Category: Blogroll

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.

Day 95

I can’t imagine being a newspaper columnist, someone who is under a daily deadline and must come up with fresh, witty, and provacative columns that engage thousands of readers. Talk about stress! I have enough trouble writing something half decent for this blog every day. And that’s less than 50 days in a row at this point.

Much of what I write is spur-of-the-moment. I’ll open up the browser to WordPress, stare at the blank white box for a bit, and then begin typing whenever a little seed of an idea takes root.

And, tada! Suddenly a blog entry appears!  

Thanks to those of you who check up on this site regularly. The writing is fun for me: it’s good mind exercise and good discipline. I hope you enjoy reading this blog as much as I (usually, most of the time, almost always, except when I have really bad writer’s block) enjoy writing it.

Onward.

Spiritual Vitamins for Believers, Part 17:

1. I have a great High Priest (Heb. 2:17-18; 3:1; 4:14-16; 8:1; 10:21).
2. I have an unfailing Intercessor (Heb. 7:25; 9:24; Rom. 8:34).
3. I have a righteous Advocate with the Father for times when I sin (1 John 2:1).
4. I have peace with God (Rom. 5:1).
5. Christ is my peace (Eph. 2:14).
6. I have rest for my soul (Matt. 11:28-29; Heb. 4:9).
7. I am led by the Spirit of God (Rom. 8:14).
8. I am enabled during trials and temptations (1 Cor. 10:13).
9. I am given assurance by the Spirit (Rom. 8:16; Heb. 6:18).
10. I am given comfort by God (2 Cor. 1:3-7).

Day 96

13. Teenage-hood.

12. My name (first & last) has 13 letters in it. So does Robert Redford’s.

11. Millard Fillmore was our 13th president. He once ran as a candidate of the Know Nothing Party. How can you not love a guy like that?

10. In keeping with the presidential theme, today is Thomas Jefferson’s birthday. He was born on a Wednesday in 1743.

9. It’s Butch Cassidy’s birthday, too. He was born on Friday the 13th back in 1866. And we all know how his life turned out.

8. “Houston, we have a problem.” Disaster? Yes. But one that made for a great movie? Yes.

7. My brother Daniel is 13.

6. 13 is a prime number. Go math!

5. Next school year, I’ll have only 13 credits to complete for my master’s degree.

4. 13 original colonies.

3. Triskaidekamania (you really really really love 13) & Triskaidekaphobia (you really really really don’t). Without the number 13, we wouldn’t have such cool words.

2. Sacramento boasts the intersection of 13th St. and 13th Ave.

1. There’s no need to be scared of a number! 2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

Day 97

11 April 2007. A day that will live in . . .well, let’s put it this way: I’ll remember it.

Yesterday, my day started out like this at 4 AM (note especially call number eight):

It progessed to this:

and this:

And ended with this:

I went to bed on Tuesday thinking it’d be a normal Wednesday: full and long, yes, but normal. Then I woke up at 4 AM to a loud crash and banging. A girl upstairs started screaming, “Somebody help me! Somebody please help me!” I scrambled for my phone and called 911 for the first time in my life. I’m glad I’ve reached the age of 26 without having to do that.

It turned out to be a domestic dispute, not a burglar, ala last October. (But that’s a whole nother story.) The police came, things calmed down, and I lay in bed wide awake waiting for my hands to stop shaking and the adrenalin to wash out of my bloodstream. Does adrenalin wash out of your bloodstream? Anyway, I was awake for a long time, but must’ve fallen asleep at some point because I slept right through my alarm and was nearly late for class. I really had to hurry through the falling snow to get there on time.

Oh, and fall the snow did, fast and heavy through the morning and afternoon hours, eventually piling 7 inches on Milwaukee. There’s some sort of unwritten rule that you are supposed to be upset with snow in mid-April, but just look at it. It’s spectacular. I was delighted with the wintry intrusion, to be perfectly honest. ‘Course, I don’t have to be driving anywhere; that colors my perspective a bit.

When I hiked my way home for lunch, I found I had a phone message from Pastor informing me that the Wednesday night service was cancelled due to the uncertain weather. I figured I could stay home, catch some of the Brewers’ game, do some studying for my voice disorders test. A cozy snowbound evening, perfect for this time of year . . . hmm.

A little later, I checked my email. One of my supervisors had sent an email to a bunch of us saying she had an extra ticket to the Angels-Indians game (baseball, in case you, you know, didn’t know) at 6:05 PM. So much for the quiet evening poring over notes on dysphonia while listening to the Brewers. I didn’t think twice. “I’d LOVE to go!” I shot back in an email.

Side note: For those of you who are wondering what in the world the Cleveland Indians and L.A. Angels are doing playing a game in Milwaukee, it’s pretty simple. Cleveland plays in a baseball stadium with no roof. It snowed in Cleveland. A lot. They had to cancel four games. The snow wouldn’t leave. They had to play. The Brewers who are from Milwaukee play at home in Miller Park, which has a roof. The Brewers were playing the Marlins down in Florida. The Indians needed a place to play. Miller Park is empty for a few days. So . . . the Indians and the Angels came to Milwaukee for a three game series. Cleveland decided to bring their snow with them. That didn’t matter. You see, we have a roof.

Tickets were $10 for everywhere. We sat in the 2nd level, which was pretty amazing. And for this one night, I was unashamedly an Indians’ fan, as were the majority of the 16,375 other undeterred-by-a-little-snow people crammed into the two lower levels with me. It was a good-natured crowd, mostly baseball fans out to enjoy this game in a once-in-a-lifetime series. (You tell me, when do you think the next time will be that the Indians will take on the Angels in Milwaukee?) And as if we could forget the biting chill, blowing snow and slush seeping into our shoes, the organist felt compelled to play in cheery baseball style, “Let it Snow” and “Winter Wonderland”.  

Some pictures of the occasion:

First pitch:

Vladimir Guererro, swinging away:

Nice li’l crowd:

The “Milwaukee Indians” lost the game 4-1, but it was quite an adventure.

Truthfully, all of life is an adventure.

Yesterday had a lot of unexpected twists and turns which reminded me of the Author of my life. He comforted me after that scary awakening. He sent an exquisite white snow to coat the trees I pass by on the way to work and school. He orchestrated events so I could go to a special baseball game, which I had REALLY wanted to do, but hadn’t even thought to pray about. And yesterday, I got an email letting me know that he had provided a scholarship that I hadn’t even applied for yet (but desperately needed).

What a wonderful way believers can live – seeing his hand in it all, from 4 AM to 4-1.

Day 98

I generally enjoy sessions with my clients here at the MU Speech & Hearing Clinic. With my older clients, I joke around a little. With the younger kids, therapy resembles play, complete with puppets and Candyland or Chutes and Ladders. That’s not to say that it’s not a grind sometimes, that it’s not hard work.

With “Maggie” it’s always hard work. She’s pretty severely cognitively disabled and non-verbal. She is learning to use a device that “talks” for her, i.e. she pushes a specific button to produce a pre-recorded message. Our hour and a half together once a week consists of me drilling her on the different messages on her device. She gets tired. I get tired. It’s not fun, but we’re making progress.

Maggie used to talk. She doesn’t any more. From what I understand, she went through some traumatic experience a while back and just stopped talking. She didn’t utter a sound with the clinician all last semester. I never heard her voice. Until yesterday.

Yesterday, Maggie was doing great. She was smiling and getting some of the more abstract messages correct with little or no cuing. After our little walk break, I decided to try something new. Putting aside her device, I said, “Maggie, can you say ‘hi’?”

She mouthed “hi”. She always frames words with her lips. I was looking for vocal cord vibration. But how to get that across?

“Maggie, can you use your mouth to say ‘hi’?” That was a little nonsensical, but . . .

“Hhhhhhhuuh”. There it was. She had said it. I nearly jumped out of my chair. I asked her to do it again. And again. It was a little rough, but she was saying “hi” on cue. Despite the fact that the effort seemed exhausting, she had the biggest smile on her face. I did too.

It’s a simple word, a throw-away word. We use it all the time and never think twice. But when Maggie said it, “hi” became beautiful.

Onward.

Spiritual Vitamins for Believers, Part 16

1. Christ has given me an understanding (1 John 5:20).
2. I have the righteousness of Christ (2 Cor. 5:21).
3. I have all sufficiency in all things (2 Cor. 9:8).
4. I have all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Pet. 1:3).
5. I can ever be content for I have Christ (Heb. 13:5).
6. I have all the armor and weapons I need (2 Cor. 10:4; Eph. 6:10-17).
7. I have God’s all-sufficient grace (2 Cor. 12:9).
8. I have grace to help in time of need (Heb. 4:16).
9. I have God’s power (Eph. 1:19; 3:20).
10. I have access to the Father (Eph. 2:18; Heb. 4:16).

Day 99

Hooray – we’ve reached double digits in our countdown!

Last night I watched the Milwaukee Bucks get a good beating (they lost by nearly 30 points) at the hands of the Orlando Magic. It was a basketball game, for those of you who might be no-so-literate regarding sports. It was kind of a yawner of an event, but we got half-price tickets, so I guess we just paid for the first half, which was the one in which the Bucks were actually competitive.

Halftime shows at pro basketball games tend to be loud, annoying, overly-exciting, and/or full of scantily clad women dancing in ways that make me want to contemplate the architectural structure of the Bradley Center rafters for the duration. This is why I was pleasantly surprised with what happened during halftime last night:

Several dozen Army recruits marched out to center court. We were asked to stand in respect. They were sworn in as soldiers. We applauded our appreciation for their service to our country. They threw some t-shirts to the crowd. They marched off. We sat down.

That was it. That was the halftime show. I was slightly stunned. One of my friends described it as sobering. I agree – it reminded me that we are a country at war. There are men and women in Iraq and around the world fighting for our very freedom to enjoy a basketball game in peace and safety.

I am grateful for these newly-minted soldiers. In essence, they are signing up to fight this war for us; a war that is apparently becoming less and less popular by the day. That takes guts and conviction.

So, thank you to all you who have served or are serving in our military. And thank you, Milwaukee Bucks, for a halftime show about something that really matters.

Onward.

Spiritual Vitamins for Believers, Part 15:

1. Christ has made me free, free indeed (John 8:32-36; Gal. 5:1; 1 Cor. 7:22).
2. Jesus Christ is my Deliverer (Rom. 7:24-25).
3. I am free from sin (Rom. 6:7,18,22).
4. The law of the Spirit of Life has made me free from the law of sin and death (Rom. 8:2).
5. I am God’s servant or slave (Rom. 6:22).
6. I am Christ’s servant or slave (1 Cor. 7:22).
7. I am a servant or slave of righteousness (Rom. 6:18).
8. I have been called unto liberty (Gal. 5:13).
9. I have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16).
10. I have a sound mind (2 Tim. 1:7).

Day 100

Pearls Before Swine is fast becoming one of my favorite comic strips, mostly because of installments like today’s:

I do miss the daily FoxTrot, though, and I’ve never quite gotten over the loss of Calvin & Hobbes. Sigh.

Onward.

Spiritual Vitamins for Believers, Part 14:

1. I am faultless in Christ (Eph. 5:27; Col. 1:22; Jude 24).
2. I am perfected forever (Heb. 10:14).
3. I am not my own (1 Cor. 6:19).
4. I am called unto holiness (1 Thess. 4:7).
5. I am a citizen of heaven (Phil. 3:20).
6. I am a stranger and pilgrim who is not at home in this world (Heb. 11:13; 1 Pet. 2:11).
7. I have been translated into the kingdom of the Son of His love (Col. 1:13).
8. I am circumcised in my heart (Col. 2:11; Phil 3:3; compare Deut. 10:16).
9. My faithful God will sanctify me wholly (1 Thess. 5:23-24).
10. My faithful God will keep me from evil (2 Thess. 3:3; 2 Tim. 4:18).

Day 101

As today is Resurrection Day, I called home for a little chat. My sister, Emily (in the 1.5 minutes I talked to her), told me about the time when she was babysitting where an episode of dishwashing with the kids eventually led to the creation of soap bubble beards. Remember those? I always loved it when Mom would put them on me or my younger siblings when we were little – I really got a kick out of looking in the mirror at my old man face.

Onward.

Julie & I sang in church again this morning – another song of God’s amazing love for us, with William Rees’ original words slightly altered to fit the occasion of Christ’s GLORIOUS resurrection.

Here is love, vast as the ocean,
Lovingkindness as a flood,
When the Prince of Life, our Ransom,
Shed for us His precious blood.
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten,
Throughout Heav’n’s eternal days.

On the mount of crucifixion,
Fountains opened deep and wide;
From the floodgates of God’s mercy
Flowed a vast and gracious tide.
Grace and love, like mighty rivers,
Poured incessant from above,
And Heav’n’s peace and perfect justice
Kissed a guilty world in love.

On the third day Christ arose/He had conquered death and sin/And he gives eternal life/To all those who trust in him/He alone will be my glory/Nothing in the world I see/He has cleansed and sanctified me/He alone has set me free.

Christ is risen! 

Day 102

I visited Africa for a couple hours last night with a classmate and her family. It was lovely to find a homey place at The African Hut in downtown Milwaukee, away from this wintry intrusion into early spring. Our waiter was apparently also the owner; a laid-back Nigerian whose English twirled gracefully from his lips as he told us what we would like to eat if our original choice seemed unsuitable.

My dish took me back to a meal I’d eaten in Uganda: the tasty rice, the thick savory peanuty gravy, the tender chicken. OK, the chicken last night was a lot more tender.

The service was slow, the atmosphere relaxed and inordinately hospitable by American standards. We even received a free dessert to share, brought out with a cheery “Happy Easter!”

The first step outside afterwards reminded me of where I really was, but for those couple of hours, it sure felt like Africa. 

It sure felt like home.

Onward.

Spiritual Vitamins for Believers, Part 13

1. My inward man is being renewed day by day (2 Cor. 4:16).
2. I have put on Christ (Gal. 3:27).
3. I am not of the world (John 17:14,16).
4. The world is crucified unto me (Gal. 6:14).
5. I am crucified unto the world (Gal. 6:14).
6. I am separated unto the gospel of God (Rom. 1:1).
7. I am set apart and sanctified in Christ Jesus (1 Cor. 1:2; 6:11; Heb. 10:10; Jude 1).
8. I am holy (Col. 3:12; Heb. 3:1; 1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 20:6).
9. I am clothed in His righteousness (Rev. 19:8).
10. I am a saint (1 Cor. 1:2; Phil. 1:1; Col. 1:2; Rom. 1:7).

Day 103

You know when you are on a break, and you get all confused about which day it is? You sleep and wake up at weird times, you lose all sense of normalcy, and the time on the clock never feels right.

Much as I like days off, I can’t handle too many of them in a row. I really do like routine and structure. I like doing things, being busy (in a I-have-enough-to-do-but-I’m-not-overwhelmed-with-craziness kind of busy, which is a busy hard to find). Guess it’s a good thing I don’t have off that often. I work at the library every day of the week, and of course I’ve always got the daily school stuff going on.

So when the library is closed and I don’t have anything really pressing for school or clinic, I feel strange, like there’s something I’m forgetting to do. (That reminds me – I need to pay my credit card bill. Like right now.)

Today was that way. It’s a Friday. Felt like Saturday. I slept in, had a good talk with a friend on the phone, putzed around, watched a movie, did a little homework – I couldn’t help myself. It was nice. I really needed the break.

Still, I’m kinda looking forward to Monday. I got things to do.

Onward.

Spiritual Vitamins for Believers, Part 12:

1. I am delivered from the law (Rom. 7:6).
2. I am not under the law but under grace (Rom. 6:14).
3. I have God’s laws written in my heart (Heb. 10:16).
4. I am joined to Jesus Christ (Rom. 7:4).
5. I am a partaker of Christ (Heb. 3:14).
6. I am identified with Christ in His suffering (2 Tim. 2:12; Phil. 1:29; 1 Pet. 2:20; 4:12-13; 1 Thess. 3:3; Rom. 8:18; Col. 1:24).
7. The knowledge of God is made known by me (2 Cor. 2:14).
8. The savor (aroma) of Christ is made known by me (2 Cor. 2:15-16).
9. I am an epistle of Christ (2 Cor. 3:3).
10. I am being changed into Christ’s glorious image (2 Cor. 3:18).
11. I am being perfected (Phil. 1:6).

Day 104

Clinician: “When you write all messy, what’s that called?”

Little Client: “You . . . you . . . (pause before lightbulb goes on) you ribble.”

So I guess I’m ribbling. Right now my life feels very ribbly. I’m grouchy. I’m irritated by my co-workers, my clinic responsibilities, and the fact that the group study rooms are locked when they should be open.

Maybe I didn’t get enough sleep last night. Maybe I got up on the wrong side of the bed.Maybe I’m just giving my sin nature the rein it shouldn’t have. I have a feeling that the last option is the correct option. Actually, I know it is. I have a choice – to react in my flesh to what’s going on, or respond in a manner that will be pleasing to the Lord.

Life in this world will never run out of irritations or messy situations. These trials, whatever their size, are opportunities for growth, for relying on the Lord’s strength and not my own. The “ribblings” of life can be a source of true joy as I reflect on the One who solved my biggest problem when he died on the cross and rose again.

James 1:2-4 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (NAS)

Day 105

I heard a meterologist say that this morning, and it is indeed true. It’s 28 degrees, with 30 mph sustained winds, a 14 degree windchill and flurries. Last week we hit 80 degrees. Must be spring in Milwaukee.

Currently I am at work standing beside a man (a very big rugby player man) in a pink bunny suit. . . I’m guessing that’s another sign of spring in Milwaukee?

Onward.

It’s important to remember the Lord is interested in the details of our life. Yes, I know he cares about the big things – occupations, schools, marriage (or lack thereof), places to live, the church we go to, but he also has the hairs of our heads numbered. He cared about mildew in the Old Testament. He cares about the details.

Including contacts.

I really needed new contacts a couple weeks ago. I ordered them up, and because my eyes have such awful astigmatism, they had special order them. Which took a while. Then there was the minor credit card issue. When they finally sent them, they FedExed them overnight, which they thought would make it more convenient for me after the long wait. It wasn’t. I always order stuff to come by USPS because I’m rarely home when FedEx or UPS stops by. And the buzzer in my apartment doesn’t work.

When Monday afternoon rolled around, I was frustrated. My old contacts were bugging me and I had missed the FedEx guy, so now I would have to find someone to drive me over to the FedEx place to pick up my contacts. It wasn’t that big a deal, really, but I just wanted my contacts without inconvenience to others and me.

Then I remembered the Lord (which, by the way, is always a good thing to do). So I prayed. I prayed either that I’d somehow bump into the FedEx guy coming to try a re-delivery, or I’d find someone willing to chauffeur me to South 3rd St.

Yesterday afternoon, I returned home and noted that there was no “we missed you” door tag on the outside door, so I thought the re-delivery hadn’t been made yet. Then I walked inside and saw a box propped up against my apartment door – my contacts! On top of the container was a dutifully filled out door tag with an X by the box that said “we could not deliver your package because a signature is required.” Yet there it was, delivered. I don’t know how, but it was.

I just had to smile and thank the Lord for his provision, and for answering my “little detail” prayer in such an unexpected way.