the Guide

2008-07-02T22:07:00.002-04:00

wedding website

for all of you who faithfully check my site and are constantly disappointed that there are NEVER any new entries, i re-direct you to a site that is more frequently being updated with both pictures and information re: our upcoming wedding.

www.ewedding.com/sites/foleys

for all of you who are looking at coming to the wedding, there will be pertinent information there re: hotels, good flight prices, details, etc.

and i keep the pics pretty recent too (we are trying to be more intentional about taking them).

comment, comment, comment when you go so i know people are checking!

2008-04-20T02:23:00.005-04:00

time back east

i told peter early on in our relationship that it was imperative that he go back east with me to meet and get to know the many people there that i care for so deeply. so on april 3, we headed to the east coast to visit a few of my college friends and my "second family" in salisbury. a photo log of the trip:

pinkhousers unite! (at the national art gallery)
peter and amy at the washington monument
that's abe. (and peter.)
among the cherry blossoms . . .
again.
driving over the bay bridge (can you see it in the background???). i had this warm feeling in my heart as we crossed that made it clear that i still consider the shore "home" in large part.
par-tay at the townsends
at assateague. peter got to see the atlantic and the wild horses, even though we never saw the sun while we were visiting. we attempted a walk down the beach, but were thwarted by strong winds and high tide. as a result, he proposed in the car instead of looking out over the ocean.
dinner with my former co-workers monday night.
peter's first time pickin' crabs!

2008-04-20T01:26:00.005-04:00

news worth posting . . .

as my posts are so few and far between these days, i'm not sure that anyone even checks this thing anymore. nonetheless, there is great news in my life to share. blogger seems to be an appropriate and far-reaching way of sharing it.

on april 7, 2008 peter joseph foley asked me to become his bride. with a full heart and full assurance, i accepted.

so there you have it.

we are engaged.

several pictures taken by miss anna harr and miss annie huntington the day of our engagement (they were the first to see the ring after he proposed!) i show you these more to highlight the pure talent of the photographers . . . getting to see me with my soon-to-be husband is just a bonus. :-)

hoping for an october wedding . . . anyone from salisbury think they'll be able to come???

2008-02-25T23:46:00.004-05:00

ski retreat!!!

yes, our small group finally picked a date (this past weekend) and headed up to the Borger's cabin in Fairplay to spend time together. the weekend was wonderfully engaging . . . fixing meals, eating birthday cake, playing Munchkin, skiing, opening the door to find a stuffed bear standing outside, discussing the Church and our role in it, squeezing 8 of us onto one couch to play Catchphrase . . .

a few pics of the skiing portion of our weekend . . .

adam, rebecca and peter at the base of super bee.

and again . . .
rebecca and me.

becky and rebecca on the lift.

yep, that's my boyfriend.

the mogels i skied in one of the back bowls at copper.

nothing better than hot chocolate and granola bars after a day of skiing.

jon, scott and rebecca

peter and me.

view from the lift.

the crew: scott, rebecca, peter, me, adam, becky, phil, jon

2008-02-17T10:27:00.003-05:00

hear ye, hear ye . . .

for all those virginians and marylanders that i love and miss, this is a pathetic group announcement. i use the word pathetic only because i wish there was time in my days to talk to each of you on a regular basis. so that a message like this one would not be necessary.

but this is what you revert to when you move away. group updates over email, group announcements on a blog, group hang-outs when you go back to visit, conference calls where you catch up on 3 weeks on living in an hour's time. it is the nature of moving. of loving people in one place and at the same time trying to begin loving others in another. of change.

mind you, it's better than nothing. i think sometimes how different things would look were we to have been born in another age . . . another century . . . when communication was nothing of what it is now. when 'posting' something on a 'blog' would have seemed like an outlandish, sci-fi concept. we are blessed by technology . . . when we use it for good (that's a whole other blog topic . . .).

as matt robins would say, i digress . . .

this point of this blog was to let you know:
i'm coming to town. flying in to d.c. on 3 apr 08 at 2235. will be staying in d.c. for one day, two nights. then travelling to salisbury on 05 apr 08. i'll be around until 08 apr 08. please let me know who will be free as i want to cram as much hang out time as possible into those shrot five days.

2008-02-17T01:37:00.003-05:00

my valentine.

peter was away on business for our first valentine's day. while i didn't think it would matter all that much, i missed him a good deal and was disappointed not to spend the evening with him. but what i didn't know was that while he was away he was using swiss army knife scissors, tissue paper and a picture of us to make me a homemade valentine. it was worth waiting for. :-)

2008-02-17T01:19:00.002-05:00

meet henry.

henry is one of peter's nephews. and to our benefit, we get to see him (and his lovely parents) quite often. almost weekly.

recently, i picked up my old manual SLR and shot some pics of him around the house. here you have some of them.

isn't he just about the most adorable thing you've ever seen?

2007-12-02T19:06:00.000-05:00

maryland.

get.

ready.

i'm coming

home.

next weekend.

i hope to see as many people as possible in the short 46 hours i'll be on the east coast. i don't plan on sleeping much.

2007-11-25T00:23:00.000-05:00

take care in this small place.

*******found, read, appreciated and scooped up this card today in a quaint shop in downtown littleton.

risky, but wonderfully necessary, business. *******

2007-11-17T09:52:00.000-05:00

maryland meets colorado.

this entry has been delayed secondary to internet problems and a busy life. but it is worth posting, even if late.

my dear girls, annie and anna, came to visit me! what a wonderful gift to me - for them to spend their money and time to come see me. it was truly a rich blessing. a much needed taste of home.

i will spare you a lot of writing as you would be reading for hours if i were to write of all of our adventures together. instead, i'll let annie's pics give you a taste of our time together. for a full photo report, see her flickr (www.flickr.com/photos/juliannaelise)

around the house

outside by the pond

art museum and stella's coffee shop

downtown for dinner and the art show

colorado springs

at the airport

2007-10-27T10:10:00.000-04:00

boba @ lollicup

the west is a different place.

i feel like i'm getting a new education living out here. many things i've never heard of or seen or done. it's kinda fun. like the thrill you get when you visit a new country, but without being so intimidating and uncomfortable. so here's something new.

boba. otherwise called bubble tea.

my new friend peter introduced me to this interesting little drink. it's like a smoothie, but has these tapioca balls floating in the bottom of it. they are a funny texture - kinda like you have really soft, round gummy candies in your drink.

then they give you these really fun, fat straws so you can drink them up.

they have all sorts of flavors. i had coconut. peter had honeydew.

strangest flavors: avacado and green bean.

we tried boba at this little asian tea shop called lollicup. so asian. notice all the little animated figures.

2007-10-27T03:08:00.000-04:00

so i'm living in . . .

and while i haven't taken a ton on pics since i've been here, i do have a few to share. below you will find just a few shots of my cute little cozy apt.

first - 'HI!' there's me. notice the tee. that's where i work. craig hospital. check out the link next door. fantastic place to work. 100 year anniversary.

now for the apt.

the front door.

dining room.

opposite the wall mirror.

my frig is already covered.

kitchen. after having people over for dinner. before doing the dishes.

bathroom colors.

spare bedroom. (for those of you who knew my last apt, the spare room is decorated like my old living room was. come visit so you can see for yourself.)

my bedroom colors. (found this coverlet at pier 1 for under $20. was originally over $200. pretty sweet deal.)

thes best way to see is just to come. really. pictures don't do it justice.

2007-09-26T00:20:00.001-04:00

notice: this blog entry has been stolen.

if you recognize that it was stolen from you, please do not contact your lawyer, call the police or take offense. it is only stolen and posted here because, quite frankly, it needs to be read by people. over and over again. and while it certainly applies to my current adventure, i imagine with all that this life brings, it may have some relevancy and bring some hopefulness for each of us as we stumble thru things.

I do not ask to see the way
My feet will have to tread;
But only that my soul may feed
Upon the living Bread.

’Tis better far that I should walk
By faith close to His side;
I may not know the way I go,
But oh, I know my Guide.

And if my feet would go astray,
They cannot, for I know
That Jesus guides my falt’ring steps,
As joyfully I go.

And tho’ I may not see His face,
My faith is strong and clear,
That in each hour of sore distress
My Savior will be near.

I will not fear, tho’ darkness come
Abroad o’er all the land,
If I may only feel the touch
Of His own loving hand.

And tho’ I tremble when I think
How weak I am, and frail,
My soul is satisfied to know
His love can never fail.

2007-09-21T16:50:00.001-04:00

not-so-subliminal message:

2007-09-19T00:38:00.000-04:00

hide-and-go-seek in denver

i wrote this in an email to a friend recently. felt it best described my feelings over the last week or two so i wanted to share with the rest of you.

this transition has been . . . well . . . strange.

i suppose any transition is, but this one has topped all the others.

the only word i seem to be able to find to describe my current feeling is - lost. now, it's not like i don't know where i am; it's more like i feel like everyone else doesn't know where i am. like when you are playing hide-and-go-seek and you are the one hiding. that kind of lost.

but then it's also that strange knowledge that i am in this huge city and no one even knows who i am or that i'm here. and it's not actually a game of hide-and-go-seek. so in essence, no one even knows they should be looking for me.

and i guess that's where being the new person is tough. you have to find your own way out of lostness sometimes. you have to put yourself out there, speak up in conversations, initiate coffee dates with people; otherwise you just keep on not being known.

i think once i get into a routine with work, get moved into this new place, find a church, much of that will start to dissipate. but for now, that's where i am. and that's ok. comes with the territory.

2007-09-14T22:31:00.000-04:00

looking back

mom was showing my some of the scrapbooking she's been doing tonight. much of it was of her younger years - her baby book and into elementary school. a couple of things struck me as incredibly funny. i share them here with you:

this

was an excuse note that mom wrote to her teacher to try and get out of p.e. class one day. she said she distinctly remembers her friends saying, 'oh pam, that looks just like a grown-up wrote it. miss kates will definitely think it's from your mom!' funny thing is, the teacher let her out of class that day - not because she believed the note, but just because she thought it was funny. then she told my mom to take the note home to her mom - and she did!!! my mom's 'bicycle license.' you say: 'sarah, i didn't even know they made such a thing.' well, apparently back in 1962 they did.

lastly (and this is my favorite). my mom grew up in a very small town in texas. so small, in fact, that when you had a birthday party, it got written up in the paper! my favorite line: 'the small, long table was covered with a circus-patterned tablecloth and centered with balloons covered with stars.' they bring you all the details in andrews, tx. you'd think they'd been covering the world's best party ever. but no, just your standard 3-yr-old birthday party. wow.

even funnier, my mom has a newspaper clipping that reports that her cousins came to town to visit. that's all. just that they came to visit.

i promise. i'm not making it up. i guess in a small town you'll take whatever news you can get.

2007-08-30T22:28:00.000-04:00

loving people deeply hurts a lot sometimes.

2007-08-25T23:20:00.001-04:00

i have beef with hallmark.

and any other card company, for that matter.

i need a specific kind of card. i went to hallmark thinking i would find some. hallmark has cards for everything, yes? obscure holidays like boss's day (a whole section of cards!!!). weird ones like "from your pet" cards and "have fun on your upcoming trip" cards.

but let me just tell you: they do not have everything.

goodbye cards are non-existant. granted, if you are the person saying goodbye to someone who is leaving, you have a fair selection. but there are no such cards if you are the person who is acutally leaving. there are no "I am going away and will miss you more than you know" cards.

so there's my beef.

luckily, i know how to write my own sappy messages.

2007-08-05T19:06:00.000-04:00

from Valley of Vision:

Father of Jesus,
dawn returns,
but without thy light within no outward light can profit;
give me the saving lamp of they Spirit that I may see thee,
the God of my salvation, the delight of my soul,
rejoicing over me in love.
I commend my heart to they watchful care,
for I know its treachery and power;
guard its every portal from the wily enemy,
give me quick discernment of his deadly arts,
help me to recognize his bold disguise as an angel of light,
and bid him begone.
may my words and works allure others to the highest walks
of faith and love!
may loiterers be quickened to greater diligence by my example!
may worldlings be won to delight in acquaintance with thee!
may the timid and irresolute be warned of coming doom
by my zeal for Jesus!
cause me to be a mirror of thy grace,
to show others the joy of thy service,
may my lips be well-tuned cymbals sounding thy praise,
let a halo of heavenly-mindedness sparkle around me
and a lamp of kindness sunbeam my path.
teach me the happy art of attending to things temporal
with a mind intent on things eternal.
send me forth to have compassion on the ignorant and miserable.
help me to walk as Jesus walked,
my only Savior and perfect model,
his mind my inward guest,
his meekness my covering garb.
let my happy place be amongst the poor in spirit
my delight the gentle ranks of the meek.
let me always esteem others better than myself,
and find in true humility an heirdom of two worlds.

how much i desire this to be my life . . .

2007-07-13T11:31:00.000-04:00

shh . . .

silence is the simple stillness of the individual under the Word of God. we are silent before hearing the Word because our thoughts are already directed to the Word, as a child is quiet when he enters his father's room. we are silent after hearing the Word because the Word is still speaking and dwelling within us. we are silent at the beginning of the day because God should have the first word, and we are silent before going to sleep because the last word belongs to God. we keep silence solely for the sake of the Word, and therefore not in order to show disregard for the Word but rather to honor and receive it.

silence is nothing else but waiting for God's Word and coming from God's Word with a blessing.

--bonhoffer, "the day alone", life together

2007-07-11T00:52:00.001-04:00

a walk in the clouds

isn't that the name of a movie? well, i really did it. today. i walked in the clouds.

and that is just one of many pretty darn cool things that i did today. a quick run-down:

today, I:

had chipmunks eating out of my hand.

walked in the clouds.

played in the snow while wearing short and sandals.

felt the snow falling from the sky in the middle of july.

climbed past 12,000 feet.

saw elk and moose.

crossed the continental divide.

spent 7.5 hours in the mountains of colorado with my precious mother and father.

check out more pics on facebook.

(and if all of that wasn't good enough, then i got to spend some quality time with gordon at the driving range and out for smoothies.)

AHHH, A GOOD DAY.

2007-07-09T19:22:00.000-04:00

growing up

the other night, we were sitting looking at old pictures of our childhood that my mom is putting into scrapbooks for us. the one she is currently working on is called "just the 2 of us" - all pics of my brothers together over the years.

it is a strange thing as the eldest sibling to watch your younger siblings grow up. it's very easy for us "first children" to continually look at our younger counterparts thru the same eyes we saw them thru years ago. especially when we are around them all the time.

it has been amazing for me over the past several years to watch my brothers grow into adults. for some reason, this trip has accentuated that more than any other.

watching gordon, dressed in his business-casual striped button-down and khakis with name badge around his neck and walkie on his hip, in action at his job at Coors Stadium the night we went to the game.

visiting brandon's apartment in downtown denver where he lives with his girlfriend and a new kitten that they adopted.

having my brother invite me out for sushi and say he is paying!

discussing serious life issues with both of them instead of fighting about who did what.

crazy how quickly that change to adulthood happens. seems like just recently we were all at home together playing with our friends and sitting at the dinner table for meals.

but the reality is that my bros are not the little kids that i used to see them as. they are grown men. and i am so proud to say that i am their sister.

as strange as the change is, i rather like it.

2007-07-08T01:52:00.000-04:00

ironic freedom

(a bit from my journal. so if it's a bit stream of consciousness or thoughts are left out or jumbled, just bear with me.)

freedom is the buzz word, particularly around this time of year . . . the freedoms we hold as American citizens. largely, we, the American public, think of freedom as an American concept, principle, idea, lifestyle. but it occurred to me the other day that freedom is not an American-originated concept - rather it is the design of God that we be free. and free from more than just man-made dominion and manipulation, but free from the spiritual and fleshly holds that bind our hearts.

the biblical idea of freedom is expressed all throughout the new testament, but the concept is interesting. where we are quick to think that freedom means doing or being what we want, scripture clearly shows us that that is a misunderstanding of true freedom. we can never be absolutely free beings because we are not absolutely self-sustaining. we are always serving someone or something. and ultimately, we are all under the authority of a Sustainer.

read the words of this song carefully, to understand them:

from jonny diaz (a singer you should check out if you don't know):

it's like a thousand pounds of irony
come crashing down on top of me
the day i learned what it means to be free.

a heart that is enslaved to you
two feet that remain chained to you
and follow you wherever you may lead.

then you'll see a heart that's free.

an enslaved heart, chained feet, following someone else's path = freedom??? yes. this is precisely what we see in scripture.

from jesus (again, read slowly and carefully):

if you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the
truth, and the truth will set you free . . . truly, truly i say to you, everyone
who commits a sin is a slave to sin. the slave does not remain in the
house forever; the son remains forever. so if the Son sets you free, you
will be free indeed. --john 8:31, 34-36

from paul:

for one who has died has been set free from sin. now if we have died
with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
--romans 6:7

death = freedom; the person who has died has been set free and will live with Christ; therefore, to live with Christ is to live in freedom.

i don't think i'm so good at doing this. i don't think the church as a whole is good at this. our tendancy is towards rules and regulations, not freedom.

so what does it mean to live as free people in Christ???

1 peter 2:16-17

live as people who are free, not using your freedom to cover up for evil, but
living as servants of God. honor everyone. love the brotherhood. fear God. honor the emperor.

galatians 5:13-14

for you were called to freedom, brothers. only do not use your
freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but thru love serve one another.
for the whole law is fulfilled in this one word: 'you shall love your neighbor
as yourself.'

there are all sorts of directions that you can go with this whole topic . . . the truth of adoption into God's household, the implications of these last two passages, etc. i'll leave that for your pondering if you care to. i would recommend looking at how freedom is used in other passages too, regarding both us as fallen creatures and creation itself (somewhere in romans). i may have more to say on this later.

2007-07-07T17:32:00.000-04:00

camp time

spent two days in the BEAUTIFUL Shenandoah mountains with some of my favorite people.

a few pics to share from our adventures.

joshua setting up camp.

popcorn and card games.

keith testing out the wire fence. it didn't hold so good.

mary showing us how it's done in the boulders.

anna and luke taking in the view.

dean whittling by the fire.

john taking a break near the summit.

the whole gang.

for more pics, check out facebook.

2007-06-30T18:17:00.001-04:00

the new day

At the threshold of the new day stands the Lord who made it. All the darkness and distracion of the dreams of night retreat before the clear light of Jesus Christ and his wakening Word. All unrest, all impurity, all care and anxiety flee before him. Therefore, at the beginning of the day let all drstraction and empty talk be silenced and let the first thought and the first word belong to him to whom our whole life belongs.

"Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light"
(Eph. 5:14).

Deitrich Bonhoffer,
Life Together

2007-06-23T10:29:00.001-04:00

21 June. 21 faith.

check out facebook for photos from our adventure:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3992&l=f582c&id=516991966

2007-06-23T10:05:00.000-04:00

NEED
more from bonhoffer

this is what i wanted to post earlier when i didn't have my book with me. listen to what bonhoffer has to say about why we need relationships with others. it's lengthy, but worth it:

we belong to one another only through and in Jesus Christ.

What does this mean? It means, first, that a Christian needs others because of Jesus Christ. It means, second, that a Christian comes to others only thru Jesus Christ. It means, third, that in Jesus Christ we have been chosen from eternity, accepted in time, and united for eternity. . . .

(first) God has put this Word into the mouth of men in order that it may be communicated to other men. When one person is struck by the Word, he speaks it to others. God has willed that we should seek and find His living Word in the witness of a brother, in the mouth of man. Therefore, the Christian needs another Christian who speaks God's Word to him. He needs him again and again when he becomes uncertain and discouraged, for by himself he cannot help himself without belaying the truth. He needs his brother man as a bearer and proclaimer of the divine word of salvation. He needs his brother soley because of Jesus Christ. The Christ in his own heart is weaker than the Christ in the word of his brother; his own heart is uncertain, his brother's is sure. . . .

(second) Without Christ we would not know our brother, nor could we come to him. The way is blocked by our own ego. Christ opened up the way to God and to our brother. Now Christians can live with one another in peace; they can love ad serve one another; they can become one. . . . Only in Jesus Christ are we one, only through him are we bound together. . . .

(third) When God was merciful, when He revealed Jesus Christ to us as our Brother, when He won our hearts by His love, this was the beginning of our instruction in divine love. . . . God Himself taught us to meet one another as God has met us in Christ . . .

What determines our brotherhood is what man is by reason of Christ. Our community with one another consists solely in what Christ has done to both of us. This is true not merely at the beginning, as though in the course of time something else were to be added to our community; it remains so for all the future and to all eternity. . . . The more genuine and the deeper our community becomes, the more will everything else between us recede, the more clearly and purely will Jesus Christ and his work become the one thing that is vital between us.

this is only a portion of the richness in this short little book. i highly recommend giving it a whirl.

2007-06-18T06:47:00.000-04:00

the law as a mirror

i was listening to a series on the 10 commandments on my way home from philadelphia. my friend becky (shout out!) copied them for me a year ago, and i'm still making my way thru them.

one of the messages was on the purpose of the Law. the following was quoted of d.g. barnhouse:

The law of God is like a mirror. The purpose of a mirror is to reveal that you face is dirty, but the purpose of a mirror is NOT to wash your face. When you look into a mirror and find that your face is dirty, you do not then reach to take the mirror off the wall and attempt to rub it on your face as a cleansing agent. The purpose of the mirror is to drive us to the water. This is how the Law helps us: not by saving us, but by showing us our need for a Savior.

2007-06-17T02:06:00.000-04:00

floating above the city

i rode in a hot air balloon today! granted, it was tethered to the ground so we couldn't go anywhere except up and down, but still . . .

i rode in a hot air balloon today!

daddy and i went to the zoo hoping to get to spend some time there . . . unfortunately they were closing in an hour. but the zoo has a hot air balloon that they let people ride in - go up, see the city for a bit, come down. kinda like an amusement park ride i suppose, but we jumped on the opportunity! it was well worth it - spectacular view and simply FUN to be up in a hot air balloon!

2007-06-16T23:37:00.000-04:00

In the house I lived in during college, my roommates and I had a running debate surrounding this question:

“do we NEED people?”

For the first year I was adamant that the answer was “No”. God is all that we need. If there were no humans on this earth, I would be just fine and dandy.

Thru many conversations and surely thru divine means, my answer has changed on the matter. We do need people. Not because God is not enough, but simply because he has ordained that we be in fellowship with others.

I am reading a book now that speaks to just that. Bonhoffer’s Life Together speaks volumes into the heart of true fellowship.

Dang . . . I don’t have the book with me now and thus I can’t quote you the portion that I really want to; however, I will leave you with these tiny portions that I found on the web - take some time with them if you can - they are weighty. they may even need to be read in context to really grasp. Incredible truths about the community that we are called to be in with other believers. It is much deeper and richer than most of us seek after or even, sadly, care to experience.

"Christianity means community through Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ. No Christian community is more or less than this. Whether it be a brief, single encounter or the daily fellowship of years, Christian community is only this. We belong to one another only through and in Jesus Christ" (21).

“Without Christ there is discord between God and man and between man and man . . . Christ opened up the way to God and to our brother.” (p. 23).

“God Himself taught us to meet one another as God has met us in Christ.” p. 25.

"Because God has already laid the only foundation of our fellowship, because God has bound us together in one body with other Christians in Jesus Christ, long before we entered into common life with them, we enter into that common life not as demanders but as thankful recipients. We thank God for what He has done for us" (28).

"Within spiritual community there is never, nor in any way, any “immediate” relationship of one to another, whereas human community expresses a profound, elemental, human desire for community, for immediate contact with other human souls. . . . Human love is directed to the other person for his own sake, spiritual love loves him for Christ’s sake."

"Because Christ stands between me and others, I dare not desire direct fellowship with them. . . . This means that I must release the other person from every attempt of mine to regulate, coerce, and dominate him with my love. The other person needs to retain his independence of me; to be loved for what he is, as one for whom Christ became man, died, and rose again. . . . Because Christ has long since acted decisively for my brother, before I could begin to act, I must leave him his freedom to be Christ’s. This is the meaning of the proposition that we can meet others only through the mediation of Christ."

“By sheer grace, God will not permit us to live even for a brief period in a dream world. He does not abandon us to those rapturous experiences and lofty moods that come over us like a dream. God is not a God of the emotions but the God of truth. Only that fellowship which faces such disillusionment, with all its unhappy and ugly aspects, begins to be what it should be in God’s sight, begins to grasp in faith the promise that is given to it. The sooner this shock of disillusionment comes to an individual and to a community the better for both.” p. 27.

“He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial.” p. 27.

“Christian brotherhood is not an ideal which we must realize; it is rather a reality created by God in Christ in which we may participate.” p. 30.

“He who is alone with his sin is utterly alone.” p. 110.

“When I go to my brother to confess, I am going to God.” p. 112.

2007-06-16T22:55:00.000-04:00

this entry is dedicated to all of my younger friends who have yet to choose a place of higher learning. the following comes highly recommended. enjoy your tour.

may i have the pleasure of introducing you to . . .

James Madison University

friends of mine: THIS is JMU.

nestled in the valley of the shenandoah mountains, it is wonderfully green and hilly.

behind me you see the bluestone area. this is the main part of campus where our quad and many of our academic buildings are located. this is the most beautiful part of campus (argueably i suppose - the whole things is pretty dang wonderful).

this is the kissing rock. rumor has it that if you kiss a guy here, that's who you'll end up marrying. i never kissed anyone there while i was in college. guess that solves it.

behind you see wilson hall - the hallmark building of JMU. the quad is in front of that. students spend hours out on the quad - between classes, during meals, just to play. lots of good running room for frisbee, green grass for laying and studying, etc.

we like to have fun at our school. here are a few evidences. the library really IS that way - not sure why the sign is printed upside down.

here you notice there is a ping pong table . . . outside. this is new since i left. but apparently it's part of the art garden these days. looks fully functional to me. i suppose students play here. seriously.

campus is under construction these days. they are building a tunnel under main street to increase safety of pedestrian traffic. should be interesting.

we are the Duke Dogs. here's our mascot. this statue stands outside of our brand-spankin-new athletic center.
he's the new man on campus. Mr. Madison himself. his statue stands outside of D-Hall (one of the most ejoyable dining experiences you'll have on this earth - especially when sharing it with some of your closest friends). fyi: the food at JMU is fantastic. no joke.

wilson hall at sunset. beautiful.

subliminal message: Go to school here. Go to school here. Go to school here.

2007-06-16T22:49:00.000-04:00

please look closely at this child.

this is bryce. we used to live across the street from him and his family in VA. when i went to visit my mother several weeks ago, our neighbors all had a picnic for us.

this is how bryce showed up. and he stayed this way the whole party. please notice the bluetooth in addition to the sunglasses, goggles, mardi gras beads and anklet.

that's his older brother alexander. he has a bit more style-sense. but not as much humor.

these pictures make me laugh to no end.

2007-06-16T22:45:00.000-04:00

ahh . . . i have unlimited internet for the next 24 hours, so i will be catching up on some postings. these may be events or thoughts from the past month or two, so please be long-suffering as i post all of them. when i get internet i tend to post a LOT all at once. and then nothing for a long time. that's just the way it has to be at this stage in my life. perhaps there will be a time when i will never have time to post. so we'll take what we can get now, eh? here comes some of my deep and certainly not-so-deep thoughts from the past few months.

p.s. i thought no one had bee commenting and i was all bummed. only to find out that i had turned on the comment moderater. blah blah blah. so thank you for posting everyone. comments may now flow freely once again.

2007-05-29T17:14:00.001-04:00

CUTEness!

i went shopping (or more like "looking") around downtown harrisonburg today. in the midst, i tried on the absolute cutest dress that has been on my body in a long while! unfortunately the price tag was outrageous. super sad. oh well, at least i got to flaunt it in the dressing room for about 5 mins!

2007-05-28T22:40:00.000-04:00

lukewarmness and risk

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

been thinking about these verse a lot lately . . . how much i live in that state of lukewarmness. in a state of safety and comfort and mediocrity. it's sickening actually. and saddening. and flat-out ridiculous. from what i have been able to recall from scripture about how this life is to be lived, there is nothing about safety or comfort or mediocrtiy. in fact, it's quite the opposite.

seems as though "risk" has been a constant pop-up word in my reading lately. "the dangerous will of God." "a call for christian risk." matthew 16:25.

but the more i think of it, the more it makes sense. if my future - and by future i mean for all eternity - is secure, then why would i not risk everything in this life for the sake of "kingdom purposes"???

as piper wrote: "by removing eternal risk, Christ calls his people to continual temporal risk . . . It is risky to serve Christ in a war zone. You might get shot. You might not."

and for that, lukewarmness will not do.

2007-05-28T22:26:00.000-04:00

i went strawberry picking for the first time!!!

tracie (one of my fellow speech therapists) went with me.

2007-05-28T22:15:00.000-04:00

a little piper

from a piper devotional just recently read. written after the tsunami. applicable for any tragedy:

the point of every deadly calamity is this: repent. let our hearts be broken that God means so little to us. grieve that he is a whipping boy to be blamed for pain, but not praised for pleasure. lament that he makes headlines only when man mocks his power, but no headlines for ten thousand days of wrath withheld. let us rend our hearts that we love life more than we love Jesus Christ. let us cast ourselves on the mercy of our Maker. He offers it through the death and resurrection of his Son.

see luke 13:4-5 for a biblical reference.

2007-05-19T21:58:00.000-04:00

lovely things

my girls at work know that recently i have been mentally compiling a list of things that i immensely enjoy or take particular delight in. i'm not sure how this list started . . . i think i've just been trying to be more aware of the creatively designed things that surround me, both by my God and by people . . .

i have taken a particularly interest in making myself aware of things that i love about this place that i live called the eastern shore. the eastern shore is a quaint little place. while it is growing by leaps and bounds, it still maintains much of its down-home goodness. i much enjoy that. this is particularly wonderful to me because, when i moved here, i never thought i would love anything about this place.

below you will find a partial list that has come up over the last week, some shore related, some not.

1. driving over the bay bridge and being at the same level with the birds.

2. strawberry picking

3. eating bananas divided into its 3 natural triangle-like parts (does anyone understand what i mean when i say this?)

4. hand-painted signs on the side of the road that advertize home-grown products sold right from the house (and especially when there's just a box where you leave your money - it is comforting to know that people are still trusting like that)

5. that the sky looks different every night as the sun sets

2007-05-14T21:36:00.000-04:00

dissatisfying imbalance

Initially I was thrilled to figure out how to post pictures. Now, I’m not sure it’s not both a blessing and a curse. I’ll elaborate.

Since posting pics, yes, I agree that it has added a new dimension to my blog . . . maybe gained a few more viewers . . . certainly a few additional comments, but at what cost?

One thing that I liked about my blog pre-pictures was that it aired out my thoughts. It highlighted some cool things about life that I don’t always notice. It was a written explanation of how God let me see things differently or notice him in things or enjoy things i normally look right past.

There’s not much of that now. Just pictures with shallow narrative.

Color substituted for content.

I’m not sure how I feel about it.

Correction; I am sure how I feel about it. I don’t like it one little bit. Pictures – while delightfully fun to post and look at and preserve memories I otherwise wouldn’t – can’t replace musings.

I admit, this is my fault. Picture posting has made me lazy. I still have weighty thoughts; it's just easier and faster to post pics than try to hammer out ideas into words. There are plenty of people that have mastered the art of combining both pictures and thought for a more complete and well-balanced blog. I have not.

This is my new quest. Narrative that is depthy, yet not so long that I lose ½ my readers. Pictures that compliment, but don’t replace worthy words.

We’ll see how I do.

2007-05-13T19:07:00.000-04:00

d.c. friends

i spent my weekend in the d.c. area visitng a few of my friends from college. these are some of my dearest friends from college. amy (who i always stay with when i go to d.c.) is married to pete. jessica (lives in gaithersburg) is married to kris and has a 1-month-old (april 10) named jack. below you can see a smattering of the events of the weekend, including our meeting of little jack!!!

the man of the hour - jack tyler

jessica (mommy) and jack

did you know that at 1-month, babies only can focus their gaze about 10-12 inches away?

amy and jack

sushi for dinner

pete taught me a new game this weekend: settlers of catan. well worth the time it takes to play.

need to bring this one to the shore.

peter predicting his next move (he played 2 hands). we needed 3 people to play, but amy didn't really want to, so pete played her hand.

ames and me
the happy couple at home
their cute townhouse; fresh knockout roses from amy's garden

baking cookies: amy and i share the same favorite - oatmeal chocolate chip. convenient!

2007-04-30T21:44:00.000-04:00

you've heard of manna coming down out of heaven . . .
but what about fish?

we had small group outside tonight. why wouldn't we? it's a beautiful spring evening.

so in the middle of small group, as we are delving into the depths of our study, we are temporarily distracted by some commotion coming from the sky.

birds. no big deal.

until a split second later we see a large object fall from the sky and flop into the backyard about 15 yards from us. i glance at hannah quickly and then at anna, looking for some sort of confirmation that they saw the same thing i saw. the expressions on their faces tells me that they did.

"what was that???" was the overwhelming theme of the chatter that followed.

a fish . . . we think. but is that possible?

indeed my friends it is. a fish fell from heaven in the middle of our small group. and we have pictures to prove it. :-)

2007-04-10T23:14:00.000-04:00

the joys of my monday nights
and many other times . . .

there names (in alphabetical order)

anna, elizabeth, hannah and rachel.

2007-04-10T22:14:00.000-04:00

Sisters.

at easter dinner, there were a smattering of sister sets.

i don't have sisters, so seeing these girls all together was super fun.

the townsend sisters

(with me in between)

the huntington sisters

the harr sisters (2 of them)

harr and price sisters

the price sisters

2007-04-03T17:28:00.000-04:00

FREDERICKSBURG:

a sampling of the weekend.

spring in my driveway.

the rappahannock.
spring "snow". blossoms were flying all over the city that day.

my daddy at carls. the BEST dairy bar in the world.

this great bookshop. fredericksburg is good for these.

wouldn't you love to work in a place like this?

bryce and cheetoes.

daddy and me.

for a complete viewing, see my flickr.

2007-04-02T21:45:00.000-04:00

visiting my home of old

stay tuned for new pics on flickr and on here. this weekend i had a lovely visit to my old stompin' ground:
fredericksburg, va

it's so funny; when i lived there we used to affectionately call it "dead fred." now, i love going back there. in fact, i am convinced that i love that little town more and more as i get older.

i think it's just about
my favorite place to take my camera.
my favorite place to get a cup of coffee.
my favorite place to wander the streets.

words to describe it:
quaint
historic
ecclectic

today is was 80 degrees, cherry blossoms blooming and covering the sidewalks.

glorious.

i kept thinking today of all the people that i want to take there on a little weekend road trip. (all of you williamsburg fans would prolly be fredericksburg fans too.)

pics to come.

2007-03-11T15:03:00.000-04:00

GREEN. (or FUN WITH GLOWSTICKS.)

john's 16th birthday party proved to be an excellent event. following 2.5 hours of ultimate frisbee, miss anna grace got photo-happy and snapped about a dozen pics of joshua and me (who, inadvertently, were color coordinated). below (and above) is a sampling.

2007-03-03T22:15:00.000-05:00

late entries

some of my favorite pictures from cambodia didn't make it onto my flickr site before i ran out of storage space.

at ta prahm.

playing with color by my favorite windows.

at the cultural village.

more color play.

at ta prahm again.

2007-03-03T17:42:00.000-05:00

cambi heat

photos are up for anyone who is interested in getting a sneak peek at some of the sights from cambodia. not a comprehensive look, but at least some starters.

www.flickr.com/photos/pinkhouser

reflections on the trip to be posted after all of my inner-processing is complete (or at least a little further along). stay tuned.

2007-02-02T00:52:00.000-05:00

worlds collide

you know what i really love? when the many facets (sp?) of my life come together. for instance, i always loved it in college when i could bring my friends home with me for a weekend to meet my family. becuase up til then, a)i love my family and b)i love my college friends, but c)they have no experiential knowledge of or love for each other. and it is a most wonderful thing getting to introduce the people that you love to each other; to let them collectively come to love and appreciate all of the things that you love about them individually.

it truly is one of my favorite things. it makes me very happy.

i have had TWO opportunitites for this in the past week. bless my soul.

number ONE: JMU meets salisbury
first of all, i hope all of you watched the UNC/MD women's game on sunday. i was there. it was fantastic. not only because UNC kicked butt, but because i was with the most delightful of people . . . some of which i have not seen in a very long time. my dearest friend/roommate kate from JMU came up from NC. we met up with another roommate (amy), faith harr and anna harr for dinner at applebees and the game. pics on flickr.

number TWO: salisbury meets family
stephanie and eric catellier are out here in CO with me for a long weekend with my family. a great mix. lots of snow. more pics on flickr.

here we are: brandon (bro), me, steph and eric; skiing at loveland.

how cold is it in colorado, you ask? today we skied in -4 degrees. yes, you read correctly. NEGATIVE FOUR DEGREES.

and just in case you need a refresher course on ski safety, the resort prints it for you on the napkins. never leave the lodge without your own personal copy of the "skier's responsibility code."

2007-01-27T13:54:00.000-05:00

bye bye anna peipon

friday night we celebrated our mutual love for anna peipon and our mutual sadness to see her depart once again from the eastern shore. lucky nepalesians.

(yeah, i have no idea if that's what you call people from nepal. i feel so ignorant sometimes.)

to see the night documented in pictures, go to
www.flickr.com/photos/pinkhouser

p.s. i missed getting pics of some people. some of them didn't turn out, and others i just missed. sorry bout that. i'll do better next time.

2007-01-22T21:43:00.000-05:00

the heavens declare the glory of God . . .

sunset at pemberton

overlooking the wicomico

2007-01-13T22:30:00.000-05:00

death wish.

The following photographs were taken by photographer Hans van de Vorst at Grand Canyon, Arizona. The descriptions are his own. The identity of the photographer IN the photos is unknown.

I was simply stunned seeing this guy standing on a solitary rock IN the Grand Canyon. The canyon's depth is 900 meters here. The rock on the right is next to the canyon and safe.

Watching this guy wearing thong sandals, with a camera and a tripod I asked myself 3 questions:

1. How did he get on that rock?
2. Why not take that sunset picture on the rock to his right,

which is perfectly safe?
3. How will he get back?

This is the point of no return.

After the sun set behind the canyon's horizon he packed his things (having only one hand available) and prepared himself for the jump. This took about 2 minutes.At that point he had the full attention of the crowd.

After that, he jumped on his thong sandals...
The canyon's depth is 900 meters here.

Now you can see that the adjacent rock is higher so he tried to land lower, which is quite steep and tried to use his one hand to grab the rock.

We've come to the end of this little story. Look carefully at the photographer. He has a camera, a tripod and also a plastic bag, all on his shoulder or in his left hand. Only his right hand is available to grab the rock and the weight of his stuff is a problem.

He lands low on this rock. Both his right hand and right foot slips away... At that moment I take this shot.

He pushes his body against the rock. He waits for a few seconds, throws his stuff on the rock, climbs up and walks away.

2007-01-13T20:39:00.000-05:00

alive.

i shared this story with a friend recently and she said she was encouraged by it. i was glad. the lesson encourage me too. so i thought, perhaps, you might want to read it too. :-)

------------------------
i was remembering a day when i was in grad school.
it was winter. the day was bleak - cloudy, grey.

i was driving back from my internship and was noticing the trees. how dead they looked. no leaves, no color, dark, empty-looking. and how a lot of times i feel just like the trees looked.

dead, dark, empty.

but then it struck me that even though the trees LOOK dead in the winter,
they actually aren't.

for some reason it was one of those, "huh, i've never really thought about that" moments. like something in me thought that the trees died in the winter and came back to life in the spring. but they don't. they are always alive, even when they don't look it.

i was encouraged that day by the revelation. and i have been encouraged by it recently. that even at the times when i may look dead and grey on the outside or even feel that way, that i'm not. i am very much alive because i have another Life that is living in me. One that cannot die. One that, in fact, has beat death.

and it is that Life that drives my own. that will change my own. that guides my moves, understands and directs my heart and is my sustenance.

even when you feel like you are losing your battle over there, the One within you is alive and active.
--------------------------

2007-01-02T20:35:00.000-05:00

get your game on.

LOST night at matts.

New Years at the townsends.

2006-12-25T09:28:00.000-05:00

from the angels:

"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men
on whom his favor rests."

2006-12-24T00:27:00.000-05:00

spa day

as part of my christmas present, momma and i went for massages, manicures and pedicures today. one word - FAB-U-LOUS!

a couple pics from the day: the cute little salon. complete with bamboo. some crazy, gritty purple stuff they smear all over your feet. the finished product (aren't the pretty?).

2006-12-21T21:29:00.000-05:00

"wanna build a snowman with me?"

i made the mistake of asking my mother the above question, to which she said, "uh, no. it's cold out there."

however, being the creative one that she is, she decided we'd make a different kind of snowman. in fact, we'd make 5. miniature ones. inside.

only my mother.

the meadows family:
complete with snow scene.

left: momma, daddy and

chesapeake (our cat)

right: gordon, brandon and sarah.
notice my bros snowboards - i added that little touch. :-)
and yes, i know g and i don't have mouths -

i couldn't get them to stay on.

they actually turned out pretty darn cute. what do you think?

Merry Christmas from the Meadows Family!

2006-12-21T21:08:00.000-05:00

more lyrics.

these are similar to the last, but much older.
read and refresh your soul.
pray this.

Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.

Take my moments and my days; let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my hands, and let them move at the impulse of Thy love.

Take my feet, and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice, and let me sing always, only, for my King.

Take my lips, and let them be filled with messages from Thee.

Take my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold.

Take my intellect, and use every power as Thou shalt choose.

Take my will, and make it Thine; it shall be no longer mine.

Take my heart, it is Thine own; it shall be Thy royal throne.

Take my love, my Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure store.

Take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for Thee.

Frances Havergal; 1874

now go listen to chris tomlin's version of this song.

2006-12-21T19:16:00.000-05:00

i really enjoy these lyrics.

something very simple and poetic about them.
as well as truthful.

(verses only seen here)
we stutter and we stammer till You say us
a symphony of chaos till You play us
phrases on the pages of unknown
‘til You read us into poetry and prose

we are kept and we are captive till You free us
vaguely unimagined ‘til You dream us
aimlessly unguided ‘til You lead us home

passed over and passed by until you claim us
orphaned and abandoned ‘til you name us
hidden and disclosed ‘til you expose you hearts

-healed; nichole nordeman

my fav line; "a symphony of chaos til You play us"

a symphony of chaos. like when you hear a symphony warming up before a show and all the instuments are playing their own thing. there's no music; just noise. i feel like that a lot.

thankfully there is One who makes beauty out of chaos.

2006-12-21T10:38:00.000-05:00

the count is in . . .

27 inches!

check out the snow hanging over the eves of the house. wild.

this evening dad and i went on a walk. saw just about every mode of transportation: cross country skis, snowshoes, snowmobiles, 4- and 3-wheelers, snowborad and skis being pulled by trucks, sleds full of kids being pulled by parents. it was quite wonderful. in salisbury everyone would be locked indoors with 27 inches of snow. here, people are out and about in whatever way they can be. guess you get used to it living here.

2006-12-20T20:04:00.000-05:00

baking and shoveling, shoveling and baking.
(the two things that have consumed my day)

momma and i hit the kitchen this afternoon

(since we were/are snowed in)

at the end of the day, here's what we have to show for ourselves:

sugar cookies (of course)

peppermint patties

cinnamon rolls

cranberry-apple chutney

on the other side of things and between food prep,

i shoveled our drive with daddy

good times had by all.

2006-12-20T14:47:00.000-05:00

yes ladies and gentlemen . . .

we are under a BLIZZARD warning!!!

was only about a half inch this a.m. when i woke up.

6.5 inches so far . . . calling for up to 30 inches by tomorrow. whoa!

Merry Christmas to me!

2006-12-18T23:25:00.000-05:00

psst . . . guess what . . .

i have a flickr site now.

www.flickr.com/photos/pinkhouser

if you care to view, enjoy!

2006-12-17T12:36:00.000-05:00

derek

if you don't listen to derek webb, you should. i mean really listen. whether you agree 100% with him or not, he makes you think and challenges.

link to some of his lyrics: his latest project "mockingbird"
http://derekwebb.musiccitynetworks.com/index.htm?id=7013&inc=7&album_id=731

recommendations:
a new law
a king and a kingdom
rich young ruler

2006-12-17T12:22:00.000-05:00

"if there were less of what seems like ease in our lives they would tell more for Christ and souls . . . we profess to be strangers and pilgrims, seeking after a country of our own, yet we settle down in the most un-stranger-like fashion, exactly as if we were quite at home and meant to stay as long as we could."

--amy carmichal

2006-10-07T23:50:00.000-04:00

leaving the waterpot behind

"Give Me a drink."

"How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?"

"If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."

"Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?"

"Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."

"Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw."

. . .

"Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet . . . I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us."

"I who speak to you am He."

so the woman left her waterpot . . .
and went to tell others about Him.

---------------------
she met Jesus.
he changed her.
she forgot about her old priorities.
she embraced her new purpose.

2006-10-07T23:02:00.000-04:00

feedback required.

i'm contemplating going digital.

currently i exist solely in the old-school world of film cameras.

so i'm asking you, the readers, for some help.

question 1: should i, in fact, latch on to the digital realm?
question 2: if you answered question 1 in the affirmative, what type of camera do you recommend?

2006-10-07T22:44:00.000-04:00

"sweet dreams" -OR-
"to avoid the wrath of linnea"

last night i was in an episode of LOST.

in my dreams, of course.

you think it's confusing and mind-blowing to watch the show, try being in an episode. it was like 10x as crazy.

the nice part was, at the end of the dream i got proposed to -
by a guy that was a cross between jack and chris tomlin.
that's never happened to me in a dream before.
it was dang exciting.

i said yes. :-)

------------------------------

dreams truly facinate me. i think if i had more time, i'd like to study them more.

i'm one of those people who always remembers their dreams. at least one a night. often more than that. in vivid detail. and while often this is both interesting and often amusing, there's also something a bit un-nerving about dreaming.

in college i had a period of about 2-3 weeks where i had very real, very scary dreams every night - so much so that i didn't want to go to sleep at night. nothing puts you on your knees quicker.

dreaming is the one place where any sense of control that i think i have disappears. your dreams just happen. the people appear (sometimes from so far back in your life that you didn't even know you remembered that person), the places become almost real, the events take place as they like (whether they make sense or not). it is the one place where i realize that i am completely at the mercy of God.

----------------------------

"when we are on our knees we know it is not we who control the world; it is not in our power, therefore, to supply our needs by our own independent efforts . . . in effect, therefore, what we do every time we pray is to confess our own impotence and God's sovereignty."
--j.i. packer, evangelism and the sovereignty of God

2006-09-04T15:13:00.000-04:00

for kyrie anna ruth

my sincerest apologies for not posting for . . . um . . . a month and a half. i would like to offer up a list of good (and maybe some questionable) excuses/reasons for my absence. see below:

1. i've been busy. (ah, the pathetically famous excuse of the centruy. it is somewhat true here though as i have been travelling like mad this summer and have also managed to move out of my apartment and across town somewhere in between all the trips.)

2. i have had nothing to post. (this is just a flat out lie, actually. i've had plenty on my mind that i could share. see 'staggering facts' for more.)

3. i haven't had internet access. (not 100% true, as mary has been gracious to let me use hers when i visit. BUT, it is true that i do not have internet at my new place. therefore my online time is significantly decreased.)

i got nothing else.

an aside: i do have sufficient reason for not posting pictures. i will remind you that when it comes to photography i have not yet jumped into the twenty-first century. it still remains that i have only a film camera. no digital. perhaps soon. but part of me thinks that once i go digital i'm never gonna use my film again. and that makes me sad. perhaps i'll scan some shots from the summer and post them soon (when i can figure out how to do that.) until then, i remain pictureless.

love and miss you, kyrie.

2006-09-04T14:44:00.000-04:00

staggering facts

1. there are 6,625 unreached people groups in the world. (that's 41.5% of the world's total people groups.)

2. of the world's 6.53 billion people, 2.58 billion live in these unreached people groups. (that's 2.58 billion people who have NEVER HAD THE CHANCE TO HEAR THE GOSPEL.)

3. Of the approximate 6,800 langauges in the world, 4,037 are without Scripture portions available.

4. a large portion of these unreached peoples live in the 10/40 window. of the 4 billion people there, 2.23 billion are among the least reached.

5. there are only approximately 7,000 missionaries worldwide working with these unreached people groups, which puts the ratio at one missionary for every 368,570 people in these groups!

6. 94% of all ordained preachers in the world minister to the 9% that speak english.

7. there are more than 1 million full-time christian workers in the u.s.; while one half of the world's population (3 major groups - Muslim, Hindu, Chinese) - 2.2billion - have about 3,000 full time christian workers.

-------------------------------

my friend annmarie was telling me of a missionary that she heard speak last week. he works among one of the 872 people groups in papua new guinea.

2 of the unreached tribes in papua new guinea have been ASKING for a missionary to come and live among them for 9 years.

9 YEARS.

in striking contrast, a youth pastor in california just stepped down from his position to pursue something else. within 2 days, 47 people applied for his position.

-------------------------------

think on it and let it affect you. i haven't been able to get away from it since i read it. i just keep rolling the numbers around in my head and wondering what the heck i'm doing here in america.

-------------------------------

"go therefore and make disciples of all nations." --jesus

"and you shall be my witnesses, both in jerusalem, and in all judea and samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." --acts 1:8

"this gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations and then the end will come." --matt 24:14

"after this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" --rev 7:9-10

2006-07-12T00:00:00.000-04:00

on carving . . .

when Michaelangelo was working with that piece of granite that eventually became David, one of his assistants asked him,

"how do you do this? how do you take this block and form something so beautiful?"

and Michaelangelo stepped back, and he said,

"that stone IS david.
i am carving away everything that is NOT david."

it was clear in his mind and in his design, and when he was carving, he was carving away everything that was not david.

God does the same thing with you and i.
he took this block of stone.
he declares us children of the living God.
he justified us in Jesus Christ that we might know him, the power of his resurrection.

why is there pain in my life? he is carving away everything that is not Christ in us.

that is the path of sanctification.
blessed be the name of the Lord.

"that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death." --phillipians 3:10

--from one of phil's recent sermon on "the fellowship of His sufferings"

blessed be the name of the Lord in all things, even our sufferings. for even those are meant for our good. for ALL things work together for good for those who love God.

you guys really gotta check out this phillipians series. fo' real. i ain't kiddin'. it's 100 xs better than any t.v. show. see link below.

2006-07-09T22:03:00.000-04:00

lead me to the Rock

as we were driving thru the mountains the other day, my dad and i were marveling at these homes that are literally built on the sides of the mountains.

i had lots of questions:
where are the roads leading up there?
how do they get machinery or supplies up there?
and mostly, how do the homes stay up there?
(some of them look as if a strong wind could push them off the side.)

"i guess they should do ok," my father says. "they are built on solid rock."

and there you have it.

homes able to stand in seemingly impossible places

because they are built on rock.

hmm.
-------------------------------
"everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house,

but it did not fall because it had been founded on the Rock."

--matt 7:21

2006-07-09T21:40:00.000-04:00

it's commanded, people.

"look amond the nations, and see;
wonder and be astounded.
for I am doing work in your days
that you would not believe if told."
--habakkuk 1:5

notice the progression:
1. look - ("open your eyes, sarah.")
2. see - (spend a little time gazing at it until you really get it.)
3. wonder and be astounded- (a bi-product of the first two.)

read this a day after my reading by tozer (see below).

was reminded how insistent God is on showing me things

when He really wants me to get it.

2006-07-09T21:01:00.000-04:00

as promised . . .

from the knowledge of the holy by a.w. tozer.
read if you care to have your complacent look on life destroyed.
it's weighty, but plow thru it.
and then rest awhile and wonder at the mystery of life.

------------------------
"Thomas Carlyle, following Plato, pictures a man, a deep pagan thinker, who had grown to maturity in some hidden cave and is brought out suddenly to see the sun rise. 'what would his wonder be,' exclaims Carlyle, 'his rapt astonishment at the sight we daily witness with indifference! with the free, open sense of a child, yet with the ripe faculty of a man, his whole heart would be kindled by that sight . . .'

"how different are we who have grown used to it, who have become jaded with a satiety of wonder. 'it is not by our superior insight that we escape the difficulty,' says Carlyle, 'it is by our superior levity, our inattention, our want of insight. it is by not thinking that we cease to wonder at it . . . we call that fire of the black thundercloud 'electricity' and lecture learnedly about it, and grind it out of glass and silk: but what is it? whence it comes? whither it goes? science has done much for us; but it is a poor science that would hide from us the great deep sacred infinitude, whither we can never penetrate, on which all science swims as a mere superficial film. this world, after all our science and sciences, is still a miracle; wonderful, incrutable, magical and more, to whosoever will think of it.'

"[even after years of advances in science and technology] we still do not know. we save face by repeating frivolously the jargon of science. we harness the mighty energy that rushes through our world; we subject it to fingertip control in our cars and our kitchens; we make it work for us like aladdin's jinn, but we still do not know what it is. secularism, materialism, and the intrusive presence of things have put out the light in our souls and turned us into a generation of zombies. we cover our deep ignorance with words, but

we are ashamed to wonder,

we are afraid to whisper, 'mystery.'"

------------------------

a friend of mine named grace was standing at the kitchen sink before our bible study one day just staring at the water running over her hand.

later when i asked her about it she told me she was just thinking. about how the water washed over her hand instead of being absorbed into it. about how her thin layer of skin was created to keep out things that would harm the rest of the body. about how her brain got her fingers to do exactly what she wanted them to do.

she was marveling.

'wonder'-ing, if you will.

about hands.

and skin.

and water.

what a springboard of worship is our 'wonder'-ing.

2006-07-09T20:45:00.000-04:00

i am . . .

i am back in the burg. safe and sound.

i am eating rita's orange cream water ice (bought by a thoughtful friend of mine as a welcome home present).

i am awaiting a call from cambodia.

i am contemplating my already-full upcoming week.

i am missing my family.

curious how i can be doing so many things all at once,
all the while just sitting at my desk.

2006-07-08T15:49:00.000-04:00

odds and ends:

a. went to a colorado rockies game last night. beautiful til about the 4th inning. then crazy downpours. we hid out in the nosebleed section (where it was covered) for about 45 mins until my mother insisted that we go. so after buying myself a new hat (yes, i've finally admitted that my favorite hat needs to be ditched), we ran several blocks thru the rain to our car. at least it was warm rain. fun times.

2. speaking of rain. average rainfall in denver is only 19 inches a year. since we have arrived, it has rained a number of times, including huge thunderstorms 2 nights. since the rain started last night around 9 it hasn't stopped.

we brought the rain with us from VA.

III. reminder (more for me than you) to post this great thing i found in a book i'm reading called 'the knowledge of the holy' by tozer. it's about mystery (just to give you a little taste-test). sorry, i don't have the book with me now.

D. today in the rain we attempted to drive up the tallest paved road in the united states. to the top of Mt. Evans. 14,264 feet above sea-level. one of colorado's "fourteen-ers," as they call them. we made it to 10,600 feet before the fog got so bad that we didn't think it was worth it to continue on. bummer that the day we picked to go it was so cloudy. still got some great shots of the fog over the mountains and at echo lake (see pic).

maybe next trip i'll get up a 14-er. anyone wanna come with me?

5. fun fact: because of the elevation change, if you move to an area like denver, over time your body will make about an extra pint of blood to help your body get more O2.

VI. rainbows abound here from all of the quick little storms that pop up in the afternoons. i've seen 2 this trip. interestingly enough, both in the same exact spot over the target parking lot. :-)

ok, folks. i'm coming home tomorrow. i'm kinda sad about it. i will miss my family very much. this has been a fantastic trip.

2006-07-08T15:20:00.000-04:00

up next: 'the real world - DENVER'

last night we went to a colorado rockies game (well, half of it at least - the rest got rained out). before the game we checked out this sports bar and grill for dinner (LoDo's: short for Lower Downtown - popular section of denver).

so in the middle of dinner these guys come in followed by a 3-man camera crew. we were taking bets on who they were: mom said maybe pro soccer players (they had that look), brandon said, 'maybe it's the real world.' to which all of us replied, 'whatever.'

so the waitress comes over and we ask her, 'what's the deal with the cameras?'

'oh, it's the real world,' she replies. 'their house is two doors down. those are the guys. they come in here all the time. we never see the girls though. apparently they don't get along. should be a good one.'

HA! so much for us bashing brandon's idea.

so then the conversation turned to, 'so how do we get on camera?' b&g said they'd go start a fight with them. gordon kept trying to get me to just go sit down at the booth with them. my dad was gonna go ask if he could take their picture. the closest we got to any interaction was my mom zooming in to get a pic from our table. we'll see if it turns out.

and yeah, we checked out the house. what we could see of it. there's a sign outside the door that says if you come thru the doors be prepared to be videotaped and shown on national tv. funny.

so, yeah. the next season of 'the real world' will be coming at you from the mile-high city.

2006-07-07T00:06:00.000-04:00

finally got my hiking in . . .

here's where my bro and i went today:
red rocks park and amphitheater
(www.redrocksonline.com)

a-MAZ-ing.

talk about standing in awe of God's creation. massive red rocks that have been uprooted, turned on their sides and stuck back down into the ground. huge boulders balancing on rocks as if you could push them off with one finger.

brandon and i hiked thru these rock formations. 6, 450 feet above sea-level (we were feeling it).

and here's the funny part (if you call this funny.) we deviated from the trail at one point and climbed up on the rocks to get some pictures. no big deal, right? we had some fun climbing, got some good pics, tested our endurance skills.

so then we get back on the trail. and we pass a sign. but first we read the sign. here's what it said:

Climbing on rocks prohibited.
Violators will be fined $999.00
or serve up to 180 days in jail.

AAAHHHHH! we looked at each other. then we both immediately looked all around us. as if we expected cops to jump out of the bushes with handcuffs and drag us to their cars.

luckily that didn't happen. and we had a lovely rest of the day in the park.

p.s. the amphitheater is carved into the rocks - i can imagine seeing a show there would be outstanding. great music under the stars in the middle of this beautiful park. blues travelers were there for the 4th. counting crows and goo goo dolls were there on the 5th. if i'd had an extra $50 to blow, i would have gone. maybe next time.

and see all those stairs? we learned today that during the a.m. and afternoon, the amphitheater seems to turn into a free gym of sorts for people. there were dozens of people there today running stairs (there are hundreds of them leading up to the amphitheater), running the rows where people sit. i got tired just walking the stairs. but of course now i want to go back tomorrow a.m. and do my run there. maybe i'll even attempt the stairs.

work out arena by day, concert hall by night.

hey, i'd choose that setting over a treadmill at the gym ANY DAY.

2006-07-06T00:47:00.000-04:00

everytime a family moves, a forest dies.

i wish you could see the piles and piles and PILES of packing paper that have accumulated in our house, garage, truck bed, etc. as a result of this move. it is seriously ridiculous.

this is what i dont get.

i will unpack a box: take an item out, unwrap it, throw the paper on the floor and do this over and over again until the box is empty. but then once i've unwrapped everything, i start to stuff the packing paper back in the box. that's the logical thing to do, right? rather than leave it all over the floor. and you assume that since all the paper was in the box to begin with (along with all the stuff you unwrapped) that the paper will fit back in the box with plenty of room left over.

oh no. you would be wrong. sometimes it doesn't fit. and if it does fit, it barely does and you have to squish the paper down as far as you can using all your arm muscles to get it in there.

what is wrong with this picture.

faith, maybe you can help me out with this one. i think it's a science thing. something about wasted space prolly.

so yeah, my hat's off to the poor trees that sacrificed their lives so that our family could move to colorado with all our goods in tact.

poor trees.

2006-07-04T13:31:00.000-04:00

what we need in salisbury:

Jamba Juice

yummy fruit smoothie bar.

i may be getting addicted.

2006-07-04T13:30:00.000-04:00

quick update for everyone.

we are moved in. the moving truck left yesterday around 6p.m. after a long day of getting things into the house. we are far from settled, but are making some progress. at least the beds are up and some of the rooms are starting to come together. i unpacked box after box after box yesterday and still it seems there are hundreds left. i just keep telling myself, "sarah, it's a process."

went running this a.m. - much more difficult at 5,000 ft. i hadn't noticed the altitude at all until my run the a.m. gives my lungs a work-out more than my legs. makes me wonder what it will be like at 14,000 feet when we go up to mt. evans or pikes peak later this week. yikes!

ok, i'm off to target. we all had to take baths today because we had no shower curtains. so i will be buying some. and maps. i hate not knowing my way around. i've got too much independence running thru my blood, i think. i want to be able to jump in the car and go explore . . . but my dad's the only one who knows his way around. so shower curtains and maps. and maybe a few other things.

off to target.

p.s. updates may be fewer now. we have no internet yet. i'm at b&n now using their connection for a small fee.

2006-07-02T21:51:00.000-04:00

funny sight of the day:

oreo cows.

at least, that's what my mother called them

when we passed them on the road.

daddy says they are really called belted galloways.

he may be right, but i like 'oreo cows' better.

2006-07-02T21:19:00.000-04:00

we have arrived.

CURRENTLY (and for the next week):

13197 W. 27th Lane

Golden, CO 80401

west of denver.
north of colorado springs.
south of boulder.
nestled right at the base of the mountains.

beautiful.

here's the house:

i guess this means we are now officially the

mile-high meadows.

2006-07-02T01:22:00.000-04:00

let's play a game.

who can guess all of the states i've been in since last wednesday?

perhaps there will be a prize for the person who can guess them all.

here's the thing though. we must institute the honor code for this game. so we know that everyone is playing fair. so . . .

please raise your right hand and repeat after me:

"i, (insert your name), do promise that my guess will be MY OWN GUESS. i will not accept help of any form including, but not limited to, looking at a map, asking someone else, re-reading sarah's previous blogs, etc. i will make my own educated guess based solely on my expert knowledge of united states geography."

ok, good. now that that's over. let the games begin.

2006-07-02T01:10:00.000-04:00

"did you hear that potato wagon rolling in?"
thoughts on: the midwest. my daddy. storms.

i had forgotten what driving across the midwest is like. in the midwest, the land is flat. the trees are scarce. so the road stretches out in front of you for miles. it seems as though it will never end. i asked my dad today, "on a clear day, how far can you see?" "50 miles or so," was the reply. he should know. he grew up in the panhandle of texas where the land is flatter and the trees even more scarce (if that is possible) than the kansas road i travelled today.

where the land stops, the sky- a beautiful blue- begins and ascends forever until it's on top of you and behind you and all around you. the sky really is tremendous out here.

the towns along I-70 are tiny, for the most part. little farming towns like the one where my dad grew up. as he put it today, "the high-rise building in most of these little towns is the grain elevator." as if i know what a grain elevator is. but i know what one looks like now. :-)

i drove all day today. it was long. it was extremely uneventful. my passengers slept most of the day (including the cat). so i felt alone most of the day. not a sad alone. just alone. gave me time to take it all in. most of it was rather dull. until evening.

i wish i could adequately describe what i saw tonight. it may seem rather mundane to some of you, but i thought it was amazing. it was rain. storms. in the distance.

in these flatlands you can see the storms form in the distance. you know how in alien movies when they "beam down" from their spaceship - there's this light ray that shoots down from the ship. that's what it's like when you look out and see the storms. gray-blue "beams" of storms interspersed between carolina blue patches of non-rain. lots of them. all across the horizon. kinda looks like thick vertical sripes across the sky.

we drove right into the storms. the stipes got wider and darker as we got closer. it rained. it thundered. it lighteninged. and then it stopped 10 minutes later.

such are storms in the midwest.

as i said above, i know i did not adequately describe what i got to see tonight. i hesitated to even try. but i wanted you to see it. i wanted you to be there.

to see this huge expanse of a sky and be reminded that the heavens tell of the glory of God. to see the fields and remember that you, a small creature on this earth, are like grass that withers and falls. to see the road stretching out in front of you and recall that even as a small creature, there is purpose - a path of life. a to see the rains pouring down in strips in front of you and discover agian that the same God that controls the lightening, the rain, the storms has adopted you according to the purpose of His will and is equipped as your Father to direct your heart to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

such were the thoughts i was flooded with. i wanted you to share them.
i wanted you to be there.

2006-07-02T00:49:00.000-04:00

IT'S UNANIMOUS

the meadows family agrees 100% (and that is a rare occurrence) that today for lunch we had THE BEST PORK BBQ EVER!

restaurant: the original Arthur Bryant's BBQ
city: kansas city, mo
a little history: started in the 1930s
famous visitors: Harry Truman, Jimmy Carter, Steven Spielberg, Michael Landon, Robert Redford, Jack Nicholson, Wilt Chamberlain, Bryant Gumbel

. . . and now the Meadows Family.

the funniest thing about this experience was the bread. you would expect the best bbq sandwich in the world to be on some really great kaiser roll or homemade bread or something.

oh no.

try plain ole' white sandwich bread.
prolly wonder bread, if i had to guess. funny, huh?

2006-07-02T00:20:00.000-04:00

progress today:
another 498 miles.
not quite as far as yesterday, but still a valiant effort.

CURRENTLY:
colby, ks
(only 50 miles from the colorado state line!!!)

comment for today:
kansas is a really long state.

2006-07-01T01:41:00.000-04:00

browns, grays and greens

there is green-ness everywhere these days. all along our drive it's been green. green fields. green trees. green road signs even.

(we'll stick with thinking about the green LIVING things for the sake of this entry.)

green is a sign of life. richness. health.
maybe that's part of why people spend so much money to have gardens and houseplants and trees in their yards and nice grass.
maybe it helps us to feel alive.

---------------------------------
there's a stretch of I-81 that i used to drive from harrisonburg to winchester when i was in graduate school. it was winter when i travelled that road daily to the hospital for my internship. as i was driving home one day, i was particularly aware of how dull things looked. browns and grays. not many signs of life anywhere.

and i got to thinking about the trees that day. about how they all looked dead with no leaves, bare branches. but really, that's all that it was: they just LOOKED dead. they weren't really dead, just bare. trees don't die in the winter, they just lose their green-ness.

and i thought about my life. my walk with the Lord. this journey of learning to love. how there are times that i look (and feel) like those trees in the winter. i look (and feel) dead.

but the reality is that i'm not.

i may be stripped bare. i may be exposed to cold and wind. all of my green may be gone. but i am not dead.

--------------------------------
the reality is that, in Christ, we are alive. and once we are made alive by His grace, we are kept in that state for eternity. we struggle thru times of exposure to the elements of life that leave us looking (and often feeling) like the trees in winter. but we must know the reality: we are still alive. as much as we may not feel it or see it or look like it.

and the amazing thing is that the Lord can take us in those times of brokenness and restore us. He can bring back our green-ness. and He delights to do it.

--------------------------------
the greens of the past few days have reminded me of all of this. that we have a God that makes us new. alive. and then He goes the distance and sustains that life.

and from the browns and grays, He brings forth greens.

green is a sign of life. richness. health.

"sustain me according to your promise, and I will live . . ." --psalm 119

2006-07-01T00:13:00.000-04:00

favorites so far . . .

a few superlatives for the trip up to this point. gives you a few more details from the adventure. maybe more than you really want to know.

best . . .
stretch of driving: the mountains of west virginia.
stop: cracker barrel in ky (we met my aunt, uncle, cousin and her kids for lunch - hadn't seen them in years.)
rest stop: one somewhere in illinois (near the mo border.) props for clean bathrooms and pretty flowers.
vehicle to drive: dad's truck. thought i would hate it because it's so big. turns out its the most comfortable thing to ride in AND easy to drive.
"sight" to see: the arch in st. louis - situated right on the river. cool skyline, especially in late afternoon - bet it's even better at dusk.
$1.50 spent: a sonic cherry-limeade. one word: YUM!
snack: a tie between my MSD medicine and powerbar granola bars
hotel: holiday inn express (great shower heads, no ugly floral motif, frig and micro in each room)

more to come. we have made it 941 miles so far. another 739 to go. not bad for 1 1/2 days of driving. huge praise for the blessing of safety thus far. continue to keep us in your prayers.

p.s. it's times like this that i wish i would join the 21st century and go digital (camera-wise, that is). i have taken some great shots (yes, anna, i've gotten every state sign except indiana - it snuck up on me) but you'll just have to wait til i get home to see them. keep you in suspense! :-)

2006-06-30T22:31:00.000-04:00

his name is phil.

my pastor from college rocks.

i mean, really. he packs a punch. every message. every week. so much so that i still listen to his messages even though i'm at a church in maryland and he's moved to a church way down in florida.

today (while driving across the great state of . . . illinois, i think) i listened to a solid message on phillipians 3:9.
check it out on www.pinewoodpca.org
the message from march 19th.

do yourself a favor and listen. be encouraged.

But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
phillipians 3

2006-06-30T22:15:00.000-04:00

drove 574 miles today.

thru 4 states.

(can you guess which ones?)

yeah. that's what i'm talkin about.

rock on meadows family.

CURRENTLY:
columbia, mo (right in the middle of the state)

2006-06-30T09:04:00.000-04:00

here's our route across the states:

CURRENTLY:

right across the west virginia/kentucky line,

between huntington, wv and grayson, ky.

2006-06-29T23:57:00.000-04:00

partial lyrics from a song i was listening to on the drive tonight.

really hit home with me.

any control I thought I had just slips right through my hands

while my ever-present conscience shakes its head and reprimands me

reprimands me

then and thereI confess

I'll blame all this on my selfishness

yet you love me

and that consumes me

and I'll stand up again

and do so willingly

You give me hope, and hope it gives me life

you touch my heavy heart, and when you do you make it light

as I exhale I hear your voice

and I answer you, though I heardly make a noise

and from my lips the words I choose to say

seem pathetic, but it's fallen man's praise

because I love you

oh God, I love you

and life is now worth living

if only because of you

when i go down, relient k

2006-06-29T23:48:00.000-04:00

all of my family's belongings fit into a 53-foot long space.

i know this because at midnight last night i watched a moving van of that size pull away from our house in virginia. with all of our stuff.

---------------------------
mom and i sat on the porch and watched them finish packing the van. she held my hand, still comforting me from the mini-breakdown that i had after walking thru and feeling (not just seeing) the emptiness of each room. it's interesting how even without furniture there i could still picture the rooms just as they should be. last night was the first set of tears.

----------------------------
this morning i woke up in our empty living room floor. mom, dad and i spent the night there last night instead of getting a hotel room. it certainly wasn't the best night's sleep i've gotten, but i wouldn't have wanted it any other way. it was the last night i had to be in that house.

----------------------------
in some ways today has seemed somewhat normal. dad was awake first and busy doing things when mom and i got up. we sat around the breakfast table with carla and marisa (our neighbors of 13 years) talking about typical life stuff and listening to marisa play her recital peice on the piano. i sat out on the back deck for awhile with the cat. i swept the floor.

but doing a few "normal" things doesn't make the day itself normal. such was the case today.

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i am currently sitting in a hotel right across the kentucky state line. my family (including the cat) has spent all day packing up the last remains of our home in virginia and setting out for the west . . . golden, colorado to be exact.

i have decided i will use this lovely little internet creation that we call a blog to keep everyone updated on the events of our trip. as those of you know who read my blog, i rarely post daily events, but rather ideas, musings, mad squirrel disease thoughts. the next week and a half will be a mixture of the two. take it for what you will.

i leave you tonight with a verse that i thought of as we were driving thru the beautiful mountains of virginia and west virginia today:

You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.
isaiah 55
(read the whole chapter for even greater encouragement)

2006-05-21T16:58:00.000-04:00

from the pulpit.

"a loss of silence is as serious as a loss of memory . . .
and just as disorienting."

--john render, quoting someone else

(sorry, i didn't catch the reference)

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"be still"

surrender

drop your hands to your side

cease striving

"and know that i am God."

psalm 46:10

2006-05-14T01:16:00.000-04:00

more on light . . .

i want you to get a mental picture. or even maybe do this. that's right, try it out.

turn off all the lights in your bedroom, walk out of it and close the door behind you. turn on a light in whatever hallway you are in. ok, you're set. you are standing in the lighted hallway. now, open the door to your room.

yeah, so that's the whole game. but what i want you to watch as you do it is the light. not the actual lightbulb, but the light itself. how it moves. what happens with the light when you open your bedroom door?

God used this very basic "natural order of things" picture to teach me something about himself (and consequently, about myself) a couple of years ago. it was as simple as me walking into a room and thinking, "interesting . . . the light always spills over into the darkness. the dark room always gets lighter, not vice versa."

have you ever thought about that? if nature were different, darkness could spill over into light. but it doesn't. the light is stronger than the dark. more potent, if you will. the light always beats out the dark. always.

that should give us an amazing strength of spirit in considering the following truth:

"you are the light of the world."

when light is introduced, darkness disappears.

there is power in light. there is power in the Light.

2006-05-14T01:01:00.000-04:00

darkness is cold.

i was thinking tonight about the verses in Scripture that talk to us about being lights. about how we are to shine in the darkness.

and i guess when i read that, i always think about the light part. how it shine like stars. how it engulfs the darkness. how it provides the ability to see things clearly. how it offers warmth.

but then there's the darkness. the thing that surrounds the light. the thing that makes a need for the light. it's around us all the time.

i know this about darkness.
but tonight i felt the darkness. and it was cold. and heavy.

there is a weight to the darkness of this world. to the Lord, i suppose that weightiness is ever present. it is a constant stabbing in his heart. but for me, i don't always feel it's bite. i suppose because i live surrounded by it so much that after awhile it just seems "normal". like i get so used to being in it that it no longer seems like it's in such opposition to me.

but it is.

and tonight i felt the difference between light and darkness. the war that they fight. the stark difference in how they move. how they feel.

sometimes the darkness around me is so heavy that it makes my light feel like nothing more than a flicker.

but at least there is a flicker. all glory to Him.

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." --1 peter 2:9

2006-05-08T16:10:00.000-04:00

reflections from am

i read the following this weekend. it's quoted in a book called story by steven james; the original source is soren kierkegaard's provocations:

"The difference between an admirer and a follower still remains, no matter where you are. The admirer never makes any true sacrifices. He always plays it safe. Though in words, phrases, songs, he is inexhaustible about how highly he prizes Christ, he renounces nothing, gives up nothing, will not reconstruct his life, will not be what he admires, and will not let his life express what it is he supposedly admires."

what powerful words. i wanted to write something about this . . . about how it convicts my soul. but then i remembered an email that my friend annmarie ("am") sent me regarding this same quote (she read the book a month ago). her words are honest and right on. and are much of what i felt when i sat and thought about this. so instead of me, you get to hear from her today:

"Wow...will i allow my heart to be convicted by such frank words. I sit here and think of all the talking i do about this life i want to live, these sacrifices i want to make, the places i want to be, the Christ i want to share with the world...yet here i stand in the same boat, holding the same net, contemplating what i should do next...throw the net again and try to keep this same old life working the best i can, or jump out of the boat, swim my way to shore and take hold of the hand that promises to lead me to a life of more blessing than i can imagine! Seems like it would be such an easy decision to make, yet I feel like so many times I have have heard the words of the Lord saying “Follow me” and as I have hesitated to reply he keeps moving on to invite some others.

I have been reading this verse in 1John 3:18-20 “Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we set our hearts at rest in his presence, whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.” He knows my struggles, he knows of my hesitation related to my fears, my pride, my self absorption, he knows that I condemn myself as a result of those things… yet he says there is only one thing that is going to lay all of that to rest and bring me into his merciful presence and that is to drop our nets and pick up our cross to follow him. “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:33 . . .

Steven James envisions Jesus asking the question, “So what do you say? Will you follow me, or just keep admiring me?” But I truly don’t think that we can even begin to admire this sweet Savior unless we can look into his precious face…and yet if we don’t walk with him at his invitation, all we will see as we stay there in the boat will be the back of his head as he turns and walks away! Let us not admire from afar, but let us get close enough to touch and marvel at the face of Christ…he will be there in all that we do in the power of his name!"

--april 12, 2006

admirer or follower . . . which will i be? which will you be?

2006-05-03T01:20:00.000-04:00

for marie

"are you ready for heaven?" i asked softly.

(it was an awkward question . . . or maybe just an awkward moment . . . looking at someone who is near death and talking with them about what will likely soon be.)

she slowly, but deliberatley, nodded yes.

(it was the first answer to a question that i had gotten all morning.)

i smiled. and happy tears welled up in my eyes. i don't think that she noticed. i don't think any actually spilled out onto my cheek . . . they just sat there in my eyes, blurring my vision of this beautiful woman that lay before me.

i sat there a bit longer, at times talking with her, at times talking to her, at times just looking at her, moistening her lips with vasoline, wetting her mouth that was so dry from lack of fluids, stroking her hair, holding her hand.

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i sat down by the lake for a long while, reading Scripture and contemplating the fate of my friend. the air was crisp from the breeze that came now and then, but the sun made it warm enough that you knew it was springtime. all the flowers were out, the dogwoods white with bloom. there were geese near the water's edge and every once in awhile i'd here the scurry of a squirrel in the grass behind me. i sat there for a long time. in the middle of spring happening all around me. in the midst of life. in the midst of new life.

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there was a long set of windows in her room. everyday when i would visit, i walked over to the windows and looked out into a lovely little courtyard . . . and past the courtyard to the lake on which the hospital is situated. the lake where i sat a few days earlier. it struck me one day how that wall of windows seemed to be a very distinctive divider between that room of death and a world of life.

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i have spent a good deal of time thinking, contemplating, questioning, reading . . . for many days i had a deep uneasiness, and a great sadness about my friend. i cried sad tears over the impending loss of her. but then one day it hit me . . .

i was focusing too much on the external. was it ok to be grieving her loss? absolutely. but what does Jesus tell us he looks at? what does he tell us matters? not the external, but the internal. not the body, but the soul.

i was looking at my sweet friend's body deteriorate, day by day, little by little. i was watching her eyes get dimmer, her breathing get heavier, her responsiveness grow less. but all of that was simply her body. what was going on with her soul?

i don't claim to know what happens to a person's soul as they are dying . . . at least in the days that lead up to death. but i know the end result for my friend. and i'd like to think that in those final days her soul was inching closer and closer to the gates. closer and closer to Him. that while her responsiveness to this world was growing less and less, her soul's responsiveness to heaven was growing greater and greater . . . that she was continually feeling more peace, more warmth, more excitement, more rest about where she was going.

i was seeing the death; but at the same time she was drawing nearer to Life.

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today was her day of arrival. today was the day of homecoming. she had told me a week ago that she was ready. and today she got to go.

"And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!"

2006-04-29T13:35:00.000-04:00

from my reading today:

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word:

"You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

galatians 5:13-14