New Life'n

Not waiting to feel

(More from Gary's daughter Emily's blog...)

I gave away a bag of baby girl clothes to a friend last week and I was happy to do it. This morning, I found myself wondering Did she like them? Will she use them? Maybe she'll just sell them at the next consignment. One thing I didn't do, though, was drive to her house, knock on her door, and ask her if she had received them or not. After all, I was there when she stepped on her porch and took my bag in gratitude. Why would I wonder if she had received them or not? Sounds silly, but don't I wonder this very thing when I release things to the Lord?

In her book The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life, Hannah Whitall Smith emphasizes the fact that with God, the rule is fact first, faith second and feeling last of all. What a liberating thought! You mean I don't have to wait to feel as though the Lord has received that thing that I have so desperately wanted to surrender to him?

Begin to believe, and hold on to it steadfastly, that He has taken that which you have surrendered to Him. You positively must not wait to feel either that you have given yourself, or that God has taken you. You must simply believe it, and reckon it to be the case.

And as I take Him at His word, the feelings will inevitably follow.

A purpose driven night

It was a year ago this month.  Today, she sees it as the gift of a second chance.

"It was the first time I ever said 'no' to drugs," Ashley remembers. "I was faced with a life-or-death situation. All I could think was, If I'm going to die tonight, I'm not going to meet my heavenly Father with those drugs in my nose."

Wanna see my pill?

She's not against medicine.  But she's very cautious.  If she has a headache I have to talk her into taking even one aspirin.  And whenever she gets a prescription, she'll try to get the lowest dose.  She always prays and deals with things from a spiritual perspective, first.  Recently, she's been living with some anxiety over a couple of things and it won't go away and it's been wearing her down. 

I'm gonna call the doctor and get some pills she said.  I knew she must really need some short-term relief.

The next day: I called the doctor--wanna see my pill? 

I was distracted with something and didn't quite give her the reaction she wanted so she asked again.  That's weird, why do I have to see her pill?  Uhhh...sure, show me your pill.  I was humoring her.

She turned around and reached into her purse, then held out her opened hand.  On it was a small piece of paper with writing on it.  This was her pill.

Movie I've never heard of that I now want to see

Sophie Scholl: The Final Days

"Sophie possesses a deep-seated strength of character, and her humble confidence is so unnerving to Mohr that one wonders whether the first to break will be her or him..."

Everything you need to know about marriage is in the Salsa

OK, maybe not everything, but a lot.  When I read All The Right Moves I learned something about how I can lead Brenda...

"Gentlemen!" she admonished. "You can't jerk your partner's arm over her head at the last moment and expect her to be able to twirl gracefully. It keeps her off balance. Gently lift her arm before you twirl her so she knows where you're taking her."

It made perfect sense! The secret to beautiful dancing is in how the man leads. One night, as Steve and I practiced Salsa at home, we decided Steve would mix up the moves and I would follow. What a mess! Steve didn't give me my signals until it was too late to follow him gracefully, so I compensated by trying to second-guess him. We kept stepping on each other's toes and were thoroughly exhausted within minutes.

It took some time for us to get the hang of it, but gradually Steve started leading me gently in a way I could interpret and follow easily. And we began to enjoy ourselves.

What a vivid picture of our marriage! I realized my resistance to his lead always came when I felt jerked around, with no time to discuss a given circumstance or contemplate options. Salsa made me realize I didn't object to following Steve's lead; I objected to having no sense of where we were going.

Baby got Bentley

Would you pay $879 for a stroller?  "The Cameleon comes equipped with a three-position tilting seat, a mosquito net, and a fleece-lined foot warmer."  And that's just the mid-range model; the high-end jobs are $2000!  Does it come with it's own pit crew?  More on blinging up baby.

Good news and bad news

New Life 91.9 is a ministry of Columbia International University in Columbia, SC, where 46% of recent graduates have become missionaries.  Why do they do it?  Because He said this.  And, from the monthly CIU President's Letter:

When it comes to the evangelization of the entire world, there is good news and bad news. The good news is really, really good. And, the bad news is really, really serious.

First, the good news: The percentage of the entire world population that claims to be personal followers of Jesus Christ has grown from 3 percent to over 12 percent during my short lifetime! This is phenomenal news!  When I was born in 1945, there were 80 million people in the entire world who claimed to be personal followers of Jesus Christ. Today, there are over 700 million devoted followers of Christ!  And, the number of true believers continues to grow, and the percentage of true believers continues to grow.

One example: In the early 1950s when all the ex-patriot missionaries were expelled from China, there were 850,000 believers throughout that country. Today there are at least 60 million believers in China and many China watchers would say that number is closer to 100 million believers! This is good news!

Now, the bad news: In a world of over 6 billion people, 9 out of every 10 people are lost and outside of personal faith in Jesus Christ. Moreover, 2 out of every 3 people living in the world have never once heard a clear explanation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, 1 out of every 3 people in the world (that’s 2 billion!) has no one living near enough to tell him about Jesus, even if he wants to hear.

Let me use China as an example again: Even with close to 100 million believers in China, there are still more lost people in that one country than all the lost people in North America, Central America, South America, and Africa combined! This is bad news indeed.

Our Lord Jesus Christ said: “Go into all the world, and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere.” He has never rescinded that command. It is not something we might do; it is something we must do. It is not an option; it is an obligation.

Which ball's bigger?

This explains why the moon seems bigger on the horizon than it does up in the sky.  I still don't understand it, but, basically, it's your brain's fault.

Whatever Dad does, I do

 

I can't do anything by myself; I can only do what I see my dad doing.  Whatever my dad does, I do that, too.  My Dad loves me and shows me everything he does.  And amazingly, one day he's gonna show me even more fantastic stuff than putting in this new doorbell.  (original here)

From wedding to life

(More from Gary's daughter, Emily, on her blog here.)

It was the night of June 23, 2001 and my husband (of 4 hours) and I had just pulled away from our wedding reception. We sat closely in the way back of the limo somewhat surprised by the silence that greeted us as we watched our familiar town pass by through the window, the smiles and waves of those closest to us still a fresh memory. I remember looking down at my gown all gathered in my lap and then over at this man sitting close beside me with a crooked smile, both satisfied and loving, on his face. And at that moment there was an overwhelming feeling that I didn't expect that swept fast through me...as a couple in love, we were finally free. Free to love and be loved without boundaries or fear of rejection...the way it was meant to be.

Fast forward 5 years to 2 nights ago...sitting with my husband on the floor of our twin toddler's nursery...he holding one and I the other. It was nearly 1am and he had just cleaned out a crib full of throw up and I, 7 months pregnant, was trying to navigate through my cloudy thoughts to decide what to do with a sick little girl in the middle of the night who was sure to throw up again, if not multiple times. It doesn't matter how much time or money you spend when picking out cute bumper pads and pretty cribs for your babies...they all smell the same covered in last nights dinner.

She and I ended up in the living room and daddy took twin number 2 to the guest room with him...but because I couldn't sleep for worrying about my daughter (and for fear of getting sick myself, if I'm completely honest) I began to think about my husband and about the transition from wedding to life. This is real life, I thought to myself. But I also realized something sweet and comforting as I tossed and turned on the couch...there is no place I'd rather be than sharing life with this man and these children in this place.

There are times when I think freedom lies in being able to do what I want when I want or just to get in the car and drive and let someone else clean my house. But I always come back to a place of realizing that it isn't the location or circumstance that brings freedom. It is all wrapped up in perspective. I like the way Paul Coleman puts it...Life is where you are.