Intentional Incidentals

July 11, 2008 at 2:54 pm (A Penny for my thoughts)
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Okay so I realize that most of my posts lately have been “so serious”.  For balance sake – I have decided to add a dispatch post, an idea I nabbed from my friend and fellow blogger, Mandy.

  • I used to think that all kitty litter was created equal.  How wrong I was! Undoubtedly, the worst part of having a cat is the litter box. No matter how clean it looks, it’s just gross.  So a very enthusiastic cat enthusiast at Target begged me to try Feline Pine litter. It looks like sawdust.  My thoughts then were, “Yeah right!” That is until I got Lucy home and settled and soon realized that I detested the grainy, dusty, foul smelling litter that got all over my bathroom floor no matter what i did. So the crazy cat lady was right.  Not only is the FP better for the environment (and flushable, folks!) it doesn’t smell to high heaven and my floor has been clean!  Whoo hoo!
  • My son suddenly thinks that he is a “big boy” which means he has taken it upon himself to help himself to whatever, whenever.  Ugh.  He’ll be 4 in just two short months, and this behavior has gotten progressively worse over the past 2 weeks.  For example – while I was in the shower earlier this week, he decided to pick up my cell phone and call Jason.  Just to talk.  Funny, and a little scary too!  Then, I put him in his room for some other infraction and when I went upstairs to check on him, he was attempting to use the PC!  Grrrrrr.  Later that same day I sat him down to watch some PBS while I did some laundry.  I came downstairs to find him eating 5 pieces of cheese.  Alas, his bowels have not moved since.  Sorry for the TMI, but this is a big deal in Momdum. 
  • Mr. Noodle on Elmo’s world is a little bit freaky.  He looks sneaky. 
  • Dr. Pepper Icees are marvelous.  Cold, yummy, and the perfect texture.  I got turned back on to them while at Falls Creek.  Julie bought me one at the 7-Eleven near her house on Wednesday.  She agreed that it was the best .89 she’s spent in a long time!
  • I miss Nashville.  It hit me about 11pm last night.  So I am a little sad today.
  • I saw Los Lonley Boyson Jay Leno the other night.  These guys rock!  I think that their big hit several years ago “Heaven” really does not do them justice.  I loved the bluesy, southern rock vibe and the face-melting guitar solo.  Yes my husband has turned me into a connoisseur of rock – I am not ashamed!

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Rooted and Grounded in Love

July 11, 2008 at 2:07 pm (The Abundant Life)
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Below I have pasted for you the excerpt by Charles Spurgeon that I read for my quiet time.  In many ways that I can’t even explain right now, this devotional holds a great deal of relevance and significance for my life.  While at camp, NCCC’s in-cabin theme was GROW – based out of Matthew 13’s parable of the sower. 

Throughout the week I encouraged my family group to be “rooted and grounded in love” and now I find myself on the receiving end of that same message.  Eph 3:17 And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love. (NLT)

 I am reminded of some dear friends back in Tennessee that are suffering incredibly through serious medical and financial issues.  For almost five years I have known and prayed for this precious family who truly loves the Lord more than life because they know better than anyone that life is indeed very fragile and that nothing is guaranteed in this world except God’s amazing love.  As I pray for them, I don’t even know what to pray anymore.  It’s a difficult thing to watch someone’s faith grow, love blossom, and hope remain while their situation worsens.

Do I think God is unjust?  No.  Do I understand it?  Not much.  Do I see that through every trial and storm they face their roots go deeper still?  Most definitely, yes!  Maybe I do know what to pray - I pray that they would continue to go deeper still, to be rooted and grounded in love, and to hope.  I pray for hope. 

So enjoy the devotional below.  Don’t be put off by the archaic language. (and spelling!)  There just might be a gem for you too! 

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After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen {and} establish you.   1 Peter 5:10

You have seen the arch of heaven as it spans the plain: glorious are its colours, and rare its hues. It is beautiful, but, alas, it passes away, and lo, it is not. The fair colours give way to the fleecy clouds, and the sky is no longer brilliant with the tints of heaven. It is not established. How can it be? A glorious show made up of transitory sun-beams and passing rain-drops, how can it abide? The graces of the Christian character must not resemble the rainbow in its transitory beauty, but, on the contrary, must be stablished, settled, abiding. Seek, O believer, that every good thing you have may be an abiding thing. May your character not be a writing upon the sand, but an inscription upon the rock! May your faith be no “baseless fabric of a vision,” but may it be builded of material able to endure that awful fire which shall consume the wood, hay, and stubble of the hypocrite. May you be rooted and grounded in love. May your convictions be deep, your love real, your desires earnest. May your whole life be so settled and established, that all the blasts of hell, and all the storms of earth shall never be able to remove you. But notice how this blessing of being “stablished in the faith” is gained. The apostle’s words point us to suffering as the means employed-”After that ye have suffered awhile.” It is of no use to hope that we shall be well rooted if no rough winds pass over us. Those old gnarlings on the root of the oak tree, and those strange twistings of the branches, all tell of the many storms that have swept over it, and they are also indicators of the depth into which the roots have forced their way. So the Christian is made strong, and firmly rooted by all the trials and storms of life. Shrink not then from the tempestuous winds of trial, but take comfort, believing that by their rough discipline God is fulfilling this benediction to you.

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