The battle is not romantic.
How it hurts to live the war!
More sure in books; more tame in scenes:
God and the devil,
Keeping score.
The battle is not romantic.
As a child, you better knew
its black and white; how white will win:
Meanwhile, though, black obscures
What's true.
The battle is not romantic,
But we look to the end!
The victor sees, the victor comes:
Bronze bows are easiest
For him to bend.
Dear reader,
Fighting the battle today.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
Weird Whales, Weird World
"'Weird' is a weird word!" - me, to Chelsea
---
Chris, Chelsea (a friend staying with us for awhile) and I watched a few episodes of "Planet Earth" (on blu-ray! Bam!) yesterday night, and I was crying out with surprise and delight the entire time, like a little child.
No wonder so many kids are fascinated with whales, lions, elephants...they are COOL! My childhood friends and I would see pictures of deep-sea fish with glowing lures and graceful dolphins in perfect dance and declare that we wanted to be oceanographers. Kids possess the subconscious knowledge that Creation is truly awe-inspiring.
Think about it! There is blue-grey mammal the weight of a 747, larger than the largest dinosaur ever was, just swimming around in the water--the water!--and it eats tiny krill instead of other big fish, like we might expect! Not to mention the gargantuan thing can jump out of the water.
And, how weird is an elephant? It's huge, and wrinkly, and it stomps around heavily and has a really long random nose-thing that can squirt water--I don't know about you, but I can't squirt water out of my nose--and it makes the strangest noise: Wa-iiiiih!
Come now. Give me credit for trying. :) In any case, God intended it to make that noise in a trumpeting forte.
In the bizarre, in the varied, God's creativity shines forth and shows him once again, in yet another way, absolutely glorious.
If you get the chance, watch "Planet Earth" (maybe even on blu-ray! Bam!) Prepare to be amazed, and to feel like a kid again.
---
Chris, Chelsea (a friend staying with us for awhile) and I watched a few episodes of "Planet Earth" (on blu-ray! Bam!) yesterday night, and I was crying out with surprise and delight the entire time, like a little child.
No wonder so many kids are fascinated with whales, lions, elephants...they are COOL! My childhood friends and I would see pictures of deep-sea fish with glowing lures and graceful dolphins in perfect dance and declare that we wanted to be oceanographers. Kids possess the subconscious knowledge that Creation is truly awe-inspiring.
Think about it! There is blue-grey mammal the weight of a 747, larger than the largest dinosaur ever was, just swimming around in the water--the water!--and it eats tiny krill instead of other big fish, like we might expect! Not to mention the gargantuan thing can jump out of the water.
 |
| Photo courtesy of soe.ucdavis.edu |
And, how weird is an elephant? It's huge, and wrinkly, and it stomps around heavily and has a really long random nose-thing that can squirt water--I don't know about you, but I can't squirt water out of my nose--and it makes the strangest noise: Wa-iiiiih!
 |
| Photo courtesy of wallpapers.jurko.net |
In the bizarre, in the varied, God's creativity shines forth and shows him once again, in yet another way, absolutely glorious.
If you get the chance, watch "Planet Earth" (maybe even on blu-ray! Bam!) Prepare to be amazed, and to feel like a kid again.
 |
| Photo courtesy of declubz.com |
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Her weapon of choice? Sticky notes.
Some Sweepstakes lady just called me, telling me I was eligible to win $100,000, or something like that. This, friend, is why you shouldn't fill out surveys for Facebook offers that require your phone number and address. Now, Sweepstakes lady might just haunt me until the day I...tell her not to.
This, however, has nothing to do with the story I want to tell you.
---
My friend Dotty and I went shopping at JC Penney yesterday. As I chatted with her and ran my hands across lines of colorful shirts and dresses (a habit of mine; I feel like I'm not looking at the clothes unless I'm touching them), I began to contemplate looks. That's a slippery slope for me.
First, I sighed inwardly and berated myself for past clothes-buying decisions, wondering, "Why didn't I pay more attention to what flatters me and buy this style instead of that one? I bet that shirt I wear looks really cheap to people. I have a lame fashion sense. If only I had chosen this cut of jeans instead of that one, I'd look way better..."
Rooted in this mindset, I looked in the mirror to tug the wrinkles out of the bottom half of my shirt (another habit of mine). Reflected there was the person I dreaded most to see. I saw myself. I frowned at myself. I felt my heart falling into despair as those perfidious, lying voices told me how pale, short, tired-looking,unattractive and [the list goes on] I was.
I've fought this battle a hundred times over. I've given in more times than I can count. It led to slow self-destruction in the past--though I praise God that's not the case anymore, the battle still isn't easy for me to fight, or even to want to fight. I sat there in JC Penney, gritting my teeth against the lies, clenching my fists as I threw out a desperate spiritual S.O.S.
By God's grace, my mind moved on to a new train of thought, shelving the old one to deal with later.
Ten minutes later, as I wandered through the clothes racks again, I encountered another mirror. The first thing I noticed was a yellow sticky note rather than my reflection. It said:
"You are beautiful! :-)
operationbeautiful.com"
It was such a small thing, yet it was like a small smile from God.
I checked out the site later today, and it made me smile. Movements like this, gestures like this, may seem cheesy at times, but they can be a real blessing. So, thanks, random girl, whoever and wherever you are, for taking the time to put that sticky note on a mirror in a JC Penney in Moore, Oklahoma. Your operation was a success.
This, however, has nothing to do with the story I want to tell you.
---
My friend Dotty and I went shopping at JC Penney yesterday. As I chatted with her and ran my hands across lines of colorful shirts and dresses (a habit of mine; I feel like I'm not looking at the clothes unless I'm touching them), I began to contemplate looks. That's a slippery slope for me.
First, I sighed inwardly and berated myself for past clothes-buying decisions, wondering, "Why didn't I pay more attention to what flatters me and buy this style instead of that one? I bet that shirt I wear looks really cheap to people. I have a lame fashion sense. If only I had chosen this cut of jeans instead of that one, I'd look way better..."
Rooted in this mindset, I looked in the mirror to tug the wrinkles out of the bottom half of my shirt (another habit of mine). Reflected there was the person I dreaded most to see. I saw myself. I frowned at myself. I felt my heart falling into despair as those perfidious, lying voices told me how pale, short, tired-looking,unattractive and [the list goes on] I was.
I've fought this battle a hundred times over. I've given in more times than I can count. It led to slow self-destruction in the past--though I praise God that's not the case anymore, the battle still isn't easy for me to fight, or even to want to fight. I sat there in JC Penney, gritting my teeth against the lies, clenching my fists as I threw out a desperate spiritual S.O.S.
By God's grace, my mind moved on to a new train of thought, shelving the old one to deal with later.
Ten minutes later, as I wandered through the clothes racks again, I encountered another mirror. The first thing I noticed was a yellow sticky note rather than my reflection. It said:
"You are beautiful! :-)
operationbeautiful.com"
It was such a small thing, yet it was like a small smile from God.
I checked out the site later today, and it made me smile. Movements like this, gestures like this, may seem cheesy at times, but they can be a real blessing. So, thanks, random girl, whoever and wherever you are, for taking the time to put that sticky note on a mirror in a JC Penney in Moore, Oklahoma. Your operation was a success.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Stop Asking Questions, and Follow Already!
God's really good at lining things up.
Showing here:
First - Some people take note of my writing. A classmate gets spitefully jealous.
Second - God brings it to my attention that I am severely hurting my walk by comparing myself to others.
Third - Chris pointed out great, Biblical posts about envy on the Girl Talk blog (definitely worth reading).
Fourth, and the force behind this post - A classmate gets her story published in a fairly well-known magazine, and I find myself on the other side of success, desperate to rejoice with her and banish jealous thoughts from my mind.
The premise of above-mentioned series is John 21:20-22 -
This is a fantastic passage. It's encouraging that it's available the time I need it--I had forgotten it existed!
To summarize the outstanding parts of the series: When we envy, "we don’t want others to have what we can’t have. We want to be the best. We doubt God’s goodness." It's not our business or prerogative to know ("what is that to you?") why God chooses some woman to be gorgeous, or some men to be adored the world over, or some to own a fancy house and car or to raise angelic children. God will not do something that ultimately brings harm, no matter how the situation looks through our eyes.
What we go through is his specific design for one specific life. We are not called to examine the circumstances of our neighbors, peeking over their fences to see if their yard is small and trashy or huge and well-kept. We are only called to walk after him ("You follow me!")
As I continue to write for his glory, I must fix my eyes on his face. Whether I flourish or fail is not the point. I want to be a "Chariots of Fire" woman, delighted that when I write, I can feel God's pleasure!
Showing here:
First - Some people take note of my writing. A classmate gets spitefully jealous.
Second - God brings it to my attention that I am severely hurting my walk by comparing myself to others.
Third - Chris pointed out great, Biblical posts about envy on the Girl Talk blog (definitely worth reading).
Fourth, and the force behind this post - A classmate gets her story published in a fairly well-known magazine, and I find myself on the other side of success, desperate to rejoice with her and banish jealous thoughts from my mind.
The premise of above-mentioned series is John 21:20-22 -
Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who had been reclining at table close to him and had said, "Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?" When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about this man?" Jesus said to him, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!"
This is a fantastic passage. It's encouraging that it's available the time I need it--I had forgotten it existed!
To summarize the outstanding parts of the series: When we envy, "we don’t want others to have what we can’t have. We want to be the best. We doubt God’s goodness." It's not our business or prerogative to know ("what is that to you?") why God chooses some woman to be gorgeous, or some men to be adored the world over, or some to own a fancy house and car or to raise angelic children. God will not do something that ultimately brings harm, no matter how the situation looks through our eyes.
What we go through is his specific design for one specific life. We are not called to examine the circumstances of our neighbors, peeking over their fences to see if their yard is small and trashy or huge and well-kept. We are only called to walk after him ("You follow me!")
As I continue to write for his glory, I must fix my eyes on his face. Whether I flourish or fail is not the point. I want to be a "Chariots of Fire" woman, delighted that when I write, I can feel God's pleasure!
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