Author: made4eternity

Day 75

1 cent. That’s all it is, so I guess a lot of people don’t see the point of bending over and risking scraping your fingernails on the concrete for 1/100 of a dollar. For some reason, though, I do. I collect the pennies that have fallen through the cracks on the sidewalk, on the floor next to the checkout at Jimmy John’s, in the crosswalk at the corner of 16th and Wisconsin (though I won’t be risking my life if the “Don’t Walk” sign is flashing and I can’t get the penny on the first swipe).

I remember finding pennies when I was little and what great treasures they were. “Look, look! I found a penny!” Now I pick them up more out of habit – and because I can’t stand to see money, no matter how small the denomination, just lying on the ground. I have quite the collection back at my apartment – maybe someday I’ll take it to the bank.

But for right now, I’m content with just picking up the pennies.

Onward.

Life’s not fair, that’s true. We all know it. But do you really want fair? Do you really want what you deserve? The Bible says we as sinners deserve to go to hell. That’s what’s fair.

When the age of grace we are living in has ended and God judges this sinful world, it will be completely fair. It will be completely just, it will be completely righteous. It will be what sinners deserve.

Revelation 16:5-7 And I heard the angel of the waters saying, “Righteous are You, who are and who were, O Holy One, because You judged these things; ⁶ for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. They deserve it.” ⁷ And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.”

Indeed, this life we live right now is not fair. Thank God.

Day 76

Today’s “Non Sequitur” cartoon:

Onward.

Colossians 2:13 “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”

Thanks, Ian, for sharing this verse last night. I am amazed by the certainty and finality of the verses – I was dead, now I am alive with Christ. My sins are forgiven, my debt is canceled, nailed to the cross.

It’s wonderful to walk through life relaxed, resting in such wonderful absolutes. There’s tremendous assurance in these truths.

Day 77

Last night as I was walking home from class, I passed a couple of the MU basketball stars on the sidewalk. These are the guys, who barring major injury or disaster, will make it to the NBA someday (and for one of them, possibly this fall). They may become stars there, too, or at the very least, solid players. Here at Marquette, they are the celebrities – people want to be near them, to know them, to be known by them.

It’s kind of weird (or not-so-weird), but I felt this fleeting need to talk to them, shake their hands, maybe ask for an autograph. After all, these are Important People, so if I’ve talked to them, I must be important by association. I can drop names, tell people I met so-and-so. My friends may be impressed. We are impressed by those to whom we assign this artificial importance – whole industries have cropped up to broadcast the minutae of the lives of celebrities. Indeed, they must be Important People.

However as I continued home in the twilight, I had to do some mental rearrangements, mainly dealing with that prickly sneak-up-on-you issue of idolatry.

I’m not denying that many people are very gifted – they may be athletic, beautiful, intelligent, charismatic, or amazing actors or musicians. It’s not wrong to appreciate and enjoy the talents of others. I do it every time I watch a baseball game or listen to the 5 Browns. Yet in reality, these people are not any better or any more important than I – an ordinary girl living an ordinary life – am. 

They are sinners in need of a Savior just as much as I am. Christ died for their sins, just as he died for mine. When they stand before God, it won’t matter how brilliantly they played the violin or portrayed a character in a movie or how many NBA championship rings they earned. Just as it is with me, all that will matter is who they trusted for eternal life – their works, or the One who finished the work.

And the fact that they were Important People here on earth will just go up in smoke.

Day 78

I find it irritating when the weather website posts the forecast of “100% chance of rain”. That’s not a chance! That’s a definite! If you want to put chance into the equation, make it a 99%  chance of rain. Hey, you can even make it a 99.999999999 % chance of rain. That means there’s still a .000000001% chance it won’t rain.

Just don’t talk about certainty and chance all at the same time. Please. It’s oxymoronic. Instead of this “100% chance” stuff, a simple “It’s absolutely-positively-no-doubt-about-it going to rain today” will do.

Reminds me of what the Lord promised me when I trusted Christ alone for my salvation: “You absolutely-positively-no-doubt-about-it have eternal life.”

John 10: 28-29 “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. ”

John 5:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”

Eternal security – there’s no chance in that!

Day 79

My little . . .ahem, my younger . . . brother made varsity rugby. He’s a sophomore and was expecting JV, so of course he’s absolutely thrilled. I’m just trying to reconcile in my mind the image of him three years ago as a junior higher with this new idea.

A while ago when we talked on the phone, he mentioned that he was looking forward to playing one-on-one basketball with me this summer. I beat him the last time we played . . .  four years ago . . . when I was still several inches taller than him . . . when I could actually block his shots. . .

So yeah. Now I think I’m going to get seriously shmushed. By my varsity rugby player younger brother.

Congratulations Noah! Go Buffs!

Onward.

Day 80

Say you were born with a 30% unilateral (one-sided) hearing loss  . . . would it really be a loss if you never had it to begin with? Or is the term “loss” used in relation to the hearing acuity of normal persons? Would a better term be “hearing deficit”?

Such are the deep philosophical questions that haunt the speech path graduate student nearing the end of the semester.

Onward.

“God never made a promise that was too good to be true.” -D.L. Moody 

We live in a time where incredulity reigns and “there’s no such thing as a free lunch”. So when one hears that God has promised a salvation that is entirely free to anyone who trusts in Jesus Christ’s death in their place and his resurrection, it sounds way too good to be true.

But all God’s promises are true, as true as himself. Jesus, who is God,  proclaimed that he is The Truth. You can’t get any truer than that, so why not trust this wonderfully good, but not-too-good-to-be true promise today?

Day 81 

As someone who is very interested in the speech/vocal apparatuses (apparati?), imagine my surprise when I discovered that giraffes don’t have vocal cords. Well, at least they won’t be getting vocal nodules. Or polyps. Or contact ulcers.

See what you can learn from drinking Snapple?

(Also, goldfish have a 3 second attention span. And here I thought my 4 year old clients had concentration issues . . .) 

Onward.

Psalm 136:23 “Who remembered us in our low estate, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”

This morning I read Psalm 136, and this verse jumped out at me. The psalmist is referring to Israel, but the principle still applies: who among us is not one of “low estate”? Yet the everlasting, ever-loving One has remembered us.

Thank you, Lord.

Day 82

1. A baby falling asleep in your arms

2. A bowl of chocolate mousse

3. Rain on a tin roof

4. The smell of fresh-cut grass

5. Laughing on the phone with a friend

6. Walking out of your last final

7. Goofy Hallmark cards

8. Going grocery shopping with coupons

9. Extra innings (but only if your team comes out on top)

10. Cardboard sledding on a grassy hill

11. Fixing a tough paper jam

12. Sleeping in when you are really tired

Anything you want to add?

Onward.

Spiritual Vitamins for Believers, Part Last:

1. I will have power over the nations (Rev. 2:26; 5:10).
2. I will not have my name blotted out of the book of life (Rev. 3:5).
3. I will be a pillar in God’s temple (Rev. 3:12).
4. I will sit with Christ in His throne (Rev. 3:21).
5. I will be with my God forever (Rev. 21:3-4).

Day 83

As a public service, here are some very useful phrases in case you ever get lost out on the savannahs in East Africa:

Tutakutafuta.

We will be looking for you.

Sitaki samaki.

I don’t want fish.

Unataka kupigwa?

Do you want to be beaten?

So  . . . maybe not so useful. But still, they’re fun to say, and in case you haven’t noticed, I’m all about fun-to-say words.

Next time on “Katie’s Language Lessons”: Igpay Atinlay orfay Ummiesday.

Onward:

Spritual Vitamins for Believers, Part 21:

1. Satan cannot touch me (1 John 5:18).
2. I have a living hope (1 Pet. 1:3).
3. I have a glorious future (Rom. 8:18; 2 Thess. 2:14).
4. I have been given eternal encouragement and good hope through grace (2 Thess. 2:16).
5. I will be preserved unto His heavenly kingdom (2 Tim. 4:18).
6. I am receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved (Heb. 12:28).
7. I have a place reserved in heaven for me (John 14:2,3; 1 Pet. 1:4).
8. I will eat of the tree of life (Rev. 2:7).
9. I will not be hurt of the second death (Rev. 2:11; 20:6).
10. I will have a new name (Rev. 2:17; 3:12).

Day 84

As my former roommate so dramatically stated above, yes, I was. Like the cartoon below, it seemed like a good idea at the time . . .

It was all part of a “Survivor-like” team contest in which one of the elements included each of the two teams duct-taping a member (me) of the group to a side of and old beat up car. Whoever fell off first lost that round. 

Unfortunately, Bible college students tend not to be the greatest at the whole physics thing. They decided to attach the strips of duct tape on to a horizontal surface (i.e. the roof), rather than vertical surfaces (i.e. the sides of the car) ensuring that neither one of us on either side would be able to fall off at all. This would not have been problematic if it had been, say, mid-June. But it was not. It was April. And April in Chicago can get downright chilly. And they forgot to tape my head up, so . . .

I was like that for an hour and twenty minutes. I think they figured they should call off the idea and just give both sides the points when I started turning gray, became incoherent and was shivering uncontrollably. I’ve never been so cold in my life, which makes sense considering the Chicago wind, the metal car, and my inability to, you know, move and circulate blood.

I still don’t think my roommate has forgiven me for going through with the whole ridiculous fiasco. As she said, “Where were all the grown-ups?”

A sad side note to this story is that the young man in the picture, Clark, died tragically a couple years later. When I heard about his death, I immediately went and found the photo. I hardly knew Clark, but somehow looking at this goofy picture was comforting to me after the shock of the news.

Onward.

Spiritual Vitamins for Believers, Part 20:

1. I am kept by the power of God (1 Pet. 1:5).
2. I am preserved in Jesus Christ (Jude 1).
3. I am kept from falling (Jude 24).
4. I have a building of God eternal in the heavens (2 Cor. 5:1).
5. My name is forever written in heaven (Luke 10:20).
6. I am more than a conqueror, even a super-conqueror (Rom. 8:37).
7. I have victory through Christ (1 Cor. 15:57).
8. I have overcome the world (1 John 5:4-5).
9. I always triumph in Christ (2 Cor. 2:14).
10. I am indwelt by the victorious Christ who is greater than Satan (1 John 4:4).

Day 85

It’s his birthday today, so it’s a rather opportune time to share some things I love about my father:

He is a good husband. After 30+ years of marriage, he still loves and cherishes my mom, brings her flowers, kisses her in front of us kids, cares for her. I’ll be so blessed if the Lord ever provides me a guy like my dad.

He’s a good father. Today as a gift, my mom gave him a mug  which had on it the dates of his six hikes up Mt. Kenya over the past 15 years, one trip with each of us kids. And it’s not just those big momentous events that are special . I remember the time when I lost a little pursein Heathrow Airport in London. It was a gift from him and I was devastated. He sat down in the terminal and cried with me. . . that’s just my daddy.

He’s a good example. How many times did I stumble bleary-eyed out into the dining room early early in the morning only to find my dad, Bible open, having his quiet time with the Lord? That image sticks with me . . . and it’s a good one to remember.

Some things that remind me of my dad:

Coffee brewing in the morning. Phillies games on the radio on hot summer nights. Rush Limbaugh on the radio on sun splattered afternoons as Dad drove us home from the bus stop in PA. Hall’s cough drops. Toothpicks. Tabasco sauce. Weetabix cereal . . . with little green bananas. “Java Jive” by Manhattan Transfer. Dave Brubeck. “Rhapsody in Blue”. Running. His quote, “Love the pain, thrive on the agony. H-O-R-S-E (although we call that basketball game Z-E-B-R-A where we live) and Around the World. The King’s Stilts by Dr. Seuss.

Happy Birthday, Dad. I love you.

Day 86

I found myself getting irritated this morning when a webpage took longer to load than the usual  .59 seconds. Good grief, the internet is slow today.

Long pause. Fingers drumming. Hit refresh a couple times. More drumming.

Ah, but wait a second, self. Was it not a mere decade and a half ago ago that the only mode of communication available to you between continents was an unreliable crank phone and those flimsy blue aerograms? Were you not thrilled when email arrived and you could send messages to America that would get there in mere hours? Don’t you recall the joys of dial-up, where a page could take 3 minutes to load? Have you forgotten the wonderful technological age you live in now, in which you can instant message to Kenya and call home whenever you want with a good deal of assurance that you’ll actually get through?

Oh, yeah. I forgot . . . guess I’m just a spoiled brat. Thanks for the reminder.

Onward.

Spiritual Vitamins for Believers, Part 19:

1. All things are for my sake (2 Cor. 4:15).
2. My God is for me (Rom. 8:31).
3. My every need is supplied (Phil. 4:19).
4. I am a laborer together with Christ (1 Cor. 3:9; 2 Cor. 6:1).
5. I am His workmanship (Eph. 2:10).
6. God works in me (Phil. 2:13; Heb. 13:21).
7. God’s Word works in me (1 Thess. 2:13).
8. I am sealed by God (2 Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:13).
9. I am on the Rock, Christ Jesus (Matt. 16:18; 1 Cor. 3:11).
10. I am established securely in Christ (2 Cor. 1:21; 2 Thess. 3:3).

Day 87

Sometime in 1988, a seven year old girl wrapped herself in the drapes in the family room of her home in Stroudsburg, PA, and secretly whispered a prayer to God for a little sister.

Why I wrapped myself in the drapes, I don’t know – maybe it felt safe and hidden. What I do know is that at that time, unbeknownst to me, the God who hears had already answered my prayer. A baby was on the way. The morning our parents told my two brothers and I about the impending arrival of “Babykins” (our family’s name for our unborn little ones – it comes from a Richard Scaary book), we went downstairs and set the table for six, much to Dad and Mom’s amusement.

Saturday, 22 April 1989 was a spring day not unlike today – warm and sunny. And that day, after months of waiting, Emily June made her appearance into the world. I ran around the house with a sense of elation that I’ve rarely felt since. I finally had a sister!

Today, my little sister turns eighteen. “Little” no longer, of course – she’s 4 inches taller than me, but still. I guess she’ll always be my little sister.

Today she is a beautiful, intelligent, kind young woman with a knack for caring for kids, strong academic and leadership records, a talent for drama, high school graduation in a couple of months, and college on the horizon. Where’d those eighteen years go?

Today I remember the sweetness of years gone by, of sisterhood, of sticking together as “the girls” with our four brothers. I remember the typical sisterly friction, the inside jokes, the giggling, the games. I remember our relationship growing as she grew older, so that now we are close friends who share a love for the Lord, a sense of humor, and similar tastes in books and music. We mainly communicate through email and instant messenger. Oh, and Facebook, of course.

Today I miss you, Em. I wish I could give you a hug, kiddo. But shouting HAPPY EIGHTEENTH BIRTHDAY across the wide world web will have to do until 87 days from now.

Nakupenda, dada yangu. Sana.

Day 88

Last night as I walked out of the library into the (relatively) quiet night, I was feeling a little melancholy. The Phillies were one out away from winning 1-0 vs. the Reds, but then blew it, losing 2-1 in 10 innings. It’s just a game, yeah. I’m over it now, but last night I was a little down.

I think the Phillies game was just the last straw -indeed, it is a straw – in a sad week. The images of Virginia Tech, the flags at half mast, the picture in the newspaper of a weeping widow meeting her Army husband’s casket at the airport, the incident at NASA. These all served as reminders to me of the tragedy that so often shapes and overwhelms our lives.

So, I was gloomy as I walked out into the cool evening. The sky was black. And then I saw it – the moon.

It’s strange, but if you think about it, when you ask someone to draw a moon, they never draw a full moon, or a 3/4. It’s always the fingernail, or the “crescent” if you will. It’s my favorite moon. True, a full moon can be stunningly beautiful as it rises, appearing to change both color and size during it’s upward trek. But when I see the bright white crescent suspended in that inky black, it seems to say to me, “Yes, this is what the moon should look like. Enjoy.”

And I do. And I did last night. As I stared up at that fingernail moon, I was reminded of God, the great sovereign Creator, who sees what’s going on down here and who cares deeply. He created the universe, but he didn’t leave us and go off elsewhere for a few millenia. He is still in complete control. Knowing that and making a choice to believe that brought great comfort to my soul.

Day 89

This is my 55th post since beginning this blog nearly 2 months and the search engines have really started to catch on. It’s fun to see what people are looking up when they are referred to my site. Some are searching for song lyrics, others for passages of Scripture. Today I got two hits from someone(s) looking for “crosswords” – a result from yesterday’s writing. 

But the overwhelming majority of referrals are for my posts on the Abraham Lincoln Office quote, “If you are racist, I will attack you with the North,” and the carnivorous cow from India. If you are one of these people looking for offbeat news and weird quotes, thanks for visiting.

Stick around, check out a few other posts (especially the “Good News” tab up top). You might have come here looking for a laugh, but you could leave having found something of eternal value.

Onward.

Spiritual Vitamins for Believers, Part 18:

1. I am guarded by His peace (Phil. 4:7).
2. I am freely given truth and knowledge by the Spirit (1 Cor. 2:12).
3. I am not distressed (2 Cor. 4:8).
4. I am not in despair (2 Cor. 4:8).
5. I am not forsaken (2 Cor. 4:9).
6. I am not in darkness (1 Thess. 5:4).
7. God is my Sufficiency (2 Cor. 3:5).
8. God is my Strength (2 Cor. 12:9-10; Phil. 4:13).
9. God is my Helper (Heb. 13:6).
10. I belong to a Sovereign God who works all things together for my good (Rom. 8:28).

Day 90

This morning I was doing the New York Times Crossword online. It was an old one because the old ones are free. I love crosswords as they are chiefly words, words upon words that interlock cleverly as you decipher the clues. I’m not very good at these puzzles, mind you (especially not the Times puzzle, which is the King of Crosswords) – it takes me way way way longer than it should to figure them out. Still, I find the brain exercise enjoyable.

Today I was stuck on 50-something down. Could not figure it out for the life of me. I was instant messaging with my sister in Kenya, so I typed out the clue for her. Five seconds later, she shot back the answer.

“Raisins.”

Yeah, no kidding. That was obvious. Yet there I’d been for a good ten minutes or more wracking my brain for a berry that started with “r”, but only had seven letters. Dried grapes were not even remotely on my list of possibilities. I needed a fresh perspective.

It’s a good lesson to remember – we all need a fresh perspective on life, a different viewpoint. Our minds easily get set into a stale way of thinking, and we need to air them out, renew them. There’s no better way to get our thinking on the right track than to take in the Word of God.

Romans 12: 2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.“

Day 91

Amidst the barrage of sad sad news spilling out of Virginia, you might have missed some good news. The law signed in 2003 by President Bush that bans this type of savage murder of our youngest, most helpless citizens has been upheld by the nation’s highest court. This means that partial birth abortion is officially illegal. It’s a battle won in the great war over the government-allowed massacre of babies.

But as much as I am against abortion, I am even more for a genuine change of heart brought on by the regeneration of the Holy Spirit the moment a person trusts Christ alone for salvation.

You see, you can picket all you want, yell and scream at the opposite side during rallies, wave pictures of aborted children, and debate, debate, debate. You might even convince someone that abortion is evil (and it is). But unless that person hears the gospel and gets saved, they’ll just go to hell thinking abortion is wrong.

A believer’s first priority should not be to change a person’s mind on social issues, whether it be abortion, gun control, homosexual marriage, or anything else. A believer’s first priority is to share the good news with the unsaved. The apostle Paul’s aim was never to go and clean up society – and his society was plagued with evil, just as ours is. His aim was to proclaim Messiah.

1 Corinthians 2:2 “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”

Day 92

I’ve heard the first question dozens of times in the last two days. Once again, tragic events have caused millions to ask “why?” The first thing that popped into my head when I first heard the question was:

The world is dark. “Men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19)

Does this fully answer the question? No. But Mr. Cho Seung-Hui was a sinner. He, like all of us, had a sin nature, a heart of darkness. He gave more rein to that nature than most of us do. What’s more surprising is that this doesn’t happen more often considering how much sin we are all capable of.

The question fewer are asking – but the one that stabs my heart far more – is the latter.

I go to class 5 days a week, and until yesterday I never considered the possibility that I could die in the middle of a lecture on stuttering or vocal nodules. I can guarantee that those students in Norris Hall did not imagine that that class would be their last, that their life would end in that room. So the question that haunts me is the one of their readiness.  If that had been my classroom and I had been a victim, I know with absolute certainty where I would have ended up – in heaven with my Savior.

I am ready to die. Were they? Are you?

People don’t like to talk about death. They’ll talk about nearly anything else, but when it comes to the most inevitable thing in life, people become ostriches, sticking their heads in the sand. They put their fingers in their ears: “La la la – I can’t hear you.” But ignoring the issue doesn’t make it go away.

If yesterday proved anything, it’s this: death will come, somewhere, somehow, sometime. Perhaps it will come in the most unexpected of places, like a mid-morning German class. But it will come.

And then it’s eternity. Forever. Are you going to heaven or hell? You need to get that settled before death arrives.

Do you realize you are a hopeless helpless hellbound sinner? Have you transferred your trust from your good works or your church or anything else to get you to heaven and placed that faith solely in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who died in your place on the cross and rose again? He said “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) Clearly there’s no other way to get to God, to attain heaven.

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:31)

Don’t wait. Simply rest in his work, and you too can be ready to die. Whenever that may be.

Day 93

So it’s Monday again. Monday, the most reviled day in the week. Monday, the black sheep of the family of days. Can anything good come out of Monday? Should we outlaw it? Should Tuesday be the new Monday? That, of course, would not solve anything . . . Tuesday would henceforth be the object of our wrath.

Why do we despise this day so much? Is it because it sounds like “mundane”, like the doleful tolling of a bell? Do we really hate work so much? Do we only live for weekends? Does “real life” hold such dread that after a weekend away from routine we cringe at the very thought of it?

1/7th of our lives are Mondays. If you live to be 80, you’ll live over 4000 of them. That’s a lot of days to hate if you do indeed dislike Mondays.

But “This is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24). I’m thinking that pretty much includes Mondays.

So, join me as a lover of each day God has gifted us with, including today.

Hmm, maybe I can get t-shirts made up.

Day 94

Today, I have a guest blogger – my wonderful mother, who tells in a stream-of-consciousness style the story of my family’s trek back from a visit in northern Kenya to their home in Kijabe. It happened last year. It’s all true. I think it’s quite hilarious.

Honest – this is what happened…. this morning when we were still in Ngurunit we got a text message from the airline people about our flight back to Kijabe- “it’s off because of the weather”… so we put our luggage back into our room … we wrote back to Kijabe to cancel a bunch of plans til we could fly out on the next flight on Friday … the airlines called right after we sent the email and said, “it’s back on again” … we grabbed a quick lunch, heard the plane approaching – went down to the airstrip– the plane had just arrived and was stuck in the mud (in the middle of the desert)… (it had rained for the week)… we had a wonderful flight- only 1 hour long… arrived to a huge crowd at the airport because earlier in the week there was a plane crash up north involving 6 Parliament members and their bodies were arriving at the Nairobi airport just as we arrived… and then we got left by the airline rep with all of our luggage.. in the middle of this crowd of well dressed politicians with their Mercedes- while we just came straggling in from a safari all dirty (from the sand blasting off the plane turning around after we dug him out of the runway)…and then a marching band arrived in uniform… and we were trying to get to our car at the other end of the airport.. carrying 9 pieces of assorted luggage and as we waited with our luggage we were asked by two different police and then a soldier to move because the President’s motorcade was coming…  (I’m not making this up)…  and I kept explaining why we couldn’t carry all of our luggage by hand… blah blah blah.. and finally Phil [editor’s note: that’s my dad] came with the car, but it was at the same moment as the Vice President’s motorcade arrived, from the other direction  so he had to stop and by then a bunch of men had overheard our story and were laughing with usas I kept saying- we’re just trying to get home… and we didn’t actually get into trouble, which could have happened very easily in that type of situation.. and I couldn’t even take pictures of these moments as that is also highly illegal  but … we’re home. WHAT A DAY!! 

Onward.

May the mind of Christ, my Savior,
Live in me from day to day,
By His love and power controlling
All I do and say.

May the Word of God dwell richly
In my heart from hour to hour,
So that all may see I triumph
Only through His power.

May the peace of God my Father
Rule my life in everything,
That I may be calm to comfort
Sick and sorrowing.

May the love of Jesus fill me
As the waters fill the sea;
Him exalting, self abasing,
This is victory.

May I run the race before me,
Strong and brave to face the foe,
Looking only unto Jesus
As I onward go.

May His beauty rest upon me,
As I seek the lost to win,
And may they forget the channel,
Seeing only Him.