For a friend...

Who knows who they are...my prayer for you today, that God's love will indeed rescue you.
Love you.

Kathryn Scott--Love Rescue Me

Wisdom on heaven

From Adventure Boy:

"When you die, you go to heaven and get new life...just like Yoda."

Friday Five: Fave Verses Edition

Songbird at RevGals says:

"Twenty years ago, I was on a Pastoral Search Committee, and one of the questions we asked the ten candidates we interviewed in the first round was to tell us their three favorite passages of scripture. I loved hearing the variety of verses quoted and even learned some that I didn't know, such as the last line of one of this week's lectionary passages:

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)

For today's Friday Five, list your five favorite passages/verses from the Bible and tell us something about why you love them."

In no particular order: (From biblegateway.com--all New Living Translation)

1. Acts 2:1-13

¹ On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. ² Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. ³ Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. ⁴ And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.

⁵ At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. ⁶ When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers.

⁷ They were completely amazed. “How can this be?” they exclaimed. “These people are all from Galilee, ⁸ and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages! ⁹ Here we are—Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the areas of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome ¹¹ (both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans, and Arabs. And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done!” ¹² They stood there amazed and perplexed. “What can this mean?” they asked each other.

¹³ But others in the crowd ridiculed them, saying, “They’re just drunk, that’s all!”

For the last few years, we've had a moment in worship on Pentecost Sunday, where several members of the church who speak various languages all stand and read the same passage in their specific language. I've written about it before. It is a powerful reminder, for me, that God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit came for all nations, all people and not just for my little corner of the world.

2. Micah 6:8 (New Living Translation)

⁸ No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good,
and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God.

My friend Jolynn brought this Scripture to my attention on a Mississippi trip. We used it as our theme verses for a subsequent trip. The simple words are seemingly easy to understand and yet so hard to undertake at the same time. When General Assembly was in CA a couple of years ago, that was their theme. Being on the "inside", I was able to get a print out of the artists rendition of that verse. It's on the wall in my office, reminding me of what God is calling me to do every day.

3. Proverbs 3:5-6 (New Living Translation)

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
⁶ Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.

In 1990 or 1991 I chose these verses for a testimony I gave in church. I didn't know but it turns out that those verses were the lifeline G.G. would needed to get through that year and the years after my Boompa's (grandpa's) death from cancer. Trust, seek and God will show up. Simple and hard...a common theme I find in the Bible.

4. Psalm 22 (just the first few verses to give a hint)

¹ My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Why are you so far away when I groan for help?
² Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer.
Every night you hear my voice, but I find no relief.
³ Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
⁴ Our ancestors trusted in you,
and you rescued them.
⁵ They cried out to you and were saved.
They trusted in you and were never disgraced.

Over the years I've been more and more convinced that we, in the church, don't allow people to lament, grieve or petition God. When people express doubts as to how God could allow X, Y or Z, we quickly label that person as "losing their faith". And yet the book of Psalms is filled with laments and petitions. I was first really introduced to this Psalm through an Out of the Grey album and have connected with it deeper through the years. I find comfort and safety in a God whom I can cry out to when my heart is hurting and lost, who I know is there but whom sometimes seems so far away. The whole Psalm confirms that I can lament to God without losing my belief in God.

5. Luke 8:40-48

⁴⁰ Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. ⁴¹ Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house ⁴² because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.

As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. ⁴³ And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. ⁴⁴ She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.

⁴⁵ “Who touched me?” Jesus asked.

When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.”

⁴⁶ But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”

⁴⁷ Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. ⁴⁸ Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”

This story has captivated, fascinated and encouraged me for a few years now. Jesus didn't just feel the power flow out from him, he stopped to recognize the person, to confirm the healing, to affirm that the woman's desperate faith was enough. I fully admit that may be my own reading into it. I also admire the courage of the woman to speak up, even though she faced rejection and humiliation from the crowd. A part of me relates to the woman's hope to be healed unnoticed and I am challenged by her to speak up when Jesus asks.

Weather

The temperature gauge outside reads 69 degrees. If this were April or early May, I would be happy. It's the end of January.

Our Snow Trip last weekend almost wasn't a snow trip. There was no snow around the cabin that we stayed in, as opposed to last year when we had to shovel our way in. There was snow at the ski area and at the tubing area, but you could see patches of brown beginning to peak through on the tubing runs. People were wearing shorts at the ski area. It was too warm.

Now, I'm not meaning this to be a post on global warming, all I'm saying is that I want rain. I want snow. I want to be dressed in layers and blasting the heater in my car. I want to wake up to the sound of the rain gutters working over time. I watched the news this morning and was actually jealous of the east coast and the snow they have been getting...though I know that most are ready for the snow to stop, I get that too.

All I'm saying is that I'm ready for it to be winter. A real northern CA winter with lots of rain, flood warnings, power outages and all. Yep, I'm ready for the rain.

My bags are packed...

I'm ready for snow. Tomorrow is D-Day for our Snow Trip. I was going to say it was my 12th trip, but actually I think it's getting closer to 16 or 17. That's blowing my mind at the moment. Anyway, the Middle School and High School youth are combining forces and numbers and heading out tomorrow.

The coolest part of the whole thing is that all the leaders going were once youth going on the trip...except for one, she never went on the snow trip but she did go on others. I love that they have re-invested in the youth group and I'm looking forward to seeing how God continues to work in and through them this weekend.

Catch ya on the flip side!

Empathy

Papa Bear is having some balance issues of late. In October he was suddenly and violently thrown off his feet...okay, he got really, really dizzy, couldn't stand up and couldn't keep anything inside. Yuck. There were many suggested reasons for the sudden dizziness but we are finding that it all relates back to another medical issue that I'm not gonna go into at the moment. The point is that Papa Bear is struggling with his balance. Which means no bicycle riding or skiing...two of his favorite things to do.

Tuesday I had lunch with K and Train Guy (who still needs a new nickname...star wars boy? hmmmm...) and we were talking about Train Guy's newest accomplishment, riding a bike without training wheels. I commented that he could go for bike rides now with Yo Momma, which caused him to get that little smile on his face of happiness and satisfaction that just melts my heart every time. K said something like "Yeah, Yo Momma needs someone to ride bikes with!". I then said, "I would say you could ride with Papa Bear, but he's having a little trouble with his balance lately." Train Guy thought about that for a second and replied "Saturday I was trying to ride my bike between two cars and I was having a little trouble with my balance." "You can understand Papa Bear's trouble then, can't you?" was my reply. To which Train Guy nodded his head solemnly.

There is something super precious about a 6 year old empathizing with the troubles of 60-some-odd year old Papa Bear. He's a keeper.

Shuffle mode

I listen to Pandora at work a lot. I have a bunch of different "stations" that are based off of artists that I like. Songs come on that are similar to the artist you choose and you can either like or dislike the song, which means you can either listen to it or skip it. I've found that the more I hit the "like" button on songs, the more I hear songs by that same artist over and over again. The problem is, no matter how many times I dislike a song, I can't seem to ever get rid of that artist altogether. And sometimes, like in the JJ Heller station I'm listening to right now (which always makes me think of Opinionated Friend), the artist is so unknown that they don't really know what to do on that station and play the same 6 artists over and over again. Or if it's a station, like David Crowder*Band, then they play music by guy bands and nothing by girl bands...Pandora is a little sexist like that.

The music that I'm listening to at any moment in time is usually a good hint to the mood that I'm in. There are songs that I specifically turn on when I'm feeling sad and want to cry. There are songs that I listen to when I'm mad at the world and just want the radio really, really LOUD! There are country music times, 80's pop times, indie-rock times, christian rock times, all Amy times and Christmas music times, just to name a few. There are times when I just need to be back in college or high school. There are times when I need to be introspective and quiet. Music is the indicator of my soul's needs at the moment.

Lately I've been plugging my I-Pod into my car's stereo system. For some reason I have two options with the stereo system. It will either play the songs from the first artist only or it will play the songs on shuffle. Being one who grew up with cassette tapes, I am REALLY used to listening to one song right after another as they were put on the album. One song will end and I can usually start singing along in the right key to the next song, pretty much in time. It's just how I am. So, the shuffle setting has been a little frustrating.

Until this morning. This morning I put my newly uploaded IPod in and was ready to be hit with whatever song shuffle choose...only to have it start with the first artist on the IPod and go through that artist's album song by song. Such a letdown! I wanted the randomness of the shuffle setting. I wanted to be thrown from introspective to high school to angry music to indie-rock, to alt-country to All Amy.

Which made me wonder if this is an indicator of my soul right now...all over the map, in shuffle mode. I kinda think it is.