Technology

Oh my gosh, blogging, and reading blogs, is pretty much my favorite thing to do right now. I just feel this drive to write lately, whether on my blog or emails...I probably need to chill, though, because I'm getting technology overload, my eyeballs hurt and I'm blowing up people's inboxes. Here I am up playing on the computer at 10:30 and I'm planning to be at the church at 6 a.m. tomorrow. I need to get my behind in bed. Speaking of technology that makes me want to sing the wedding song from Napoleon Dynamite. In fact I think many of us should be singing this song to our spouses and families (we really do love you more than technology...but we still love technology). I think I'll take a look-see on Youtube real quick and embed it here for all to enjoy with me. Hang on.......talk amongst yourselves...and take a look at the artwork...Caeley put this on Dave's mirror...we thought it was funny ;) He probably will not have a clue what it means.

Okay, found it. Enjoy while you can because I'm not sure this post will be here permanently ;)And if you're not a Napoleon Dynamite fan, or if you don't like stupid humor, DON'T CLICK PLAY! You will lose all respect for me ;)

(for the record the typo in the title of the video is not mine...it came that way ;) (and I know it's terrible quality, but it's all I could find).

War Eagle!

I think we all know I'm not exactly a hard core football fan, and this year it's for two reasons. One, I have FOUR kids, three of which are four and under, so I really don't have time to pay attention to football...a game. Second, all the controversy that surrounded Auburn this year put a bad taste in my mouth, with all the nastiness from every direction. Again I say, it's a game. A big one, but a game, a pastime, nonetheless.

Having said that, I still have to say a big WAR EAGLE! I have grown up watching and loving Auburn football and am so proud of the team and coaching staff. There are some really fabulous coaches on this team, ones that really do have integrity and that love Jesus. I know this because I have seen it with my own eyes (just ask Jada, adopted from Africa by the Grimes family...and the cutest little thing you have ever seen!) Not to mention the chaplain, Chette Williams, who is phenomenal. I congratulate them on a hard earned National Champion title.

Later I hope to take the kids to Toomers Corner to gawk at all the toilet paper that is everywhere. We were watching the live web cam at Toomers and Riley said, "I want a paper towel [toilet paper] tree. They are funny!"

And now, enjoy the "Tunnel Video" - Christopher loves this... War Eagle!!

Wintry Mix 2011

Well, global warming strikes again ;) Brrr... it's cold in Alabama today, but nowhere near what the media made it out to be. I say that as if I have watched any media. We just cut off our cable for a while so I haven't actually seen any news, but according to my FB friends, the media made it out to be awful. People were running to the stores for supplies and all that. Thankfully, it's not too bad from what I can tell and we have electricity, so it's all good. I don't know why, but every time I say, "wintry mix," I crack up...that's so funny to me for some unknown reason. Wintry mix.

For me this weather was all about footie pajamas and my super cute rain boots. I tried for what seemed like eternity to get a cute picture of my boys together in their PJs but Christopher would not be still long enough and Corban just wasn't having it. I only got one of Christopher that wasn't a blur of motion or his backside

And here Corban is saying, "You stop it! Don't take my picture!" He was in time out just seconds after this, when Daddy swooped in. Sorry buddy!



Sidenote: Do you ever find yourself taking really cute pictures and then when you go back and look the only thing you notice is all the mess in the background? I didn't realize what a mess the living room was until this picture. Sorry...disregard. I promise it never looks like this. Only this one time. :)

Riley has no footie pajamas. I considered buying her some last week, but I thought better of it. This is my child that refuses to wear clothes, so full body coverage might send her over the edge. As we speak we are all fully clothed and she's playing happily in her Little Mermaid panties, pretending to be a "baby doggy named Baby Zeus" (from The Dog That Saved Christmas). I guess it's still okay that I say that she's in her panties...she's only four.

And I get to wear my super cute polka dotted rain boots...yay!

Well, like I said, we cut our cable off a few days ago, and there's a little thing called the BCS Championship game coming on tonight. So, I'm off to figure out how to hook my laptop up to the TV. Dave is pushing pills at Walmart today so I've got to figure this out for myself. I might just be watching it on my tiny screen...bleh. If anybody has an s-video cable I can run from my computer to the TV, holla! I'll trek out into the icy wintry mix to pick it up :)

WAR EAGLE!!

Questions

I have so many questions - questions I have been thinking on for a long time. This could be a ten page post if I had the time and energy right now to transfer it all from my mind to this blog, but since I don't it will be pretty short. I'm sure you're glad to hear that...all two of you ;)

So, what I am going to do is make a list of the biggies and then maybe try and tackle them one at a time. And I may not ever fully know the answers to some.

1. What is the ultimate purpose of reaching out and ministering to our broken world? Is it just to relieve suffering here and now?
2. What should the purpose of our church services be? Should they be primarily evangelical?
3. God clearly values human life because He made us in His image (see Gen. 9:6), but what exactly does that mean? What's He really saying and what are the implications?
4. How can I be relevant to the culture without being fully immersed in it...without conforming to it? How do I love people where they are, but uphold a righteous standard? Or am I just legalistic, as some have said? How do you represent a God that is both loving and righteous and do it with integrity?
5. When it comes to my personal healing - emotional, physical, or whatever - is it just for my benefit or is there a higher purpose? Or is it both? Does He just want me to feel better or is there more to it?
6. Has our worship become self-worship? For example, was the joy set before Jesus me, or was it heaven? Was it really because He "saw my face," or was it that He longed to see His Father's face again? Was it that He was obedient unto death and was about to hear "well done good and faithful servant?" Do I love Him because He does things for me? If it seems He hasn't "done anything for me lately," do I lose my affection?

I may have to come back and add to this list but for now these are the big questions on my mind. I'd love to hear any comments on them.

Kind of an abrupt ending I guess, but I am dog tired. Dave made me go to the gym with him today because he said I need exercise to have more energy. Why have I been so tired all day then ;) He's probably right but my knees are killing me and I'm whooped, so it didn't work yet.

What's My Motivation?

What's my motivation? That's the basic question of an actor, right? At least that's kind of the joke. It makes sense though. If I were dropped into some kind of improv thing, the main thing I would want to know is what's my motivation...what's my goal here? Then I would know how to act. The things I would say if I were trying to move people emotionally would be far different than what I would do or say if I was trying to cause laughter. So, it would be essential to know what outcome I was looking for...what's my motivation?

The same is true of my Christian life. John Piper has me thinking on that very question and is helping me piece together some things I've been thinking on for a while. What is at the bottom of my joy? When I boil everything down, what do I really want? Is my goal to glorify God? Again, to glorify God is to give an accurate representation of who He is...to honor Him rightly and to reflect Him accurately. That's all that will really count.

I have so much more to say on that, but no time right now. I really think I am in the middle of a major shift and am just trying to process through some of it.

Tomorrow's Another Day

All I can say right now is thank God it's bed time...for the kids anyway. We had a great day today until about 6:00. That seems to be about the time my sweet baby girl is just done for the day, and the whining and irritability begins. Well, actually, that's when the whining exponentially increases. It goes on all day between the three little kids. And tonight I was not at my best, either, and did not handle her as I should have. All the crying and whining got the best of me and I just didn't respond well. It could have been worse, I didn't resort to physical violence, although I told Jesus I needed help or else I might. My words were too harsh and my tone wasn't patient and I am sorry for that.

But, I am reminded that His mercy is new every morning. This behavior doesn't characterize my every day, and she will come out in the morning when she wakes up, smiling and ready for a hug. And we will start over. New day. Yay.

The Both/And Dilemma

I woke up this morning in an extra foul, negative mood (yay for my kids, right?) It's partly due to the cyclical mental agitation I feel about every four weeks, and the other part is due to some things I read last night. Lately I have really been feeling my heart stirred by the passage of scripture in Matthew 25 and by James. To keep it as short as possible Jesus said that we, Christians, will be judged by Him, based on this: did we, or did we not, do for the least of His brothers and sisters. Did we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give drink to the thirsty, shelter for the homeless, etc?

James said faith without works is dead. You have no faith at all, if it isn't demonstrated with good works. I can say I believe the lights will come on if I flip the switch, but if I sit in the darkness complaining about the darkness, you might wonder if I really believe the light switch works? God has been raising the level of compassion in me and honestly I have been pretty raw, and crying a lot, and I don't really like it. It's a new place for me, and I have no idea what to do with any of it. I don't know how to respond or where to go.

Jen Hatmaker, the author of Interrupted, which I am currently reading/devouring, suggested I read a particular book(I don't know her personally, but I had emailed her and she responded with a few pieces of advice). Well, I don't buy anything unfamiliar without reading reviews first, so I read reviews of the book. And they were all over the place. From what I read I can tell that I may not agree with the authors' approach or theology 100%, so it might be one of those I would have to pull out just what was useful to me (or learn something new...imagne that).

Several reviewers said that the authors made light of the necessity for salvation and boiled the entire gospel down to love for people in a general sense. That the authors are critical of people who believe in absolute truth. If that's true then I would take issue with that. Who knows what the authors really said, though, because people hear things through their own filters most of the time. It's really beside the point.

The point is that all that negativity rubbed off on me, I think, but also it raises the question of balance. I hate the question of balance. I am a very black and white kind of thinker, and so when something is both/and, instead of either/or, I have a problem. The truth is that God is love, AND He is justice. People need food and shelter and water, but they also need a cure for their eternal condition. So how do we do both? On one side we have people who just love, love, love and don't want to preach the gospel, just live it. On the other side we have people who just want to be preachy and tell people what to do, but don't feel compassion or try to get on their level or understand or give dignity to them. We have to mature to the place that we are both compassionate and truth telling...wise, but always motivated by love.

I was so excited for what God has been showing me, then I read all those crappy reviews and I started thinking, maybe I'm getting off track into some liberal make people feel better thing, that is trying to completely deconstruct everything about Christianity to water it down...to hide the Holy God thing, and spotlight the Loving God thing. But BOTH are valid and both are true...and your teaching is nothing if it isn't true. So, after realizing that all the negative things I read were clouding my perspective, and of course recognizing where in the month I am, I am back to this from Matthew 25:

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

I will continue on this journey to see what it is God is doing in me and what He is calling me/us to, and trust Him to show me the balance in it all. People often debate about who we should be generous to, who is "my neighbor," will this person ever come to know Jesus and therefore is it good stewardship to give to him, will they waste it? On that issue I will stand on this quote from Interrupted (I LOVE this):

"He [Jesus] favors unmerited grace. To me, this is a wheat and weeds issue, and since that's not my call to make, I'll just err on the side of mercy and let Jesus sort it out at the harvest."

The end.

**I just got to a part in Interrupted where there is a quote from Mary DeMuth, that uses the very same language I used...the both/and versus the either/or. Funny. Should that be getting my attention? 1/8/2011