Tuesday, March 27, 2012

500th Post!

This is my 500th blog post to My Adventures At Home!  That is pretty cool!  I was searching for a particular post the other day and realized my titles are pretty unhelpful, which is why I read virtually all of the posts on the blog.  I have to say 2010 was a pretty rockin’ year! 

I thank my sister for insisting that I start blogging.  This process has been a real blessing to me.  Not every post is all that great and I flinch when I read my own spelling and grammatical errors, but the discipline of writing for each day has given me a history worth remembering.  I have used this site to work out my ideas, vent my frustrations and share delight in my family and little life. 

Thanks for joining me on my adventures.

4 comments:

  1. Your "little" life? Your are a beloved child of God, created, nurtured, and forgiven beyond time. You needn't demean yourself or grovel before God or anyone.

    Living as forgiven is obviously harder than asking forgiveness, and not accepting that we are forgiven stops much good.

    Satan has an effective argument: that you aren't worthy or capable of accomplishing good. The lies are that you're too evil or insignificant for God to truly and completely forgive and heal, and that you have to keep begging, and that God's power isn't enough to heal you, and that God didn't do a good enough job of creating you!

    I'm seeing the aftermath of discouragement and hopelessness caused by these lies in several areas. And people are dying as a result.

    If God loves us, then we are beloved. By definition. Armed with that, we can march - fall down maybe, but get up. Not every tumble is vile, black sin - sometimes it is just a misstep. If we make it a bigger problem that God does, we are calling God a liar!!

    In your little life, you have saved the lives of women and babies in Sierra Leone. You didn't do it alone, but you did your part. Remember those baggies and receiving blankets? The TBAs used them as prizes for women who got prenatal and postnatal care. Because of the care, the women were better fed, better hydrated, cured of malaria, bled less, and had fewer infections. Babies lived. You did that, with your little life and little gifts.

    Nothing is little when you are feeding the hungry, healing the sick, visiting the lonely - doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly.

    Walking humbly does not mean crawling! It is walking with your eyes open, seeing how you are a part of a community, helping others, taking turns.

    JMHO,

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  2. Thanks, Mom. I struggle so much with pride. I was just praying today that I could be more humble and more loving. Last night we were talking politics and church and dreams. My dream is that people cannot honestly slander Christians because they see their marriages lack adultery and abuse, but spill over with love. They see Christians giving their time and money to love and care for the physical needs of the widows, orphans and poor. There would be no need for laws, policies or programs because christian individuals overwhelmed the need with their daily choice to live and serve. With that dream, I see how far I have to go.

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  3. We have something we call "Jean's Law". Jean is an old friend. Her law is this: When you have a fear of a behavior, that behavior is very likely to be so removed from reality that the thought is ludicrous. You may worry about pride, but it is far from being your "besetting sin."

    Keep straight the differences between humility and humiliation - and we do humiliate ourselves! Humiliation is a bad thing - it destroys what God created.

    Humility is the simple recognition that the journey is still going on. That "...walk humbly with God..." line is perfect - we're on the road and need to remain aware of that. Pride is looking back and saying, "Oh, I'm so much better than everyone else in what I've done."

    To avoid pride, though, we don't need to focus 10,000 miles ahead, primarily because God has left that amazingly unclear. Often we can see only 1/4 mile. So, humility is not, "Oh, I am so far from the goal; I want to get there now, but am failing so badly at making progress." etc. Instead, humility is, "Ah, today I will give a hand to the person by me who has stumbled. I will watch for that rough place just ahead where three people have tripped. Now, I'll put a plank over that hole and a warning sign."

    And that is all that Matt 25 stuff - feeding the hungry, visiting the lonely. And this is love and the reign of God. We bring God's kingdom to people by bringing them food and medicine and clothes. We restore peace and joy by visiting and listening. That is what Jesus did and what he calls us to do.

    So we don't have to worry about "attaining heaven", but only about living as if God cared about our pain - and our neighbors' pains.

    You are absolutely right in your dream: That we will be so busy living God's reign - showing our faith in our works - that it is manifest.

    And you notice where your passion for equity, compassion, and perspective intersects the world's needs and your opportunities, then respond.

    Tah-dah!

    Love,

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Thanks for taking the time to talk with me!