Life in the Spirit

Monday, November 02, 2009

What’s the Word on Joyce Meyer?

My small group is doing Battlefield of the Mind next. I don’t know anything about Joyce Meyer. For those who are fans or familiar with her, what can you tell me about her theology?

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Bookish Things • Life in the Spirit • Permalink

The Twins Are Here

For those who have prayed for my friend who was expecting twins and on bed rest - they arrived last Thursday by c-section.

I know no details other than that they are in the NICU, although doing fine when I talked to their grandmother on Friday. Mama is doing really well. I’ve seen pictures and they look great - small, but no breathing tubes so I’m guessing that their size will keep them in the NICU for a little while. I am assuming that Mama went home yesterday.

Thanks for praying for them.

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Life in the Spirit • Permalink

Friday, October 09, 2009

A Request for Prayer

For those of you who pray I have a request for a friend in my small group. Here’s the story:

She just had her 3rd baby about 3-4 weeks ago. Everything seemed fine and then she started experiencing severe pain. She went to the ER where they determined she had the flu and sent her home. The next day the pain was worse so she went back to the ER where they determined she had some kind of kidney infection. She was checked in overnight but released the next day - given pain meds and antibiotics. The pain did not abate, so she went to her doctor (her hub is in the Navy, so she is being seen my military docs) again and this time was told there were two possibilities - a postpartum cyst or some other kind of blockage. She was scheduled for a renal scan on Monday - the results were inconclusive as to the type of blockage and the docs decided to wait 2 more weeks before deciding on surgery to fix the problem in order to see if it would correct with meds.

In the meantime, she’s trying to nurse her baby and had to pump/dump her milk Monday-Tuesday because of the radioactivity from her renal scan - she couldn’t even hold her baby for 48 hours. Then they had a scare when the baby started vomiting after going back to nursing - turns out that was just a reaction to the switching back and forth from formula to breastmilk.

To make matters worse, they are scheduled to move to Korea early next month. Their house is on the market and they have people coming through to look at random times. Her hub is on leave until he leaves, but he will be leaving in about 3 weeks. Her retired father has been with them to help, but he returns home today. And she is still in severe pain.

When I think about it all I have no idea how she’s keeping her sanity and doesn’t just melt into a puddle. Maybe she does, but she puts on a brave face when I see her.

Folks in our small group (ladies only) and their couples group have stepped up to provide meals for the past couple of weeks and for the forseable future. And we’re trying to figure out how to help in other areas - house cleaning, taking care of her older kids, etc.

So, there are so many things to pray for and it’s hard to know where to even start. I love that God already knows all of the troubles. But I admit it’s hard to understand why He’s allowing this at this time.

Anyway, please pray for her healing. That’s the crux of it all. If she does have surgery, it will mean that she does not go with her hub to Korea because it will involve a follow-up surgery than cannot be done there.

Father, please heal her. Please take away whatever is it that is causing the blockage. Please take away her pain and restore her body. Thank you that she is able to still provide the nourishment her baby needs. Thank you for the way You have provided for their needs through the friends at church. Thank you for hearing our cries of petition.

Thanks for praying, friends. I’ll try to update when there’s new news.

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Life in the Spirit • Permalink

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Product Endorsement: The Bible Experience

My uncle gave the whole set of The Bible Experience CDs to me for Christmas a couple of years ago. Sadly, I have only now started to give them a listen.

Uncle Bill, thanks again for an awesome gift.

I’ve been convicted about my lack of time in God’s Word lately and since there isn’t much spare time in my day when I am actually at home, I thought I’d give this version of the Bible a listen on my morning commutes. After a challenging morning, it was just what I needed.

I listened to about half of the first New Testament CD (Matthew) on my way to work this morning and it is amazing! It’s straight up Bible, but the voices are rich and there are dramatic story telling elements (such as the voices of crowds in the background) and music added. This may be how I actually get the whole Bible read - I am willing to bet even Leviticus and Numbers will be easier to “read” in this format.

The only downsides I can think of are these: 1) some of the more well known actors might be a distraction (Samuel Jackson as God, for instance) and 2) there’s no real study time with this format. However, since the only spare time I have these days is in the car, then I’m going to take advantage of it to at least do some basic “reading” of Scripture.

Even if you are able to spend more time in your Bibles, I highly recommend The Bible Experience, especially if you’re an aural person.

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Bookish Things • Life in the Spirit • Permalink

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Out With the Old, In With the New

Did I mention that I had submitted my resume for another position within the agency a little more than a month ago? Truthfully, I did it on a lark, not expecting anything to come of it - I even forgot to mention it to Beau for about a week. And then it left my mind.
Then on Tuesday as I was driving home from work, my boss called my cell phone and said, “You put in for another job didn’t you?” Uh…yes. Then he said, “You got it.” I asked him to clarify, “Are you saying I made the cert list or that I got the job?” The cert list is the first cut of applications, from there you typically will get at the very least a phone interview if not a full on in-person interview. He confirmed that I got the position - with no interview!
I got the official offer from our HR yesterday and I accepted the position. It’s a promotion to the next grade up, with a nice pay raise and promotion potential for the future and the location is closer to home, which means that my 60-90 minute commute will now be more like 30-40 minutes. I’ll most likely not be able to telework (for a while, if the boss is who I think it is, then he might allow me to do that once I’m trained in the job), but Beau said that’s OK with him since his days alone with the kids will be shorter. And by the time I start that job, Molly Ann have started on solids so the nursing/pumping should be OK.
I will need to go through a short background investigation because the position requires a Top Secret clearance, but that’s actually good because it will allow me to finish the fiscal year in my current job and to refresh train my back-up, which is crucial.
I had just asked the ladies in my small group to pray with and for me in my current job - the problems with admins isn’t going away and management doesn’t seem inclined to correct the main issue. So I was praying for peace and patience about it all. Isn’t it funny how God answers prayers in the most unexpected way?

So now I’m just waiting to hear from my new boss(es) to get the clearance process started and to negotiate a tentative start date. And I need to start hucking my personal crap out of my office and getting things organized for my replacement.

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It's Not Like The Fugitive™ • Life in the Spirit • Permalink

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Blog Tour: Your Jesus is Too Safe

When I started to blog 7 years ago, one of the first blogs I started to visit regularly was The Thinklings. It is still one of the go-to blogs for me every day. One of the founding Thinklings is Jared Wilson. In the weird way of blogging, I consider Jared a friend even though I have never met him in person. So we’re friends in the ether, but we are brother and sister in Christ and have enough real life contact (we’ve swapped Christmas cards, that counts, right?) that I do call him friend. I was honored to be one of the few to whom he sent the manuscripts for his two unpublished novels for review - I loved both and still hope to see them in actual book form sitting in one of my bookcases. Now I’m one of the happy many who have had a chance to read Jared’s first published book, this time a non-fiction work, Your Jesus is Too Safe: Outgrowing a Drive-Thru, Feel-Good Savior. And I’m pleased to be a part of the blog tour of his book. For more information on the tour, see this post at Jared’s solo blog. While you’re there, click around the place, there’s some really good stuff there. I confess that I haven’t quite finished the book yet, although I have read about 3/4 so far. It’s a challenge to find the time with my full-time job, parenting a toddler and infant, and everything in between. I’m actually surprised that I have been able to get any of the actual dead tree book read at all since most of my actual reading these days is done by listening to audiobooks in the car on my commute to and from work. But what I have read is excellent and powerful, with solid theology, and as a nice bonus it is funny in places, too.

Cutting through the glossy, modern perceptions of Jesus, Jared C. Wilson returns to the gospels for twelve raw, realistic portraits of Christ in this revolutionary book. Your Jesus is Too Safe offers a clear image of the historical figure of Christ in his biblical and cultural context. Ideal for readers dissatisfied with the “Buddy Jesus” that has pervaded the evangelical landscape, Your Jesus is Too Safe provides a devotional, inspirational survey of Christ and his kingdom with a conversational style, humor, and a solid theological foundation.

The blurb grabs your interest, but when you start to read the contents, you realize that this is a good, meaty, thought-provoking, convicting, and fun read about Jesus. There are plenty of Scriptural references to back up his points about who Jesus is and who he is not. I know that I appreciate the reminders and the challenges to my complacency to accept the often weaker, inaccurate, and misleading portraits of Jesus in our current churches and culture. I appreciate Jared’s passion to make Jesus fully, truthfully known. My favorite bonus bits in the book? The footnotes, which reminded me of Eggar’s A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. Since I wasn’t sure I would be able to post a review, I asked Jared a few questions about his faith and the book. 1. As general background, please tell us about your spiritual journey: a) how you came to faith in Jesus Christ and b) how you came to the place where you wanted to write this book. I grew up in the church, and my earliest memory of professing faith was when I was about 6 years old. I don’t remember praying the sinner’s prayer or anything, but I remember knowing week to week in Sunday school that it was really important to do. I do remember being baptized when I was in the 2nd grade. When I was 12, like most kids that age do, I went through a crisis of sorts in which I wondered about my salvation. The church was showing those cheesy late 70’s “Thief in the Night” rapture movies then too, and that didn’t help. I was deathly afraid of everyone being raptured in the middle of the night and getting left behind, and of course having my head chopped off in the tribulation. So I said the prayer again and was baptized again a few years later. I don’t point to any of these incidents, really, as when I “got saved.” It was until later I began to see them all, as weird and juvenile as they were, as just signposts along the way of working out my salvation, which I believe was secured for me on the cross. I got saved 2,000 years ago, give or take. The book really came out of a convergence of things in my life. Ten years or so ago a coworker in a bookstore handed me a copy of a book by N.T. Wright called The Original Jesus that really pushed my thinking about Jesus and the four Gospels. I really felt like I was seeing them for the first time. And that kind of began my intellectual journey in the historical Jesus stuff. And then about 5 or 6 years ago I began sort of a Gospel renaissance in my life, sort of a combination of embracing a more Reformed theology, getting under the mentorship of some really gospel-centered writers and pastors, and then a personal crisis the brokenness of which I cannot even put into words as of yet. But all of that left me with the stripped down all-importance of the gospel in my life and the preciousness of Christ. So the book is sort of the outworking of my interest in the historical Jesus and my passion for gospel-centeredness in my life and in the evangelical church at large. 2. What is/are the driving factor(s) that got you writing Your Jesus is Too Safe? Two things, really: Believing that nobody ever was harmed by fixating on Jesus, and in fact that fixating on Jesus is how we get closer to God. And believing that the evangelical Church is pretty much Jesus-stupid. I’ve sat through church services where his name isn’t even mentioned. Jesuslessness is huge. And the problem the Introduction of the book sort of sets up is that even when Jesus is mentioned or taught in our churches, he is frequently a pale or perverted version of the Jesus we see in Scripture. 3. Is there one main point that you hope people will take away from the book? Yes. Well, two (or three). That we are worse than we feared but we are loved more than we imagined. And that Jesus is all-surpassingly awesome. 4. Finally, on a more frivolous note: a) what is your favorite movie of all time and why? “Casablanca.” It’s just dang near perfect. Bergman is beautiful, Bogie is badass, the dialogue is brilliant. I just love it. And the dueling anthems in the cafe scene gives me goosebumps every time. b) what is your favorite novel of all time and why? That’s a hard one. I’m gonna say C.S. Lewis’s Perelandra. Lewis’s “true myth” stuff really resonates with me, and this particular book of his captures those concepts so poetically. It’s really a thrilling book, in addition to being wise and adventurous. But I could have easily said Paul Auster’s New York Trilogy or John Updike’s Rabbit Redux or Graham Greene’s The End of the Affair. c) what is your favorite non-fiction book of all time and why? Lewis’s essay collection God in the Dock. I think more from that book has influenced more of my thinking than anything else. But again, this is so hard to pin down. Lewis’s Mere Christianity is a favorite too. For a much more in-depth review of Jared’s book, see IMonk’s review here. For a much better interview, see IMonk’s interview here.

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Blogolalia • Bookish Things • Life in the Spirit • Permalink

Sunday, August 02, 2009

I Dreamed a Dream

We had some wicked thunderstorms come through overnight. It was during the most intense one that I had a weird, scary, and surprisingly uplifting dream. I gave Beau the short synopsis review in the middle of the night, but I’ll try to give more details here, as I can remember them.

Mom, Uncle Bill, and I were on some kind of tour. We were in an SUV-Winnebego hybrid type of vehicle. It was just the three of us from our family, but there were a bunch of others on the tour, too. We were confused about where and why we were going when all of a sudden our vehicle started to turn around quickly. I noticed weird cloud configurations out of the window - they were pale brown, pink, and white and reminded me of neopolitan ice cream. When I said as much, Mom gave me this look as if I was a complete idiot (which she would never do) and Uncle Bill laughed.

The next thing I knew the clouds turned black and our vehicle was on some kind of boat, a ferry, I guess. We were crossing water and it was violently churned up. Then it went pitch black dark and I could see this weird apparition flying towards us - it was not an angel, I knew it was not of God. So I started yelling, “Jesus is Lord!” over and over. The apparition disappeared and we were suddenly in this maze of hallways. It was still dark and we were stumbling through a series of doors. I had gotten separated from Mom and Uncle Bill and I was calling out to them when all of a sudden I noticed a bit of light ahead. Next thing I knew Uncle Bill was running toward the light and threw open some double doors. Behind them was the brightest light. Blinding white light.

At that point I woke up to hear a crash of thunder over our house. So I’m thinking the bright light was actual lightning. Almost immediately I went back to sleep and back into the dream.

The new scene is of all of us in this room. There are new people in this room and I see this couple headed toward me. I still don’t know where Mom is and Uncle Bill is out of sight again, too. The couple gets to me and the woman reaches out to hug me. At that moment I realized that it was my grandmother and the man is my grandfather. I didn’t recognize them because they were younger - maybe in their 50s and healthy, and the few physical flaws they had in this life (crooked noses, crooked teeth, etc) were now perfect.

I guess my grandfather saw the confusion on my face, because he said to Grandma, “I told you not to rush at her. You’ve scared her!”

I started to turn to look for Mom and Uncle Bill - they needed to be there! And then I woke up for good (at least I didn’t get to go back to the dream - I had to feed Molly Ann and then I talked with Beau while we waited for the last of the storm to pass).

It’s hard to explain the feelings that went through me when I woke up. I felt confused, but I also felt this overwhelming joy.  When the demon was coming I knew that the only thing that could save us was Jesus. I didn’t know if I was going to die or what was happening. I didn’t know if the last room was heaven or what. All I know is that my grandparents had been restored and the place was filled with joy.

When I retold the dream to Beau, it made me cry a bit. Even now when I think about that hug from Grandma I tear up a bit. It’s definitely one of the coolest dreams I’ve had ever.

Just as background, my grandmother died in 1994. She was a believer in Jesus Christ, so I am confident that I will see her in heaven one day.

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Life in the Spirit • My Freakin' Family • Permalink

Monday, June 29, 2009

Random Monday

Billy Mays, too?

Movies: Blood Work was OK.

Books: Shadow of Power by Stever Martini was pretty good, although I figured out the major mystery about halfway through the first chapter.

Food: Judging from the Roasted Mango-Chipotle sauce we had on our chicken last night, Bronco Bob’s sauces are awesome. I have a sample jar of the Raspberry-Chipotle sauce as well that I’m saving for some salmon in our future.

I’m on worship team this weekend. Our church is only having services on Sunday morning since July 4th is on Saturday. That will make things easier for our family. I have mixed feelings about it since it will be my first time back since having Molly Ann and also since our worship leader left. That is a whole long story about which I still feel weird. His leaving was a surprise and under odd circumstances. I miss him a ton as a worshipper and I know that I’m going to miss him more as our team leader. I’m very curious about what kind of person will come in to replace him - it’s hard to imagine anyone else, really.

I’ve posted a bunch of new items at Ticklish Giggles recently and there’s a new theme as well.

Happy Monday.

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Blogolalia • Bookish Things • Gourmandery • In the News • Life in the Spirit • Movies Schmoovies • Isn't She Lovely? • Permalink

Monday, June 22, 2009

What’s Going On

Beau’s Mom is here from California for a week-long visit with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She’s spending the first leg of her east coast trip with the Speaks’ clan. She arrived on Saturday afternoon. Beau and Jesse met her at the airport and then took her on a quick foray to Wegmans to pick up the few ingredients we needed for our chicken fajitas dinner. After dinner she crashed and Jesse went to bed so Beau, Molly Ann, and I had a pretty normal Saturday evening hanging out in our bedroom watching TV.

Oh, and Saturday was my sister‘s 40th birthday - I never made it to the computer all day to post birthday wishes here on the blog, but I did call to sing the Birthday Song to her. Happy belated birthday, my sistah. And it was also Granny‘s birthday, so happy belated birthday to you, too, my friend!

Yesterday morning was family dedication day at church. We were dedicating Molly Ann to the Lord at the 9:30 service so we headed out early. Jesse, Beau, and Molly Ann all developed colds throughout the weekend, with MA being at her worst yesterday. So I kept MA out of the service all together since she needed to be fed anyway. Marmie hung out with Jesse in order to keep him out of the nursery and so that Beau could be in church with his mom. At the end of the service we stood at the front with my folks, Beau’s Mom, and several ladies from my small group who stood with us to dedicate our baby girl to God. We are grateful that the Lord entrusted our two children to us and we pray to be the Godly parents He wants for them and to grow them up as He desires. We pray that they each become fully devoted followers of Jesus with deep faiths in the One who created them, loves them, and died for them so that they may live.

After church we headed to Artie’s for our Father’s Day brunch, which was delicious. We love that local chain of restaurants. They are top notch.

From there we headed home and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon and evening. Once Jesse was in bed, we adults played Flinch for a couple of hours. That’s a fun game - slower paced than Nerts/Pounce, but still fun in its own way. We plan to play again tonight unless we feel more like Scrabble.

Currently, Beau, Grandma C, Jesse, and Molly Ann are at Clemyjontri while I work here at home. Then later this afternoon, we gals (Grandma C, Molly Ann, and I) are going to have tea with Marmie.

Tomorrow we head north to meet up with Beau’s Sis and her daughter and boys for a picnic. I’m looking forward to meeting baby Caleb (our great-nephew), who was born just 3 weeks before Molly Ann. We will leave Grandma C with Beau’s Sis, where she’ll spend the next leg of her visit.

All in all it has been a fabulous time and I’m sad it is almost over already. Grandma C just got here!

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Gourmandery • Life in the Spirit • Movies Schmoovies • Permalink

Monday, May 25, 2009

My Pastor is Brave

Our pastor started a new series a few weeks ago. He’s a brave, brave man (and also hilarious).

Click HERE to see the reason. Week one was May 10. Week two was May 17. The final week was May 24 - soon to be posted.

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Hilarity Ensues • Life in the Spirit • Permalink

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Happy Mother’s Day

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Do You Hear What I Hear? • Life in the Spirit • Permalink

Thursday, May 07, 2009

Mighty

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Do You Hear What I Hear? • Life in the Spirit • Permalink

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Everlasting

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Do You Hear What I Hear? • Life in the Spirit • Permalink

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Methuselah’s Wallet

Beau’s small group is studying Job. He came home last week and shared his befuddlement over the following verse in chapter 11 from The Message:

[ Reach Out to God ] “Still, if you set your heart on God and reach out to him, If you scrub your hands of sin and refuse to entertain evil in your home, You’ll be able to face the world unashamed and keep a firm grip on life, guiltless and fearless. You’ll forget your troubles; they’ll be like old, faded photographs. Your world will be washed in sunshine, every shadow dispersed by dayspring. Full of hope, you’ll relax, confident again; you’ll look around, sit back, and take it easy. Expansive, without a care in the world, you’ll be hunted out by many for your blessing. But the wicked will see none of this. They’re headed down a dead-end road with nothing to look forward to—nothing.”

Italics are mine.

Forward to last night when he was starting to read our devotional and then started to chuckle. He said he couldn’t get the thought of the “faded photographs” out of his head - imagining the patriarchs comparing pictures of the grandkids. Old Noah talking about Methuselah’s wallet-full of “faded photographs.”

We were cracking up at the thought.

I think this may be a case where The Message doesn’t really work.

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Hilarity Ensues • Life in the Spirit • Beau Knows • Permalink

Friday, March 06, 2009

Hosanna

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Do You Hear What I Hear? • Life in the Spirit • Permalink