One of the most amazing aspects of being a believer is when God sends other believers into your life for you to share your life with. These are those folks that are crazy for Jesus the same way you are. You don't get funny stares from them when you talk about chatting it up with Lord. You don't get mean comments when you choose to live a life of purity and sacred morals. You don't get a disappointed look from them when you stand up to things the world says is okay, but Jesus says is not. You don't get judgement when you fail to be the person that God intended you to be. And you don't have to hide it with a lie when you fail.
What you do get is grace. intention. love.
and Joy.
It is rare when these people come along. One in a Million, you might say.
We live in a world where being a believer is NOT normal. Following God's word down to the tiniest detail is not something that the majority of the folks I know even care to do. In fact, most of the folks I know are the type people that try to be good, try to love everyone, and try to be normal.
I don't think anywhere in the Bible God says that being normal is what we should be.
In fact...
In 1 John 3:13, "Do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you."
So when you find a church, a family, a couple - any group of people who are totally in love with God like you are, people who are 100% committed to living a life of upstanding morals, people that know without a shadow of a doubt that they will face persecution, people who are not just blending in with the crowd - when you find this, you want to celebrate.
it is so amazing. Say, Cloud 9?
I'm celebrating today.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Reading list 2013
Anything : The prayer that unlocked my soul - Jennie Allen
The Hunger Games : 1, 2, and 3
The Last Sin Eater - Francine Rivers
As silver refined - Kay Arthur
Maybe read: Stepping Up: A Call to courageous manhood - Dennie Rainey (this one I would read because I want Jon to read it).
The Hunger Games : 1, 2, and 3
The Last Sin Eater - Francine Rivers
As silver refined - Kay Arthur
Maybe read: Stepping Up: A Call to courageous manhood - Dennie Rainey (this one I would read because I want Jon to read it).
Our next MiSaDvEnTuRe awaits
One of the places Jon and I wanted to visit for like, FOREVER, is Yellowstone. We almost planned a trip out West last year, but instead opted to go to Miami for various reasons. But this year, we finally did it! We booked our campground in Yellowstone National Park this morning. Whoohoo! Let the countdown begin! (ehhh....8 long months to wait)
You know, I think the most wonderful part of any vacation is the planning. The organizing. The dreaming. The magic!
OF course I would say that.
If any of you know me, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to plan and organize. Give me an Excel spreadsheet and a few colorful highlighters, and somehow magic happens. I can turn a blank page into a treasure map of what, when, where, and how much. It is beautiful.
....it's also C.R.A.Z.Y.
C-R-A-Z-Y!
I am one of those looney bird planners that could plan each moment of my life down to the bathroom breaks. Don't worry, I do have some sense of self control. But don't you even doubt that deep inside I secretly wish I could make a spreadsheet for every single day.
What is quite funny though, is that no matter how much planning, preparing, and budgeting that I do, something always happens that I couldn't have planned for.
...A mishap.
...A mistake.
...A misadventure.
The Misadventures of Jon and Beth blog started because every vacation we go on something bad happens. Every single one. Either not getting sleep or getting sick or whatever, something always happens.
Let me give you a quick recap:
2004 - We returned from our honeymoon cruise only the find our brand new apartment home had flooded.
2005 - With our second attempt at cruising, returning home was much better than the cruise itself. We went on an excursion with a drunk driver who LITERALLY almost killed us. That is no exaggeration.
2006 - New York City was a blast except for the nights. Lets just say some people can snore so loud that you cannot sleep. It was bad. Really bad.
2008 - Our winter vacation to Colorado turned into a nightmare after we got T-boned in our rental car and Jon lost his license which meant we could not get back on the plane to Georgia.
2008 - The all inclusive trip to the Dominican Republic should have been the best 5 days of the year, until day 2 when I contracted a terrible bacterial infection from eating unclean food. I spent the rest of the time not eating anything. I guess all inclusive included the nasty bugs they carry there.
2010 - We tried cruising again only to be put into a room where a banging and clanking noise kept us up all night every single night. I don't remember sleeping ANY on that trip.
2011 - We traveled to Atlantis Paradise Island, but paradise turned into "not so nice" when they overbooked and had to put us up in a dump of a hotel for 2 days. Complaining gets you nowhere in the Bahamas.
2011 - September's cruise with our friends was great until Jon's face swelled up like a beach ball due to a saliva stone - not to mention the room we ended up with reeked of smoke. They had to use the Ozone machine every single day just to make it tolerable.
2012 - Miami went great except the drive down: flat tire, sleeping in the car at the rest stop because we could not find a hotel with vacancy, and then on the way home the truck started making horrible noises.
and so it begins....
Let me just tell you, I am in no way complaining. I know that we get to travel so much and things are bound to happen, but boy on boy, it just seems that we always end up with really bad luck. We must be the unluckiest couple in the history of ever! But it sure doesn't stop us from trying again.
Let the countdown begin. Yellowstone here we come!
You know, I think the most wonderful part of any vacation is the planning. The organizing. The dreaming. The magic!
OF course I would say that.
If any of you know me, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to plan and organize. Give me an Excel spreadsheet and a few colorful highlighters, and somehow magic happens. I can turn a blank page into a treasure map of what, when, where, and how much. It is beautiful.
....it's also C.R.A.Z.Y.
C-R-A-Z-Y!
I am one of those looney bird planners that could plan each moment of my life down to the bathroom breaks. Don't worry, I do have some sense of self control. But don't you even doubt that deep inside I secretly wish I could make a spreadsheet for every single day.
What is quite funny though, is that no matter how much planning, preparing, and budgeting that I do, something always happens that I couldn't have planned for.
...A mishap.
...A mistake.
...A misadventure.
The Misadventures of Jon and Beth blog started because every vacation we go on something bad happens. Every single one. Either not getting sleep or getting sick or whatever, something always happens.
Let me give you a quick recap:
2004 - We returned from our honeymoon cruise only the find our brand new apartment home had flooded.
2005 - With our second attempt at cruising, returning home was much better than the cruise itself. We went on an excursion with a drunk driver who LITERALLY almost killed us. That is no exaggeration.
2006 - New York City was a blast except for the nights. Lets just say some people can snore so loud that you cannot sleep. It was bad. Really bad.
2008 - Our winter vacation to Colorado turned into a nightmare after we got T-boned in our rental car and Jon lost his license which meant we could not get back on the plane to Georgia.
2008 - The all inclusive trip to the Dominican Republic should have been the best 5 days of the year, until day 2 when I contracted a terrible bacterial infection from eating unclean food. I spent the rest of the time not eating anything. I guess all inclusive included the nasty bugs they carry there.
2010 - We tried cruising again only to be put into a room where a banging and clanking noise kept us up all night every single night. I don't remember sleeping ANY on that trip.
2011 - We traveled to Atlantis Paradise Island, but paradise turned into "not so nice" when they overbooked and had to put us up in a dump of a hotel for 2 days. Complaining gets you nowhere in the Bahamas.
2011 - September's cruise with our friends was great until Jon's face swelled up like a beach ball due to a saliva stone - not to mention the room we ended up with reeked of smoke. They had to use the Ozone machine every single day just to make it tolerable.
2012 - Miami went great except the drive down: flat tire, sleeping in the car at the rest stop because we could not find a hotel with vacancy, and then on the way home the truck started making horrible noises.
and so it begins....
Let me just tell you, I am in no way complaining. I know that we get to travel so much and things are bound to happen, but boy on boy, it just seems that we always end up with really bad luck. We must be the unluckiest couple in the history of ever! But it sure doesn't stop us from trying again.
Let the countdown begin. Yellowstone here we come!
Sunday, January 6, 2013
How do you really know God?
My dad asked me a question a few weeks ago and I have been pondering it lately. He said, How do you know when God is speaking to you?
I guess the "preacher" answer is that God speaks in many ways. He speaks through the bible, your pastor, your Godly friends, your parents, prayer. I know personally I have found that God speaks to me through music. I hear God. You know, that tug-of-your-heart kinda feeling. Well, that's God.
I guess, though, there are many, many ways to hear God.
studying scripture
church
worship
your christian community
and, on and on....
But how do you really know God is speaking to you? What is that tug-of-your-heart kinda feeling.
Many people who go to church and pray and listen to music never really know Him. Some folks could pray all day long and feel as distant to the Lord as we are distant to the stars.
If you think about it, how do you really know anyone?
Time.
Experience.
Conversation.
Trust.
The only exercise that works 100% of the time to draw you close to God, is risk.
To willingly give your life to God, to place your future into His hands, and then sit back and watch Him come through.
And He does. He will.
Trust Him.
I guess the "preacher" answer is that God speaks in many ways. He speaks through the bible, your pastor, your Godly friends, your parents, prayer. I know personally I have found that God speaks to me through music. I hear God. You know, that tug-of-your-heart kinda feeling. Well, that's God.
I guess, though, there are many, many ways to hear God.
studying scripture
church
worship
your christian community
and, on and on....
But how do you really know God is speaking to you? What is that tug-of-your-heart kinda feeling.
Many people who go to church and pray and listen to music never really know Him. Some folks could pray all day long and feel as distant to the Lord as we are distant to the stars.
If you think about it, how do you really know anyone?
Time.
Experience.
Conversation.
Trust.
The only exercise that works 100% of the time to draw you close to God, is risk.
To willingly give your life to God, to place your future into His hands, and then sit back and watch Him come through.
And He does. He will.
Trust Him.
Saturday, January 5, 2013
A place you can see the stars
When I was a little girl, my dad and I used to go out back of our house, and lay on the ground. This was a place where you could see the stars.
It was quite and beautiful.
It was home.
As I grew up, my home changed from a college dorm room, to a teeny tiny apartment, to our first home after we married. None of which I could have called home. These were houses. Places that we stayed.
But not my home.
In the 8 years that Jon and I have been married, I have struggled with calling our houses, our home. They all just feel temporary.
My home...or least my dream of my home...would be away from the city, away from the hustle and bustle, away from the noise. A place with acres and acres of land. A place where you could go to sleep to crickets. A place where our children could run, and play, and build tree houses, and forts, and maybe even rock cities. A place where you could smell the grass and the dew on a cool April morning.
My home will be a place where you can see the stars.
and so...
I love finding good blogs. I found this one a while back and have been following her religiously since.
This is her story. This is almost our story.
Thistlewood Farm
We found it. We just have to find the courage to jump.
It was quite and beautiful.
It was home.
As I grew up, my home changed from a college dorm room, to a teeny tiny apartment, to our first home after we married. None of which I could have called home. These were houses. Places that we stayed.
But not my home.
In the 8 years that Jon and I have been married, I have struggled with calling our houses, our home. They all just feel temporary.
My home...or least my dream of my home...would be away from the city, away from the hustle and bustle, away from the noise. A place with acres and acres of land. A place where you could go to sleep to crickets. A place where our children could run, and play, and build tree houses, and forts, and maybe even rock cities. A place where you could smell the grass and the dew on a cool April morning.
My home will be a place where you can see the stars.
and so...
I love finding good blogs. I found this one a while back and have been following her religiously since.
This is her story. This is almost our story.
Thistlewood Farm
We found it. We just have to find the courage to jump.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year everyone!
Did you make a New Years resolution this year? Maybe to exercise more or eat better? Maybe you resolved to be happy and joyful in every circumstance. Or perhaps, you resolved to just be a better person this year! All of those are wonderful, purposeful decisions, and if you can actually keep your resolution, then congratulations! You, my friend, are one of the few that actually do.
You know, every single year I make a resolution too. I resolve to do this or that, or loose this or that, eat this not that...and on and on. Every single year I resolve to "do" something. But just like the majority of us, every single year I fail. There I said it. I fail. Fail.
I have resolved to a routine exercise program starting January 1st for as long as I can remember. Usually sometimes between late February and early April I fissile out. Poof! I just stop. I get tired of it. I hate it. I dread it! D-R-E-A-D it! Who wants to exercise when there is so much more I could be doing that involves very little sweat! Ha-Ha!
But here I go again....This year, I have a new resolution. I have decide though, I am not going to talk about it or say what it is. I am not going to call it a resolution. I am not going to set myself up for failure like I do every year. My hope is that by not resolving to do something, but instead wanting to do something, that I will actually succeed. If you are wondering what it is, I'm not telling. I am not telling anyone. This year, my resolution is between me and God. He knows the desires of my heart. He knows how to help me accomplish my goals. He knows.
And let me tell you, isn't it great that God never fissile's out! Even when I do, He does not. He is successful. He is perfect. When I mess up, God extends his hands of grace to me. He forgives me. His Grace is sufficient for me.
Remember, no matter how many resolutions you fail or succeed at, there is only one resolution that has eternal consequences. And that resolution doesn't involving YOU doing anything.
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. – 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 (NIV)
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