beauty to bread

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Seriously.. Portland .. Stop Wetting! For those of you not in the Northwest, let me tell you what wetting is. You may know of rain, it falls from clouds, it gets things wet, it makes things grow (along with the sun). What I like to call wetting is not really like rain, it is like one of those misters at the fair that you stand under to cool off. It doesn't seem to fall or rise, just wet the air. Only this is not a hot day, the sun is nowhere to be found, it is cold, and dark... It is my least favorite kind of day, and it is the kind of day that the winter in the Northwest is filled with. But I am supposed to be filled with joy, for Jesus lives inside of me. And I have to say, that even though I feel so lethargic every time it starts wetting, there is still joy. As I walked home from the post office just now I was singing! ! Singing?! I know, it's wetting on me and yet I sing. And I was wearing flip flops, just to reminisce warmth, but as I looked down at my feet I thought, "I love those yellow leaves!" And I do. And now, as I look out the window behind the computer screen, I love those red leaves! I really love the red ones. And seriously, the bush that is outside my window is misted, like the vegetables in the grocery store, but seriously the water is just clinging on for dear life, it is spectacular!




ok, so I think what it is, is that I Love Color! I love the fall, or so I've always said, and you want to know why? Because of the color of course! I mean look, in one picture you get red, green, yellow, orange, purple.

GOD, You are SO GLORIOUS!

Jesus Is the only reason there is joy in my heart today, He is the only reason their is beauty to revel in. I mean, only He could shake the clouds off of my mind and fill it with wonder of him and his creation. I am so glad for the fall, for the colors in fall. They are so awesome!


I have been putting off writing my blog for a few too many days, I've been in a bit of a slump, what with the wetness beginning. And maybe I'm trying to compensate for my lack of interesting things to say with interesting pictures, but the truth is maybe I do have something interesting to say, and maybe my pictures aren't that great.

What I do have to say is that Jesus amazes me. As I read today in John 6 my heart beat fast with excitement and awe. Jesus miraculously feeds 5000, then they seek him, and he tells them, You're seeking me because you ate and were filled. Then he tells them the bread from the father is the true bread from heaven, and it's this bread who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world! But no, he doesn't stop there and let them try to figure out what he's saying, he tells them next, I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE! He tells them 3 times, he tells them they must eat of this bread to live. They must accept HIM as the Bread! From God! Then about all of them get offended and leave, and then he asks the 12 if they are offended by this, (knowing they are surprised by his sayings). He does not say, "Do all these works and be perfect, and then you can live" NO! he says, Partake of ME! This IS a hard saying! What does it mean? He says that The words he Speaks are Life! He gives his life for the world! He is the bread of life! the Substance of life! Jesus is the God-Man sent down to die, to be betrayed and walked away from, to become a SACRIFICE! Given so we can LIVE! HE GIVES LIFE! it is him. Eat this bread and live forever.

Pipe and Passion

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Yesterday while standing in a line in downtown Portland a man walked by; I imagine he was headed home from the work day. He caught my eye because he was smoking a pipe, it was cold, and altough I don't smoke I thought "wow, how comforting that looks in this cold weather." It's not often you see a man smoking a pipe, especially not one wearing converse sneakers and ipod earbuds. Now you probably can see why he caught my eye. I smiled. He was charming in a Portland-Postmodern-do what I like- sort of way. Some of you know that I don't particularly love this city. It is crazy, cold, and concrete and it's just not my favorite place; But I do like watching people, and This city, is one of the best cities for that. The downtown streets are always flooded with a mix of homeless people begging for money, business people moving between public transportation, street preachers, gay activists, families, tourists, and all kinds of different people. It truly is a melting pot city. One thing we all have in common though, we are all people. We were all created by God. He alone sees the true beauty in each one.

This morning while getting ready I looked down into an open drawer in my bathroom and saw a tag that said "Made with Passion". It was a household item, nothing special or significant about it, but when I read that today I thought "God made Me with Passion!" And the truth is; He made all of us with Passion. With Love and Joy and Purpose. He didn't just make us to throw us onto this broken world and test us to see if we could follow him. No! He Made us to proclaim His glory. To show his mercy, his righteousness, his love and forgiveness.

I am truly Blessed that Jesus has sought me and bought me and I hope that he continues to open my eyes to the Beauty and Passion of his creation!

The Transient

Thursday, October 8, 2009

So I have a semi-new neighbor (no pun intended:which you would only get if you are her, or Brian, but still...) and we have become friends quite easily. We are both around the house a lot of the day, we both love to cook, and are passionate about our husbands. We get along very easily, and I've been so glad she moved in. Yet there is a part of me, a part that says I live in this transient place and in this transient time of life, so I therefore must not become good friends with her. It is tragic! Here we are at this strange place in life, between high school/college/single life and married/career/family life. It is an awesome place to be, don't get me wrong; but it creates in me this sort of guard. It's almost as if something inside of me is saying, "don't become friends here, don't let down your guard, don't let these people really know you" and yet I have spent the entirety of a year groaping around this space for some real good friends. And now, I believe God is giving me one, and as stupid as it sounds, I'm a bit scared. Scared that we'll become good friends and then we won't see each other for like 20 years! I know this is lame. What's so bad about that? Nothing I guess, except for all but one of my close friends live far away from me, or I mean I live far from them and it's kinda hard to keep up friendships over distance. (and yet, it is worth it, and I know that my friends that I have kept over the distance are my true friends) Over all I must say that I am excited, and greatful for my new friend... I suppose all of this is coming up, because the friend I made last year, or at least the one that I have become closest friends with, is moving in December. I am so happy for her and her family, they've been here, living at this college for a long time, so I am happy for them... and I am sad for me. But you know, that's just the thing here, they come and go, and I'm no different. Even now I look forward to the day when we can move somewhere else. Where we can desert what has now become our stomping ground here, and move on, to another transient space; in hope that we will be one step closer to being settled....planted....Home.

 
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