It's Monday evening, and, no, we're not home in Moody. (That was an error -- my days are somewhat confused.)
The prayer trip to Wexford with the MAP team and its apprentices was really good. Stayed in a little cottage that was a nice walk from the sea. (Took pictures of the beach, kids -- unlike other beaches, it was sprinkled with large, smooth stones instead of shells.)
It was good to spend time with the apprentices -- three girls (two Beckas and Carmel) who are all just out of college and amazingly committed to the gospel.
A highlight of the trip was dinner with an Irish pastor and his wife (Mic and Bernie -- probably not spelling that correctly). Their story of coming to faith 25 years ago was moving, exciting, unusual. Now, he pastors a church of about 50 which is seeking to plant another church in a neighboring community. We worshipped at his church on Sunday, and met believers from New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa. Steven especially appreciated the sermon -- thought it was very good. (Apparently, Mic loves to listen to Keller sermons.) After church and lunch, we walked around the city in groups of two or three and prayed for the city -- anything that came to mind as we walked, eyes opened, as if we were just talking to one another. It was special and powerful. (This is something the MAP team is committed to doing several times a year for the churches it partners with and their communities.
Today, we took a great trip through the countryside back to our little town of Dalkey. We catch a bus in the morning for the airport.
I've really spent most of the time in these posts giving a run-down about what we're doing. Not really a whole lot about our reaction to it all. But two things for now:
1. The prayers that we would be able to come free to be ourselves and not feeling pressure to perform or meet expectations have been answered in a big way. Conversations have been good and open. The nature of our visit, on top of all the cultural differences and newness of everything, could have been very stressful. But, actually, in the midst of heavy conversations and deep soul-searching, it has been surprisingly stress-free.
2. There's no way anyone could come away from this experience without being changed.
A little Irish lingo
lorry -- truck
biscuits -- cookies
take-away -- to go (as in to-go food)
car park -- parking lot
prawn -- shrimp
lemonade -- lemon-lime soda
That's all for now. Pray for the plane trip home, and see you soon.
Love you, kids.
Mom/Laura and Dad/G
On to Wexford ...
Saturday, February 23, 2008
I've been hungry for news from home for days now -- once we left the Brauers, access to a computer became difficult. There is one in the offices where we are staying, but we haven't been here during office hours.
Thursday was spent at the MAP team's weekly meeting, lunch with the Hyltons, getting settled in our room in Dalkey and then dinner at home of a MAP team member and her Irish husband, Spit (quite the character). It was a good time of eating (scrumptious food -- lamb again with mint sauce, roast potatoes, cabbage and spinach and roast carrots, with an array of Ireland's best chocolate for dessert). Meeting the team members, talking with the Hyltons about transitioning kids, learning the train system (which has been our biggest mode of transportation the last two days) and hanging out with the team were all really good experiences.
Yesterday, we met together with the two single girls on the MAP team -- both incredibly gifted and passionate about Jesus. This was time for talking about our interests and gifts, their roles in the team, our potential role on the team, philosophy of ministry, etc. They took us for a traditional Irish breakfast, including black pudding (made with pig blood -- I tried it, Steven didn't).
Yesterday afternoon looked like our only opportunity for sightseeing, so we took the train into Dublin-proper and packed in as much as possible. Will share about that when I get home. (Did not make it to the art museum, though, Jenny, so didn't see the Carravaggio.)
Last night, dined at a pub with the Hyltons, then went to another pub to hang out with the team as well as the apprentices who are here with the MAP program right now. (It was our first opportunity to meet them.)
I have felt good about all contact with the teams thus far, except perhaps dinner last night -- I think we had probably worn ourselves out a little too much.
Today, it's on to Wexford (down South), where we'll stay in a cottage with the entire team and apprentices. This is a prayer trip, and we'll worship at an Irish church there (where a member of the CR team attends, so we will have another opportunity to see her). I'm looking forward to the worship service -- contact with Irish believers has been incredibly scarce (except for Spit) -- and to seeing the countryside.
Monday, we'll travel back to Dalkey (where we're staying) by train as the team travels further south. We hope to spend the afternoon walking around this former little fishing village and have dinner out, just the two of us, that evening.
Mrs. M, our flight arrives in Birmingham just before 6 on Monday. We should be home somewhere around 7. Burt is picking us up. (I didn't tell Kathy when we would return; do you mind calling her and telling her?)
Has anyone talked with Kathy? Is Bella ok?
A bit of Irish lingo:
slag -- tease
jug -- pitcher
Can't think of any other right now, and Steven is downstairs getting things ready for the trip over to Wexford.
There's a lot to process. This is a foreign land to us, the the gospel is completely foreign to its people. Keep praying for wisdom and clarity.
All of your comments are wonderful. Thank you. And to my children, I may not be able to check e-mail for days, but your comments are sweet to the soul.
Love and miss everyone,
Laura
(P.S. Oh, the weather -- not as cold as we thought, but damp, and windier than I ever could have imagined.)
Thursday was spent at the MAP team's weekly meeting, lunch with the Hyltons, getting settled in our room in Dalkey and then dinner at home of a MAP team member and her Irish husband, Spit (quite the character). It was a good time of eating (scrumptious food -- lamb again with mint sauce, roast potatoes, cabbage and spinach and roast carrots, with an array of Ireland's best chocolate for dessert). Meeting the team members, talking with the Hyltons about transitioning kids, learning the train system (which has been our biggest mode of transportation the last two days) and hanging out with the team were all really good experiences.
Yesterday, we met together with the two single girls on the MAP team -- both incredibly gifted and passionate about Jesus. This was time for talking about our interests and gifts, their roles in the team, our potential role on the team, philosophy of ministry, etc. They took us for a traditional Irish breakfast, including black pudding (made with pig blood -- I tried it, Steven didn't).
Yesterday afternoon looked like our only opportunity for sightseeing, so we took the train into Dublin-proper and packed in as much as possible. Will share about that when I get home. (Did not make it to the art museum, though, Jenny, so didn't see the Carravaggio.)
Last night, dined at a pub with the Hyltons, then went to another pub to hang out with the team as well as the apprentices who are here with the MAP program right now. (It was our first opportunity to meet them.)
I have felt good about all contact with the teams thus far, except perhaps dinner last night -- I think we had probably worn ourselves out a little too much.
Today, it's on to Wexford (down South), where we'll stay in a cottage with the entire team and apprentices. This is a prayer trip, and we'll worship at an Irish church there (where a member of the CR team attends, so we will have another opportunity to see her). I'm looking forward to the worship service -- contact with Irish believers has been incredibly scarce (except for Spit) -- and to seeing the countryside.
Monday, we'll travel back to Dalkey (where we're staying) by train as the team travels further south. We hope to spend the afternoon walking around this former little fishing village and have dinner out, just the two of us, that evening.
Mrs. M, our flight arrives in Birmingham just before 6 on Monday. We should be home somewhere around 7. Burt is picking us up. (I didn't tell Kathy when we would return; do you mind calling her and telling her?)
Has anyone talked with Kathy? Is Bella ok?
A bit of Irish lingo:
slag -- tease
jug -- pitcher
Can't think of any other right now, and Steven is downstairs getting things ready for the trip over to Wexford.
There's a lot to process. This is a foreign land to us, the the gospel is completely foreign to its people. Keep praying for wisdom and clarity.
All of your comments are wonderful. Thank you. And to my children, I may not be able to check e-mail for days, but your comments are sweet to the soul.
Love and miss everyone,
Laura
(P.S. Oh, the weather -- not as cold as we thought, but damp, and windier than I ever could have imagined.)
Update number 2 ...
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Time with the Brauers has been very good. Yesterday, Eric gave us an overview of all the work WHM has been involved in here in Ireland -- current churches, church plants, and churches which, sadly, have folded. There is need for support in the city of Cork, in the southeast.
We had lunch at a cafe yesterday. Learned some new Irish lingo:
crisps -- potato chips
chips -- french fries
loo -- restroom
I went to the local Irish grocery with Karen yesterday evening: it was much like ALDI, but with more choices. The foods available provided good opportunity to learn about some Irish traditions. Bought a few food items for the kids.
Yesterday evening, the Brauers prepared a traditional holiday meal with leg of lamb (flavored with rosemary and garlic). It was delicious. Then we watched Batman Begins together.
Peparing to meet the MAP team in an hour. Gotta go get ready.
More later, I hope ...
We had lunch at a cafe yesterday. Learned some new Irish lingo:
crisps -- potato chips
chips -- french fries
loo -- restroom
I went to the local Irish grocery with Karen yesterday evening: it was much like ALDI, but with more choices. The foods available provided good opportunity to learn about some Irish traditions. Bought a few food items for the kids.
Yesterday evening, the Brauers prepared a traditional holiday meal with leg of lamb (flavored with rosemary and garlic). It was delicious. Then we watched Batman Begins together.
Peparing to meet the MAP team in an hour. Gotta go get ready.
More later, I hope ...
News from Ireland
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
It's 9 p.m. Tuesday in Dublin -- 3 p.m. in Alabama -- and it appears our bodies are adjusting to the time change rather well, which is actually remarkable considering neither of us slept more than 2 hours on the plane last night. (Tomorrow may be a different story. The "lag" may come then.)
The trip over was not terribly difficult, save for the first half hour on the plane, after realizing that our reserved seats had been changed (as had about half the other folks on the plane) and Steven and I would not be sitting together for the 7-hour flight.
Now it's 9:15 a.m. Wednesday -- got into a conversation last night and didn't complete the post.
Anyway, survived the flight over after about a half-hour battle with my disappointment over the whole flight thing. (I know it may seem like a little thing, but I was having to preach the gospel to myself and trust that God has a purpose in everything.) Ended up having some good conversation with a young Irish woman seated beside me. There was an Irish fellow on the other side, but he slept most of the time.
Yesterday, after Eric Brauer picked us up, we went to the Brauer home for a meeting of the Church Resources team he leads. Eric, his wife Karen, and two single ladies (Kathy and Dianne) are the team at this point, though they are expecting another couple to arrive in a few months. These folks are dispersed throughout Ireland, as much as 3 1/2 hours apart from one another, and they work to provide support, encouragement and resources to the Irish pastors (and their spouses) who are planting churches in the country. They are in need of men on the team who can disciple and speak the gospel into the lives of Irish men.
Staying with the Brauers has given a good glimpse into their home life, much of it spent just the same as mine and yours. I went to the school with Karen yesterday to pick up two of her girls (there are three living at home now), who spent much of their afternoon working on homework, music practice, and preparations for dinner. Karen, Steven and I got to talk a good bit about education here, and the different approaches missionaries can take to educating their kids with an eye toward college back in the states. The girls' homework was a good indicator of the level of work -- a bit intimidating. (The third-grader is writing paragraphs, in cursive, perfectly punctuated dialog and all).
I'm especially struck, by our conversations with the team and with Karen individually yesterday, by the "God-lessness" of the culture. It is a place so in need of the gospel. For much of their early years here, Karen said folks thought she was part of a cult. As it is now, she is still careful in how she portrays the work Eric does, and opportunities with her neighbors and other folks she comes in contact with (through schools, etc.) are incredibly slow. And they have been here for 18 years. Dianne and Kathy also gave a pretty vivid picture of the patience needed in gaining trust and having any voice with the Irish, even with the Christians. Relationship is key -- way moreso than in America. Nevertheless, Irish are coming to faith, and two new church plants started as a result of the team's work in the last year.
Today, Steven will be spending time with Eric and me with Karen.
As for Dublin, we haven't seen the city yet. Our time thus far has been spent in the village of Lucen (not sure of spelling) where the Brauers live.
Oh, and for the fun of my children, who I hope will be reading these posts, here are some Irish terms for American words:
woolies -- sweaters
estate -- neighborhood
press -- closet
tele -- television
motorway -- interstate
And the kids might like to know that the Brauers have two pet parakeets (who chatter non-stop) and a gorgeous pet rabbit named Cinnamon.
Hugs and kisses to all,
Laura
The trip over was not terribly difficult, save for the first half hour on the plane, after realizing that our reserved seats had been changed (as had about half the other folks on the plane) and Steven and I would not be sitting together for the 7-hour flight.
Now it's 9:15 a.m. Wednesday -- got into a conversation last night and didn't complete the post.
Anyway, survived the flight over after about a half-hour battle with my disappointment over the whole flight thing. (I know it may seem like a little thing, but I was having to preach the gospel to myself and trust that God has a purpose in everything.) Ended up having some good conversation with a young Irish woman seated beside me. There was an Irish fellow on the other side, but he slept most of the time.
Yesterday, after Eric Brauer picked us up, we went to the Brauer home for a meeting of the Church Resources team he leads. Eric, his wife Karen, and two single ladies (Kathy and Dianne) are the team at this point, though they are expecting another couple to arrive in a few months. These folks are dispersed throughout Ireland, as much as 3 1/2 hours apart from one another, and they work to provide support, encouragement and resources to the Irish pastors (and their spouses) who are planting churches in the country. They are in need of men on the team who can disciple and speak the gospel into the lives of Irish men.
Staying with the Brauers has given a good glimpse into their home life, much of it spent just the same as mine and yours. I went to the school with Karen yesterday to pick up two of her girls (there are three living at home now), who spent much of their afternoon working on homework, music practice, and preparations for dinner. Karen, Steven and I got to talk a good bit about education here, and the different approaches missionaries can take to educating their kids with an eye toward college back in the states. The girls' homework was a good indicator of the level of work -- a bit intimidating. (The third-grader is writing paragraphs, in cursive, perfectly punctuated dialog and all).
I'm especially struck, by our conversations with the team and with Karen individually yesterday, by the "God-lessness" of the culture. It is a place so in need of the gospel. For much of their early years here, Karen said folks thought she was part of a cult. As it is now, she is still careful in how she portrays the work Eric does, and opportunities with her neighbors and other folks she comes in contact with (through schools, etc.) are incredibly slow. And they have been here for 18 years. Dianne and Kathy also gave a pretty vivid picture of the patience needed in gaining trust and having any voice with the Irish, even with the Christians. Relationship is key -- way moreso than in America. Nevertheless, Irish are coming to faith, and two new church plants started as a result of the team's work in the last year.
Today, Steven will be spending time with Eric and me with Karen.
As for Dublin, we haven't seen the city yet. Our time thus far has been spent in the village of Lucen (not sure of spelling) where the Brauers live.
Oh, and for the fun of my children, who I hope will be reading these posts, here are some Irish terms for American words:
woolies -- sweaters
estate -- neighborhood
press -- closet
tele -- television
motorway -- interstate
And the kids might like to know that the Brauers have two pet parakeets (who chatter non-stop) and a gorgeous pet rabbit named Cinnamon.
Hugs and kisses to all,
Laura
More ways to pray
Sunday, February 17, 2008
It's 12:18, and I really should be in bed. I thought we were doing so well preparing all week for our trip to Ireland and for the four kiddos' to hang with friends and family. But, alas, it's 12:21 now, and there's still a load of laundry in the dryer, school assignments to be made, one bathroom to be cleaned, and kids' pictures to be gathered and packed.
My hubby, I know, posted a prayer list on our "Ireland blog" -- but there are a few additional things I've been thinking about, so I'm posting a list here as well.
1. Pray that we will deal reasonably well with the time change, and that jet lag will be minimal.
2. Pray for the families who will be keeping our children: Bartzes, Buchans, Claytons, Coopers, Holmeses, Johnsons, Morgans, and Postons.
3. Pray for the teams we'll be visiting, the Church Resources team and the Mission Apprenticeship Program team, and particularly team leaders Eric and Karen Brauer and Joel and Cindy Hylton.
4. Pray for continued good health (and praise that He has kept us flu-free).
5. Pray that this experience, whatever the outcome, will deepen our relationships with Christ and increase our passion for taking the gospel to the world.
I could keep going, but I really must go to bed. So skip on over to www.morganjourney.blogspot.com and read the prayer list on our "Ireland" blog as well, ok? (There are biggies over there.)
It has been astounding to see God work every little detail of this trip (ask me about the ziplock story someday). Thanks for any part you had in it (whether that be donating funds, praying, helping with kids, or any of the myriad unseen ways you could have helped). We're thankful, we're humbled, and we still covet your prayers.
Til we blog again ...
My hubby, I know, posted a prayer list on our "Ireland blog" -- but there are a few additional things I've been thinking about, so I'm posting a list here as well.
1. Pray that we will deal reasonably well with the time change, and that jet lag will be minimal.
2. Pray for the families who will be keeping our children: Bartzes, Buchans, Claytons, Coopers, Holmeses, Johnsons, Morgans, and Postons.
3. Pray for the teams we'll be visiting, the Church Resources team and the Mission Apprenticeship Program team, and particularly team leaders Eric and Karen Brauer and Joel and Cindy Hylton.
4. Pray for continued good health (and praise that He has kept us flu-free).
5. Pray that this experience, whatever the outcome, will deepen our relationships with Christ and increase our passion for taking the gospel to the world.
I could keep going, but I really must go to bed. So skip on over to www.morganjourney.blogspot.com and read the prayer list on our "Ireland" blog as well, ok? (There are biggies over there.)
It has been astounding to see God work every little detail of this trip (ask me about the ziplock story someday). Thanks for any part you had in it (whether that be donating funds, praying, helping with kids, or any of the myriad unseen ways you could have helped). We're thankful, we're humbled, and we still covet your prayers.
Til we blog again ...
Selections from my copybook
Thursday, February 14, 2008
When I posted the (rather LONG) list of books on my chairside table several weeks ago, one of the books I mentioned was my copybook, where I copy down favorite quotes, book passages, scripture, etc. Crissy Sharp suggested that I post some selections from that copybook, so here they are. And be forewarned, this post is a little long as well, but it was difficult to narrow down the options. Hope you enjoy the reading!
On imagination…
Imagination may become like that cave Ezekiel tells of wherein were all manner of unseemly and evil things; it may be a temple wherein self is glorified; it may be a chamber of horrors and dangers; but it may also be a House Beautiful. It is enough for us to remember that imagination is stored with those images supplied day by day whether by the cinema, the penny dreadful, by Homer or Shakespeare, by the great picture or the flaming shocker. – Charlotte Mason, Philosophy of Education
A favorite scripture …
In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength. – Isaiah 30:15
Who I am …
I am a magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment
I am a wunderkind oh
I live the envelope pushed far enough to believe this
I am a princess on the way to my home
Destined to serve, destined to roam – from the Soundtrack of Narnia
Regarding God’s glory …
Glory is to God what style is to an artist. A painting by Vermeer, a sonnet by Donne, a Mozart aria – each is so rich with the style of the one who made it that to the connoisseur, it couldn’t have been made by anybody else, and the effect is staggering. The style of an artist brings you as close to the sound of his voice and the light in his eye as it is possible to get this side of actually shaking hands with him. In the words of Psalm 19:1, “The heavens are telling the glory of God.” It is the same thing. To the connoisseur, not just sunsets and starry nights, but dust storms, rain forests, garter snakes, and the human face are all unmistakably the work of a single hand. Glory is the outward manifestation of the hand in its handiwork just as holiness is the inward. To behold God’s glory, to sense God’s style, is the closest you can get to God this side of paradise, just as to read King Lear is the closest you can get to Shakespeare. Glory is what God looks like when for the time being all you have to look at him with is a pair of eyes. – Frederick Buechner, Beyond Words
From Robinson Crusoe …
And I add, for whoever shall read this, that whenever they come to a true sense of things, they will find deliverance from sin a much greater blessing that deliverance from affliction. – Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
From a book God uses time-and-again to change my life …
We will rely on everything but God. He in turn will prepare us for grace by closing our favorite escape exits until there is only one way. – Rose Marie Miller, From Fear to Freedom
On learning …
… every good gift of knowledge and insight comes from above, that the Lord the Holy Spirit is the supreme educator of mankind, and that the culmination of all education is that personal knowledge of, and intimacy with, God, in which our being finds its fullest perfections. – Charlotte Mason
One of my favorite short fiction passages …
“That is where your [paintings] will hang in the spring,” Anna Schaeffer said to me, pointing to the walls.
I stared at her and felt a shock move through me.
“I would have done it this year,” she said. “But this old man would not let me.”
“He is still a boy this year,” Jacob Kahn said. “A boy should not rush to make his soul naked.” – Chaim Potok, My Name is Asher Lev
On home …
That house was a perfect house, whether you like food or sleep, or storytelling, or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all. Merely to be there was a cure for weariness, fear and sadness. – JRR Tolkein
Regarding one of my indulgences …
A hot bath! I cry, as I sit down in it; and again, as I lie flat, a hot bath! How exquisite a vespertine pleasure, how luxurious, fervid and fragrant a consolation for the rigours, the austerities, the renunciations of the day. – Rose Macaulay
Truth from the pen of a friend …
Grace [is] not only His death on a cross so I could go to heaven; it [is] his faithful pursuit of me even though I [am] completely unworthy. … I deserved the agony of never having what He created me to long for – Himself. … Imagine heaven – the joy of being in the presence of the living God in a glorified body that is always in communion with him because all of my desires and longings are met in him and I am able to completely and perfectly glorify Him. And the awe I will experience with a heart finally turned toward what is perfect. – Jennifer Jensen
Regarding salvation …
If we have only a legal-transaction understanding of salvation in which we are forgiven of our sins so we can go to heaven, then salvation essentially becomes a ticket to somewhere else. In this understanding, eternity is something that kicks in when we die. But Jesus did not teach this.
Jesus said that when we believe, we have crossed over from death to life. God always has been and always will be. And when I enter into a relationship with God through Christ, I am connected with God now and I will be connected with God forever. For Jesus, salvation is now.
I need a God for now.
I need healing now.
I need help now.
Yes, even greater things will happen someday.
But salvation is now. – Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis
And if you’re still with me, a favorite poem …
Batter my heart, three-person’d God; for, you
As yet but knocke, breathe, shine, and seek to mend,
That I may rise, and stand, o’erthorw mee, and bend
Your force, to breake, blowe, burn and make me new.
I, like a usurpt tower, to another due,
Labour to admit you, but Oh, to no end,
Reason, your viceroy in mee, mee should defend,
But is captiv’d, and proves weake or untrue.
Yet dearely I love you, and would be loved faine,
But am betroth’d unto your enemie;
Divorce mee, untie or breake that knot againe,
Take mee to you, imprison mee, for I
Except you enthrall mee, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me. – John Donne
I love all of these selections. Which one's your favorite?
On imagination…
Imagination may become like that cave Ezekiel tells of wherein were all manner of unseemly and evil things; it may be a temple wherein self is glorified; it may be a chamber of horrors and dangers; but it may also be a House Beautiful. It is enough for us to remember that imagination is stored with those images supplied day by day whether by the cinema, the penny dreadful, by Homer or Shakespeare, by the great picture or the flaming shocker. – Charlotte Mason, Philosophy of Education
A favorite scripture …
In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength. – Isaiah 30:15
Who I am …
I am a magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment
I am a wunderkind oh
I live the envelope pushed far enough to believe this
I am a princess on the way to my home
Destined to serve, destined to roam – from the Soundtrack of Narnia
Regarding God’s glory …
Glory is to God what style is to an artist. A painting by Vermeer, a sonnet by Donne, a Mozart aria – each is so rich with the style of the one who made it that to the connoisseur, it couldn’t have been made by anybody else, and the effect is staggering. The style of an artist brings you as close to the sound of his voice and the light in his eye as it is possible to get this side of actually shaking hands with him. In the words of Psalm 19:1, “The heavens are telling the glory of God.” It is the same thing. To the connoisseur, not just sunsets and starry nights, but dust storms, rain forests, garter snakes, and the human face are all unmistakably the work of a single hand. Glory is the outward manifestation of the hand in its handiwork just as holiness is the inward. To behold God’s glory, to sense God’s style, is the closest you can get to God this side of paradise, just as to read King Lear is the closest you can get to Shakespeare. Glory is what God looks like when for the time being all you have to look at him with is a pair of eyes. – Frederick Buechner, Beyond Words
From Robinson Crusoe …
And I add, for whoever shall read this, that whenever they come to a true sense of things, they will find deliverance from sin a much greater blessing that deliverance from affliction. – Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
From a book God uses time-and-again to change my life …
We will rely on everything but God. He in turn will prepare us for grace by closing our favorite escape exits until there is only one way. – Rose Marie Miller, From Fear to Freedom
On learning …
… every good gift of knowledge and insight comes from above, that the Lord the Holy Spirit is the supreme educator of mankind, and that the culmination of all education is that personal knowledge of, and intimacy with, God, in which our being finds its fullest perfections. – Charlotte Mason
One of my favorite short fiction passages …
“That is where your [paintings] will hang in the spring,” Anna Schaeffer said to me, pointing to the walls.
I stared at her and felt a shock move through me.
“I would have done it this year,” she said. “But this old man would not let me.”
“He is still a boy this year,” Jacob Kahn said. “A boy should not rush to make his soul naked.” – Chaim Potok, My Name is Asher Lev
On home …
That house was a perfect house, whether you like food or sleep, or storytelling, or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all. Merely to be there was a cure for weariness, fear and sadness. – JRR Tolkein
Regarding one of my indulgences …
A hot bath! I cry, as I sit down in it; and again, as I lie flat, a hot bath! How exquisite a vespertine pleasure, how luxurious, fervid and fragrant a consolation for the rigours, the austerities, the renunciations of the day. – Rose Macaulay
Truth from the pen of a friend …
Grace [is] not only His death on a cross so I could go to heaven; it [is] his faithful pursuit of me even though I [am] completely unworthy. … I deserved the agony of never having what He created me to long for – Himself. … Imagine heaven – the joy of being in the presence of the living God in a glorified body that is always in communion with him because all of my desires and longings are met in him and I am able to completely and perfectly glorify Him. And the awe I will experience with a heart finally turned toward what is perfect. – Jennifer Jensen
Regarding salvation …
If we have only a legal-transaction understanding of salvation in which we are forgiven of our sins so we can go to heaven, then salvation essentially becomes a ticket to somewhere else. In this understanding, eternity is something that kicks in when we die. But Jesus did not teach this.
Jesus said that when we believe, we have crossed over from death to life. God always has been and always will be. And when I enter into a relationship with God through Christ, I am connected with God now and I will be connected with God forever. For Jesus, salvation is now.
I need a God for now.
I need healing now.
I need help now.
Yes, even greater things will happen someday.
But salvation is now. – Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis
And if you’re still with me, a favorite poem …
Batter my heart, three-person’d God; for, you
As yet but knocke, breathe, shine, and seek to mend,
That I may rise, and stand, o’erthorw mee, and bend
Your force, to breake, blowe, burn and make me new.
I, like a usurpt tower, to another due,
Labour to admit you, but Oh, to no end,
Reason, your viceroy in mee, mee should defend,
But is captiv’d, and proves weake or untrue.
Yet dearely I love you, and would be loved faine,
But am betroth’d unto your enemie;
Divorce mee, untie or breake that knot againe,
Take mee to you, imprison mee, for I
Except you enthrall mee, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me. – John Donne
I love all of these selections. Which one's your favorite?
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