Another one saved!

Glad someone or someones spoke sense into her.

(Oh, and the compliments are nice too.)

We did good. But I'm so exhausted now.

Walk after rp and dinner

Figures

One of the first pictures I take is of my injured thumb.

"Eew, it's so gross...."

Love it

Battery drained far too fast. Love the new one. Can't stop playing with it.

Low tide

Patience

In this season, I think I’m finally learning to wait on God to fight my battles for me. Learning. (Sigh, blah, but okay, Lord, I'm definitely not perfect. It's You making all these changes anyway!)

Last night I listened to a John Ortberg sermon on “Love is Patient,” and he shared an anecdote on how Dallas Willard described Jesus as “relaxed.” Ortberg’s sermon was on how we can truly relax because God has everything under control.

And Ortberg is right. We’re fighting a battle that we know we will win. My devotions was also on 2 Samuel, Chapter 6. God went before David in every battle and fought it for him.

This doesn’t mean that I won’t know suffering. God will certainly allow bad things into my life—but I will never be alone, and He will use it for good. But whatever happens next, my God is with me, and the battle has been won. So the message for this season is to wait.

And finally, I think I don't just know this as scriptural truth in my head. I know how this feels as truth in my heart. 

This is the difference.

The Msians

Strange place

For better or for worse, I've returned to thinking a lot about work and what it might mean for me. 

I need something new. New direction? New methods? New objects?

But also feeling like I need a vacation. Land needs to lie fallow if it is to keep being productive, after all.

I guess you could put it that way

Esthers

We did really well against XD teams. Coach A had a cold that day but he didn't hold back a bit. Thankful for His people.

New tastes

I'm definitely not sharing the chips. Maybe I should share the cookies because they're sweet. But what if I like them and don't want to share after all??

Decisions.

At the 6th week before race mark

Practice is getting tougher. Given the chance, I could have fallen asleep at dinner.

Brain not focused. Need to work on that other article. And grade.

Photobombs

This was not my boat, hah.

reflective exercises

I enjoy assigning reflective, experimental essays because that's where my bright but under-equipped students truly shine. Ironically, those who are better prepared for academic work do slightly less well in these assignments. 

I was just reading one of these essays today, and the student says that s/he signed up for this course even though s/he "potentially risks getting a low grade."

Rumors .... rumors, I tell you. Rumors.

2pm on a rainy afternoon

Spot the wild boar

It started to pour after we got home.

Matthew 6:33

 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 


What's the difference this time? 

I'm excited about having to trust. It's great practice. And I think I'm starting to move beyond the part where I cry every time I fall down. 

I don't have to wait until I'm absolutely sure I can do something before actually giving it a shot. 

(Thus says the kid who crawled until her first birthday, and after a week of walking learned to run.)

This is the difference. This is the difference. This is the difference.

Kaboom

1 Samuel 2:1-10

2 Then Hannah prayed and said:

“My heart rejoices in the Lord;
    in the Lord my horn[a] is lifted high.
My mouth boasts over my enemies,
    for I delight in your deliverance.

2 “There is no one holy like theLord;
    there is no one besides you;
    there is no Rock like our God.

3 “Do not keep talking so proudly
    or let your mouth speak such arrogance,
for the Lord is a God who knows,
    and by him deeds are weighed.

4 “The bows of the warriors are broken,
    but those who stumbled are armed with strength.
5 Those who were full hire themselves out for food,
    but those who were hungryare hungry no more.
She who was barren has borne seven children,
    but she who has had many sons pines away.

6 “The Lord brings death and makes alive;
    he brings down to the grave and raises up.
7 The Lord sends poverty and wealth;
    he humbles and he exalts.
8 He raises the poor from the dust
    and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
he seats them with princes
    and has them inherit a throne of honor.

“For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s;
    on them he has set the world.
9 He will guard the feet of his faithful servants,
    but the wicked will be silenced in the place of darkness.

“It is not by strength that one prevails;
10     those who oppose the Lordwill be broken.
The Most High will thunderfrom heaven;
    the Lord will judge the ends of the earth.

“He will give strength to his king
    and exalt the horn of his anointed.”

Really, the very last stretch

The absolute, absolute last chance to make any corrections .... by next Wednesday.

But my brain is not engaging today, and with class prep and a full weekend already planned, I have three days to catch the last mistakes.

I would like to scream.

Vacation

I want one.

Martin Luther

"Faith is a living, bold trust in God's grace, so certain of God's favor that it would risk death a thousand times trusting in it. Such confidence and knowledge of God's grace makes you happy, joyful and bold in your relationship to God and all creatures. The Holy Spirit makes this happen through faith. Because of it, you freely, willingly and joyfully do good to everyone, serve everyone, suffer all kinds of things, love and praise the God who has shown you such grace."

Accidents will happen

No fracture, just a lot of pain. No paddling for a couple of weeks at least.

Nt Wright on campus

"Love wants the other to be truly who they are. Love takes delight in the other's otherness."

Which of the 7 does God call me to respond to?

Sin is believing that God withholds good from us.

-- Tim Keller, "Mission and Meaning"