Jesus for President

I am reading a new book about religion and politics, my two favorite subjects.... and here's an interesting excerpt:

Most of the ugliness in the human narrative comes from a distorted quest to possess beauty. Coveting begins with appreciating blessings. Murder begins with a hunger for justice. Lust begins with a recognition of beauty. Gluttony begins when our enjoyment of the delectable gifts of God start to consume us. Idolatry begins when our seeing a reflection of God in something beautiful leads to our thinking that the beautiful image bearer is worthy of worship.

continuing on i found this real winner quote from Harry Truman:

"Having found the atomic bomb, we have used it. We shall continue to use it...It is an awful responsibility which has come to us. We thank God that it(the atomic bomb) has come to us instead of to our enemies and we pray that he may guide us to use it in his ways and for his purposes."

wait...did i just read that correctly? excuse me, but who made us the moral police? and using weapons of mass destruction in the name of God? i suppose his purposes line up with the US domination of the globe all in the name of freedom. what a concept.

another great quote:

"Every war...with all its ordinary consequences...the murder with the justifications of its necessity and justice, the exaltation and glorifications of military exploits, the worship of the flag, the patriotic sentiments...and so on, does more in one year to pervert men's minds than thousands of robberies, murders, and arsons perpetrated during hundreds of years by individual men under the influence of passion." -Leo Tolstoy

A Father's Love

So I've been struck by some new thoughts lately. Yesterday I had a discussion with a friend about intimacy. And I was asking that person whether or not it was something they ever desired or sought after. This morning I heard the song Divine Romance in a new light. It had never really been one of my favorite Phil Wickham songs, but I had new perspective today.

The fullness of Your grace is here with me The richness of Your beautys all I see The brightness of Your glory has arrived In Your presence God, I am completely satisfied For You I sing I dance Rejoice in this divine romance Lift my heart and my hands To show my love, to show my love A deep deep flood, an Ocean flows from You Of deep deep love, yeah its filling up the room Your innocent blood, has washed my guilty life.

How I am confirming my love for the Lord? A romance is known to make people crazy, foolish some might even say. The evidence of love is all around in every word and action. It is a mutual pursuit to know and be known.

I was really challenged today to dedicate myself to pursuing intimacy with the Lord. To open up all the areas of my life to Him: my heart, my mind, my emotions. To understand that he is like the treasure in the field that once found is again hidden and then bought in exchange for all the other pleasures of this life. His sacrifice and love for me has proven that He is worth loving, trusting, and pursuing. He is my everything.

recent project

I was recently put in charge of table decorations for a women's coffeehouse at my church and ended up making 300 paper boxes with chocolate covered pretzels in them...whew. also, though i didn't get any pictures of them the centerpieces on the tables were twig trees with cutout paper birds and swirligigs on them. they were super fun.

the end of an era

I had a new client on monday. I clean private homes to supplement the fact that I am technically only part time at my other job. I think this is the last one I can take on without overdoing. So this little man greets me at the door and gives me the grand tour of the place complete with an all blue bathroom...(yes!). I was enamored by the ceramic blue toilet...i won't lie. anyhoo, cleaning their house was a good time. its always fun to interact with people and see how people live, the weird collections on their dressertops, the family photos, etc.

As I was busy scrubbing down one of the bathrooms, the little gentleman was in his "office" listening to the radio. And it was oddly comforting. It got me to thinking about my grandpa, how he'd be out in the garage...his so called "shop" as he was a carpenter and he'd hooked up the radio to turn on whenever the lights went on. He'd be listening to the news, talk radio, or sports...never music. Its funny how different generations get news. Ours is definitely an internet generation. I read the newspaper everyday, but I want to get into the habit of listening to talk radio more often. And just embracing the simplicity of the life the generations before us have led.

What will the future hold?

as my brother would say we've got BO for four years.
Obama got the presidency...and we wait curiously for the passing of the next for years and the possibile fulfillment of the Biden/Powell/Albrecht prophecy or "testing" shall we say. hmmm. can't wait to see what goes down in the next year. and sincerely hoping for the return of Christ.

A is for current ANNOYANCE: people who won't stop complaining
B is for number of BABIES you want to have: honestly...i could go for four or five
C is for what you CAN'T wait for right now: leaving work
D is for your DOG'S name: don't have one...but i used to and his name was axle foley
E is for EARNINGS you make per hour: 10.71-11.71
F is for FAVORITE TV show: Lost
G is for GREATEST accomplishment: graduating from college
H is for HERO: my dad
I is for favorite ICE CREAM shop: Coldstone
J is for favorite JUICE: cranberry
K is for who's butt you want to KICK: eh...i'll pass
L is for LAST food you ate: a cracker pack
M is for MARITAL status: single
N is for your dads middle NAME: Alen
O is for last trip to the OCEAN: spring of 2006 (Indian)
P is for PEOPLE you can't live with out: family, housemates
Q is for last time you had peace and QUIET: my morning devos
R is for last door bell you RANG: my grandmas
S is for last bee or wasp STING: i was 8 or something...and i stepped on it.
T is for the highlight of TODAY: when i accidentally called marsha "greg" at work...i have poor lateral vision...
U is for whats UNDER your bed: a couple pillows and a bible and a hat box full of scarves
V is for last time you wore a life VEST: August of 2007 Family vacay to minnesota
W is for how much WATER you drink daily: not enough.
X is for last time you were truly (e)X-CITED!: when my dad modeled his new birthday clothes
Y is for YESTERDAYS events: cleaned house, walked to dahls with bo, made soup, worked
Z is for what you have ZERO of: radiators in my room...or any source of heat for that matter