thoughts

Mark 5:31–33 When Jesus asked, “Who touched me?” the woman responded with fear and trembling. Her fear may have been partly because, in working her way through the crowd to get to Jesus, she would have touched many other people and thus rendered them ceremonially unclean (cf. Lev. 15:19–27). Again Mark notes the theme of fear and shows how it leads to faith. More importantly, the woman felt deep awe (Gk. phobeomai can be rendered “be afraid” or “feel awe and reverence”) at the powerful presence of God who has healed her: she fell down before him and told him the whole truth, which testifies to her confidence in and sincere gratitude toward Jesus.

How many times do I hold back from God? Afraid of the outcome of the situation...This woman trusted Jesus. She knew without a doubt that she would be made well by him, faith. Faith is the antidote for fear. How often am I trapped in fear? How often do I not trust Jesus? Holy Spirit enable me to trust you! Open my heart to see you as true and able.

A New Song (that I am in love with)

So much has been going on lately. Joel and I hosted one of the highschool boys from our church for about a month while his mom left the island to get surgery. The week he left my parents showed up and stayed for 2 weeks. We had such a great time with them. I REALLY love those guys! Them being here with us was such an encouragement on many different levels. This last week I've been getting back into a routine of sorts.

Jesus has been teaching more and more about community and how I NEED to be in it. Its something that I, as a christian, feel that I can't live without. True community, with all its difficulties, is essential in knowing Jesus. Boy is it a challenge sometimes. Its so much easier (or so I would like to think) to do life on my own.

I've also been reading a great book by David Platt called Radical. If you haven't read it you should! Its wonderful. It challenges the American church to live more than just the "American Dream." He talks about what the gospel is all about. He talks about one of the goals (if not THE goal) of the gospel is not so that people's souls are saved and people who believe in Jesus receive blessings(although those things happen), but the goal of the gospel is actually KNOWING Jesus, our treasure and prize. I bet if you're like me, and truly honest with yourself, you'll see that you too have been pursuing the things/rewards of God instead of pursuing God himself. God is beautiful and wonderful! If you start on a journey/pursuit of him, you will not be disappointed.

As I've been trying to shift my mind into this reality I came across this song. Please enjoy.

Food Glorious Food!

Joel always laughs at me because I hate working out, but I LOVE food! Cooking and baking helps me relieve stress. Some people sit in front of the TV to go into no-man's-land, I cook. And I'll be the first to admit that I eat what I cook. (I'm one of those girls.) So, in order to keep my girlish figure, I've been working out. (boo!)

Here is just a sample of what I've been cooking recently.

Homemade Lasagna -It looks a bit different because I layered the cheese, sauce, and noodles differently this time. Mom's suggestion to make it "prettier" when you cut into it. It worked. Definitely pretty.


Homemade Rolls


Homemade Peach Cobbler- It was yummy! It looks like cinnamon rolls because you take dough, roll pecans, sugar, and butter in it, and put it on top of the peach mixture. Of course, I served it with icecream. :)


Mandarine Orange and Almond Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing


Garlic Roasted Chicken- This is my first attempt to cook a whole chicken. My observations, 1.) It takes forever to thaw, 2.) I don't know how I feel about taking the insides out myself, 3.) I think it's gonna be worth the price...$5.87. The before picture is to show everyone how proud I am that I trussed it myself :)


The finished product. We didn't actually eat this one. We gave it to a family who just had a baby. We get ours on Sunday! MMM.

Rock of Ages

1. Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in thee;
let the water and the blood,
from thy wounded side which flowed,
be of sin the double cure;
save from wrath and make me pure.

2. Not the labors of my hands
can fulfill thy law's commands;
could my zeal no respite know,
could my tears forever flow,
all for sin could not atone;
thou must save, and thou alone.

3. Nothing in my hand I bring,
simply to the cross I cling;
naked, come to thee for dress;
helpless, look to thee for grace;
foul, I to the fountain fly;
wash me, Savior, or I die.

Wash me Savior or I die. Wash me Savior or I die.
Wash me, Wash me, Savior or I die.
Wash me Savior or I die.

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in thee;

Wash me Savior or I die.

more thoughts

"This is a very central concept if we are to have any understanding or any real practice of the true Christian life or true spirituality. I can take lists that men make and I can seem to keep them, but to do that my heart does not have to be bowed. But when i come to the inward aspect of the Ten Commandments, when I come to the inward aspect of the Law of Love, if I am listening even in a poor fashion to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, I can no longer feel proud. I am brought to my knees. In this life I can never say, "I have arrived; it is finished, look at me-I am holy." When we talk of the Christian life or true spirituality, when we talk about freedom from the bonds of sin, we must be wrestling with the inward problems of not coveting against God and men, of loving God and men, not merely some set of externals."- Francis Schaeffer.

The inward aspect of the of Law is coveting. It is the negative to the positive, love the Lord with all your heart. Our desires become coveting/sin when they fail to include the love of God or men. We find ourselves in this struggle daily.

Coupon Day

Well folks. I'm sorry to day that my total percentage was 10% savings on my groceries yesterday. I had a coupon for most everything I bought. So, I'm wondering how those ladies do it...I have a friend or two that I think I'm going to ask. I am a bit bummed and a lot determined. Couponing is shaping up to be a fine hobby, which is good because I'm in need of one.

Couponing

I decided this week that I need to start clipping coupons. It all started because this past week I've had many conversations revolving around couponing. I felt a bit convicted and a lot curious. Besides, what else do I have to do. Some of my friends were saying that they save 30-40% on grocery bills. I was shocked. There is a new show on TLC called, "Extreme Couponing" that has everyone up in arms about saving money by using coupons. I've never seen it, and probably won't ever. We don't have cable. But the concept is awesome.

There are these huge bins at the commissary(on-base grocery store) full of coupons, separated into categories like, food, cleaning supplies, etc. The other day I spent about 30 min. searching through the many coupons to find my treasures. I got lucky with some of them. As I was looking through a woman came up and started a conversation with me about the coupon show. She said, "I just got so inspired." She looked in the bins for about 5 min., gathered her 5 coupons and proceeded into the store to shop. My thinking was, good luck lady. Five coupons probably equals a savings of about $5, if that...oh boy. Maybe it was wrong of me to think that she isn't as dedicated to this as I am. If you're gonna do it, then do it right...right??

The hardest part of this whole ordeal for me is actually finding the coupons that I need. We don't really have the Sunday paper option over here. We can, however, use coupons that have been expired up to 6 months past the exp. date. Awesome. I asked my mom to send me some. I'm also looking online to find deals that I would use here.

I haven't gone shopping yet with my pile of coupons. I'm still trying to find more. My technique isn't going to be to go shopping often. But rather to find coupons for most everything I buy, especially the items I buy on a weekly basis. I don't plan on stockpiling food. 1, there is no where to put it, and 2, its just Joel and me.

I'll keep everyone updated as to how much I save on my first shopping excursion. We shall see if couponing is worth all the hype.