So I've just finished the 21st chapter of Proverbs and it is continuing to be very very good. Chapter 16 is now highlighted, underlined, and boxed in. It's probably one of my favorites. The chapters are still very much focusing on wisdom. It hinges around counsel and the Lord guiding your steps. In chapter 20 one of the verses that stuck out the most was verse 24. "A man's steps are from the Lord; how then can man understand his way?" Isn't funny how often that we try to figure out our futures? Not even really funny, more foolish and sad. College is a super rough time for that too, I feel like. Everything you do in these four years is supposedly what is going to shape your future. Its so hard not too keep looking ahead and trying to figure out your life. And yet, our lives and the steps we take are from God, not from ourselves. "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand."-Proverbs 19:21 "The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. All the ways of man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit. Commit your work to the Lord and your plans will be established." -Proverbs 16:1-3 "The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." -Proverbs 16:9. These are just glimpses of verses I've read this week. There are so many more in the entire book. I'm pretty sure he's trying to say that we can plan all we want, but God's got the final say. I think it is so easy for us to try to understand our future, to sort it out and break it down, but even though we make plans, they are our plans, not his. Maybe that is why so many feel so much dissappointment and frustration towards God, we think our plans are the correct way and then he shows us something else. What we thought was for sure or promised changes and we feel like the rug got ripped out from under us. In reality God never promises us that we'll know our understand his plans, in fact just the opposite, he "...how then can he understand his way?" - Vs 20:24. Pretty sure that is a rhetorical question. We can't. So why do we keep trying? How bout we seek to understand the things he does allow us to see and know?
I think realizing that we are not sovereign is like a sucker punch to our pride. Even though we never say, "I know it all" our hearts and actions speak for us. When reality sets in it can really cut you down at the knees. I know. I've been being repeatedly humbled again and again because of my foolish confidence. I keep thinking about the song Sweetly Broken by Jeremy Riddle. If you've ever really thought about it, sweet and broken are not really two words that you'd put together very often. Typically when I think of broken I think of pain and being brought low. Not really a sweet experience. I read a verse yesterday that kind of puts it into perspective, though. "Blows that wound cleanse away evil; strokes make clean the innermost parts." -Proverbs 20:30. Obviously it is not talking about physical blows. You can't get someone to dock you to cleanse you of evil. It takes spiritual blows. Those sucker punches to our pride and our self-confidence are the things that cleanse us. That's the sweet part of being broken, even though it is painful and difficult at points, it is the pruning that allows us to grow up. Honestly it is God's grace that allows us to be brought so low. It may seem harsh but he's wooing us to something better, to himself. Whatever it was, sin, pride, money, future plans, ect, absolutely cannot ever hold a candle to him. Surrender is so difficult, and when our pride gets in the way it becomes even more difficult, but he allows the pain to set in so that we can put him back on the throne of our lives. It's like the helm of a boat, he's captain and we're merely a passenger. We like to take over when it's smooth sailing, it seems easy enough, so why not? We push the captain aside and try to steer our own way, we think we know how to get to our destination, we even turn down a compass in our arrogance. Even though he's the captain and has the authority to take back the helm he wants it given back. So he allows the storms to come. It's not until the storms that we recognize that we absolutely do not have control. We just cannot run the ship safetly, we have no knowledge and not the slightest idea where we are actually going. In order for us to not capsize ourselves we hand back over the helm. If the weather had just stayed fair we would have taken it as some merit of our own that the sailing was smooth.
That was probably a cheesey/cliche illustration but that's the best way I put it in my mind. Anyway, that's just been a lot of what I've been reading lately. I finished my communications class!!! I'll let you know what I got soon. I did a persusive speech on the relevance of marriage still in today's society and so we'll see if I defended it well at all. I've gotten really good grades on all my speeches and presentations so far. I'm glad I'm half-way decent at talking in front of a class, considering that is what I want to do with my life (God-willing). So that has been encouraging. Two more weeks of Bio!! Ahh I'm so ready to be done and have a couple week break before starting school school. Please pray for me and my test this week, it is a very crucial one, and I can use all the support I can get!
I love you all very much! Thank you for reading, you all are an encouragement to me. I hope you have a beautiful rest-of-Monday day. :)
Proverbs 17:24
-Kelly
Monday, June 28, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
A new post
So its been a little bit since I last gave any sort of real update...so here it goes....
Did I say I wanted an A in Biology?...*cough*....Ummm I think what I meant was I would like to PASS Biology. Seriously. I'm struggling. It isn't so much that the material is just that difficult, but that I just don't have a lot time to retain it all. I've just had to kind of tackle one thing at a time, so quizzes and unit work along with labs Mon-Wed, speeches and Communication assignments Thur-Sat, and then Sunday I use to study for my Bio exams. BUT I am nearly done with Communications! One 9-minute speech and an exam and I'll be finished! Whoot!!! :) Anyway, no one really wants to read all this. It's a drag. So. Moving on.
The goals are at a stand still right now, with the exclusion of loving on the kids I babysit for and trying to make an A in both classes (trying being the key word. Ha.) I'm still on page like 500 of Harry Potter, the 4th one. I still have only read 3 chapters of Screwtape. I'm still in the very beginning of French. I still have not touched the piano. I'm still only through the 6th verse of Psalm 103. My house is messy messy messy. And I haven't cooked in weeks. To all the mothers out there that balance all these things normally, my hat goes off to you. Y'all are my heroines. I have the month of July that calms down in terms of school and I'll see what I can do about conquering everything. I never really thought I'd look forward to normal semester classes so much.
Proverbs has been really great recently (how's that for a transition sentence?) I'm on chapter 15 as of today and its turned from long bits of instruction on adultrey and wisdom and now it has become just a lot of short snipets on wisdom and the fool. One of the things that has stood out to me the most is the instruction to seek counselors. It talks a lot about how the fool won't take instruction or critisim but the wise accept it freely, even seek it out! Just gonna be real honest right now, I am a big fool when it comes to this. My way is right in my eyes and I rarely seek guidance or ask for help. I mean this is in even the littlest things. If I am lost I will circle around for an hour before asking someone for help. I want to figure it out on my own. When Hope and I started playing basketball for our new team her senior year we had games all over the metroplex. They would be hours away a lot of times and so we were lost frequently. I always trusted my inner compass, and my inner compass was very often broken. But I would say things with enough conviction that Hope would believe me and we would find ourselves in the most random places ever. On the bright side we learned all about Dallas roads and navigating them! On the not bright side, I tend to apply this to everything, and that makes me a fool. Very much so, too. A lot of times I just won't open my mouth about things I'm struggling with, or decsions that could use some insight to be made, because I think/know that eventually it will work out and I want to be able to have solved it on my own. I'm so decided and opinionated about things I don't have the slightest clue about. I'm so set in what I think that I rarely listen to wisdom from others. I guess this is a confession of what a dummy I've been. A confession is no good if it doesn't lead to repentance, though. I'm not really sure where to start, Hope is going to be helping me out a bit, because she is much smarter than me and typically has a better gauge of right and wrong. Repentance that leads to action is really what needs to be happening. I guess I can start by admitting that I just don't know. I just can't see everything and I definitely people like all of y'all helping me out and giving me guidance. I guess it will be hard to swallow at first because I'll have to swallow my pride too, but it really needs to be happening in my life right now.
Well, I hope that you guys are having a great week!!! Enjoy the rest of your day!
Colossians 3:12-17
-Kelly
Did I say I wanted an A in Biology?...*cough*....Ummm I think what I meant was I would like to PASS Biology. Seriously. I'm struggling. It isn't so much that the material is just that difficult, but that I just don't have a lot time to retain it all. I've just had to kind of tackle one thing at a time, so quizzes and unit work along with labs Mon-Wed, speeches and Communication assignments Thur-Sat, and then Sunday I use to study for my Bio exams. BUT I am nearly done with Communications! One 9-minute speech and an exam and I'll be finished! Whoot!!! :) Anyway, no one really wants to read all this. It's a drag. So. Moving on.
The goals are at a stand still right now, with the exclusion of loving on the kids I babysit for and trying to make an A in both classes (trying being the key word. Ha.) I'm still on page like 500 of Harry Potter, the 4th one. I still have only read 3 chapters of Screwtape. I'm still in the very beginning of French. I still have not touched the piano. I'm still only through the 6th verse of Psalm 103. My house is messy messy messy. And I haven't cooked in weeks. To all the mothers out there that balance all these things normally, my hat goes off to you. Y'all are my heroines. I have the month of July that calms down in terms of school and I'll see what I can do about conquering everything. I never really thought I'd look forward to normal semester classes so much.
Proverbs has been really great recently (how's that for a transition sentence?) I'm on chapter 15 as of today and its turned from long bits of instruction on adultrey and wisdom and now it has become just a lot of short snipets on wisdom and the fool. One of the things that has stood out to me the most is the instruction to seek counselors. It talks a lot about how the fool won't take instruction or critisim but the wise accept it freely, even seek it out! Just gonna be real honest right now, I am a big fool when it comes to this. My way is right in my eyes and I rarely seek guidance or ask for help. I mean this is in even the littlest things. If I am lost I will circle around for an hour before asking someone for help. I want to figure it out on my own. When Hope and I started playing basketball for our new team her senior year we had games all over the metroplex. They would be hours away a lot of times and so we were lost frequently. I always trusted my inner compass, and my inner compass was very often broken. But I would say things with enough conviction that Hope would believe me and we would find ourselves in the most random places ever. On the bright side we learned all about Dallas roads and navigating them! On the not bright side, I tend to apply this to everything, and that makes me a fool. Very much so, too. A lot of times I just won't open my mouth about things I'm struggling with, or decsions that could use some insight to be made, because I think/know that eventually it will work out and I want to be able to have solved it on my own. I'm so decided and opinionated about things I don't have the slightest clue about. I'm so set in what I think that I rarely listen to wisdom from others. I guess this is a confession of what a dummy I've been. A confession is no good if it doesn't lead to repentance, though. I'm not really sure where to start, Hope is going to be helping me out a bit, because she is much smarter than me and typically has a better gauge of right and wrong. Repentance that leads to action is really what needs to be happening. I guess I can start by admitting that I just don't know. I just can't see everything and I definitely people like all of y'all helping me out and giving me guidance. I guess it will be hard to swallow at first because I'll have to swallow my pride too, but it really needs to be happening in my life right now.
Well, I hope that you guys are having a great week!!! Enjoy the rest of your day!
Colossians 3:12-17
-Kelly
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Caffine Headaches
Well hello there. I hope no one is anticipating a witty or insightful post. I feel like neither wit not insight will be present today. Not that they normally are, but I just wanted to clear that up early on so that you make go back to facebook surfing, or solitare, or really anything more productive-ish.
Glad we got that out of the way. Now for everyone who has decided to continue on in their reading, thank you. Shall we begin? Excellent. This week has been insanity. I thought about expounding on all that has been crammed in, clever thoughts I've had along the way(..well..I think they're clever...), musings and such, but so much has gone on that it would take you probably an hour to read and me 7-8 hours to type. That would be just nonsense, so instead I shall condense the week's general accomplishments. Since last Wednesday I have been in 34 hours of class (9 last Friday and Saturday and 25 more this Mon-Sat). I babysat 15 hours and spent about 2 hours a day in the car between my comings and goings. Sometimes more, very rarely less then that, and if less just by 15 minutes or so. So its been a little bit hectic to say the least. Good. Just crazy. The kids I've been watching are great. They're super chill and we just hang out and play games (Just a note: Candy Land will not be all that exciting if all of the destinations have been either lost or eaten by the dog. Also, never start to put the puzzle away unless you're positive that one last piece is gone for good, because then you'll find it after your puzzle is already half-destroyed.). So that has been a lot of fun (except when Ethan accidentally hit Leah in the face with his book while I was driving them to the library. I found out what rearview mirrors are really for, making sure no one has blood on them and to monitor for more potential incidents)
School has been good. I mean Biology is a drag, for sure. But science usually is for me. I have a hard time staying focused. My notes are currently scribbled all over with random doodles. Not the best way to reach my goal of getting an A, I know. I need to revert back to making pictures to match my notes so that I pay attention while I doodle. We'll see if that helps. I still love Communications. Seriously. Best class ever. That may just be me, but I get to constantly interact with my classmates, we talk and discuss, and they are some of the coolest, most interesting people. I'm the youngster and so I get to hear about all the cool things these people have done, and see all of their worldviews. We're never spending more then 45-min on one thing, and if we even work on one thing for that long, we're all participating, not just sitting on our rears listening. We don't just get lectured at. Instead we understand the material through interaction. I love talking, I love moving, and so I guess it makes sense that I love this class. Why is it that when we are in Kindergarten and the early grades that we get to do a lot of interactive school work and then the older we get the more we get away from that? If I could just interact with the material in all my classes like I've gotten to do in this class I think I could comprehend it and enjoy it more. It's not that the actual material in Biology is a drag, its that the lectures are just long and boring. It's hard to be excited about learning about something if it is boring. Anyway, just a thought, and something I'll apply when I teach, trying to make the material interactive. Which I think is easier when working with the little kiddos :) Anyway, now that I'm done with all of that, on to something maybe more interesting to the readers I have left.
This week I started reading Proverbs. I just finished 30 days through the Psalms, and with no other Bible study or anything to go through I decided to transition into Proverbs, it seemed like the natural thing to do. I've actually never read Proverbs before. I don't think I've ever even really sat down and read a full chapter of Proverbs except Proverbs 31, and only that in 7th grade because the girl discipling me wanted to go through it (a little over my head at that point, I wasn't exactly concerned with my home making skills and being a good wife at the ripe old age of 13). That seems suprising even to me, a little bit, that I've never read it before. I mean I'm fairly new to spending quality time in the word and having a real relationship with God (January 27th, 2007! So almost 3 1/2 years) But even so, seems like I should have my way over to Proverbs at some point before now. So far it has been so good. I mean reading it just makes me crave wisdom, or, really, at this point, I crave craving it. The way he talks about wisdom and the value of "her" (more precious then silver, or gold, or this week's babysitting pay check) is so convicting. The chapters always start out the same way-ish, talking about how the son should not turn from the father's words, how he should cling to them. Then it transitions into wisdom, or how to act wisely, and then they end with something about a fool in comparrision to the wise. Now, I'm basing this off the first 5 chapters, and so the format will probably change but so far that has been how it is set up. Proverbs 3:5-6 are so familiar, but then verse 7, a little less familiar, says "Never be wise in your own sight..." (Also in Romans 12 in the Marks of a True Christian section) . Which is so interesting to me. It's like all of Proverbs is about how you should crave wisdom and desire knowledge and pray heartily for both, but then it says you should never reach a point where you feel like you've arrived. I think of a quote that used to sit in our guest bathroom, it said "Humility is a strange thing, once you think you've got it, you've lost it." I guess wisdom is kind of like that. If you are sitting around thinking you are wise, you probably aren't. I've never thought about it before, but I feel like humility and wisdom go hand in hand. The more you know, the more you know how much you don't know. So the more wisdom you have the more humbled you are. I want that. I want to be wise so that I recognize how big of a fool I am. Seems like an oxymoron, or contridictory, but then at the same time, it makes complete sense. Of course there is always love, which intertwined to every aspect of our spiritual walk (seriously, you can't get away from it, Christianity without love just isn't Christianity) So if you act in humility, by loving others more than yourself, you gain wisdom. The more you gain wisdom, the more humbly you are going to act, and the more others will recieve love from your daily life. It's a vicious cycle, one I really wish my life was caught up in, but honestly isn't. But how do you jump in? Do you tackle pursuing wisdom? Or do you try to just stop being prideful all together and being more humble? Maybe it begins with love and putting others first? I honestly don't really know. I guess I'll try to hop on the ride somewhere around the love aspect. Putting others first is so difficult. It's just not the way we're wired. I think God made us all a certain way with certain desires so that we are always having to fight comfort zones and easy decisions.
Well, that was my week and just some thoughts from within it. I wouldn't imagine that I'm going to be writing a ton over these next few weeks. Also, my goals are pretty much going on hold right now. I've got to write 5 response papers, take 5 exams, 3 lab quizzes, 6 word quizzes, 2 lab practicums, 9 quizzes, 5 homework sections, and 17 chapters of work all before July 7th. And that is just Biology. I still have a 6-page paper due in Communications, a 9-minute long speech to write, and a major group presentation, and an exam, all of that before the 27th of June. So its going to probably be a little bit before Harry gets read, or French get spoken, or Trouble gets played! Ha. Well I hope you have a really good day and a good rest of the weekend. Thanks for reading!!
Proverbs 19:21-22
-Kelly
Glad we got that out of the way. Now for everyone who has decided to continue on in their reading, thank you. Shall we begin? Excellent. This week has been insanity. I thought about expounding on all that has been crammed in, clever thoughts I've had along the way(..well..I think they're clever...), musings and such, but so much has gone on that it would take you probably an hour to read and me 7-8 hours to type. That would be just nonsense, so instead I shall condense the week's general accomplishments. Since last Wednesday I have been in 34 hours of class (9 last Friday and Saturday and 25 more this Mon-Sat). I babysat 15 hours and spent about 2 hours a day in the car between my comings and goings. Sometimes more, very rarely less then that, and if less just by 15 minutes or so. So its been a little bit hectic to say the least. Good. Just crazy. The kids I've been watching are great. They're super chill and we just hang out and play games (Just a note: Candy Land will not be all that exciting if all of the destinations have been either lost or eaten by the dog. Also, never start to put the puzzle away unless you're positive that one last piece is gone for good, because then you'll find it after your puzzle is already half-destroyed.). So that has been a lot of fun (except when Ethan accidentally hit Leah in the face with his book while I was driving them to the library. I found out what rearview mirrors are really for, making sure no one has blood on them and to monitor for more potential incidents)
School has been good. I mean Biology is a drag, for sure. But science usually is for me. I have a hard time staying focused. My notes are currently scribbled all over with random doodles. Not the best way to reach my goal of getting an A, I know. I need to revert back to making pictures to match my notes so that I pay attention while I doodle. We'll see if that helps. I still love Communications. Seriously. Best class ever. That may just be me, but I get to constantly interact with my classmates, we talk and discuss, and they are some of the coolest, most interesting people. I'm the youngster and so I get to hear about all the cool things these people have done, and see all of their worldviews. We're never spending more then 45-min on one thing, and if we even work on one thing for that long, we're all participating, not just sitting on our rears listening. We don't just get lectured at. Instead we understand the material through interaction. I love talking, I love moving, and so I guess it makes sense that I love this class. Why is it that when we are in Kindergarten and the early grades that we get to do a lot of interactive school work and then the older we get the more we get away from that? If I could just interact with the material in all my classes like I've gotten to do in this class I think I could comprehend it and enjoy it more. It's not that the actual material in Biology is a drag, its that the lectures are just long and boring. It's hard to be excited about learning about something if it is boring. Anyway, just a thought, and something I'll apply when I teach, trying to make the material interactive. Which I think is easier when working with the little kiddos :) Anyway, now that I'm done with all of that, on to something maybe more interesting to the readers I have left.
This week I started reading Proverbs. I just finished 30 days through the Psalms, and with no other Bible study or anything to go through I decided to transition into Proverbs, it seemed like the natural thing to do. I've actually never read Proverbs before. I don't think I've ever even really sat down and read a full chapter of Proverbs except Proverbs 31, and only that in 7th grade because the girl discipling me wanted to go through it (a little over my head at that point, I wasn't exactly concerned with my home making skills and being a good wife at the ripe old age of 13). That seems suprising even to me, a little bit, that I've never read it before. I mean I'm fairly new to spending quality time in the word and having a real relationship with God (January 27th, 2007! So almost 3 1/2 years) But even so, seems like I should have my way over to Proverbs at some point before now. So far it has been so good. I mean reading it just makes me crave wisdom, or, really, at this point, I crave craving it. The way he talks about wisdom and the value of "her" (more precious then silver, or gold, or this week's babysitting pay check) is so convicting. The chapters always start out the same way-ish, talking about how the son should not turn from the father's words, how he should cling to them. Then it transitions into wisdom, or how to act wisely, and then they end with something about a fool in comparrision to the wise. Now, I'm basing this off the first 5 chapters, and so the format will probably change but so far that has been how it is set up. Proverbs 3:5-6 are so familiar, but then verse 7, a little less familiar, says "Never be wise in your own sight..." (Also in Romans 12 in the Marks of a True Christian section) . Which is so interesting to me. It's like all of Proverbs is about how you should crave wisdom and desire knowledge and pray heartily for both, but then it says you should never reach a point where you feel like you've arrived. I think of a quote that used to sit in our guest bathroom, it said "Humility is a strange thing, once you think you've got it, you've lost it." I guess wisdom is kind of like that. If you are sitting around thinking you are wise, you probably aren't. I've never thought about it before, but I feel like humility and wisdom go hand in hand. The more you know, the more you know how much you don't know. So the more wisdom you have the more humbled you are. I want that. I want to be wise so that I recognize how big of a fool I am. Seems like an oxymoron, or contridictory, but then at the same time, it makes complete sense. Of course there is always love, which intertwined to every aspect of our spiritual walk (seriously, you can't get away from it, Christianity without love just isn't Christianity) So if you act in humility, by loving others more than yourself, you gain wisdom. The more you gain wisdom, the more humbly you are going to act, and the more others will recieve love from your daily life. It's a vicious cycle, one I really wish my life was caught up in, but honestly isn't. But how do you jump in? Do you tackle pursuing wisdom? Or do you try to just stop being prideful all together and being more humble? Maybe it begins with love and putting others first? I honestly don't really know. I guess I'll try to hop on the ride somewhere around the love aspect. Putting others first is so difficult. It's just not the way we're wired. I think God made us all a certain way with certain desires so that we are always having to fight comfort zones and easy decisions.
Well, that was my week and just some thoughts from within it. I wouldn't imagine that I'm going to be writing a ton over these next few weeks. Also, my goals are pretty much going on hold right now. I've got to write 5 response papers, take 5 exams, 3 lab quizzes, 6 word quizzes, 2 lab practicums, 9 quizzes, 5 homework sections, and 17 chapters of work all before July 7th. And that is just Biology. I still have a 6-page paper due in Communications, a 9-minute long speech to write, and a major group presentation, and an exam, all of that before the 27th of June. So its going to probably be a little bit before Harry gets read, or French get spoken, or Trouble gets played! Ha. Well I hope you have a really good day and a good rest of the weekend. Thanks for reading!!
Proverbs 19:21-22
-Kelly
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Another Late Night
Its 2am. I'm still awake. I show no signs of sleeping any time soon. Its crazy how home has done that to me. Typically I am a 11pm lights out type of gal at school. I'll have to revert back to that very soon considering Biology and babysitting start on Monday. But, until then, here I am. Awake. And thinking. My mind seems to shut off all day, and then BAM, as soon as my head hits the pillow it's whirling. It's like it s is trying to digest all of the thoughts and things that have gone on throughout my day.
Sooooo....since I'm awake...why not blog? Just a wee bit, eh? Just until the sleepy kicks in.
Monday. Memorial day. It was lovely. I had Blake, Haley, and Cally over. It was like 3 worlds colliding. While Haley is pretty much a part every part of my life, I really classify her as a church crew member, because that is where our friendship originated. So church crew was represented. Home school basketball was represented by my dear friend Cally. And then Blake was carrying the Arkansas crew flag (not literally, just a figure of speech you know). I know I said 3 worlds colliding, but it was more like 3 worlds meshing, not really a collision in the literal sense of the word. Anywho, Monday was just swell, and Haley, Cally and I dyed t-shirts and watched a movie. Then Tuesday they stayed over until 3:30/4ish swimming and hanging out and what not. Again, a lovely time.
All that to say, I got absolutely nothing done on Monday and Tuesday. I read some Harry Potter, but nothing was cleaned, practiced or, memorized for those two days. I wouldn't have traded having my friends around for those few hours for a few clean dishes but I will say it made today rather difficult. I didn't want to do diddly squat that's for sure. I mustered the discipline to do a few loads of laundry, but they have yet to be folded, so I hardly count that as complete. I did do some French and worked on Psalm 103. And again I read some Harry Potter, but those are all the enjoyable things. I have yet to touch a keyboard, I've only made it through 2 chapters of Screwtape, and I've just barely worked on school these past few days. I wish I could say its because I've been spending so much time outside, or that I've found something much more crucial that desires my attention, but it is just not true.
I was reading through a devotional I found online the other day and it said this in it: "The word most often translated patient literally means 'long suffering'. The Message combines both ideas by calling it 'the willingness to stick with things.' " Hmmm. Interesting. Patience, in my mind, has always just been the concept of waiting for something or the idea that you should hold your tongue and be nice to someone when they are difficult. It is what you DON'T do that defines you as patient. But literally the word patient, or patience, is so active. Its not dormant at all, it's a fully functional faith that requires action. This summer I'm having to learn patience in a whole new way and this new way of defining it is just a start. I thought I was learning patience by what I don't do, now I see I'm learning it by what I am doing. Hope called me the other day and gave me a quote that speaker in Alaska had used, she said, "You must be content to do the known until God reveals the unknown." That is patience. Doing what you know needs to be done today, knowing God will reveal tomorrow when tomorrow comes. See I've already gotten impatient with the work I'm doing here at home. I'm already looking towards the fall. Ya, God will do some sweet stuff in my life in the fall, I'm sure of it, but he's trying to do some really cool stuff right here and right now as well. So I need to continue seeking him out by: 1) Commiting my way to him (me giving him my best in the known) 2) Trusting in him (me surrendering the unknown ) 3) And he will act (the unknown, he will make known) -Psalm 37:5
On a side note (also known as: I'm on a rambling roll) I've got to read a whole slew (6) of relationship and marriage counseling books (just call me Dr. Phil) for a paper for Communications (which I have been calling Speech, but I only make 1 speech so that's not really the right name for the class). Not going to lie, the intro to all of these books is almost frightening enough to make a girl second guess the idea of ever getting married. They always seem to open the book with the shock factor of how miserable marriage is for everyone. Of course, they always teach you how to work it out, but I just haven't gotten to those chapters yet. I'm sure the Christian books get around to it, but maybe why so many marriages come to a breaking point or near breaking point is because people have misinterpreted the word patience. "Love is patient.." is a really common passage. You can walk into any Christian bookstore and get atleast 7 different styled mugs with the words scrawled on them. It makes a lovely Bible case cover too, you know, in scroll text with some overly floral decoration in the background, maybe some Precious Moments characters. Just don't forget to grab your Testamints, Fruit of the Spirit fruit bowl, and water bottle with the words "Drink of this water and you will never thirst again..." written on the lable (I just don't think Jesus was trying to sell Aquafina when he said that.) Sorry, I digress, I should never have started with the Bookstores. Anyway, you get the picture, idea, "Love is patient..." is common. But what is patient? I mean, we know now, we just talked about it, it is an active pursuit, the desire to not quit but to stick with something. But do these couples know that? Do they know that being patient doesn't mean pulling away or sitting around waiting for things to get better? I think so often, even in just reading the openings of these books, the problem with relationships and marriages start with, "He just doesn't do this...." or "She never takes the time to do that...." In the end both of them stop being active. They say, "Well I'll just wait it out... I'll be patient and see when he/she changes." It's amazing to see the number of marriages, even with in the Christian community, crumble because this concept is misunderstood. Now there are other things too that factor besides the lack of active patience from either party. One of which is the disillusional idea that you are somehow complete once you find the person you love, like you will have arrived to some upper crust and the one main goal in life is accomplished. That crumbles under so many people (more for girls I think, which ruins the relationship for guys too) because they are depending wholey on a flawed human being to make their life perfect. I blame the absurdity known as chick-flicks for this phenomenom. But that is another ramble for another time.
Until next time dear friends. Congratulations on having read this far.
Psalm 73:21-24
-Kelly
P.s- I leave the verses in reference form just as another excuse for us to get to crack the Word open. I'd encourage you not to Biblegateway them.
Sooooo....since I'm awake...why not blog? Just a wee bit, eh? Just until the sleepy kicks in.
Monday. Memorial day. It was lovely. I had Blake, Haley, and Cally over. It was like 3 worlds colliding. While Haley is pretty much a part every part of my life, I really classify her as a church crew member, because that is where our friendship originated. So church crew was represented. Home school basketball was represented by my dear friend Cally. And then Blake was carrying the Arkansas crew flag (not literally, just a figure of speech you know). I know I said 3 worlds colliding, but it was more like 3 worlds meshing, not really a collision in the literal sense of the word. Anywho, Monday was just swell, and Haley, Cally and I dyed t-shirts and watched a movie. Then Tuesday they stayed over until 3:30/4ish swimming and hanging out and what not. Again, a lovely time.
All that to say, I got absolutely nothing done on Monday and Tuesday. I read some Harry Potter, but nothing was cleaned, practiced or, memorized for those two days. I wouldn't have traded having my friends around for those few hours for a few clean dishes but I will say it made today rather difficult. I didn't want to do diddly squat that's for sure. I mustered the discipline to do a few loads of laundry, but they have yet to be folded, so I hardly count that as complete. I did do some French and worked on Psalm 103. And again I read some Harry Potter, but those are all the enjoyable things. I have yet to touch a keyboard, I've only made it through 2 chapters of Screwtape, and I've just barely worked on school these past few days. I wish I could say its because I've been spending so much time outside, or that I've found something much more crucial that desires my attention, but it is just not true.
I was reading through a devotional I found online the other day and it said this in it: "The word most often translated patient literally means 'long suffering'. The Message combines both ideas by calling it 'the willingness to stick with things.' " Hmmm. Interesting. Patience, in my mind, has always just been the concept of waiting for something or the idea that you should hold your tongue and be nice to someone when they are difficult. It is what you DON'T do that defines you as patient. But literally the word patient, or patience, is so active. Its not dormant at all, it's a fully functional faith that requires action. This summer I'm having to learn patience in a whole new way and this new way of defining it is just a start. I thought I was learning patience by what I don't do, now I see I'm learning it by what I am doing. Hope called me the other day and gave me a quote that speaker in Alaska had used, she said, "You must be content to do the known until God reveals the unknown." That is patience. Doing what you know needs to be done today, knowing God will reveal tomorrow when tomorrow comes. See I've already gotten impatient with the work I'm doing here at home. I'm already looking towards the fall. Ya, God will do some sweet stuff in my life in the fall, I'm sure of it, but he's trying to do some really cool stuff right here and right now as well. So I need to continue seeking him out by: 1) Commiting my way to him (me giving him my best in the known) 2) Trusting in him (me surrendering the unknown ) 3) And he will act (the unknown, he will make known) -Psalm 37:5
On a side note (also known as: I'm on a rambling roll) I've got to read a whole slew (6) of relationship and marriage counseling books (just call me Dr. Phil) for a paper for Communications (which I have been calling Speech, but I only make 1 speech so that's not really the right name for the class). Not going to lie, the intro to all of these books is almost frightening enough to make a girl second guess the idea of ever getting married. They always seem to open the book with the shock factor of how miserable marriage is for everyone. Of course, they always teach you how to work it out, but I just haven't gotten to those chapters yet. I'm sure the Christian books get around to it, but maybe why so many marriages come to a breaking point or near breaking point is because people have misinterpreted the word patience. "Love is patient.." is a really common passage. You can walk into any Christian bookstore and get atleast 7 different styled mugs with the words scrawled on them. It makes a lovely Bible case cover too, you know, in scroll text with some overly floral decoration in the background, maybe some Precious Moments characters. Just don't forget to grab your Testamints, Fruit of the Spirit fruit bowl, and water bottle with the words "Drink of this water and you will never thirst again..." written on the lable (I just don't think Jesus was trying to sell Aquafina when he said that.) Sorry, I digress, I should never have started with the Bookstores. Anyway, you get the picture, idea, "Love is patient..." is common. But what is patient? I mean, we know now, we just talked about it, it is an active pursuit, the desire to not quit but to stick with something. But do these couples know that? Do they know that being patient doesn't mean pulling away or sitting around waiting for things to get better? I think so often, even in just reading the openings of these books, the problem with relationships and marriages start with, "He just doesn't do this...." or "She never takes the time to do that...." In the end both of them stop being active. They say, "Well I'll just wait it out... I'll be patient and see when he/she changes." It's amazing to see the number of marriages, even with in the Christian community, crumble because this concept is misunderstood. Now there are other things too that factor besides the lack of active patience from either party. One of which is the disillusional idea that you are somehow complete once you find the person you love, like you will have arrived to some upper crust and the one main goal in life is accomplished. That crumbles under so many people (more for girls I think, which ruins the relationship for guys too) because they are depending wholey on a flawed human being to make their life perfect. I blame the absurdity known as chick-flicks for this phenomenom. But that is another ramble for another time.
Until next time dear friends. Congratulations on having read this far.
Psalm 73:21-24
-Kelly
P.s- I leave the verses in reference form just as another excuse for us to get to crack the Word open. I'd encourage you not to Biblegateway them.
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