Do you ever feel like your world is crazy?!?
Picture an OCD energetic introvert travelling in a van with her whole family...
Maybe it's not just a feeling...
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
scottish-country-preppers...
catch this...sis is getting hitched next weekend in 1000 Islands NY...he's wearing a kilt. there's square dancing at the reception. the whole shindig's at the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton...seriously. what a mix....
should be nuts!
should be nuts!
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
The Calling is Higher Than Ourselves
Since 1989, 2.5 million people have been killed in Southern Sudan while just over 5 Million Sudanese people have been displaced. A modern-day holocaust, a genocide ignored, people are just now starting to pay attention and DO something about the horrific attrocities in Southern Sudan.
Recently, a dear friend of mine published a life-changing novel, The Calling. A work 4 years in the making, The Calling changed my heart and perspective in the war for the souls of the Sudanese people. Prior to reading the book, I cared about the crazy things that were happening, but didn't really see my American self as able to initiate any changes. I also didn't understand what the conflict was all about. But because of the intoxicating pen of Elizabeth Hankins, I have not only become more aware of the story of these beautiful plum-black people, but I now have an understanding of my responsibility and ability in fighting for them.
One thing I can do is tell you about them. Endorsed by such names as Brian McClaren and Amnesty International, The Calling is an easy, addicting read that sucks you in from the moment you open the cover. Just a warning, but I had 2 late nights, lotsa' tears and much laughter in the consumption of it.
So...Buy it! Read it! Tell your friends about it!
One last thing. ALL proceeds of the book, outside of the cost to make the book, go directly to Aid Sudan, Living Water International and Amnesty International.
Happy Reading!
Recently, a dear friend of mine published a life-changing novel, The Calling. A work 4 years in the making, The Calling changed my heart and perspective in the war for the souls of the Sudanese people. Prior to reading the book, I cared about the crazy things that were happening, but didn't really see my American self as able to initiate any changes. I also didn't understand what the conflict was all about. But because of the intoxicating pen of Elizabeth Hankins, I have not only become more aware of the story of these beautiful plum-black people, but I now have an understanding of my responsibility and ability in fighting for them.
One thing I can do is tell you about them. Endorsed by such names as Brian McClaren and Amnesty International, The Calling is an easy, addicting read that sucks you in from the moment you open the cover. Just a warning, but I had 2 late nights, lotsa' tears and much laughter in the consumption of it.
So...Buy it! Read it! Tell your friends about it!
One last thing. ALL proceeds of the book, outside of the cost to make the book, go directly to Aid Sudan, Living Water International and Amnesty International.
Happy Reading!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Fishing
When you go fishing on a boat, you occasionally float over deep, dark places of a lake. If you peer closely over the side of the boat, you can see shadows lazily darting about..while you can't make out what the shadow is, the movement catches your eye...where I am right now, in this boat, I can see Him darting about under the surface...unlike the lazidaisical darting of the fish, His movement is full of grace. While I can't see what shape or form He's in, I know He's there under the surface. At any moment, I expect Him to emerge out of the shadows, bearing all my dreams into the light. I don't know how or why I know this with all my heart, but my heart finds it's hope in this and this alone. I believe there is so much stirring under the surface of the deep place...I can almost see Him at work...He is coming. I can see the ripples coming...and then will come the tsunami of His glorious working out of my salvation and His Story for this world with all of His grace and love pouring out....and according to His glorious riches....what a beautiful place to sit this morning...contemplating His great love.
I tell you all this because it is such a gift to me to be able to see it...and I believe my testifying in advance of what He is doing...acknowledging the faith walk I am on, brings Him greater glory...e.g., as He accomplishes this work in me, You are able to clearly see His working as He has foretold it to my heart.
Also, in the midst of this, my heart is fallible...anytime you care to pray for me, I ask 3 things: 1. That my prayer of "I believe...Help me believe!" is answered in the affirmative, 2. for clarity of the next step (although when He's moving it's impossible to miss it if you're trying in the least! and that 3. He comes through like a powerful force, stirring the foundations of the world to move and manifest these dreams of the deep places...
much love y'all...
A
I tell you all this because it is such a gift to me to be able to see it...and I believe my testifying in advance of what He is doing...acknowledging the faith walk I am on, brings Him greater glory...e.g., as He accomplishes this work in me, You are able to clearly see His working as He has foretold it to my heart.
Also, in the midst of this, my heart is fallible...anytime you care to pray for me, I ask 3 things: 1. That my prayer of "I believe...Help me believe!" is answered in the affirmative, 2. for clarity of the next step (although when He's moving it's impossible to miss it if you're trying in the least! and that 3. He comes through like a powerful force, stirring the foundations of the world to move and manifest these dreams of the deep places...
much love y'all...
A
Sunday, July 27, 2008
The Promise Land is not Health-n-Wealth
the desert. i've spent some time there. and i think most believers have spent some time there at some point in their lives.
what is curious to me is that you don't REALLY need to spend much time there if you're obedient. think about the Israelites...they only spent SO MUCH time there because they were disobedient and God disciplined them.
if then, the desert is a discipline, then why do we seem to place so much value on it? i submit, we value it because it is an icon of His grace in our lives...even though we mess up, He allows us to try again via the desert...
i also submit, fellowship with Him in the desert is sweet for the most part. but wouldn't fellowship in the Promised Land be just as sweet if we walked in with the same set of values and understanding of Him as we do in those intensely hard places?
ok, ok. i get it. most of us (i'm the chief of this!) aren't really clear minded the first time around. when everything's going well and "right"..i ofttimes don't have a real high 'get it' factor the first time around. but....
i have noticed, that when i've spent a lot of time with Him...when i'm riding really high on the face-to-face train, well, i'm a 'there's no time like the present to make the right decision with the right attitude' kinda' girl. i seem to really jones on these times too. it's like i can make a decision, almost any decision, and i make the automatic right decision. no question in my spirit, no hesitation. just goin' for the gold.
so what am i saying?
well. i can avoid the desert. i can bypass it altogether. i simply need to ask His Spirit to hold me on that narrow road in the times of plenty...we can follow Him just as intimately in the Promised Land...the hard part of intimate following in the Promised Land is desperate need for Him is less poignant. there's less of a gap between our perceived need and His Presence...we feel we've got things together so it's easier to rely on ourselves.
let's walk on out of the desert...let's let Him show the world how He blesses His children that are obedient...how He shows favor to those who walk in His ways...let's ask for eyes that notices the major discrepancy between our status and His Provision...and stay in the rhythm of His grace in the meanwhile....
let me know what you think!
p.s. this is SO not a health-n-wealth Gospel idea...it's simply a thought i've had for a while about His favor for those who follow hard after Him...and even as i say all of this, i look at the lives of some close to me and note that their Promised Lands of favor do not look advantageous to the world. yet interacting with His placement of me as a grace-filled place is what makes it appear the Promised Land to others...am i making sense?!?
p.s.2. note that i highly value the desert for the moments of "becoming like Him in His suffering"...sometimes our desert times are less discipline and more honing and testing...praise Him for His gracious refinement!
what is curious to me is that you don't REALLY need to spend much time there if you're obedient. think about the Israelites...they only spent SO MUCH time there because they were disobedient and God disciplined them.
if then, the desert is a discipline, then why do we seem to place so much value on it? i submit, we value it because it is an icon of His grace in our lives...even though we mess up, He allows us to try again via the desert...
i also submit, fellowship with Him in the desert is sweet for the most part. but wouldn't fellowship in the Promised Land be just as sweet if we walked in with the same set of values and understanding of Him as we do in those intensely hard places?
ok, ok. i get it. most of us (i'm the chief of this!) aren't really clear minded the first time around. when everything's going well and "right"..i ofttimes don't have a real high 'get it' factor the first time around. but....
i have noticed, that when i've spent a lot of time with Him...when i'm riding really high on the face-to-face train, well, i'm a 'there's no time like the present to make the right decision with the right attitude' kinda' girl. i seem to really jones on these times too. it's like i can make a decision, almost any decision, and i make the automatic right decision. no question in my spirit, no hesitation. just goin' for the gold.
so what am i saying?
well. i can avoid the desert. i can bypass it altogether. i simply need to ask His Spirit to hold me on that narrow road in the times of plenty...we can follow Him just as intimately in the Promised Land...the hard part of intimate following in the Promised Land is desperate need for Him is less poignant. there's less of a gap between our perceived need and His Presence...we feel we've got things together so it's easier to rely on ourselves.
let's walk on out of the desert...let's let Him show the world how He blesses His children that are obedient...how He shows favor to those who walk in His ways...let's ask for eyes that notices the major discrepancy between our status and His Provision...and stay in the rhythm of His grace in the meanwhile....
let me know what you think!
p.s. this is SO not a health-n-wealth Gospel idea...it's simply a thought i've had for a while about His favor for those who follow hard after Him...and even as i say all of this, i look at the lives of some close to me and note that their Promised Lands of favor do not look advantageous to the world. yet interacting with His placement of me as a grace-filled place is what makes it appear the Promised Land to others...am i making sense?!?
p.s.2. note that i highly value the desert for the moments of "becoming like Him in His suffering"...sometimes our desert times are less discipline and more honing and testing...praise Him for His gracious refinement!
Friday, July 11, 2008
morning of joy!
looking back...i can see so many things i'd change. and so many things that i'd keep.
this year, i'm so thankful for a broken engagement...healing heart...renewed vision...His increased Presence...conviction...hard times...tears...laughter...heartache...faith-moves...falling on my face...hard moments....beautiful moments...no job...crazy job...scraping by...being taken care of...feeling like an adult...being treated like a child...understanding of what's happening 'neath the surface...coming back to Him...hearing Him...loving Him..being loved by Him.
we sow in tears...i'm still waiting for the crop to come in. but i believe it's coming. there's-a-somethin' stirring 'neath the surface and it's HIM! i'm so desiring His morning to dawn with the shouts of joy He promises...i'm still unsure what that looks like though...my personal plumbline seems to have shifted...
you know, Frodo (hobbit from Lord of the Rings), when asking how he was to return to Rivendell after his wild adventures, was told, "you can't ever go back to who you were. you're different now." this is how i feel...after the pain of this year, the way He stretched me and eradicated some pet sins, i don't think i can ever go back to who i was. i pray i DON'T ever go back to who i was. i want to be better. always, each day, better. because each day finds me more and more in His image.
what's stirring? only He knows for sure. but one thing i DO know: it's GOOD. as He is GOOD, it's GOOD.
beautiful huh?
this year, i'm so thankful for a broken engagement...healing heart...renewed vision...His increased Presence...conviction...hard times...tears...laughter...heartache...faith-moves...falling on my face...hard moments....beautiful moments...no job...crazy job...scraping by...being taken care of...feeling like an adult...being treated like a child...understanding of what's happening 'neath the surface...coming back to Him...hearing Him...loving Him..being loved by Him.
we sow in tears...i'm still waiting for the crop to come in. but i believe it's coming. there's-a-somethin' stirring 'neath the surface and it's HIM! i'm so desiring His morning to dawn with the shouts of joy He promises...i'm still unsure what that looks like though...my personal plumbline seems to have shifted...
you know, Frodo (hobbit from Lord of the Rings), when asking how he was to return to Rivendell after his wild adventures, was told, "you can't ever go back to who you were. you're different now." this is how i feel...after the pain of this year, the way He stretched me and eradicated some pet sins, i don't think i can ever go back to who i was. i pray i DON'T ever go back to who i was. i want to be better. always, each day, better. because each day finds me more and more in His image.
what's stirring? only He knows for sure. but one thing i DO know: it's GOOD. as He is GOOD, it's GOOD.
beautiful huh?
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
giraffe poop, wrestling and the skin i'm in...
isn't it funny the things that show us who we are? moreso, the things that show us more of who He is?
this year has been a montage of craziness. since i left tallowood i have traveled through 20 some-odd states, lived in 6 different cities and held down a menagerie of jobs...the only thing that could top my list of job descriptions would be a garbage girl or working at a zoo...although i might actually have enjoyed giraffe and elephant dung more than some of the jobs i had!
several months ago i worked for a brief stint at a marketing company. many of you remember this with fondness because it was hysterical, watching me in a suit every day. Terri Richter, the co-owner of the company, would swing by my desk almost every day and we'd chat of Jesus...of His constant goodness in the midst of pain. of His sovereignty. of His deep, perfect, yearning love for us. one thing you must know of Terri is that in the midst of these conversations of the Lord's goodness, Terri's wife was battling brain cancer. Terri would just say that this cancer, this season, was "a gift" to their family. it brought a sweetness to their relationship with the Lord that they'd never have known otherwise...a sweetness born of faith in the unseen...
i'm feeling a little like jacob recently. we've wrestled, i've pushed and He's pulled me back...and in the end, i leave with a slight limp. i'm praying for my new name. i'm praying for a deeper place in His heart...for Him a deeper place in mine...to be sanctified a bit more in the middle of this. michelle, a friend from seminary days, recently emailed me: "God is oh-so-good in the wounding of His people." how true this is! His pain is used to rescue us from places we should not go! to remind us of His sovereignty! to draw us into those deep places of Him that we'd never have seen otherwise. what a beautiful gift He's given me! i'm so thankful for the way He's made me...for the plan He has for me...
now i'm praying that He'll break my heart for what breaks His...i've such a great need for a repentant heart and He's been allowing me to see so much of my sin in recent days...
what a beautiful year! wouldn't have planned in advance a minute of it, but what a beautiful year!
much love y'all....
His,
annetta
this year has been a montage of craziness. since i left tallowood i have traveled through 20 some-odd states, lived in 6 different cities and held down a menagerie of jobs...the only thing that could top my list of job descriptions would be a garbage girl or working at a zoo...although i might actually have enjoyed giraffe and elephant dung more than some of the jobs i had!
several months ago i worked for a brief stint at a marketing company. many of you remember this with fondness because it was hysterical, watching me in a suit every day. Terri Richter, the co-owner of the company, would swing by my desk almost every day and we'd chat of Jesus...of His constant goodness in the midst of pain. of His sovereignty. of His deep, perfect, yearning love for us. one thing you must know of Terri is that in the midst of these conversations of the Lord's goodness, Terri's wife was battling brain cancer. Terri would just say that this cancer, this season, was "a gift" to their family. it brought a sweetness to their relationship with the Lord that they'd never have known otherwise...a sweetness born of faith in the unseen...
i'm feeling a little like jacob recently. we've wrestled, i've pushed and He's pulled me back...and in the end, i leave with a slight limp. i'm praying for my new name. i'm praying for a deeper place in His heart...for Him a deeper place in mine...to be sanctified a bit more in the middle of this. michelle, a friend from seminary days, recently emailed me: "God is oh-so-good in the wounding of His people." how true this is! His pain is used to rescue us from places we should not go! to remind us of His sovereignty! to draw us into those deep places of Him that we'd never have seen otherwise. what a beautiful gift He's given me! i'm so thankful for the way He's made me...for the plan He has for me...
now i'm praying that He'll break my heart for what breaks His...i've such a great need for a repentant heart and He's been allowing me to see so much of my sin in recent days...
what a beautiful year! wouldn't have planned in advance a minute of it, but what a beautiful year!
much love y'all....
His,
annetta
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