Don't know if any of you follow Stuff Christians Like. I did for a while and then kind of stopped reading the blogs of people I don't know (with the exception of the four listed on the sidebar). Even though I stopped reading it, I still think the author, Jon Acuff, is incredibly gifted at using humor both to expose our "acceptable" sins on the one hand and to really pass along an infectious joy in knowing and living out the gospel on the other hand.
I saw today that Jon used his blog to raise $60,000 to build two kindergartens in Vietnam, and I found that pretty stinking impressive. Even more impressive was that the original goal of $30,000 was met in 18 short hours. Wow. I just spent at least an hour reading through his posts about raising the money (the posts started last Nov.), and his words of joy and surprise at watching God at work through those who donated really lifted my spirit today. Many of the donations made were just $1, $,5, or $10. I encourage you to visit Stuff Christians Like if you ever need a good laugh. I also encourage you to think about how you can stretch out $1, $5, or $10, whether it's giving to Haiti relief, donating to some other cause, or giving money or food to someone you see who needs it. If Jesus can feed 5,000 with a few loaves of bread and some fish, you can be sure, too, that he can do some pretty amazing things with just a few dollars. I ignored the chance to give to someone who needed it yesterday, and personally, I am on the lookout for another opportunity...
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Why hello there, audience of three :-)
Okay, so I do actually plan to post a little something now and then. Today, I just want to record a few small inspirations. Congrats to my friend Katherine (who judging by the comments on my last post isn't even still checking this blog--hehe), who just welcomed her first little one into the world! Aurora Jane is already a little beauty and I can hardly believe how much life can change in one day. Okay, maybe that inspiration isn't so little. Who's next? Haha.
Justin and I watched Julie and Julia the other night. While I found it rather over the top in many ways, I now have the desire to track down a Julia Child recipe...and to learn a few tried and true cooking techniques. Which makes me want to ask if any of you have any quality recipes/cookbooks to share (not necessarily a la Julia Child, just something you've recently discovered or rediscovered). After Thanksgiving, I decided to try turkey pot pie to make a dent in our turkey leftovers. I've never been much for carrots, celery, or peas, so I really didn't expect to like turkey pot pie that much, but Justin and I both fell in love. Well, as much as one can fall in love with food. It's really more of a casserole than a pie. The filling is topped with a peppery cheddar biscuit. Major yum. And Justin gave me a food processor for Christmas so now it's even easier to make! You can check out the recipe for yourself here.
Well, I think that's all for now. Baby steps, you know. One last question to leave you with: Anyone make any New Year's resolutions this year?
Justin and I watched Julie and Julia the other night. While I found it rather over the top in many ways, I now have the desire to track down a Julia Child recipe...and to learn a few tried and true cooking techniques. Which makes me want to ask if any of you have any quality recipes/cookbooks to share (not necessarily a la Julia Child, just something you've recently discovered or rediscovered). After Thanksgiving, I decided to try turkey pot pie to make a dent in our turkey leftovers. I've never been much for carrots, celery, or peas, so I really didn't expect to like turkey pot pie that much, but Justin and I both fell in love. Well, as much as one can fall in love with food. It's really more of a casserole than a pie. The filling is topped with a peppery cheddar biscuit. Major yum. And Justin gave me a food processor for Christmas so now it's even easier to make! You can check out the recipe for yourself here.
Well, I think that's all for now. Baby steps, you know. One last question to leave you with: Anyone make any New Year's resolutions this year?
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3...
Anyone still out there?
Any point in attempting to start updating again?
Oh dear.
Now I've really lost you.
Any point in attempting to start updating again?
Thank you. You've been a beautiful audience.
Oh dear.
Now I've really lost you.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Take the glory
I am a runner. Did you know this? Ha. Something tells me the answer is yes, and that anyone reading this may even be rolling their eyes at that statement. Here we go again. More running talk. But if you're worried that this is a post about running, let me just go ahead and and reassure you that it's not.
I know that many people, maybe even the majority, love running about as much as they love doing laundry. My love runs a little deeper, though. (No pun intended.) When I'm in shape, there's nothing better than "being a runner," but right now I am struggling not to fade into becoming a former runner. For the past seven months or so, that's seemed like the more apt description. So I understand that it may sound strange to many of you to hear me say that, as I've been trying to run more consistently again, I've been asking God to teach me to run for Him--to run on His strength--instead of running for myself and on my own strength. If running is a part of my identity, then I want to make sure I recognize God--the source of my identity--as the author of that. I want to run "to feel His pleasure" as Eric Liddell said in Chariots of Fire.
The other day I had one of my first lessons, which, not surprisingly, is very applicable to every other area of life. It was one of those lessons that I've heard here and there in several different forms many times before but finally became a lightbulb moment of sorts to me.
As is often the case these days, I was about halfway through my run and willing myself to keep moving. I started praying, "Lord, give these legs strength and to You be all the glory. Not to me." To be perfectly honest, this prayer didn't seem to be having much effect, but I kept repeating it nonetheless. Isn't that the definition of insanity? But God can and does straighten out our insanity, and somewhere among all those repetitions, my prayer became simply "Take the glory." And that was the lightbulb moment. Once I stopped asking for more and simply recognized whatever portion I had and turned that over to God, THEN, at THAT moment, God granted me more strength. It was still a very slow run, but it was glorious. It was His.
And this was the larger lesson I took from that lightbulb moment: How can any of us ask for more if we don't recognize that all we have--even if it doesn't feel like much--has already been granted to us solely by the grace of God? There are so many people who don't even have the use of their legs. God has blessed me abundantly, in running and even more so in everyday life, so to You Lord, help me always to joyfully say...
Take the glory!
I know that many people, maybe even the majority, love running about as much as they love doing laundry. My love runs a little deeper, though. (No pun intended.) When I'm in shape, there's nothing better than "being a runner," but right now I am struggling not to fade into becoming a former runner. For the past seven months or so, that's seemed like the more apt description. So I understand that it may sound strange to many of you to hear me say that, as I've been trying to run more consistently again, I've been asking God to teach me to run for Him--to run on His strength--instead of running for myself and on my own strength. If running is a part of my identity, then I want to make sure I recognize God--the source of my identity--as the author of that. I want to run "to feel His pleasure" as Eric Liddell said in Chariots of Fire.
The other day I had one of my first lessons, which, not surprisingly, is very applicable to every other area of life. It was one of those lessons that I've heard here and there in several different forms many times before but finally became a lightbulb moment of sorts to me.
As is often the case these days, I was about halfway through my run and willing myself to keep moving. I started praying, "Lord, give these legs strength and to You be all the glory. Not to me." To be perfectly honest, this prayer didn't seem to be having much effect, but I kept repeating it nonetheless. Isn't that the definition of insanity? But God can and does straighten out our insanity, and somewhere among all those repetitions, my prayer became simply "Take the glory." And that was the lightbulb moment. Once I stopped asking for more and simply recognized whatever portion I had and turned that over to God, THEN, at THAT moment, God granted me more strength. It was still a very slow run, but it was glorious. It was His.
And this was the larger lesson I took from that lightbulb moment: How can any of us ask for more if we don't recognize that all we have--even if it doesn't feel like much--has already been granted to us solely by the grace of God? There are so many people who don't even have the use of their legs. God has blessed me abundantly, in running and even more so in everyday life, so to You Lord, help me always to joyfully say...
Take the glory!
Monday, April 20, 2009
Amore in Italia
I don't want to write this post. It means our time in Italy is now really, truly over and just a memory. But what a wonderful memory. I honestly don't think our trip could have been any smoother or the weather any better. What a blessing. We packed light because we did so much traveling--just a day pack and a backpacking bag. That was definitely the way to go.
So here's our trip in a nutshell:
April 3: Arrive in Milan and catch the first train to Varenna on Lake Como (up by the Swiss border)
April 3: Arrive in Milan and catch the first train to Varenna on Lake Como (up by the Swiss border)
April 4-5: Vernazza in the Cinque Terre (five towns connected by hiking trails on the NW coast; takes about 4 hours to hike from the first to the last town)
The path connecting two of the towns was called Via dell'Amore (the Pathway of Love)
Siena's city tower
April 7: Took a bus to Florence for the day
Justin regrets letting me take this picture
April 8-9: Rome/Vatican City
April 10-12: Left Rome the afternoon of the 10th and caught a train to Sulmona (about 100 miles east of Rome). Justin's aunt and uncle (Taffy and Phil) picked us up and took us to their home in Introdacqua, just a few miles away. Introdacqua is on the other side of the mountain from L'Aquila, where the earthquake hit--about 40 miles away. There were aftershocks there for a few days before we arrived, but no damage.
The house next door (what Taffy and Phil's looked like before renovations)
Sulmona is known for its coated candies and for its flowers made from these candies
April 13: Taffy and Phil drove us to Pescara (an hour away and on the coast), where we caught a train to Padova, which is just outside of Venice
Basilica of St. Anthony
April 14: Day trip to Venice
Rialto Bridge
Island of Burano near Venice
April 15: Took the train to Milan with a quick stop in Verona
Piazza Bra
Pretty park with Verona's colosseum in the background
April 16: A LONG day of travel back to the US (We flew in and out of Atlanta, where Justin's mom and dad live. Eddie stayed with Justin's dad and stepmom and lived like a king.
You can see why we wanted to pack light! Justin had been to Italy twice before, but since this was my first trip, we decided to see as much as we could in two weeks. What we saw ended up being a really great mix of gorgeous, sleepy little towns and the "biggies." It was all different, so don't ask me what my favorite was! I can tell you my favorite gelato place, but that's about it. And my two favorite meals. On Easter Sunday, Taffy and Phil took us to a nearby skiing town called Pescocostanza. We spontaneously decided to grab lunch there. There was no menu at the place we chose. The owner gave us a choice of three dishes, and we all chose ravioli. He said his wife was in the kitchen right then making the ravioli, the ricotta had been made from sheep's milk just that morning, and the wild mushrooms had also been picked fresh. It was a heavenly meal.
The most important lesson I learned: Never sit down on a curb, especially in Rome, without looking first. You might just find yourself picking off not one but two wads of gum and a cigarette butt from your pants.But mostly, it was awesome.
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