I got an Award ...wow!

“This award is for those bloggers who are nice people; good blog friends and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world. Once you’ve been awarded please pass it on to 7 others who you feel are deserving of this award.”

Okay, Kay, over at Loop de Loops blog (http://loopdeloops.blogspot.com/), nominated me for a "Nice Matters" Award. She's so kind to think of me ... Wow, I'm surprised but thank her for her kindness!

So, I'm to pass on the award to seven other bloggers I feel are deserving of this. There are so many bloggers out there who are awesome and wonderful; this is going to be hard to limit it to just seven! Here goes.

1) Annette at [http://www.blogger.com/profile/00424183043315476526] ... She is one of the most amazing women I have ever met. Kindness robes her in delight and she is generous and funny and creative and is the first one to yell out "God Rocks! WOOOO!" ... she is my upline with The Angel Company (tm) rubber stamps and I KNOW it was God that led me to TAC, and to Annette specifically, when I was looking for a direct sales rubber stamping company to be part of.

2) So many of the women (and men) who are part of our Team, The Angelettes, are awesome, but I don't know who has a blog and who doesn't. So while Annette really keeps up the blog about the Angelettes, I'm going to award the whole team a Kindness Matters Award because all of the Angelettes are extremely talented and generous.

3) Missy over at "The Incurable Disease of Writing" told me to take more chances. I listened to her and I'm having more fun than I have had in a long time! Thanks, Missy! Loved using that Amazon gift certificate, too! Check out her blog about the mechanics of writing and about being afflicted with the addiction to writing along with trying to live somewhat of a "normal" existence (while having this affliction): http://incurable.hoyeya.net/

4) Well, like putting Annette on this list, it was easy to pick this wonderful lady: Marilynn Griffith. I found her blog for the first time just a few short days ago (3 exactly -- Tuesday). In that time, I've been reading further and further back into her archives and loving every minute of it. Started, and finished, reading one of her novels yesterday and it blew me away with the spiritual truths in it. And she blew me away when I e-mailed her in the middle of the night (on Tuesday) and she answered within five minutes. She is another awesome Christian lady with a huge and generous heart. Please go visit her at: http://marilynngriffith.typepad.com/rhythmsofgrace/

5) Another wonderful lady, Claudia Mair Burney (http://ragamuffindiva.blogspot.com/) is a Christian author who shares a lot of her own life and faith struggles in her blog. She pinches at my conscience once in a while but does it with humor too. Check her out.

Two more to go. Whew! This is harder than I expected. Can I just tag-back on Kay? LOL.

6) Okay, Cat at Canadian Prairie Writer shares Biblical insights along with tales of being a writer, homeschooler, and farmer. I enjoy my visits there: http://cathilyndyck.blogspot.com/

7) Last one. Hmmm ... since it was a search for rubber stamping techniques and ideas that sent me into the wide-wide world of Blogdom in the first place and dropped me off in the Writers' Cell Block (a "prison" I don't mind, as long as someone let's me have a pencil or crayons and paper to write and doodle on - LOL), I suppose I ought to honor the many, many stampers out there who are generous with information about stamping, projects, techniques, etc. It's hard to pick just one of the quadrillion that I have "blog-marked" (the term I made up to refer to all the blogging bookmarks filling up my Favorites folder now). This one is representative of so many creative and generous people out there: http://worldofmichaeltrent.blogspot.com/

One more book to look inside ...

Okay, it is time to "blame" Lisa Samson ...
She has one of the best lists of blogs to visit -- and my own "blog-marks" list grows and grows and grows!

So, here is another blog to visit:

http://marilynngriffith.typepad.com/rhythmsofgrace/

Read it -- all of it. I love her style of writing. She tells about finding the TV remote in her purse while in the store fishing for her wallet, she tells about her "Griffith men" folding their socks "just right" and what she is doing when not trying to park her van straight ... and then she tells about some brownies that are up for grabs.

I really shouldn't tell you about that. You see, I want those brownies. LOL.

I do not NEED them. My dear wonderful husband doesn't NEED them either. But he adores brownies. I don't bake. Especially brownies because neither of us NEED them. But he would be really surprised and amazed to find a box of them on the kitchen table when he gets home from work one night and then when I tell him they're all for him ...

But, I'll be nice (oh, sure, let someone else win the brownies, dummy -- you'll HAVE TO bake them now!) and tell you to visit this link to see inside the book you need to read to win the brownies:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0800730437/marilynngriff-20

Getting hold of the book and reading it in time is up to you. I'm hoping you are a slow reader and can't find the book just yet (but will find it and read it eventually) -- because while I'm "nice" I'm really not that nice. I want those brownies for hubby. :-)

<><

Added 09/01/07, 12:22 AM:

Okay, TURQUOISE was a wonderful book; YOU HAVE TO READ IT! NOW!

In it, Marilynn mentions BLONDIE BROWNIES which are my hubby's favorite. So, I think that means I actually have to bake this weekend! Anyone got a fab recipe for Blondies???

You've got to see "inside" this book ...

If you read my blog(s), you might know that I like to visit other blogs, and then click on some of the blogs they visit. Over at Lisa Samson's blog, I clicked on a blog of a writer, and there I clicked on a picture of one of her books. I clicked on the "See inside this book" and read the introduction, and then on to page 16 of the book, the first page of the first chapter. And I think you might like it too. Check it out at the link below (copy paste, because I have no idea how to make an underlined "here" work as a link ...) while I go back and finish reading as much as Amazon will let me see ... BRB ...

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0801064562/justthinking-20

Well, that was quick. Next page they let me see was the back cover. LOL. Anyhow, this page in particular says a lot to me ...

And it has something to do with the "Blog Lesson" I've been writing about (and will continue to write about for a little while longer, all the while hoping I don't bore you to tears or worse [like, make you go away and not want to come back] ...) ...

Earlier today, and over the last two weeks quite often, and many times throughout my life I have wondered about the mind and knowledge of God versus the heart and love for God. Here, I find permission to have an intellectual love for God -- a "mind mind-set" (I hope you'll let me call it that) for God. My desire is to know Him, but to know all about Him -- all that I can know about Him.

I had a pastor who would say, particularly about the book of Revelations, to "get the big picture" and "don't worry about the details." But the details are where the real fun stuff begins. The allegory and the symbolism in the historical tales of the nature of God or the events of the future are so stunning when looked at in detail. It's the details that I find the most awesome, and what bring me to the realization that no act of chance pulled together the Bible or the whole of creation.

The Bible texts had many authors and then a group of men got together and decided which texts to consider "canon" and which to disregard. None of that is an act of chance or coincidence. The details reveal it.

I actually have no problem with the theory of the Big Bang. I do not find it to be contrary to the story of creation. And after I saw a program on either Discovery, Science Channel, The Learning Channel, or one of those scientifically-oriented cable/satellite stations, I have even less problem with the Big Bang theory. As they described what would have happened after that explosion, I finally heard an explanation of why there was light BEFORE there was a sun.

Can you tell I am not a young earther and do not believe dinosaurs were either a hoax or if they really did exist that they were on Noah's ark as some of my Brothers and Sisters in Christ insist must be the case? As if getting into the Eternal Kingdom depends on whether I believe the earth is less than 10,000 years old?

And, while I do not believe in inter-species evolution, think about it. To arrive at the level of complexity that we have in plants and animals, if evolution was true, it would have had to have been consciously directed. Otherwise, we would have some really unusual things out there that defy convention. Animals would not fall into two- or four-legged categories; we would probably have some three and five legged ones (well, insects and bugs have more than the standard two or four, but do any of them have an odd number of legs????).

But I digress, and fly off on a tangent at the least little provocation. Sorry.

It's not a sin to think. It's not a sin to wonder. It's not a sin to use your mind. And it might not be so bad after all to have a "mind mind-set" when it comes to God and His creation.

"My Blog Lesson For Today" continues

I received a very wonderful comment/reply to the last post "My Blog Lesson For Today." in fact, I posted that entry at two of my blogs and got wonderful, thoughtful replies at both of them. "Ain't God grand?"

I found that replying to the commenters was getting to be very long, and I hadn't even gotten into what either one had said yet. So, I decided to continue blogging the topic for a few more entries. Here's "Part One: The Continuing Blog Lesson:"

Hi, Heather.

First off, Yes, you could (note, I did not say "should," though) very easily have your own blog. You write very well; get your point across well and clearly.

Blogging is a matter of "bravery" -- though, at first, when I knew no one was reading them, it was easy. Then I began to think about when someone might start to read it and almost stopped. And scarier still, since I have at least one of my blogs in the signature line of the e-mail account I use most often, sooner or later FAMILY might stumble on to it.

It makes me self-edit a little more, that's all. :-)

Thank you for the wonderful reply comment to my post on "My Blog Lesson For Today." As I wrote it, I was just trying to get the things I had been thinking about lately into some kind of orderly presentation. Mostly for my own good -- to have it "on paper" and in front of me.

When I needed to understand something, even when it came to school work, I often explained them to my mom. She would listen, ask questions that showed she had really paid attention. Even when it was a subject I know she had absolutely no interest in. Mom was wonderful that way. I thought I was unique in telling mom these kinds of things, but at her funeral last year, my brother made the same comment about how mom listened to anything he told her as if it was the most fascinating subject in the world to her, too, not just him. Since mom died, of leukemia, a little over a year ago, I haven't had my wonderful audience that listened and gave appropriate, and usually affirming, feedback.

It's the stupid, little comments that come out once in a while that are sometimes the most profound.

And while mom was sick, I tried to give her a card everyday. One day I wrote in it, "God loves you as much as we do." She had smiled so sweetly at that. I then verbally added, "He loves you even more than we do." Her smile got bigger. But it hit me hard. He DOES love us even more than we love one another. DUH! It's so obvious, once I saw it, but somehow "God is Love" just didn't seem so big, huge and awesome before that. "God is Love" means "God Loves!"

I write out a lot of what I would have been talking about with mom in our daily phone conversations. Some of it may be a little more self-revealing than perhaps I would usually make public, but if it seems to have a truth in it that someone else could benefit from, I'll throw into a blog. This one, "My Blog Lesson ...", actually went into two of them.

God loves me in a BIG way. And He wants me to be His friend and He wants to be my friend. WOW! And, He is showing me, that prayer is not the formula I learned in Sunday School (confession followed by praise followed by supplication followed by thanksgiving followed by more praise) - it is talking to Him as if I was on the phone with mom or one of my friends. He'll listen. He'll even help me clarify my thinking about an issue, a project, a subject I don't understand. The help may not be as audible as mom's voice at the other end of the phone line. But it is just as real and even better.

Mom and I used to chit chat as well as talk about things that were happening or what plans we had for the coming week. My friends and I talk about just about any subject that pops into our heads -- kind of a stream of consciousness thing, letting one subject blend into another because some word one of us said reminds of something we read or heard recently which in turn reminds one of us of a book we read way back in high school and on and on it goes.

Having a "conversation" with God -- well, I guess I got sort of hung up in the fact He generally does not audibly talk back right away. Prayer was work and not fun in the past. I'm learning I can sit down and say, "You know that story idea that seemed to pop into my head from no where the other day, what do You think? Should I run with it or run from it?" Or I can just say, "Did You see that lightening last night? WOW! What a sight; I got some awesome photos of it all. I'm glad it wasn't here, but I sure feel bad for the people that storm stalled over, though -- five hours of rain and thunder. Must have been hard to sleep through all that." Sure, I know He saw the lightening. And I know some of the people in the church where I grew up would be very aghast that anyone would talk to God in such a casual way. But, if He really is my FRIEND, then ceremony and pomp are not necessary.

Paul writes that because we have so great a High Priest, who is our mediator, that we should "come BOLDLY then to the throne of grace." Perhaps, not as casually as I do -- but I know one thing:

The story of Queen Esther teaches me about God's love for me. When Esther went to the king, it was not easy to do. It meant travelling by chariot or slave-carried litter from her Queen's palace, miles away (but within the same palace grounds), walking up a long corridor of relief sculptures all designed to prove how great and powerful the king was and how insignificant the guest was, then enter the throne room through big, huge, heavy double doors twenty or thirty feet tall (I don't remember the exact details from the Art History course I had). On top of that, it was illegal to enter the throne room unless sent for. To enter was a death sentence.

It is a symbol of the Holy of Holies of the Jewish Tabernacle, or later the Temple. And it was punishable by death to enter there if you were not the one who was allowed to enter, and only after certain preparations were made.

However, the King loved his wife so much that he immediately held out his scepter to her to indicate his approval of her presence there.

God loves us more than any person can love another person. He extends His scepter to us every time. He welcomes us, hears us and smiles on us for coming.

My Blog Lesson for Today

**sigh**

Ever since I discovered a certain three blogs, I log on to the Net just about every day just so I can check in with those ladies, hoping they have posted something new.

Sadly, I regret to admit -- I am not that regular, or eager, to check in daily with the one friend I have who is the best friend I'll ever have. This friend will never, ever blab my secrets to anyone else. This friend will never, ever abandon me when I am depressed, grouchy, whiny, have a stuffy runny nose, feel bloated and feeling ugly and maybe even acting a bit ugly. This friend will never, ever leave me to fend for myself, even when I've gotten myself into the mess by my own stupid actions or decisions. This friend is rich -- far richer than even Bill Gates. This friend is powerful -- far more powerful than OPEC or NATO (combined). This friend is important -- far more important than any head of state, even the Queen of England or the King of Sweden.

Amazingly, this wonderful friend WANTS to be my friend. And even more amazing, to me, wants me to be a friend in return.

I mean, me? I'm not rich, beautiful, important, powerful. I cannot add anything to my friend's treasures or jewels or accomplishments. I'm not someone that anyone important or rich or powerful even takes notice of. I'm just one of the millions of minions that hope to be noticed and maybe get a handshake or a wave from the rich and powerful.

Yet, I have a friend who is rich and powerful.

And, I am not as eager to check in with this friend every day like I am with these interesting bloggers?

WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?

No, seriously, what IS wrong with me?

If you had a friend, a best friend, like that, wouldn't you want to spend all of your time with that friend? Wouldn't you want to check in everyday at the very least to have a chat? Wouldn't you be eager to meet up with your friend as often as possible?

If you had a friend who was so much more than you were yet wanted to be your friend, wanted to have you as a friend, AND who never let you feel like you were something less than or inferior to him or her, and never made you feel like a tag-along in their shadow, wouldn't you just be head-over-heels in love with your friend?

So, why am I afraid of my friend?

It can't be that my friend knows all about me. I mean, that's one of the definitions of "friend" -- someone who knows all about you but loves you anyhow.

It can't be that my friend will scold me for staying away so long. Instead, I'll hear "Come on in. I've been hoping you would show up today! Oh, friend, I've missed you! Glad you're here now."

Could it be that it's because I didn't do what I said I wanted to do, but then later changed my mind? I doubt that. I'm pretty sure my friend would say, "Why didn't you come to me for help?" And I would say, "I wasn't sure it was what I really wanted to do after all." "You know, you can always talk these things over with me. I'll gladly listen anytime. I'll even try to point you in the right direction if you'll let me." (My friend isn't pushy.)

Is it because I think I have to change or do certain things so that my friend will keep liking me and keep on wanting to be my friend? Is it because someone else told me I'm not good enough to be friends with my friend?

I honestly don't know what keeps me away.

By now, you've probably figured out who my friend is. The God of the Universe, Jehovah Himself.

He wants to be my friend. He wants me to be His friend.

And, here I am, someone who knows an awful lot about Him but knows Him very little.

I've been working on a novel, based on a scenario of "what might have been if ..." I had made different decisions years ago. And then suddenly I began avoiding working on that story. Not because the actual decisions or consequences or subject matter I chose to be the "hot issue" of the story were troubling or difficult to write about. On the contrary. It was all hitting the computer screen almost too easily.

At first, I said I was not working on the story because I did not like the ending I had concocted and wanted a better one before I went any further. A better ending came a long and still I didn't want to write it down. Back and forth it went. For each excuse, a solution was found; and a new excuse was invented.

Finally, I knew the reason.

And it is not a happy thought.

Even though I made one decision and the character makes the opposite one, the consequences are horrifically different for us -- for her far worse than I ever faced (and I'm happy that "facing" it is just in the form of imagination and fiction for me), in the end, twenty years later, we are not that different. And, here I thought we were different. I thought I had a pretty good life and had grown in my faith. In truth, we both must face similar persistent fears and doubts, face the heartaches that have shaped us and embrace them as important aspects of who we are, and acknowledge the need for a deeper (much deeper) faith.

There is a mad sort of comfort in clinging to a rope that is studded with nails and broken glass that dangles above a black pit of unknown. The nails and glass cut and stab my palms and fingers as I cling to the rope, but the rope is strong and is known; the pain is unbearable but it is far less frightening than the pit below that is unknown, untried, unmapped, uncertain.

Both the character and I have to let go of the rope and fall into the pit. At the bottom, through the darkness, waiting for us is my Friend, who WILL catch me, who WILL hold me, who WILL protect me and love me and yes, I noticed I moved from "us" to "me" -- in the end, that's what the story is about. Her journey is the journey I must take.

Okay, that's why I am avoiding the novel. Is that why I am avoiding meeting with my friend?

It's because I have to let go of the rope and fall ...

I love to read but ...

To be honest, I had just about given up on reading. It is almost frightening that the only novels I have read in the last few years are the Harry Potter books.

Yes, I admit to reading them.

First, I do enjoy them. I'm a big girl now who can safely read them with discernment. I do have reservations about children reading them who are emotionally not capable of reading with an ability to discern story from reality. And that is another reason I read them. I know children who read the books and I want to be able to talk intelligibly with them about the stories, the events and characters that populate that "world." (I don't want to make a major mistake like I heard at church, and call JK Rawling "he" or make blanket statements about how evil the books are without anything to substantiate my opinion.)

Imagine, ten years in the making, an entire world of characters and larger-than-life plot and storyline. An entire generation of up-and-coming young adults have grown up with these characters and the plights and perils they have faced.

I admit, I'm still reading book six. I had decided Harry was becoming a bit of a "snot." He was the arrogant little creep Snape accused him of being. I know the end of the series. And decided I want to know how Rowling wraps it all up; how she brings everyone to that conclusion.

Whether you agree with her use of magic, witches and wizards, she is a successful author. That has nothing to do with the fact she has sold a gazillion copies of her novels and made enough money to make Scrooge McDuck's vault look puny in the process. She has created captivating characters that the reader actually cares about and gets caught up in what is happening to them. To me, that is a successful tale.

I've partially read a couple of non-fiction books. Static by Amy and David Goodman. And a book whose title eludes me at the moment but is about magically thinking in America today.

When it comes to fiction, well, I usually gravitate to the art or craft section of the bookstore these days; the fiction I see on the shelves just doesn't draw me right now. I must admit, Wicked sounds very interesting. But I wasn't sure I wanted to know about the Wicked Witch of the West that much, (from the Wizard of Oz fame). And it has been a while since I was in a Christian bookstore to look at the fiction. I went looking for Tommy Tinney's book that the movie A Night With The King was based on, but the store owner had no idea what I was talking about. End of that search.

The last time I had looked through the shelves at a Christian bookstore of decent size, nothing -- absolutely nothing -- sounded interesting.

That nebulous, hidden, conspiratorial "Committee of They" says that a writer should write what he or she would like to read. So, when I can't find what I want to read on the shelves of the local bookstore, or not-so-local Christian bookstore, I better get writing, right?

Then, I discovered blogs, finally. Blogs are amazing. Finally, something that the Internet is actually good for! I love blogs. Especially now that I have found ones that are kept by writers and wannabee writers who freely share their thought and writing processes and stories of what is happening in their lives now -- just to prove they really are ordinary people like the rest of us, they just have imaginations that may be a tad more fertile than the "average" ... and they don't mind being servants of that imagination.

I have discovered a renewed desire to haunt the bookshelves of the nearest Christian bookstore, or regular chain bookstore where I can suggest they carry more of these books that sound so wonderful. The nearest Borders is over an hour away. But the nearest Christian bookstore of any size worth spending my time in is even further away. Well worth the trip, though, if I can find these authors and their works on the shelves there.

When all else fails, there are Amazon.com and ChristianBook.com to turn to. As a writer who hopes one of my books will one day turn up on a bookstore shelf and will become someone's impulse purchase on a whim, this is a case where the hour trip to the brick-and-mortar store sounds like a very good use of my expensive gasoline.

A couple Writer's links to follow today

Okay, the first was posted at Lisa Samson's blog. See the link to her in the sidebar. She posted a link to some very good advice for writers. Check it out here:

http://bkmarcus.com/cache/Vonnegut/style/

By clicking on the name link to the other person who had left a comment for that blog, I ended up at another interesting blog from Kay. Here is a recent entry at her blog:, where she says she isn't a writer but these stories are in her brain, trying to get out:

http://loopdeloops.blogspot.com/2007/08/im-not-even-writer.html

Here is my comment back to her:

When those pesky things start pounding on the walls of your skull, trying to break out like chicks emerging from their eggs, you've gotta be ready for them. If you don't like the idea of a paper nest for them, or a hard drive resting spot, there's always the option of a cassette tape recorder. Speak out the story and let someone be your "secretary" to type out the dictation ...

Stories have a way of choosing their "victim" with intent. Whether to throw awry our own sense of who and what we are and are not, or to wreak havoc on our plans for life, or just to make us stop and look st something from a different angle with a sense of wonder -- I haven't decided.

Enjoy the fact that you are now "chosen." If you can find a copy, try reading Madeleine L'Engle's "Walking on Water: Reflections on Art and Faith." There is a section in there about how a story comes to a person and says "enflesh me." And she likens it to the "Glorious Impossible" -- how Mary said "yes" to the seemingly impossible -- holding God inside her own womb.


Enjoy whatever gifts come your way today! God bless!

What's at the Center?

Go read this post!

http://lisasamson.typepad.com/blog/2007/08/whats-at-the-ce.html

It is awesome to think of facing life with God at the center instead of me, me, me! It's what I want to convey but her post says it so much better. :-)

I AM ... so you don't have to be ... part 2

I was talking with my husband yesterday as we drove to a friend's farm about 45 minutes away. I was telling him about some of the blogs I have visited recently and some of the things I have posted (that I know no one is reading right now, but maybe I'll figure out how to drive traffic here sometime down the road ...)

We got onto the topic of Lisa's, the Baptist pastor's wife, Bible Study, "I AM so you don't have to be." He says he never learned anything in Sunday School or church growing up -- not that he wasn't listening, nothing was actually taught. So, most things are new to him. This is interesting, because he often brings fresh insight to a verse or scripture passage that I have been familiar with for years, with an already preconceived notion of what it is about. He may see it in a totally different way.

In this case, it was not a totally different way, but he brought one more insight to it that I hadn't yet considered:

When I told him about how the second "I Am" of God's reply to Moses ("I Am that I AM") is considered to be a blank that you can fill in with anything and everything that you need, he asked, "Is that like, 'I AM perfect so you don't need to be'?"

So often Christians get so hung up on what is proper behavior that we forget that we are all sinners, perfection is impossible and as James says, being guilty of breaking one Law makes us guilty of the entire Law. Therefore, we are no better than anyone we wish to judge or condemn for a lifestyle choice or behavior pattern with which we do not agree. We must avoid any thinking that there is some sort of hierarchy among sins, that one is worse than another: that being a homosexual is worse than being greedy or a gossip.

To say that the only difference between a Christian and a non-Christian is that Christians are forgiven is actually not true. When Jesus spoke from the cross, He said, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do."

This was presented to me, in the church where I grew up, as referring to the soldiers who were at His feet gambling over his robe. Yet, one evening my husband happened to catch a snippet of a program as he surfed the many channels on cable. He paused at a program on the Catholic Channel and heard that when Jesus prayed that, He was asking for forgiveness for all people, for all time -- those who had already lived, those who were alive then, and those who were yet to be born. He asked me later, "Does that include Judas and Pilate?" And the answer is yes.

Everyone was forgiven.

About 15 years ago I took a summer school class with a neighbor / friend / distant cousin. She needed a cultural studies course to get her AA in early childhood development. I was just taking classes for the fun of it, mostly art courses. We took a world religions course. One assignment was to do a 10 minute presentation to the class on some aspect of world religion. I chose to do my presentation on some aspect of being an Anabaptist (what Mennonites, Amish and Hutterites are).

I lived about 3 hours from Lancaster County, PA. And I had heard that the Mennonite Information Center had built a Tabernacle Reproduction. I asked my mom to go along for the day and we took a Saturday trip to The People's Place (an Amish information center with an awesome bookstore on Anabaptist topics). There I got a couple of books to help with my research for the presentation. We then visited Yoder's fabric store and then went to visit the Tabernacle reproduction since we were in the area already.

It was an amazing presentation. The older woman, Mary, that gave the talk about the Tabernacle and all the symbolism there gave so much information, it was hard to take it all in. We visited a few other times on later trips to the area, but discovered that if there was a child in the tour group, the presentation was dumbed down and all the symbolism was left out. I would love to get all that information again, though, somehow.

The one thing that stood out in my mind the most was that on the Day of Atonement, when the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies, he had to go through many rituals of purification first. This is a symbol of the perfection of our High Priest who is in Heaven now, Jesus Christ.

Then he would take the Blood of the Sacrifice and pour it on the Mercy Seat, a section of the lid of the Ark of the Covenant that was between the two images of the cherubim. Beneath this lid, inside the Ark, were the stone tablets of the Law. When the Blood was poured out, The Law was covered. God did not see the Law and sins were forgiven.

The symbolism for us to know is that our High Priest, Jesus, poured out His own Blood and has covered the Law. Those of us who under the Blood, are under an umbrella, of sorts, of grace and mercy. The Law is covered for everyone, whether you believe or not.

When you choose to embrace Law again in your life, you step out from under the umbrella of grace, the covering of grace, and are now subject to all of the demands of the Law. You are condemned by the Law, and only made acceptable under grace.

Beware, then, any force that wants to lead you into a pasture of legalism, even the tame suggestion that you tithe. Grace is not a license to behave abominably; it is an invitation to be ruled by what James calls the "Royal Law" -- Love God; Love your neighbor as yourself.

We all fail. We all fall short, even of that rule that can sum up the whole of the Law, for Love does no harm. But God is merciful, God gives grace.

What sets a Christian apart from those who do not believe? Just that: belief.

Not, however, what I found on a church website yesterday -- that the Bible is true and inerrant, that the world was created in 6 days, that Jesus was born and lived and died and was resurrected, that the Holy Spirit will descend on you and let you speak in tongues if you ask Him for that spiritual gift, that the rapture is coming soon.

These are things that a church will put into their statement of "What We Believe" to help people decide if this is the church they want to attend. These things do not belong in the prayer to "accept Jesus as your Savior." Believing these things will not "save" you.

You see, the devil knows that Jesus was born, lived, died and was resurrected.

So, what are we to believe? What is our faith to be in (you know, the verse that says we are saved by faith, but faith in what?)?

Two things:

That Jesus' death for my sins is enough. There is nothing I can do to be any more saved than I am. Therefore, trying to add to what He has already done, even in an attempt to be a "good Christian" (because good Christians just don't so certain things, you know), is stepping outside of belief and faith.

And that God said it, so I believe it. My faith, for instance, in reference to "if you have the faith of a mustard seed," is not in "Is my faith as big as a mustard seed?" nor "Is my faith as big as a mustard seed's?" But is my faith like the mustard seed's? It may be tiny but God has said it will become this mighty plant, it trusts God that He is telling the truth and so begins to grow. Nike said it, "Just do it!" And trust the God who said it will be.

P.S. God says, "I AM so you don't have to be." He is perfect, and by covering the Law, we are seen as perfect, already, in His eyes. It can't get any better than that!

PMS? Why does EVERYONE NEED it?

I recently went ahead and purchased the last of the Harry Potter novels. I want to know what my young friends are so eagerly reading and internalizing. I was headed out to buy dinner at the local Chinese restaurant and did a quick detour (well, I thought it would be quick) into WalMart to grab the novel. It wasn't quick.

I haven't read the previous novel. I started it but just couldn't get "into" it and put it down. Didn't bother to pick it up again and don't know where it is. Thought I should probably read it, though, before the conclusion to the series. The new books were in a pile in the front of the store. Had to go to the book department for the other one.

As I took the book from the shelf, there was a gentleman standing there who gave me a rather -- I wouldn't call it disgusted look, but I could tell he thought I (or anyone) was making a mistake to buy one of "those" books.

We got talking. I could also tell he was shocked to learn I am a Believer and would actually read those books.

As I explained, though, that I know children who are reading the books, I want to be able to talk to them about it. I told him that I know families who are reading the books together, out loud, and then actually discussing the story and the use of magic together.

As we talked more, eventually we got around to "having a calling" -- he thought that perhaps mine might be to do what I'm doing with the books and the kids I know. Actually, I told him I had finally figured out my PMS and decided that everyone needed it -- even men.

If he had given me a strange look just for picking up that book, he really gave me one at that point. I then explained, and defined PMS -- which it is about time I do here at the blog since I did promise to define it "soon" after I started the blog.

PMS stands for Personal Missions Statement. And, yes, everyone needs one.

And I think all believers have essentially the same one:

Our Purpose: Know God
Our Calling: To be an Ambassador of His Love and Grace and a Steward of His Blessings
Our Office and Gifts: are to be used in fellowship with one another to encourage, edify, and exhort -- so that we can spur one another on to fulfilling our purpose and calling.

The purpose of life is to know God; to live in relationship to Him. That is the purpose of all humanity.

Our calling is to share God's gospel of love and grace with those who do not know Him, do not know the way to Him -- through faith in the work of Jesus Christ. Our calling is not to make the unbeliever more moral; a more moral life cannot "save" them. Our calling is to introduce them to the best friend anyone could ever have.

Yes, we all need a PMS. To live in relationship with God, and to help others do that too.

"I AM" So You Don't Have to Be

There is a link to a blog from a Pastor's Wife, in the side bar, who is providing a weekly Bible Study called "I Am So You Don't Have to Be."

In truth, I've put the link there even before I have started working through the studies. Why?

Well, I am intrigued by the title of it.

When Moses asked "Who should I say sent me?"

God answers with "I AM that I AM."

As I grew up in church, I eventually heard that the second I AM was really like a blank. Into that blank could go anything you needed. "I AM food." "I AM shelter." "I AM love." Etc.

That series of books that were out in the last decade or so, that were so extremely popular that they spun off journals and workbooks, the "Conversations With God" books, start with one basic fallacy. The author is writing in a legal pad, and writes a question about why his life is the way it is. An answer appears on the paper in a different handwriting, so he writes a question "Who are you?"

The answer to the question indicates that the title of the series is a lie. The answer is "I AM what I AM NOT."

These books are far more dangerous to the human psyche and spiritual well-being than any Harry Potter novel could ever be.

That is a slight aside to the point I want to make, though.

While I had heard that the second I AM refers to our needs, they were life's needs not referring to deficiencies in our skill, spiritual gift or personality needs inventory.

I had also heard that God is strong in our weakness. This was usually coupled with the story of Paul praying three times to have the "thorn in his side" removed. This was in reference to some medical problem, perhaps, or something that came at him from the outside of himself.

And, last, there are the letters to the seven churches in Revelation. Each of their failings was then laid on top of our individual lives. We, as individuals, were supposed to be all these things that the churches were not. We were to be perfect and be able to do everything, and do it well and right and completely.

I am 46. It was within the last two years, mainly, that I learned it is okay to be me. It is okay to have my personality and not be a type A and I don't need to be everything and do everything well. I do need to know myself, know my abilities and my limitations. But it is okay to have limitations. It is okay to not be perfectly good at everything I try.

That road of discovery started in August of 2001. I was working as a temporary secretary, filling in for someone out on maternity leave. My immediate supervisor and I just didn't click. We didn't like one another. But then, hardly anyone really liked her, but she got her job done and therefore was an asset to the organization.

One Monday morning, as I went through the pile of faxes that had come in over the weekend, there was one that should have ended up somewhere else. A different business, a different type of business, should have gotten it.

I had a couple of options of what to do with it. It was an important fax. Just how important I only discovered a couple of years later. But that day, I put it on the corner of my desk and sort of forgot about it until the end of the day.

I could have asked my supervisor for advice. But I figured her response would have been, "Does it have anything to do with my job? So, why are you bothering me with it?"

I could have called the correct place and asked for their fax number and forwarded it.

Or, I could have thrown it away.

I looked at the fax. If it was not a hoax, and if it was as important as it seemed, then the sender would have double-checked to make sure the fax had arrived safely to its destination -- so, I tossed the fax in the trash.

A couple years later, I was actually listening to a local news broadcast (I'll have to post my opinion of "news" another time to let you know how important this it). In one report, I heard the name of the person who had sent that fax.

Another year went by before all of these events filtered through the gravel in my brain and a clear picture emerged in the distillate --
I had been in that place, at that time, for that one reason: to throw away that fax. I was not supposed to forward it. I was supposed to throw it away. Apparently, the sender never did double-check on it. As a result, something that could have happened, did not.

I would not categorize my life as a bad one. I have made some bad choices along the way, but nothing dire or nasty. Yet, some of those bad choices -- they've made me wish I'd lived better, taken other roads when choices presented themselves. Some things that happened, I had no control over, but maybe my response to them could have been different.

Yet, when I realized that the road I had taken was probably the only one that would have brought me to where I am at this moment, it was probably the only one that would have put me in that one place at that one time as well. Every moment of my life has been "right" to accomplish that.

It showed me the truth of "all things work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose."

Even my personality deficiencies are okay. If I had been a "good Christian" I would not have had any problems with my supervisor, or would not have let them keep me from going to her with that fax. Her advice, if she had given it, would have been to do the proper business thing -- forward it. And that would have been the wrong thing to do.

It took longer, though, to arrive at that realization and be okay with it -- I mean, the realization that my personality deficiencies are okay. It took hearing the teachings of a woman who has been trained in Dr. Rohm's DISC Personality Quadrant to understand that we all have different strengths and weaknesses. And that it is okay to be that way. (See link to Dr. Rohm's site in the sidebar)

When God says "I AM ...", He means, He can be all that I am not. If I am a starter but not a finisher -- He can (and will) either provide the finisher or be the finisher Himself. I tend to think, He will provide the Finisher if I ask Him to.

You see, one other thing I've discovered. Those letters to the churches in Revelation, well ... a church is a GROUP of individuals with individual strengths and weaknesses. But together, as a team, working together and not as a group of individual Lone Rangers, we can be those things that God wants us to be. We really can't be it as an individual; but in community we can. That is why He tells us to meet together regularly. We need one another; we need one another's skills and gifts and assets; we complement one another; we are a team that works together, not a group of "All-Stars" showing off.

For instance, one of the seven churches in Revelation is a church, according to another Blog I was reading recently, that is condemned for being a starter but not following through, not completing the job. As I thought about it, it struck me. Maybe their problem wasn't that they didn't follow through. Maybe their problem, and why the church would disappear, was the fact that it could not work as a team, could not work to use everyone's gifts, could not / would not live together in community.

He Is, and He provides, so you don't have to be ...

Fear as an Indication of Wanting to Live Well?

From time to time, I take a little time to wander around Blogdom. I found this one today:

http://hollywynne.blogspot.com/2007/07/fear-is-friend-whos-misunderstood.html

Here is my comment in response to it:

Holly,

Fear as an indication of wanting to live well ... hadn't thought of it that way.

I had a boss many years ago who would say "I'm going to do something now. Even if it's wrong, it's something." I thought he was weird. He probably was, but now I think I am beginning to understand him a little better.

When I allow fear to stop me from proceeding ... Well, the "perfect" time never arrives.

The opportunity to experience great joy never arrives without a remote (maybe just 1/10th of 1/10th of 1%) possibility of failure and hurt.

We never stop learning about the world and gathering information about it, so we can never be "fully" informed on any subject before we act on it.

Mostly, I have discovered that when we (I) operate under any kind of fear -- especially a fear that we (I) just won't get it right the first time -- we (I) deprive ourselves (myself) of so much of life that is wonderful, a huge wow and delivering great joy in the end.

Me? I'm a worry-er too. I'm an over-planner and easily see the obstacles instead of the opportunities.

But now, I want to kick sand in the face of Fear and demand it step out of my way. I want to go forth boldly and laugh at fear.

P.S. Except the fear of spiders. I'll let that one fester ... LOL.