Wednesday, April 30, 2008

It's a wonderful time of year...

I was sitting outside tonight, and it was great. A little cool, but still nice enough. My apartment is on the 8th floor, at the corner of 123rd and Broadway, overlooking Broadway and the 1 train. I look out at the GW bridge and Grant's tomb, both of which are lit up at night. The sun set in a beautiful manner, with all these wonderful colors. I sat there looking at the flowering trees, watching all different people walk by and the traffic even seemed to quiet down, an unusual event in the city. It's great to think of all the blessings that He has given me. A church I can love and worship in, a family that loves me, a wonderful place to live, food, clothing. He is great!

Monday, April 28, 2008

His Love is True!!!!

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song. (Psalm 28:7)

Joy to Him! Isn't that the truth? Has there ever been a time that he hasn't been faithful and wonderful to us? Think of all He has done - saving all of us who are unworthy because He truly loves and cares for us. And we have done nothing for that - nothing that could ever earn that love, caring, or depth of emotion. There is nothing that we could ever do to get that in our lives.

There is such love and emotion coming from him that there is little else I can do but love him back. I don't know about anyone else, but it's been such a fantactic drive to be able to grow with the Bible and the words that we have to live by. I am trying to get my hands on any and all readings that can show me more of His love and how we can bring others to the way. Please share what you know and what helps you!!!

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Chocolate Cheesecake Bites

Ok, these are super easy and delicious!

Ingredients:
8oz bar of cream cheese
about 12 - 15 oroes, crushed
dipping chocolate (melted chocolate chips or bar, etc, any chocolate that will melt and reharden)
peanut butter chips or peanut buther

How to:
Soften the bar of cream cheese and mix the oreos in to it. Form it in to balls and place on a plate. Place back in the fridge until chilled. When ready, melt the chocolate and dip the cream cheese balls in to it. Place back on the plate and place in the fridge until chilled. When chilled, melt the peanut butter chips (or peanut butter) and drizzle across the balls. The process takes a while because you have to do a bit of softening and chilling, but the steps you have to do are very short and these can easily be made on a day you are in and out doing errands or stuck in cleaning.

Children's Church

OK, so my congregation is a small, growing one. There's not many LCMS Lutherans to begin with and many people leave when they have children, so we haven't had any families until recently. We are now at a point that we are looking at starting a children's church and I jumped on board, since working with children is the way I feel most comfortable serving, although I have never had to start a cc or Sunday school program. Of course I am getting assistance from my pastor and his wife, but am being given a bit of leeway. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Reactions or rejections?

I have to say that coming back to my Christian faith has been one of the most wonderfuly experiences that last few years, but also has presented some things issues. I am not suggesting that all the things have been bad, but it has provided me with a challenge. Many years ago, I had given up on Christ in my life, thinking it would be easier to follow my own path rather than what He has planned. Little did I know how difficult that would be. It was such a great experience to come back a few years ago, coming back to His word and seeing how I could live to bring joy. I guess the challenge lies in other peoples expectations of me. I love how He so clearly lays out for me how to live, but when people expect me to act a certain way, dress a certain way, etc, that makes it a little more challenging. The people who truly care about me have come around to see the positive change in me, and some of them have even come around to Christ, which as awesome experience. It's still tough to see some of the reactions I have gotten, mostly because they are rejecting God's word. How have others handled this type of reaction to their change or the rejection of God's word?

Friday, April 25, 2008

Great tips for meditation!

Rebekah (who runs this blog I have linked to) has come up with a great idea for a meditation/prayer book. Her blog is worthwhile to look at as a whole (I have also linked her blog under my worthwhile blogs).

~By His Grace and For His Glory~: Tips for meditating on the Word#links

Eeck!

I can't believe it's been a week! This past week has been vacation week and I've been traveling all over to see family and friends. I'll be back in the loop tomorrow. :)

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Faith

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. (Romans 10:17)

Growing up, faith didn't come easy for me. There was a lot going on in my life that made me question if God existed. I'm not saying that I had the hardest life there was, but it wasn't idealic. There's some things I don't feel comfortable sharing out here in cyberspace yet, but some things I can talk about. I remember moving to NJ in fourth grade, a wealthier town with a good school disctrict. My family was comfortable, but my parents worked hugely long hours to make ends meet and we were expected to start working with odd jobs as kids and then with our working papers to help out with expenses we needed to cover. We were very different from the most every other kid in town. My sister was in college when we moved there, and my three older brothers all adjusted well. I didn't. I remember moving during 4th grade, right at the end, which is a rough time for girls and cliqeness. The other girls, most of them, made my life a living hell. I got picked on and teased on a daily basis and would frequently go home in tears. It was the most miserable experience and this went on straight through about 9th grade, when the kids just more left me alone. That was such a relief! At that point, I more came in to my own and fell in to a group of close friends, who I am still close friends with to this day (and who I wouldn't give up for the world).

Now how does this relate to faith, especially since I lost most of mine through all this (and some other personal things going on)? It has everything to do with it. There wasn't a day that I wouldn't wake up with some amount of faith that things wouldn't get better, although it did take years. Now when I am around kids (as my job has me doing), I find that I have things in better retrospect. I also see that I am able to have a greater understanding for the fact that God will always give us the strength to get through things, to find to something better, to be able to grow and understand what real love means. He always has faith in us that we can make it through, that we can succeed. We need to have more faith in Him, that he will walk us through, and that we can suceed in whatever we are handed. We are only given us much as we can handle and tests like this show that. Have faith and all will be well!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Christ and the body

From him [Christ] the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Ephesians 4:16)

Think about the way your body works. Your brain works everything, your heart pumps the blood, your lungs distribute oxygen to your body. How does it all work? I've taken enough biology, and anatomy and physiology, to have the science of it down. You can look at chemical reactions, chain reactions from neurons, and the like to answer that question. Why though?

Think about what God did in making us the way we are. We can think so clearly and are so expressive, we are such rational people. Rational may not always be the best thing, but it does allow us to really think of the value of the gift that He has given us. He loves us so much that He made it possible for us to think, talk, and share, that he allowed us to have a wonderful way to share. We can think, bring His ideas together and be able to talk about all that He has to teach.

You can also think about this in the bigger sense of the church body. The congregation of a church have a responsibility to teach, bring people in, share His ideas. We have the commitment to teach and learn together as adults, as well as a great responsibility to bring children up in a loving church body and family. We also have a responsibility to bring people in to this church body, so that they are able to learn the truth, learn about the word. What's the thought about that?

Your Body

From him [Christ] the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Ephesians 4:16)



Think about the miracle of the way your body works. The way your heart pumps blood through the body, how your brain fires and functions billions of neurons, the way your lungs provide oxygen. How does it all work? I studied enough biology, and anatomy and physiology to go in to the reasons. I can tell you about the chemical reactions, all the chain reactions, all the results that tie in to each other. That's the part that's easy to explain and work out. OK, not maybe easy, but it's the part that can be explained.



Why does it work though? It works because God wants it to. He created our bodies because He wants us to be able to go out and spread the word that is so important, the word about His life and love. It's amazing how he can take the time to do all this for us and we have nothing to offer but our promise that we'll keep working and trying to let others know about Him. We can't offer anything else to Him and yet He took all this time on us.



When you take the concept of a body and look at the bigger picture of the body of the church, it also helps put things in perspective for us. No matter what church you belong to, your church body has the mission to share itself with the outside world and bring people in the word of Christ. Our church body, our church's ministry, is to learn, to share, to teach, not only for our own selves, but to bring the whole world in to the light. It's an amazing experience to watch a person begin to know God's word and all that comes with it. I am still a learner, and I guess that experience still applies to me. I always am amazed how it feels to learn and experience something new, to feel the love poor through you and really make you understand what He has done for us. :)

Monday, April 14, 2008

Wives and submission

Ephesians 5:22 "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord."

So I talked a little about this in yesterday's post. Women's lib is such a mistake. I'm not saying in any sense that women shouldn't have rights, be able to vote, that type of thing. Women need to have legal rights that are equal to men, but we are not here to be above them. We need to take a long, hard look at how we expect our families to run. In a family, wether you live with your parents or a husband, there can only be one person in charge, one person who runs the spirtual life, makes decisions, works on finances, and so on. I think that women definetly have a say in these decisions, that they are part of this family unit and are affected by all these decisions, but in the end, these decisions are the man's to make. We wonder why so many marriages end, when all we have to do is look around at these families where women can not just stand back, and accept the decions that their husbands make that will benefit them.

Some women look at this and you hear them stamp around saying that it takes a spineless women to just "bow down and take it". First, I never said anything about bowing down and taking it. I have always been in a blessed position where men have taken my opinons very seriously and have always taken my opinion in to consideration, allowing for things that mater to me to help guide, although not make, their final choice. But when it comes down to those women saying that it takes someone who is spineless to allow this, think about something. It's actually much harder to trust in someone else's choices, trusting that they will open their hearts to God to make the right choice. Many women are so set on 'my way or no way', and they don't take time to step back and let one person to think about the overall benefit to the entire family, not just thinking about what's best for one person. It's so easy to think about yourself, to decide what you want and then push for it. Try just once to sit down, talk about it, write about it, and then turn it over. If you truly believe, God will guide the hearts around you to make decisions that are really good for everyone.

For more food for thought, think about this: Titus 2:3 - 5 "The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed."

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Submission to God's Will

Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged. (Colossians 3:18-21).

This one is a continuation of the other day. Again, God is very specific about what He wants and what's appopriate. He expects that there is an order to things, that certain people will be in charge, and He is very clear that you need to obey those people unconditionally.

In today's society, women are expected to be these take charge, overbearing types. We are expected to want to be tops in our fields, to go after everything and hit people down on the way. I'm not saying that women can't enjoy working or do things on their own, but this whole idea of women's lib is sort of out there. It takes a lot more patience and courage to be able to understand that you can have your own life, but are still responsible to someone else. A family unit, whether it be children with their parents, or husband and wife, you still have a leader that needs to be in charge for the family to run smoothly spirtualy, economically, etc. It sounds it a little odd to break it down to such basics, but that's just what God expects.

"And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth." (Deuteronomy 28:1)

Again, God expects us to be obedient to His word. He does not simple ask or request it if we feel like it. If we expect to spend time with Him, we must do what he wants. I have had to work hard to see past this notion of making myself happy, reminding myself that His love is far more important. It can be difficult to think beyond the world that we live in to eternity, but that is what really matters. I love reading how people can feel and understand this so easily, hoping that the more I learn, study, and work, I will get closer to that ease and understanding. I want to be able to understand the way other people do. But that is why we all keep learning and studying!

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Scones
















This is a super yummy recipe. It makes 16 scones. They are great to bring to any event or potluck, but also store well if you make them just for your family! They come out as nice little triangles and are great served plain, as well as with a little jam, jelly, butter, cream, etc.

Scones
2 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder (heaping)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick margarine
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 pint (equals 1 cup or 8 ounces) sour cream
1/2 cup raisins*

Preheat oven to 450 F. Mix dry ingredients. Cut in the margarine to make it a coarse meal. Add raisins. Use spoon to mix in sour cream and complete mixture. If sticky, use more flour until bowl and spoon come out clean. Turn out onto slightly floured surface and flour hands. Knead lightly. Divide into 2 equal parts and flatten into circles 1/2 inch thick. Cute each circle in to 8 wedges and seperate. Place the wedges staggered on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake about 12 minutes until bottoms are a medium brown. Cool on racks.

*Raisins are optional. I happen to prefer them plain, but the rest of my family loves the raisins. I have also put in chocolate chips. You can also add other things like raspberries or blueberries, although that makes the dough wetter and you may need to add more flour. Also, they may tint the batter a different color, depending on how wet they are, so just be aware.

Friday, April 11, 2008

Humility

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. (Colossians 3:12 - 14)

As a women, it is so absolutely important that you bear witness to these things. Humility is probably the most important, but one that can be a challenge to keep. Giving praises to God is the most important thing that a person can do and part of the way to do that is to be humble. This includes how you behave, talk, dress, work with others, and how you live every aspect of your entire life.

First. you should not be dressing in a way to reveal your body in inapprorpiate ways. A part of a women's job is to hold herself for her husband. Some women feel that sharing their body is a great way to attract men and feel they should sleep around or things like that. You need to hold yourself for your husband and should be ready to share that with the world!

The way you talk and behave is also extremely important. Are you loud? Do you use inaprorpiate words or hand gestures? Do you sit or act in a way that does not show love for your body, which is a gift from God? You need to be sure that you are holding and carrying yourself like a lady, ready to speak of God's word and how that influences your life! Be ready to praise and share what you know to be true!!

In your job, wether you are a student, a teacher, a doctor or anything else, be ready to credit God with all your success. You couldn't get where you are without Him and won't keep going if He chooses another path for you.

Hold in the commandments that beloved God wants for you. You are one of his wonderful, special children, and He only wants wonderful things for you, but will not tolerate you doing what you want and not His word.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Keep My Commandments

If you love Me, keep my commandments. (John 14:15)

Keep my commandments. Sounds easy. I reflect on the fact that He has laid out exactely what is expected. He has asked that we do certain things, avoid some things. I crave a life like that, long to live His word and show the world the truth. It's not an option, we can't choose to not lead this life or expect to only lead certain parts. As a women, I long to lead a good life, but find the struggle always there. I have often turned to other women in my church, Bible study, friends for support. Hopefully others find the support that they need to be able to live this life - I know I can't get through without it. Just remember that He will love us always and wants to see us come home to him. Is there anyone looking to take that walk with company?

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

question

I feel that over the course of the last few years, my faith has grown and become stronger, but still feel like I am no where near where God longs for me to be or where I want to be. I know God loves me, and I don't deserve it. I see so many good examples of faith and love around me, and would love to be able to live that example. I would love to hear how others stay on their walk of faith and maybe find more people to take that walk with!! In all His blessings and Glory, have a good evening!!

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Love

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and will all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. (Mark 12:30)

God's love is great! He provides a great example to live by and expects the same for us. What does the world give us? It gives us a lot of reason to hate, mistrust, and fighting. Having come back to Him in the last few years, sometimes people don't take my faith for all it's worth. I think that others expect me to live the way that I used to. The life that I lead was my own doing, and I know I don't always this love from God and others, but I find that I struggle to pass out what God expects. My prayer has helped me a lot with this, and I find that reading has helped. I found a book called The Power of a Praying Women by Stormie O'Martin that has many wonderful Biblical references and great practical ideas to help me out. OK, so this is a little rambly, but I guess it covers a topic that is so easy to go on about.

So how do we show God's love? It is how we treat others and how we share His word with others. I am working hard to be able to do those things and it's a valuable area for everyone to be a part of. Sharing His love can come out in spending time with friends and family, spending time with people who you don't have see. It's nice to be able to share your time with those that are important to you. What about working at church? Start a project with the kids that go to your church, provide service time helping out your pastor, help organize a community service project with other worshippers. The possibilities are endless!!!

Monday, April 7, 2008

Change

For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit. (1 Thessalonians 4:7-8)

A holy life! What a wonderful calling, a beautiful way to live. :) I wish I could be so perfect as to say that this was true for me, but only know that I can continue to live and work to become more able in that way. God shows and tells us how to live a pure and perfect life, He has left us the scriptures and guidance, so there is no question about what we do. We all know how to do. My walk is continuous, and I find that it is such a great and beautiful thing! I know I have a lot to learn, but find myself becoming more peaceful, more filled with love and laughter! It is a great thing! One of my recent experiences was at Ash Wednesday services. I had gone up to receive my ashes from the pastor. When he was saying the blessing over me, there was this feeling of such pure peace, love, happiness. I was standing there, receiving this pure love straight from Him. It was great to walk down the street later in the middle of New York, with the cross of the Lord for all to see. It came in waves and I can only begin to hope that I can hold on to that feeling forever, even if I am not blessed with it again. I know God is there!

Sunday, April 6, 2008

How to start......

Ok, so this is day one for me. This is a new adventure for me and I'm not sure in which direction I am heading, but hope I can get some neat things going and make some new friends, all while celebrating God and what he has done for us. I grew up Catholic, received all my scraments, went to church, etc, but never felt close to God. I can't say that I am proud of the fact that I could express little from the Bible, but just went through the motions, and even walked away from the church for a while. It was not a good time for me. I was invited by a friend to attend her Lutheran church a few years ago while living in northern Virginia, right outside of DC, and for the first time felt like I was really learning His will for me. I began to feel how learning His word really soothed me, calmed me, how I felt so much more loved. I am hoping to begin to express my feelings in writing, but know that I am far from perfect. As I go along, let me talk to me, write your feelings and reactions, share your opinions. All those things are part of learning and growing as a Christian (and it's so much more worthwhile with friends). To all my friends in Him, have a great week!