I live? Will I go home? How will this affect my current relationship? What if God calls me far away? How will I discern His call/will? I am a type A in need of my calendar and color-coded schedule and I am about to have a panic attack with this barrage of questions circling in my head. From Sanders list, anxiety and frustration top my list of emotions wasting the most of my time these days. I am slowly learning what trusting God and His faithfulness is all about. After all, I somehow survived the transition here didn’t I? I remember driving up to Seattle from “safe and comfortable” Colorado realizing I didn’t know a soul in Seattle, I had no idea what to expect and kept wondering how on earth I’d decided on this crackpot idea. But in reflection, I didn’t decide – God did and He’s been ridiculously faithful and blessed me beyond measure. So, duh, why am I worried? God’s here beside me, I recently found this anonymous saying that I love: “The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.” Transformation and changing circumstances go hand-in-hand for me right now, I know I need transformation but my obsession with control and disobedience to God is my biggest barrier. Perhaps this coming time of change and transition is just the thing I need to let go and follow Christ’s will. Ask any bird that’s soaring and playfully dipping and gliding in the sky and I am sure they will say getting thrown over the side of their safe nest was the best day of their life.