Summer Recap

My summer began on May 11, the day after my two classes ended. The next 113 days were quite the adventure!

 

the garden that definitely was not a success
but not quite a failure either...there's always next year :)

 Church group studying Bonhoeffer's Life Together.

 

Church young adult group annual campout. Yes, tenting. :)

 

Participating in a second round of American Sign Language classes at church taught by our deaf members and interpreters.

 

Teaching 1st grade VBS.

 

 

Hosting a 6-week study through several chapters of Mary Kassian's Girls Gone Wise.

 

Jr. camp.

 

 

Surprise birthday parties.

 

 

Volleyball. Mini golf.  Friends. Family.

 

Iced coffee.

 

An action game (i.e. no words necessary) with a group of Brazilian Christians passing through.

 

I've "unofficially-officially" said goodbye to my job of 8 years.

 

Saying goodbye to a friend moving to teach overseas for a year.

 

A friend got married.

 

A couple of friends had babies. (Actually, one was not just a friend--the baby is my future nanny-child. My little guy is now a big brother!)

 

Nannying. (Walks, going to the park, playing with chalk and bubbles, water play…)

playing with bubbles :)

 

Reading. Lots of reading.

 

My summer has been full. There were a lot of "My grace is sufficient for you" moments.  I saw many praises and prayed many prayers. It was not an easy summer, or even a particularly relaxing one on the whole...but it was good. I am grateful.

 

And yet, with the temperatures spiking this past week and next, and all the pumpkin recipes appearing on Pinterest (and I'm actually getting tired of making iced coffee and am ready for the hot stuff again)--I say bring on the fall. :)

 

 

Tangled Ashes {book review}

Tangled Ashes by Michele Phoenix

Conservative and a little leery of modern fiction, I hesitated for most of the summer to pick from Tyndale's fiction list. I have been pleasantly surprised! At first I was unconcerned with--and leery of--the book's hero, Beck, who is a somewhat  reluctant recovering alcoholic. It was the story's subplot, beginning in the prelude and continued through flashbacks that kept me in the story at first. What does a WWII abandoned baby and a modern-day reconstruction of an ancient castle have in common?

 

The fact that it was not romantic love but rather friendship and, I trust the less obvious thread of God's love and salvation to play a factor as well, and the hope issuing from both, that conquerors in the end. I'm all for a morally good love story with at least a hint of reality: but reality does not usually see a man taking a 90-day job assignment in Paris, falling in love, and putting his life back in order. In 90 days. And neither does Beck...or the little WWII baby...but the hope lingers that this was only the beginning.

 

While not all the books by a single author are created equal, I do look forward to reading more from Michele Phoenix and seeing what she has to offer!

{Written for inclusion in Tyndale's Summer Reading program!}
 

24/6 {book review}

24/6 by Matthew Sleeth, MD

 

 

Sleeth's book is good food for thought, but not much more in my opinion. It's subtitle, A prescription for a healthier, happier life, should have been a clue that it was not going to be up my alley. He does include historical and biblical significance for the Sabbath, which is worth the read. He begins each chapter with a medical illustration--something I suppose I should have expected from someone bearing the initials "M.D." at the end of his name, yet as someone not medically-inclined in any way, shape, or form, I did not appreciate them. The book neither convicted me of any lack of personally keeping the Sabbath nor convinced me of his application of it, either. 

There is legitimacy to the claim that not being on the go (especially career-related) 24/7 can lead to a healthier life. Also that the idea that taking time to enjoy relationships and perhaps a hobby or two brings happiness. Sleeth certainly did not side-step the spiritual aspect. And yet, not so large a mention as to merit placement in the subtitle. And what really is the Sabbath without the One who is Lord over it?

{Written for inclusion in Tyndale's Summer Reading program!}
 

The Dying of Self

 

 

 

"Let us remember that when we talk of the rending of the veil [i.e. Self] we are speaking in a figure, and the thought of it is poetical, almost pleasant, but in actuality there is nothing pleasant about it. In human experience that veil is made of living spiritual tissue; it is composed of the sentient, quivering stuff of which our whole beings consist, and to touch it is to touch us where we feel pain. To tear it away is to injure us, to hurt us and make us bleed. To say otherwise is to make the cross no cross and death no death at all. It is never fun to die. To rip through the dear and tender stuff of which life is made can never be anything but deeply painful. Yet that is what the cross did to Jesus and it is what the cross would do to every man to set him free."

 

{Tozer, from

The Pursuit of God}

 

 

He who Judges Justly

 

 

For to this you have been called,

because Christ also suffered for you,

leaving you an example,

so that you might follow in His steps. 
He committed no sin,

neither was deceit found in His mouth. 
When He was reviled,

He did not revile in return;

when He suffered, He did not threaten,

but continued entrusting Himself

to Him who

judges justly. 

 

{I Peter 2:21-23}

Leaning on God's Mercy

"When wanting to

cling to wrongs done against me,

I must die."

 

God is a God of justice. Sin is and will be punished. One day every person will stand before an almighty, holy God and give account of himself.

In the meantime, the world is rarely fair--quite honestly, justice is not always served on earth. However, we need to remember that

"no creature is hidden from His sight,

but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him

to whom we must give account"

{Hebrews 4:13}

and also

"for this light momentary affliction is

preparing for us an eternal weight of glory

beyond all comparison."

{II Corinthians 4:17} 

God is sovereign and wise, and He is working all things for His glory and for our good (see Romans 8:28). 

Have you ever prayed for justice in a personal situation? Who would have benefitted most--you or the other person? It's come up a few times lately in my ladies' Sunday school class, how quickly we pray for mercy for ourselves but justice to others. 

It's hard to stand back and watch people seemingly getting away with wrong. It's hard to be in pain. But we must die to the fleshly reactions--anger, bitterness, resentment, unforgiveness--and rather put on Spirit-controlled reactions--forgiveness, submission to God's will, trust, love.

I have thought before "but if I let go, then they'll get away with it!" How foolish is that. As if I hated sin more than God does. And praise God He also has more mercy than I do!

Follow Me {book review}

FOLLOW ME: A call to die. A call to live.
By David Platt

 

Platt again makes a challenge to nominal Christian living (check out his book Radical). The whole of Christianity is not “asking Jesus into your heart”—but rather in following Christ. Believing the gospel is not the end, or merely the means to an end, or just an escape from hell. Believing the gospel is a start to a brand new life, one in which Jesus calls to fearful and stubborn hearts: “Follow me.” Not always a fan of modern Christian living books, David Platt has not failed to challenge my thinking yet.

Mainstream American Christianity must wake up and realize what is at stake. A lot of false conversions, because we’re soft on sin. A lot of wasted opportunities, because we’re too busy pursuing the “American dream.” A lack of life abundantly, because we’re too busy even with good things to truly fellowship with Jesus. A lot of baby Christians, because we’re too busy or fearful or selfish to invest in others in discipleship. Platt calls us to see the mission: Jesus transforms us, and even as He works in us, we invest in others. This cycle must be repeated until the trumpet calls!

{Written for inclusion in Tyndale's Summer Reading program!}

Two Wonders of the Cross

 

 

 

"Upon that cross of Jesus my eyes at times can see

The very dying form of One who suffered there for me;

And from my smitten heart with tears

Two wonders I confess

The wonders of

His glorious love,

and my unworthiness."

 

--Elizabeth Clephane--

(from the CD By Faith)