Our #2 Camping Trip This Summer

Getting ready to swim.

The jumping rock.

Everyone gathering to eat.

It was so good to gather with friends to fellowship and have some fun. I hope the remainder of the summer goes well for all of you.

posted by: Caroline

This and That...

...a rambling post about totally unrelated items. Fasten your seat belts, y'all!

I realize that this blog has been a little neglected of late. He hasn't yet complained (the blog, that is), but I feel sorry for it, none the less. So, I figured that I'd just sum up the goings on of our household over the past couple weeks in a nutshell....or, blog post, as it were.

Where to start....camping, perhaps? We went tent camping last week (and I believe a post with pictures is soon to follow). We had a blast, but I'm thinking that two days is a good time limit. Several days without showers and electricity is tends to put you in grizzly-bear-mode. Don't know what that is? Congratulations. I'll leave you in a state of blissful ignorance.

Here's what I tend to listen to while doing the breakfast dishes. My favorite part of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. When it's a nice morning, I'll open all the windows and share the culture with my neighbors. I'm sure they appreciate the thought. (note: directing this piece of music with a dish towel is not required, but highly recommended :)







In the kitchen. Here's a yummy and very easy recipe that I used this week: Grilled Chicken and Pasta Shell Salad
you will need:
1 lb boneless chicken breasts, grilled
1 lb medium shells
2 medium tomatoes- chopped
4 oz crumbled feta cheese ('Cause feta makes everything taste better!)
1 (8 oz) bottle Italian dressing
2 cups torn leaf lettuce (I always eyeball it)
Grated Parmesan cheese
Cook shells according to package; drain. IN large bowl, combine all ingredients except chicken and lettuce; mix well. Cover; chill thoroughly. Just before serving, stir in lettuce; arrange chicken on top. Serve with Parmesan cheese if desired.

In God's word. Here's my memory verse for this week:

The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world. ~Psalm 19:1-4
Wow. Gives me goosebumps every time :-)



And this is just too good to pass up sharing. The following trailer is for a DVD series by Focus on the Family that my family has been hosting for the past several weeks. It's called The Truth Project. The main aim of each of the lessons is developing a Godly worldview. And wow, has it been good so far!

Yes, it's that time of year again. Can't you just catch that a whiff of new textbooks and freshly sharpened pencils? Mmmm.

Well, thanks for slogging through that whirlwind blog post! Much more could be said, of course, but I didn't want to put you on overload :-) Everyone have a lovely evening!

posted by Lydia

Boasting

"How than shall Christ not be my only boast! Not only that He bought Yourself for me, O God, but is Himself Your perfect image and the blazing center of Your radiance. What do I have that does not come from Him? What gift of life or breath? What promise ever made did not receive its Yes in Him? What one sweet thing- or hard thing You will soon make sweet- did I receive except by His sacrifice alone. O God, forbid that I should ever boast save in the cross of Christ, my Lord."

~John Piper

posted by Lydia

Of Possessions and White Knuckles

This summer has been marked by a series of goodbyes for our family. Several dear friends have picked up roots and moved across the country. Others are soon to move to another continent. Many hearts are heavy from the pain of separation.

Not exactly the most cheery way to start an article, I know! But I wanted to give some background for a few lessons the Lord has patiently been teaching me over the past couple weeks.

I never thought of myself as an particularly possessive person. So when the Lord began to reveal to me that I was holding onto "things" too tightly, I almost laughed out loud.

"Me, Lord? But that's silly! You know that money means nothing to me!"

Well, guess what.

He wasn't talking about money.

No sirree.

Money isn't the only form of possession, as I later reluctantly pointed out to myself. How about friends? Family? Loved-ones in general? These were the "things" I was keeping a death grip on.

Ouch.

Soon, those verses on leaving all to follow Christ, the very thing I thought I'd never have trouble with, were pressing on my mind. If I was keeping a firm hold on things, how was I to keep a firm hold on Christ? The only option is to let go of one to gain the other.

In her book, "Lies Women Believe", Nancy Leigh DeMoss addresses the following subtle lie that few of us would care to admit to: God is not really enough. She says,

"When it comes down to it, we don't believe that God's word is truly sufficient to deal with our problems...I need God's word plus these eight books from the Christian bookstore; I need God's word plus tapes and conferences and counselors. Sure I need God. But I need Him plus close friends; I need Him plus good health; I need Him plus a husband; I need Him plus children; I need Him plus a job that pays enough; I need Him plus a house with a microwave, a washer/drier, a garage, a fresh paint job..."

When I was hanging on to people for dear life, wasn't I more or less saying that God wasn't enough? And when a Christian says that God isn't enough, what sort of testimony is that to a watching world? This exert from John Piper's book "Don't Waste Your Life" seems to go hand in hand with what we just heard from Nancy Leigh DeMoss:

"Why Don't People Ask Us About Our Hope?

There is no doubt if we lived more like this [like Christ is more precious then life], the world would be more likely to consider whether Jesus is an all-satisfying Treasure. He would look like one. When was the last time someone asked you about "the reason for the hope that is in you"? That's what Peter said we should always be ready to give an answer for: "Always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you" (1 Peter 3:15) Why don't people ask us about our hope? The answer is probably that we look as if we hope in the same things they do. Our lives don't look like they are on the Calvary road, stripped down for sacrificial love, serving others with the sweet assurance that we don't need to be rewarded in this life... If we believed this more deeply, others might see the worth of God and find in Him their gladness."

Double ouch. When we look to anything other than Christ for our joy and satisfaction, we are not making much of Christ. Not only are we not making much of Christ, we are actually making Him look cheap, like something that might keep us out of hell in the end. How could we bear to make our precious Savior look this way?

As I've discovered this summer, releasing a grip on people I love very much is painful. But to whom, or more accurately, Whom, am I releasing them? Only to a heavenly Father who loves us so very deeply, He sent His only Son to save us from eternal damnation. Wow. When was the last time you allowed that truth to really sink in?

My times are in Thy hand;

My God, I wish them there;

My life, my friends, my soul, I leave

Entirely to Thy care.

My times are in Thy hand;

Why should I doubt or fear?

My Father's hand will never cause

His child a needless tear

~William F. Lloyd

posted by Lydia

Musing

Now dear Christian, some of you pray night and day to be branches of the true Vine; you pray to be made all over in the image of Christ. If so, you must be like Him in giving...."though He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor"....

Objection #1: "My money is my own"
Answer: Christ might have said, "My blood is My own"...then where should we have been?

Objection #2: "The poor are undeserving"
Answer: Christ might have said, "They are wicked rebels...shall I lay down my life for these? I will give to the good angels." But no, He left the ninety-nine, and came after the lost. He gave His blood for the undeserving.

Objection #3: "The poor may abuse it"
Answer: Christ might have said the same; yea, with far greater truth. Christ knew that thousands would trample His blood under their feet; that most would despise it; that many would make it an excuse for sinning more; yet He gave His own blood. Oh, my dear Christians! If you would be like Christ, give much, give often, give freely, to the vile and poor, the thankless and undeserving. Christ is glorious and happy and so will you be. It is not your money I want, but your happiness. Remember His own word, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."
~B. B. Warfield

posted by Lydia