A Tuesday morning prayer

Dear God who instituted a new and different way of life for Your own people,
I pray I would be very different from the world around me, not charmed by the fleeting things it has to offer, but charmed only by the eternal and glorious things you offer. To love what You love and desire what You desire. To be eager to show love even to those who hate me; to rejoice in my quiet and peaceful home where You are exalted, and love and kindness abound; to see all with the eyes of faith, knowing that all of creation was created by You for my good and Your glory; to fight for Your Truth no matter what people may say or think about me; to desire to see justice carried out, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with You all of my days.

Asian night for Mr. & Mrs. M

The night started very innocently with dinner at a new Philipino restaurant. Because of the lack of communication, neither of us had any idea what would be coming out on our plates. For the majority of the dinner, we were the only ones in the restaurant. Suddenly, at precisely 6:30, three families came in, and the place was hoppin'. I guess that is standard Philipino dinner time? Us poor, ignorant, white folk. After dinner, because we wanted to avoid making a left turn in so much traffic, we drove into a neighboring city, and got Thai massages. Mr. M loves these, so I wanted to try, I thought it would complement my Thai iced tea nicely, and this new place had a promotional special. So I went in the booth and put my special outfit on. (I had to ask how the pants went on.) The masseuse had me lay face down-not a good idea right after dinner, especially with someone pushing on your back side. She stood on me, sat on me, knelt with her knees on me, and then contorted me into all sorts of positions. I think she may have thought I was a noodle. A particular scene from Napolean Dynamite was running through my head, where Napolean was trying out a time-machine and, after plugging it in, said, "Ahh! It kills! Turn it off, it KILLS!!!" I am a skinny little waif, though, (that is how God made me), so that may have been a factor. My husband, a very averagely built guy, (and good looking, too!), loves these massages, so the only thing to do is try one for yourself.

Throw me in the lion's den

I've been reading Church History in Plain Language by Bruce L. Shelley. Most people know about martyrs, the early Christians who were persecuted, even put to death, by governing authorities because of the threat they posed to the established pagan way of life. Christians were known as saints, "holy ones", but the root of the word meaning saint is "different." Christians were different. The "holy ones" upset the Greek and Roman way of life by refusing to worship their idols or bow down to their gods and goddesses. This makes me wonder how all of this affects, and is reflected in, our society. What or who are the modern idols? Who are the perceived gods and goddesses of our day? Call me what you will, but I see so many people today making idols of The Beatles. Don't get me wrong, I love music, and I think those four guys from Liverpool were very innovative musically, but I'm not going to go buy everything with their image on it, or cover my walls with their pictures. And for my next subject, I will choose Oprah Winfrey. I believe it was she who started the whole idea of the "inner goddess", and it is she who persistently tells us how important it is to find our "spiritual identity", without ever defining that term. According to O, your spiritual identity is whatever makes you feel good, whatever makes you feel "connected." I ask, "connected" to what? To my lava lamp???
The early Christians also refused to be spectators of the bloody gladiator games. As a society today, we mercifully don't watch people die for entertainment, but many watch with glee as people hurt and yell, and sometimes physically assault, other people, spurred on by Jerry Springer and Maury Povitch. Just as disturbing is the popularity of watching dysfunctional families fighting, or people singing and dancing, while "experts" are sitting there throwing verbal javelins and swords at them.
We who are the "holy ones", the saints, God's chosen people, need to be different.

Goals and Gaols

Well, this post is really just about my goals, and does'nt really have anything to do with gaols, except that to never end up inside of one is a worthy goal. (A gaol is an antiquated spelling of jail. If you want proof, read a Dickens novel-someone's always in a gaol, or on their way to one, in his novels.) So . . . goals. I really never had any, but if I had, I think I'd have accomplished a lot of them. At a young age, I married a man I loved very much, and we have continued to love eachother passionately for 10 years. Not only do we love eachother, but we really like eachother, and enjoy every minute wer'e together, whether here at home, on vacation in Hawaii, or at the hardware store. Wer'e also blessed and honored to call many people friends, and we are only too happy to host big shin-digs and get-togethers and movie nights. I have always enjoyed writing, so keeping this blob updated is fun, and could be considered as an accomplished goal. Our futures are only known by God, but I think my husband and I have done very well with the hand we've been dealt, and we both have accomplished the greatest goal you can make, which is to know God and enjoy Him forever.

My guy's friends

I've been reading The Friendships of Women by Dee Brestin. Very insightful for me, and encouraging in woman-to-woman friendships. The book, and the thoughts it causes me to think, make me very appreciative of my husband's friends. We all need many people in our lives, each fulfilling a role only they could fulfill. Try as I might, I just can't make myself care about carburators or motor mounts. Nor can I get excited about the latest and greatest computer program or its many applications. That is why I'm so glad that my guy has quite a few guy friends who really do care about that stuff, and even get excited about it.

Living by the clock

The Bangles sang about it, God wrote about it, and everyone of us has it and we need to be wise about how we choose to use it. It is evil, and brings us closer to death, yet many people wish so badly that they had more. They insist there just isn't enough. It's been said that this commodity can heal all wounds, yet many people shamelessly waste so much of it on the most trivial things. It is time. According to a quiz, my personality matches the book, "Alice in Wonderland." That's fine, I really like that book. The one character in the book I definately don't want to mimic is the rabbit, always looking at his watch and always late for a very important date. I don't want to be always-not even often-looking at my watch. I'd rather mimic Paul Simon and look around for my possibilities. We all have daily opportunities to stop for a minute in order to make someone else's day a little better. Just to put a smile on someone's face. The only catch is that we'll have to give up a little of our own time. Can we do that? Can you do that? Can you spare just a minute to make someone else happy? I know I can; I just hope I always do.

Waiting

It's not too hard to wait. Jesus waits for us to see the truth, and He gives us time to turn from our selfish ways and begin to live for Him. I have a dying houseplant. Do I just put this houseplant in the back of the house and continue to care for it while enjoying my flourishing houseplants, or do I just throw it away? Like I said, Jesus doesn't throw us away or give up on us when we fail to thrive and are unpleasant to look at, and anyway, it's not that hard to wait.
(FYI, this is an allegory. I have no houseplants.)

Chasing photo opps

Yesterday as I strolled along with my favorite furry companion, I saw some familiar feathered friends-western tanagers, bright yellow birds with red heads. I saw a herd, swarm, gaggle, bunch of them years ago while walking with my mom and a good friend. It was amazing to see all these bright birds amidst the brown hills and bare trees. I think they stop in SoCal for coffee on their way to South America. I found a picture of one on the net yesterday, but today I wanted to get the real thing-a picture of one with my own camera. So after walking the dog (not the yo-yo trick), and seeing a bunch of these birds in my neighborhood, I went home and got the camera and headed out on my mission. I re-traced my steps, and when that was fruitless (or, birdless), I crossed the street to the park, where I spent quite some time chasing after these birds, all to no avail. I might as well try to photograph Bigfoot. It was nice to be out anyway, paying close attention to the surroundings, appreciating the quiet broken only by the chirping of birds, and knowing that this is a day that the Lord has made, and I did rejoice in it.

Mi oracion del tres de mayo

Dear God,
Thank you for all that I have and that I am. Thank you for stretching out your arm, and sacrificing your only Son to save me. Thank you for the Spirit to comfort me in all afflictions, and give me the right and wise words to speak at the right time, and the boldness to do so. Thank you for the gifts that allow me to carry out the functions you’ve ordained for me to fulfill within the Body of Christ. Thank you for the spirit of boldness that allows me to come to you and lay all the burdens of my heart before your throne of grace, knowing that you care for me.
Forgive me for not trusting in your providence, when you’ve promised to tend to the needs of your own. Even when I’ve felt within an inch of death, you sustain me and meet all my needs.
Thank you for the love that surrounds me in the family and friends you’ve given me, and I pray I would be a source of love to those people, and even to others who don’t love me.
As you have always been faithful to me, I pray that I would be faithful to you, in loving you deeply each day and in showing love and kindness to all who come my way.