as i was recently writing and researching web 2.0, i discovered more about the "business-world facebook" linked in. then, on my way home from tuscaloosa yesterday, i listened to rob bell talk about being connected, and i wondered: am i too linked in?
i have facebook, gmail, gchat, a blog, twitter, a cell phone, internet, text, voice mail. that's quite a list of distractions. i love them all, but sometimes i'm on information overload. i need to just turn off my phone, stop checking the web, and just be--by myself and with people. i need to stop serving communication and just enjoy it. i need a time out. so tonight i'm doing just that. grant and i are having a date--he's cooking for me! yay! i'm turning off my phone. i'm not checking the internet. and we're coming back to some real QT. i can't wait. i'll come back to the infromation highway tmrw, i guess, but just for tonight, it's like i'm not linked in.
19 September 2008
12 September 2008
God in the straw
just a quick thought from fredrick beakner:
“The child Jesus is born in the night among the sweet breath and steaming dung of beasts, and nothing is ever the same again. Those who believe in God can never, in a way, be sure of him again. Once they see him in a stable, they can never be sure where he will appear, or to what lengths he will go, or to what ludicrous depths of self-humiliation he will descend in his wild pursuit of human kind.
If holiness and God in all his glory were present in this least auspicious of events--this birth of a peasant's child--then there is no place or time so lowly and earth-bound, but that holiness can be present there too. If God's in the straw and the dung, then all events can become holy. And this means that we are never safe and that there are never places we can hide from God, no place where we are safe from his power to break into and recreate the human heart, because it is just where God seems most helpless that he is most strong and just where we least expect him that he comes most fully."
and check out this 2007 article in TIME magazine on rob bell.
“The child Jesus is born in the night among the sweet breath and steaming dung of beasts, and nothing is ever the same again. Those who believe in God can never, in a way, be sure of him again. Once they see him in a stable, they can never be sure where he will appear, or to what lengths he will go, or to what ludicrous depths of self-humiliation he will descend in his wild pursuit of human kind.
If holiness and God in all his glory were present in this least auspicious of events--this birth of a peasant's child--then there is no place or time so lowly and earth-bound, but that holiness can be present there too. If God's in the straw and the dung, then all events can become holy. And this means that we are never safe and that there are never places we can hide from God, no place where we are safe from his power to break into and recreate the human heart, because it is just where God seems most helpless that he is most strong and just where we least expect him that he comes most fully."
and check out this 2007 article in TIME magazine on rob bell.
10 September 2008
thankful
i am so incredibly thankful. i'm actually surprised as i look back on my journal the past 3 months to see what i'm thankful for. it seems that God is so good he's turned what i expected to be bad into something i'm grateful for:
lucy's expectation/ God's reality:
13 weeks of commuting to tuscaloosa for school would suck/ i get to spend roughly 8 hours in two days listening to Rob Bell pod casts, praying, and talking to the ones i love most
gas prices would break our budget/ gas is 40 cents cheaper in tuscaloosa
grant signed us up for a bible study i knew nothing about/ i am totally in love with our new bible study, its leaders, and my wonderful husband
grad school would kill me/ so far so good and only 9 more weeks!
working and school would kill me/ love my job, love my hours [up to my discretion], love the money [more than we expected]
staying with people each week would put them out and be inconvenient/ i've LOVED having one-on-one time with some of my favorite people
work and school would take me away from grant/ we plan incredible intentional time, dates, and dinners with amazing quality time
the tight budget would kill us/ we get to cook together, eat together, play together
This newly-wed season has taught me so much about turning my expectations upside-down and being aware of what God's doing without trying to make assumptions about what he'll do next. I've never been happier; i have much to be thankful for.
lucy's expectation/ God's reality:
13 weeks of commuting to tuscaloosa for school would suck/ i get to spend roughly 8 hours in two days listening to Rob Bell pod casts, praying, and talking to the ones i love most
gas prices would break our budget/ gas is 40 cents cheaper in tuscaloosa
grant signed us up for a bible study i knew nothing about/ i am totally in love with our new bible study, its leaders, and my wonderful husband
grad school would kill me/ so far so good and only 9 more weeks!
working and school would kill me/ love my job, love my hours [up to my discretion], love the money [more than we expected]
staying with people each week would put them out and be inconvenient/ i've LOVED having one-on-one time with some of my favorite people
work and school would take me away from grant/ we plan incredible intentional time, dates, and dinners with amazing quality time
the tight budget would kill us/ we get to cook together, eat together, play together
This newly-wed season has taught me so much about turning my expectations upside-down and being aware of what God's doing without trying to make assumptions about what he'll do next. I've never been happier; i have much to be thankful for.
02 September 2008
seek adventure
grant and i had a blast in augusta this weekend, but the real adventure was our labor day fun!
augusta: had THE BEST TIME with his mama and daddy, sister, brother-in-law, and little noel--the new addition to the family. we ate shish kabobs, baked potatoes (my FAVE!) and cheese cake, and cheered the dawgs and the tide to victory. awesome.
labor day: sunday was our three month anniversary, so i decided to plan something fun [a SECRET!] day trip where we could spend quality time together and immerse ourselves in nature.
what we did: drove through most of western north carolina [gorgeous!]
made our way through a local 6 ACRE corn maze [barely! whew!]; SERIOUSLY, the picture is of the maze itself. it was a doozie.
drove the Blue Ridge Parkway
went to Sliding Rock in the Pisgah National Forest and slide down into icy water!
visited several precious lake/ mountain communities including Bat Cave, NC, Cashiers, NC, and Transylvania County, where they dedicate the entire month of October to Halloween and Fall Festivals [now that's my kinda place!]
checked out the beautiful Looking Glass Falls
loved Brevard
loved even more, the Highlands
hiked the 4,930 ft Whiteside Moutain in the Nantahala National Forest [amazing view from the top]
and stopped last at the Dillard House
hiking waterfalls, viewing cliffs, and taking a roadtrip with my love. could it get any better than that?
augusta: had THE BEST TIME with his mama and daddy, sister, brother-in-law, and little noel--the new addition to the family. we ate shish kabobs, baked potatoes (my FAVE!) and cheese cake, and cheered the dawgs and the tide to victory. awesome.
labor day: sunday was our three month anniversary, so i decided to plan something fun [a SECRET!] day trip where we could spend quality time together and immerse ourselves in nature.
what we did: drove through most of western north carolina [gorgeous!]
made our way through a local 6 ACRE corn maze [barely! whew!]; SERIOUSLY, the picture is of the maze itself. it was a doozie.
drove the Blue Ridge Parkway
went to Sliding Rock in the Pisgah National Forest and slide down into icy water!
visited several precious lake/ mountain communities including Bat Cave, NC, Cashiers, NC, and Transylvania County, where they dedicate the entire month of October to Halloween and Fall Festivals [now that's my kinda place!]
checked out the beautiful Looking Glass Falls
loved Brevard
loved even more, the Highlands
hiked the 4,930 ft Whiteside Moutain in the Nantahala National Forest [amazing view from the top]
and stopped last at the Dillard House
hiking waterfalls, viewing cliffs, and taking a roadtrip with my love. could it get any better than that?
28 August 2008
words of wisdom
ask and it shall be given unto you. welp. ok.
my first of two little nuggets from God hit me today, while driving back from tuscaloosa listening to Rob Bell (oh, how i do love that man). he was talking about honoring people, what that really means, and what that actually looks like. and then rob said two really profound things: 1) you can't honor them if you are bitter toward them and 2) you'll only internalize that bitterness, let it fester into hate, then be disgusted and surprised when it takes hold of your life and you suddenly become the very thing(s) that you were rebelling against.
and here's the nugget: the hate, the bitterness, the frustration with the other person that i can't forgive, it's rarely about them. it's about me. at the heart of the thing i hate most in others is the recognition and rejection of that same disgusting thing in me. ouch. that one hit me like a ton of bricks.
i evaluated the people i had beef with and asked myself why, and it was revolutionary what happened in my soul. it was like i finally confronted what i didn't know i hated within me, then, having separated the person from the [my] issue i was able to let them off the hook and let go of the bitterness and anger. i realized that all this hating and seeping and raging inside me [that satan cleverly let me overlook and downplay] was really huge and really ugly. and keeping it up was exhausting. the moment i could finally quit blaming them for the hurt in me or the anger in me or the frustration i felt, i was relieved. like i could breathe again. like i didn't have to keep a running tally of their screw-ups or hang-ups or things that drive me crazy. and i could just be. and deal with the ugliness in me that i didn't even know was there. and, wow, was there some ugliness. i think satan uses our minds, our intelligence, against us sometimes; plays us against ourselves b/c he knows we'll lose and fall deeper into his trap all the while, without realizing it at all, though thinking it to death. how can i be so self-aware and full of constant self-evaluation, and yet unable to recognize the ugliness in my heart? AND unable to make the connection between that other person's faults and MY OWN? speck and plank, for goodness sakes!
but God doesn't give out freebees without expecting us to take the knowledge and apply it to our lives [shoot.]. so, i've decided to tell them i've been harboring stuff against them, that's its my fault and my judgment and my own stuff from the beginning, not them, and ask them for forgiveness because i have truly wronged them in my heart.
nugget number two: i cannot gain wisdom without forgiveness of others/ self; if i can't realize my own stuff and call it what it is and deal with it healthily, it's like i can skim the top of the water, but never dive into wisdom.
so, i mentioned i was cleaning house. i truly am. i'm throwing out bitterness, hatred, anger, and blame. i'm cleaning out the ugliness in me, [only] with God's grace. and i'm replacing that crap with forgiveness, ready for God to dwell richly in my newer, cleaner space and teach me a few more nuggets about wisdom.
ps: rob quoted colossians 3:13, 16: "13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts." amen, sister friend!
what do y'all think? xoxo
my first of two little nuggets from God hit me today, while driving back from tuscaloosa listening to Rob Bell (oh, how i do love that man). he was talking about honoring people, what that really means, and what that actually looks like. and then rob said two really profound things: 1) you can't honor them if you are bitter toward them and 2) you'll only internalize that bitterness, let it fester into hate, then be disgusted and surprised when it takes hold of your life and you suddenly become the very thing(s) that you were rebelling against.
and here's the nugget: the hate, the bitterness, the frustration with the other person that i can't forgive, it's rarely about them. it's about me. at the heart of the thing i hate most in others is the recognition and rejection of that same disgusting thing in me. ouch. that one hit me like a ton of bricks.
i evaluated the people i had beef with and asked myself why, and it was revolutionary what happened in my soul. it was like i finally confronted what i didn't know i hated within me, then, having separated the person from the [my] issue i was able to let them off the hook and let go of the bitterness and anger. i realized that all this hating and seeping and raging inside me [that satan cleverly let me overlook and downplay] was really huge and really ugly. and keeping it up was exhausting. the moment i could finally quit blaming them for the hurt in me or the anger in me or the frustration i felt, i was relieved. like i could breathe again. like i didn't have to keep a running tally of their screw-ups or hang-ups or things that drive me crazy. and i could just be. and deal with the ugliness in me that i didn't even know was there. and, wow, was there some ugliness. i think satan uses our minds, our intelligence, against us sometimes; plays us against ourselves b/c he knows we'll lose and fall deeper into his trap all the while, without realizing it at all, though thinking it to death. how can i be so self-aware and full of constant self-evaluation, and yet unable to recognize the ugliness in my heart? AND unable to make the connection between that other person's faults and MY OWN? speck and plank, for goodness sakes!
but God doesn't give out freebees without expecting us to take the knowledge and apply it to our lives [shoot.]. so, i've decided to tell them i've been harboring stuff against them, that's its my fault and my judgment and my own stuff from the beginning, not them, and ask them for forgiveness because i have truly wronged them in my heart.
nugget number two: i cannot gain wisdom without forgiveness of others/ self; if i can't realize my own stuff and call it what it is and deal with it healthily, it's like i can skim the top of the water, but never dive into wisdom.
so, i mentioned i was cleaning house. i truly am. i'm throwing out bitterness, hatred, anger, and blame. i'm cleaning out the ugliness in me, [only] with God's grace. and i'm replacing that crap with forgiveness, ready for God to dwell richly in my newer, cleaner space and teach me a few more nuggets about wisdom.
ps: rob quoted colossians 3:13, 16: "13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts." amen, sister friend!
what do y'all think? xoxo
26 August 2008
my jumbled thoughts
24 August 2008
idunno
as my good friend annie has noted, "God and I--we work in themes" and our current theme seems to be wisdom. in the past few weeks, i have heard two different people preach on gaining wisdom--who did in the bible, who listened to the people with wisdom, and how the whole thing turned out for God's glory, even when it looked rather desperate for the person/ nation at the time--and have come across three bible verses about wisdom. interesting...
andy stanley preached on wisdom being one of the main messages he would give in his series, letters to the next president--an extra-earth-shatteringly-awesome sermon series... love it.
and these are the verses i've come across in my quiet times lately:
solomon's wisdom:
"God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. Solomon's wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the men of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than any other man... and his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five. He described plant life... He also taught about animals and birds, reptiles and fist. Men of all nations came to listen to Solomon's wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom."
1 kings 4: 29-34.
Wisdom with a capital "W":
"Listen as Wisdom calls out! Hear as Understanding raises her voice!... Choose my instruction rather than silver, and knowledge rather than pure gold. For Wisdom is far more valuable than rubies. Nothing you desire can compare with it."
proverbs 8:1, 10-11.
prophecy of jesus:
"And the Spirit of the Lord with rest on him--the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. He will delight in obeying the Lord. He will not judge by appearance nor make a decision based on hearsay. He will give justice to the poor and make fair decisions for the exploited... He will wear righteousness like a belt and truth like an undergarment."
isaiah 11:2-5.
and my personal favorite:
"The Lord our God hasn't explained the present or the future, but He has commanded us to obey the laws He gave us and trust in Him." Deuteronomy 29:29.
i feel like in this world and in school and in the socio-political circles we exist in, it's often viewed as stupid or ignorant to just admit "i don't know" so we people create and invent things--statistics, plans for the future, relationships, conflict, even fake-resolution--to convince ourselves and others that we have it together, that we are intelligent and well-educated, and that we are in control. but we're not. we never were. what i'm realizing more and more is that God doesn't think we're stupid for saying "i just don't know," "i don't have all the answers," "i'm not in control of that [insert here]"--He chooses to see us as obedient, waiting for His will in our lives. we still, of course, must be proactive in discovering his will (not potato-couch-slug-christians), but simply accepting that we don't know and submitting to God brings him glory. and when we do it, other people notice. waiting on the Lord, fearing and trusting the Lord, being submissive and obedient to a God i haven't met in a world that is not The Kingdom--these are my toughest spiritual battles. and they involve a lot of mental debates that i usually lose with myself, as well. i'm sick of trying to reason it out or out-think God. and this--admitting that "i don't know"--i think is the beginning of Wisdom. so i'm currently cleaning house, throwing out all the things i thought i knew, and relearning the spiritual lessons and disciplines again with a focus on gaining wisdom. we'll see what happens. i'm kinda excited, but what do i know ;)
i still don't know where God's taking my with this one, but i'm open to instruction and ready to learn of this obedience, knowledge, truth, and, of course, wisdom.
andy stanley preached on wisdom being one of the main messages he would give in his series, letters to the next president--an extra-earth-shatteringly-awesome sermon series... love it.
and these are the verses i've come across in my quiet times lately:
solomon's wisdom:
"God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. Solomon's wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the men of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than any other man... and his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five. He described plant life... He also taught about animals and birds, reptiles and fist. Men of all nations came to listen to Solomon's wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom."
1 kings 4: 29-34.
Wisdom with a capital "W":
"Listen as Wisdom calls out! Hear as Understanding raises her voice!... Choose my instruction rather than silver, and knowledge rather than pure gold. For Wisdom is far more valuable than rubies. Nothing you desire can compare with it."
proverbs 8:1, 10-11.
prophecy of jesus:
"And the Spirit of the Lord with rest on him--the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. He will delight in obeying the Lord. He will not judge by appearance nor make a decision based on hearsay. He will give justice to the poor and make fair decisions for the exploited... He will wear righteousness like a belt and truth like an undergarment."
isaiah 11:2-5.
and my personal favorite:
"The Lord our God hasn't explained the present or the future, but He has commanded us to obey the laws He gave us and trust in Him." Deuteronomy 29:29.
i feel like in this world and in school and in the socio-political circles we exist in, it's often viewed as stupid or ignorant to just admit "i don't know" so we people create and invent things--statistics, plans for the future, relationships, conflict, even fake-resolution--to convince ourselves and others that we have it together, that we are intelligent and well-educated, and that we are in control. but we're not. we never were. what i'm realizing more and more is that God doesn't think we're stupid for saying "i just don't know," "i don't have all the answers," "i'm not in control of that [insert here]"--He chooses to see us as obedient, waiting for His will in our lives. we still, of course, must be proactive in discovering his will (not potato-couch-slug-christians), but simply accepting that we don't know and submitting to God brings him glory. and when we do it, other people notice. waiting on the Lord, fearing and trusting the Lord, being submissive and obedient to a God i haven't met in a world that is not The Kingdom--these are my toughest spiritual battles. and they involve a lot of mental debates that i usually lose with myself, as well. i'm sick of trying to reason it out or out-think God. and this--admitting that "i don't know"--i think is the beginning of Wisdom. so i'm currently cleaning house, throwing out all the things i thought i knew, and relearning the spiritual lessons and disciplines again with a focus on gaining wisdom. we'll see what happens. i'm kinda excited, but what do i know ;)
i still don't know where God's taking my with this one, but i'm open to instruction and ready to learn of this obedience, knowledge, truth, and, of course, wisdom.
21 August 2008
classes and such
so my classes don't totally suck. in fact, i found out by talking to many of my friends in the program who chose their classes based on content and professor (not by time slot) that the classes i picked haphazzardly are actually AMAZING. they're with three professors that "everyone says" you're supposed to take your last semester and "you'll totally love". yay. so God's picture really is bigger than my time-slot-class-schedule. good to know.
i'm really excited about every single class. in one, students from last semester are on their way to being published (my next goal) and in another past students are presenting a presentation at national conferences (HUGE! and a good way to network and find funding for fun projects, etc). so i'm pumped. i'm gonna be the student they talk about next semester who...(fill in the blank)... [maybe if i'm lucky].
i'm exhausted, but the drive is not all that bad and gas is so cheap in tuscaloosa, grant and i are hoping the commute won't put the incredible divot in our budget that we initially dreaded (again, God is good and so much bigger than our little stresses).
quick happy updates:
got to SEE NIDA WEDNESDAY. like face to face. in person. got to hug her neck and hangout on my bed chatting for hours like we did in college. loved it! my little nids! what a treat!
got to talk to ashers in the midst of her present chaos: mason leaving/ Fay distroying everything/ beginning grad school/ classes cancelled. she's a blessing as always.
hopefully going to lunch with jen garrett friday (LOVE that possibility)
and having the altmixes over on monday!
broke bread with allison and drew last week and am hoping to catch up with many more friends very soon.
friends from germany are in town and grant and i are hanging with them at the LAKE this weekend! yay!
long time family friend mary catherine caldwell and her fiance syman stevens are having an ENGAGEMENT PARTY in huntsville this weekend, and we'll be heading up from the lake to enjoy their company for the night, too. CONGRATS MIMI AND SYMAN! love yall!
grant's cousin (and my own good-good-friend-turned-family) evan duggar, a freshman at clemson, is coming in town next weekend for the alabama-clemson game! i think it's being played in the georgia dome! she's bringing friends and we're so excited! it's like college all over again mixed with family! yay!
that reminds me, you should all come visit and play asap as well. and on that note, i'm out. between readings and driving 4.5 hours today, i'm exhausted [but excited]. peace.
i'm really excited about every single class. in one, students from last semester are on their way to being published (my next goal) and in another past students are presenting a presentation at national conferences (HUGE! and a good way to network and find funding for fun projects, etc). so i'm pumped. i'm gonna be the student they talk about next semester who...(fill in the blank)... [maybe if i'm lucky].
i'm exhausted, but the drive is not all that bad and gas is so cheap in tuscaloosa, grant and i are hoping the commute won't put the incredible divot in our budget that we initially dreaded (again, God is good and so much bigger than our little stresses).
quick happy updates:
got to SEE NIDA WEDNESDAY. like face to face. in person. got to hug her neck and hangout on my bed chatting for hours like we did in college. loved it! my little nids! what a treat!
got to talk to ashers in the midst of her present chaos: mason leaving/ Fay distroying everything/ beginning grad school/ classes cancelled. she's a blessing as always.
hopefully going to lunch with jen garrett friday (LOVE that possibility)
and having the altmixes over on monday!
broke bread with allison and drew last week and am hoping to catch up with many more friends very soon.
friends from germany are in town and grant and i are hanging with them at the LAKE this weekend! yay!
long time family friend mary catherine caldwell and her fiance syman stevens are having an ENGAGEMENT PARTY in huntsville this weekend, and we'll be heading up from the lake to enjoy their company for the night, too. CONGRATS MIMI AND SYMAN! love yall!
grant's cousin (and my own good-good-friend-turned-family) evan duggar, a freshman at clemson, is coming in town next weekend for the alabama-clemson game! i think it's being played in the georgia dome! she's bringing friends and we're so excited! it's like college all over again mixed with family! yay!
that reminds me, you should all come visit and play asap as well. and on that note, i'm out. between readings and driving 4.5 hours today, i'm exhausted [but excited]. peace.
19 August 2008
good news
two quick things, both GOOD:
1. i got into my other class that i needed, you know, the required one. yeah.
2. the prof's forcing me to leave my husband TMRW.... "it is in your best interest to be here...Lucy, I really encourage you to locate reasonably-priced accomodation for tomorrow night. You will miss a lot of material if you are not in the first class." grrrreat.
yay, academia. woohoo
heheh jk. ps. who goes to class during drop/add...?!
1. i got into my other class that i needed, you know, the required one. yeah.
2. the prof's forcing me to leave my husband TMRW.... "it is in your best interest to be here...Lucy, I really encourage you to locate reasonably-priced accomodation for tomorrow night. You will miss a lot of material if you are not in the first class." grrrreat.
yay, academia. woohoo
heheh jk. ps. who goes to class during drop/add...?!
18 August 2008
my ode to academia
the world of academia is a total crock. i'm a little perturbed at present because the university of alabama dropped my schedule, cancelled my classes for the fall, and nearly dropped me out of fall enrollment. after a whole day of freaking out and calling the school, the dean, the secretary, my mama, and grant, i got two of my three classes back, and am hopeful to get the third (and REQUIRED class) by tmrw. here's hoping.
O Academia
you are so full of it
you dropped all my classes
and left me with no exit.
O Academia
you really tick me off
and sometimes when i think of you
i laugh so hard i cough.
O Academia
I can't wait 'till we're through
but then again i might be back--
to law school! 'touchet!' to you.
that was so so bad, but it kinda perked up my stupid stressful day.
ps. anyone else hate school? anyone?
O Academia
you are so full of it
you dropped all my classes
and left me with no exit.
O Academia
you really tick me off
and sometimes when i think of you
i laugh so hard i cough.
O Academia
I can't wait 'till we're through
but then again i might be back--
to law school! 'touchet!' to you.
that was so so bad, but it kinda perked up my stupid stressful day.
ps. anyone else hate school? anyone?
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