Still don't know how to make it pretty, but I like this one a bunch.
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/motherhood-is-a-calling-and-where-your-children-rank#.Th8qHIGIFOE.facebook
54. My mother
55. An obvious choice amid this jumble
56. Texts in the middle of the afternoon
57. A smile on a random stranger's face
58. Mark Driscoll from Mars Hill
59. Jeremiah 29:11
60. My new uniform
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Stolen from http://fashiongonethrifty.blogspot.com/2011/06/size-fashion-and-beauty.html. unfortunately, I don't know how to tab... but it's really good.
A while ago, I was reading a post from You Look Fab regarding clothing size trivia, and was surprised to learn that the average size a runway model wears is a 4, not a 0 or 2 as most of us suppose. Granted, these women are often 6 feel tall, so a 4 on them may look like a 0 on a woman of "normal" height! :)
Still, it started me thinking...how have our presuppositions about style influenced our perceptions of ourselves? Do we hold ourselves to an unnatural, impossible and unhealthy standard so that we may look like the fashion-world's "ideal", or is this ideal all in our heads? Because we think that a fashion model MUST wear a size 0, because she looks so tiny, do we force ourselves to be a size 0 too? (Or feel constantly sorry for ourselves when we're not?)
The beautiful young lady in the picture above is Whitney Thompson, the winner of season 10 of Tyra Banks' reality show "America's Next Top Model"...and the lovely Whitney is considered a "plus-sized model". I don't know about you, but when I see her picture, I think of how beautiful she is and how awesome it is that there are actually real women out there with a figure like I have! I don't think of how fat she is, how she should tone up, lose weight, get fit, so that she can be a "true" model. Unfortunately, though, that is the reaction of many in the fashion industry.
The fact of the matter is, women have curves. Some of us have more curves than others, but we've all got them. The fashion industry wants to make us feel that, unless we resemble an adolescent boy, we are not desirable. And if we don't look like an adolescent boy, we won't fit into their clothes! This last statement I can definitely attest to. ;) But who are we trying to please (or dress for)? The fashion-industry? Other women? Our husbands? Ourselves?
I think that it goes without saying that trying to please a Godless societal standard is hardly a calling worthy of Christian women, and yet we all fall prey to this thinking. We are sabotaged and bombarded on every side with images of what the "ideal" is, how the "perfect" woman should look. And if you don't look that way, don't even bother trying to be happy about how you look. But don't worry! There are surgeries and diets and exercise programs and pills that can help you achieve your goal. Or ruin your metabolism, but what's a little sacrifice for beauty, right?
The real question we should ask ourselves every day as we look in the mirror is, "How can I glorify God today? How can I serve those that He has put in my life? How can I reflect His love to those around me?" Being beautiful is part of this, since he didn't make us ugly. He made us to be gloriously beautiful to our husbands, to cause their pulse to quicken and their heart to beat faster when they see us (and part of that is having curves! It's a scientific fact that men's brains respond to curvy women). God made us to reflect the glory and beauty of the gift of His eternal life to those around us, and He didn't make us all the same. We're not all 5' 9" with blonde hair, blue eyes and 34-24-34 measurements. He didn't make us to be Barbie.
Now, part of reflecting God's image is to "shepherd" ourselves...we are called to be wise women of the Lord and act as such. "She girds herself with strength, and strengthens her arms." (Prov. 31:17) I don't think that this means we're supposed to be body-builders, but I think that we're definitely supposed to take care of our bodies. Reading the rest of Proverbs 31, it's fairly obvious that this fine lady worked hard at everything that she did, and part of that was "strengthening her arms". I'll bet, though, that she still had a bit of arm flab when she waved goodbye to friends. And I'm sure that it didn't stop her from waving. :)
We have to change the way that we think about beauty, and we cannot let the world define our terms. Beauty is faith in God; it is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. It is getting out of bed every morning with the sole purpose of serving God that day. It is reading to your children, cooking for your husband, sweeping your floor and wearing a pretty dress and a smile while you do it. It is not perfection; it is being perfected through God's grace.
45. Way too much food
46. A non-sleepy head while driving
47. Sunsets
48. A few hours of dry amid all the rain
49. Quiet
50. Strength
51. God's patience
52. A room by myself
53. New clothes
A while ago, I was reading a post from You Look Fab regarding clothing size trivia, and was surprised to learn that the average size a runway model wears is a 4, not a 0 or 2 as most of us suppose. Granted, these women are often 6 feel tall, so a 4 on them may look like a 0 on a woman of "normal" height! :)
Still, it started me thinking...how have our presuppositions about style influenced our perceptions of ourselves? Do we hold ourselves to an unnatural, impossible and unhealthy standard so that we may look like the fashion-world's "ideal", or is this ideal all in our heads? Because we think that a fashion model MUST wear a size 0, because she looks so tiny, do we force ourselves to be a size 0 too? (Or feel constantly sorry for ourselves when we're not?)
The beautiful young lady in the picture above is Whitney Thompson, the winner of season 10 of Tyra Banks' reality show "America's Next Top Model"...and the lovely Whitney is considered a "plus-sized model". I don't know about you, but when I see her picture, I think of how beautiful she is and how awesome it is that there are actually real women out there with a figure like I have! I don't think of how fat she is, how she should tone up, lose weight, get fit, so that she can be a "true" model. Unfortunately, though, that is the reaction of many in the fashion industry.
The fact of the matter is, women have curves. Some of us have more curves than others, but we've all got them. The fashion industry wants to make us feel that, unless we resemble an adolescent boy, we are not desirable. And if we don't look like an adolescent boy, we won't fit into their clothes! This last statement I can definitely attest to. ;) But who are we trying to please (or dress for)? The fashion-industry? Other women? Our husbands? Ourselves?
I think that it goes without saying that trying to please a Godless societal standard is hardly a calling worthy of Christian women, and yet we all fall prey to this thinking. We are sabotaged and bombarded on every side with images of what the "ideal" is, how the "perfect" woman should look. And if you don't look that way, don't even bother trying to be happy about how you look. But don't worry! There are surgeries and diets and exercise programs and pills that can help you achieve your goal. Or ruin your metabolism, but what's a little sacrifice for beauty, right?
The real question we should ask ourselves every day as we look in the mirror is, "How can I glorify God today? How can I serve those that He has put in my life? How can I reflect His love to those around me?" Being beautiful is part of this, since he didn't make us ugly. He made us to be gloriously beautiful to our husbands, to cause their pulse to quicken and their heart to beat faster when they see us (and part of that is having curves! It's a scientific fact that men's brains respond to curvy women). God made us to reflect the glory and beauty of the gift of His eternal life to those around us, and He didn't make us all the same. We're not all 5' 9" with blonde hair, blue eyes and 34-24-34 measurements. He didn't make us to be Barbie.
Now, part of reflecting God's image is to "shepherd" ourselves...we are called to be wise women of the Lord and act as such. "She girds herself with strength, and strengthens her arms." (Prov. 31:17) I don't think that this means we're supposed to be body-builders, but I think that we're definitely supposed to take care of our bodies. Reading the rest of Proverbs 31, it's fairly obvious that this fine lady worked hard at everything that she did, and part of that was "strengthening her arms". I'll bet, though, that she still had a bit of arm flab when she waved goodbye to friends. And I'm sure that it didn't stop her from waving. :)
We have to change the way that we think about beauty, and we cannot let the world define our terms. Beauty is faith in God; it is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. It is getting out of bed every morning with the sole purpose of serving God that day. It is reading to your children, cooking for your husband, sweeping your floor and wearing a pretty dress and a smile while you do it. It is not perfection; it is being perfected through God's grace.
45. Way too much food
46. A non-sleepy head while driving
47. Sunsets
48. A few hours of dry amid all the rain
49. Quiet
50. Strength
51. God's patience
52. A room by myself
53. New clothes
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
So I'm reading Knowing God by J. I. Packer right now. And this is what I read the other day. Page 256. Loved it!
Do I, as a Christian understand myself? Do I know my own real identity? My own real destiny? I am a child of God. God is my Father; heaven is my home; every day is one day nearer. My Saviour is my brother; every Christian is my brother too.
Then another bit, later on:
Do I understand my adoption? Do I value it? Do I daily remind myself of my privilege as a child of God?
Have I sought full assurance of my adoption? Do I daily dwell on the love of God to me?
Do I treat God as my Father in heaven, loving, honouring, and obeying Him, seeking and welcoming His fellowship, and trying in everything to please Him, as a human parent would want His child to do?
Do I think of Jesus Christ, my Saviour and my Lord, as my brother too, bearing to me not only a divine authority but also a divine-human sympathy? Do I think daily how close He is to me, how completely He understands me, and how much, as my kinsman-redeemer, He cares for me?
Have I learned to hate the things that displease my Father? Am I sensitive to the evil things to which He is sensitive? Do I make a point of avoiding them, lest I grieve Him?
Do I look forward daily to that great family occasion when the sons of God will finally gather in heaven before the throne of God, their Father, and of the Lamb, their brother and their Lord? Have I felt the thrill of this hope?
Do I love my Christian brothers, with whom I live day by day, in a way that I shall not be ashamed of when in heaven I think back over it?
Am I proud of my Father, and of His family, to which by His grace I belong?
Does the family likeness appear in me? If not, why not?
God humble us; God instruct us; God make us His own true sons.
40. Health
41. Hats
42. Dressing up
43. Phones
44. This song.
Do I, as a Christian understand myself? Do I know my own real identity? My own real destiny? I am a child of God. God is my Father; heaven is my home; every day is one day nearer. My Saviour is my brother; every Christian is my brother too.
Then another bit, later on:
Do I understand my adoption? Do I value it? Do I daily remind myself of my privilege as a child of God?
Have I sought full assurance of my adoption? Do I daily dwell on the love of God to me?
Do I treat God as my Father in heaven, loving, honouring, and obeying Him, seeking and welcoming His fellowship, and trying in everything to please Him, as a human parent would want His child to do?
Do I think of Jesus Christ, my Saviour and my Lord, as my brother too, bearing to me not only a divine authority but also a divine-human sympathy? Do I think daily how close He is to me, how completely He understands me, and how much, as my kinsman-redeemer, He cares for me?
Have I learned to hate the things that displease my Father? Am I sensitive to the evil things to which He is sensitive? Do I make a point of avoiding them, lest I grieve Him?
Do I look forward daily to that great family occasion when the sons of God will finally gather in heaven before the throne of God, their Father, and of the Lamb, their brother and their Lord? Have I felt the thrill of this hope?
Do I love my Christian brothers, with whom I live day by day, in a way that I shall not be ashamed of when in heaven I think back over it?
Am I proud of my Father, and of His family, to which by His grace I belong?
Does the family likeness appear in me? If not, why not?
God humble us; God instruct us; God make us His own true sons.
40. Health
41. Hats
42. Dressing up
43. Phones
44. This song.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Words.
What are words?
Falling all around me tonight, off my friend's blogs. Like rays of dancing sunshine on water, water rippling in a little breeze. You could float on them. So pretty, dancing. Would that I could write like they do. But I was made for something else. I think. Or at least words do not always have a habit of forming underneath my fingers. It's usually small pictures, clips, fragments of a sentence, a small thought that vanishes before I even know that it was there, and the next moment, the memory fades too. Mostly quick thoughts. Sometimes, when I am working by myself, singing to myself (I would say quietly, but most would object), I take a napkin and try to catch the fragments together. It doesn't add up in the end.
At work, I've been singing a lot. I've been happy. When I am happy, I have to make joyful noises. Those noises are notes. Mostly of praise to the One who made us all. Who created me. Today, two people liked my noises. That made me even more joyful. I love to make people happy. Would that I spent all my time doing just that. But alas, I am a selfish person, not realizing that I'm happier when I'm helping.
My room is a tumbled heap right now. My sheets still not replaced from when I washed them last week. I have no love for the act of cleaning right now. Or hadn't, till this morning. I cleaned the floor. But there are all sorts of things from my old car still, my papers are scattered all over the bed and floor, clothes thrown over the end of the bed so long ago, I don't remember if they are dirty or clean. So I wash them again.
My hair is making a mess of things. Shedding all over. I would cut it, but I would never forgive myself. And Ryan wouldn't either. I love my hair the way it is. Only it makes a mess...
What do you know, I can copy the writing of others. That is probably my favourite thing to do, copy things about other people, and sometimes animals, that fascinate me.
28. My lovely date the other day
29. Words
30. Music
31. Happiness
32. Graffiti
33. Pictures
34. Peace
35. A car
36. A car that works good
37. A car that is blue
38. Accapella
39. My secret sister
What are words?
Falling all around me tonight, off my friend's blogs. Like rays of dancing sunshine on water, water rippling in a little breeze. You could float on them. So pretty, dancing. Would that I could write like they do. But I was made for something else. I think. Or at least words do not always have a habit of forming underneath my fingers. It's usually small pictures, clips, fragments of a sentence, a small thought that vanishes before I even know that it was there, and the next moment, the memory fades too. Mostly quick thoughts. Sometimes, when I am working by myself, singing to myself (I would say quietly, but most would object), I take a napkin and try to catch the fragments together. It doesn't add up in the end.
At work, I've been singing a lot. I've been happy. When I am happy, I have to make joyful noises. Those noises are notes. Mostly of praise to the One who made us all. Who created me. Today, two people liked my noises. That made me even more joyful. I love to make people happy. Would that I spent all my time doing just that. But alas, I am a selfish person, not realizing that I'm happier when I'm helping.
My room is a tumbled heap right now. My sheets still not replaced from when I washed them last week. I have no love for the act of cleaning right now. Or hadn't, till this morning. I cleaned the floor. But there are all sorts of things from my old car still, my papers are scattered all over the bed and floor, clothes thrown over the end of the bed so long ago, I don't remember if they are dirty or clean. So I wash them again.
My hair is making a mess of things. Shedding all over. I would cut it, but I would never forgive myself. And Ryan wouldn't either. I love my hair the way it is. Only it makes a mess...
What do you know, I can copy the writing of others. That is probably my favourite thing to do, copy things about other people, and sometimes animals, that fascinate me.
28. My lovely date the other day
29. Words
30. Music
31. Happiness
32. Graffiti
33. Pictures
34. Peace
35. A car
36. A car that works good
37. A car that is blue
38. Accapella
39. My secret sister
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Amazing Grace!
Basic summary of this morning's sermon;
Psalm 22. David wrote this psalm about a thousand years before Christ died. He was running from Saul.
The first 21 verses are of suffering and lament, midway verse 21 and the remainder is thanksgiving.
This is a psalm that is about Jesus Christ, but it is also our song, written by a man.
God often seems distant during times of hardship. David asks Him to be near three times in this psalm. If David (or we) didn't have God, he wouldn't have anything. No hope, no future, no reason to live.
Jesus teaches us to call God our Father, but when He was dying on the cross, He called Him 'My God'. He was truly forsaken by His Father.
How could God forsake God?
David felt forsaken, but God was near him all the time, because Jesus went through being really forsaken, He took away the separation that we had created between us and God.
David felt like God was far away, but he continued to trust in Him.
The suffering described in psalm 22 is extreme, David was speaking metaphorically. Someone today might say 'I feel like I got hit by a truck'. It is more expressive of the actual pain someone is going through.
David described the worst spiritual and physical suffering he could imagine, Christ was forsaken by God and died on a cross. And He referenced David's psalm.
If Christ had not come, our suffering would be meaningless. But He did, and our suffering is like the last few blows of an already defeated enemy. Painful, but we know we've won.
When we are suffering, we need to go to Jesus, because He knows what we are going through and can help us.
David was answered in the middle of his prayer, and goes on from suffering to thanksgiving and praise. Verse 21 he demands help, mid-way the verse, he received help 'from the horns of the wild oxen' as he says.
God did not deliver Jesus, but He was resurrected after He had gone through everything. Jesus went through more than David did, or than he imagined in his psalm. God saves us in a way that's more than we could imagine.
God is beyond our imagination.
These are basically the exact notes I wrote in church.
It was an awesome sermon. Tonight's sermon was amazing as well, but in a more personal way. Submitting fully to God's will, and being happy while doing it. Thy will be done in the Lord's prayer. LD 49.
17. Quiet.
18. God's blessing of an amazing pastor.
19. Books.
20. Being able to give to people.
Psalm 22. David wrote this psalm about a thousand years before Christ died. He was running from Saul.
The first 21 verses are of suffering and lament, midway verse 21 and the remainder is thanksgiving.
This is a psalm that is about Jesus Christ, but it is also our song, written by a man.
God often seems distant during times of hardship. David asks Him to be near three times in this psalm. If David (or we) didn't have God, he wouldn't have anything. No hope, no future, no reason to live.
Jesus teaches us to call God our Father, but when He was dying on the cross, He called Him 'My God'. He was truly forsaken by His Father.
How could God forsake God?
David felt forsaken, but God was near him all the time, because Jesus went through being really forsaken, He took away the separation that we had created between us and God.
David felt like God was far away, but he continued to trust in Him.
The suffering described in psalm 22 is extreme, David was speaking metaphorically. Someone today might say 'I feel like I got hit by a truck'. It is more expressive of the actual pain someone is going through.
David described the worst spiritual and physical suffering he could imagine, Christ was forsaken by God and died on a cross. And He referenced David's psalm.
If Christ had not come, our suffering would be meaningless. But He did, and our suffering is like the last few blows of an already defeated enemy. Painful, but we know we've won.
When we are suffering, we need to go to Jesus, because He knows what we are going through and can help us.
David was answered in the middle of his prayer, and goes on from suffering to thanksgiving and praise. Verse 21 he demands help, mid-way the verse, he received help 'from the horns of the wild oxen' as he says.
God did not deliver Jesus, but He was resurrected after He had gone through everything. Jesus went through more than David did, or than he imagined in his psalm. God saves us in a way that's more than we could imagine.
God is beyond our imagination.
These are basically the exact notes I wrote in church.
It was an awesome sermon. Tonight's sermon was amazing as well, but in a more personal way. Submitting fully to God's will, and being happy while doing it. Thy will be done in the Lord's prayer. LD 49.
17. Quiet.
18. God's blessing of an amazing pastor.
19. Books.
20. Being able to give to people.
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