Freesia

My new favorite flower. There is one at the front desk (where I am covering phones at the moment) and it smells SO good! Plus, this one is yellow, which is my favorite flower color anyway. If I had a camera with me I would very gladly post a picture of said lovely flower, but I don't. Instead, please enjoy this picture I found on the internet and have a wonderful Wednesday!

Sunday's Comin'!

It's Passion Week and as you study and reflect on death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, perhaps this video might be a help.

Sunday's Comin' from Igniter Media on Vimeo.

Pregnancy Brain?

Okay, I have to admit that I've been skeptical about some of the things I've read about pregnancy brain. If you've never heard of it, I'm sure a Google search will bring up some interesting articles.

That said, I wanted to share a story about myself.

I've been fighting a cold & allergies this week so my nose is completely stuffed up. I thought perhaps I'd try a warm drink to see if that helped. As I pulled the little lever of our coffee machine (which dispenses the hot water for my tea), I tipped the cup a little and missed the cup edge so some of the water splashed onto my hand. It was hot (don't worry, I don't have any blisters forming or anything) so I moved the cup... and CONTINUED HOLDING DOWN THE HOT WATER LEVER. So, I spilled water onto the counter for a good 2-3 seconds before realizing what I was doing and letting go of the lever. After cleaning my mess I thought "WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME??" and it occurred to me at that moment that perhaps there is something with this whole pregnancy brain thing...

Or it's the Benedryl I took a few hours ago... :-)

So Much I See . . .

I have not really lived up to my resolution to blog twice a week this year. The funny thing is that my mind is constantly mulling over blog post topics. I see a provocative bumper sticker and potential topic bursts onto the horizon of my thinking. I hear a sermon and am motivated to write out my thoughts. I read a book (I'm at nine so far this year) and "plan" to write a book review on the blog. I counsel someone at church and that leads to a related topic that would be wonderful to post about. On and on it goes . . .

However, it is obvious that I haven't followed through (much) on those thoughts. As I sit here in front of my computer screen in my office at Village Bible Church, I tell myself it's because I'm so busy with work, school, marriage, baby classes, parties, dishes, laundry, etc. Those things are all true, and I am busy, but that doesn't mean I couldn't make time for a simple blog post two or three times a week.

So this post is mainly just me posting my frustrations with my laziness.

I think this post has been percolating for a while, but a book I started a few days ago has really been the impetus for this post. It's called Gilead. I think I first heard about it from John Piper, and then he posted about it again two weeks ago. I bought it with a Borders gift card and realized that it won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2005.

Anyway, the book is about a dying preacher in Iowa writing down his memories (some of which are so random that you have to work hard to remember that this is not a real memoir - it is fiction) for his young son to read long after he is gone.

It is good.

It is thought-provoking.

Read it.

Scary Sad.

Couldn't believe this when I read it. This is not someone's else's problem. It's ours. This is not someone else's fault. It's ours.

Isaiah 1:16-17 -
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
learn to do good;
seek justice,
correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless,
plead the widow’s cause.

HT: JT

Further Emergence?

For those wondering or intrigued about Brian McLaren and his popular works, here is a helpful panel discussion at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. I am very thankful to these men for shining the bright light of truth on McLaren's new book, A New Kind Of Christianity.

New Pictures

Check out lots of updated pictures here!

We are the World . . . Kinda.

When a bunch of uber-talented celebrity musicians and singers got together 25 years ago (I wasn't even a year old yet) to record "We Are The World," something big happened. However, I think that it was only big because of all the big names involved. Can the song bring a tear to your eye? Yes. Was/is the problem of AIDS in Africa and all over the world a huge problem? Yes. But there's only one true answer for an eternal "better day," and that's the gospel of Jesus Christ.

So when "We Are The World 25" was recorded for Haiti, a lot of people were critical of its scope and purpose. Not only that, some Christians got bent out of shape about a line about God being taken out of the new version. I think these Christians are missing the point. Why should we expect a lost and dying culture to speak prophetically and biblically to itself? That's the redeemed of the Lord's job! Let's offer help and justice to the poor and downtrodden, but let's also offer them the life-changing gospel in the process!

Russell Moore offers some helpful comments on our expectations of the world, especially in relation to We Are The World.

Our church carefully decided to help the people of Haiti by donating through Churches Helping Churches. If you're interested, check out their straightforward website to see what they're all about.

Eric and Ashley

Check out my friend Eric's blog post about their little girl who's just a few months younger than mine! The video is priceless, but Eric's words are wise and godly.