“The Bible’s purpose is not so much to show you how to live a good life. The Bible’s purpose is to show you how God’s grace breaks into your life against your will and saves you from the sin and brokenness otherwise you would never be able to overcome… religion is ‘if you obey, then you will be accepted’. But the Gospel is, ‘if you are absolutely accepted, and sure you’re accepted, only then will you ever begin to obey’. Those are two utterly different things. Every page of the Bible shows the difference.”
- Timothy Keller
Monday, April 27, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Letting Go...
I have always been fascinated with photos. My mother documented our family life with a simple Kodak camera and how I treasure those 4 x 4 square photos! Even those awkward, chubby years I endured.
Those squares, those four corners, somewhat like the pieces of a quilt stitch my life together.
If you know me at all, you know that I never venture too far without a camera in tow. True, I see beauty everywhere. I enjoy and appreciate nature, flowers, and of course I will jump at the chance to freeze-frame my children and grand daughter, Malli.
Too often, in my own life I attempt to capture and hold on to this ever-changing, vaporous life. Like gripping a camera in my hand, zooming in on the moment, focusing on what I think is important. Short-sighted and blinded by the present.
Tonight I am reminded once again that life is all about letting go.
Letting go of my children.
Those squares, those four corners, somewhat like the pieces of a quilt stitch my life together.
If you know me at all, you know that I never venture too far without a camera in tow. True, I see beauty everywhere. I enjoy and appreciate nature, flowers, and of course I will jump at the chance to freeze-frame my children and grand daughter, Malli.
Too often, in my own life I attempt to capture and hold on to this ever-changing, vaporous life. Like gripping a camera in my hand, zooming in on the moment, focusing on what I think is important. Short-sighted and blinded by the present.
Tonight I am reminded once again that life is all about letting go.
Letting go of my children.
I love being a mom. I don't consider myself extremely bright or talented, but I do believe God called me to be a mom. I have enjoyed every phase of my children's lives. I made it a priority to be a good mom to them. I didn't mind putting their needs above my own. Now they don't need me in the same way. Griff is getting married, preparing to go in the Air Force; Taylor is away at college, contemplating decisions about Law School and marriage. Savannah-Jane is yearning for more independence and making decisions about her future.
It is time to let them go. Release them.
Ya know, when I let go of a physical object my hands are open, not clenched. If I am holding on to something how can I receive something?
Father, help me to let go, release them to you so I can receive what you want for me.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
a great quote
“You don’t choose your family.
They are God’s gift to you,
as you are to them.”
~Desmond Tutu
~Desmond Tutu
Saturday, April 11, 2009
He Came Down To Us
He was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the punishment that made us whole, and by His bruises we are healed. Isaiah 53:5
Christ saw us ruined by the fall, a world of poor, lost, ship-wrecked sinners. He saw and He pitied us; and in compliance with the everlasting counsels of the Eternal Trinity, He came down to the world, to suffer in our stead, and to save us.
He did not sit in heaven pitying us from a distance: He did not stand upon the shore and see the wreck, and behold poor drowning sinners struggling in vain to get to shore. He plunged into the waters Himself: He came off to the wreck and took part with us in our weakness and infirmity becoming a man to save our souls.
As man, He bore our sins and carried our transgressions; as man, He endured all that men can endure, and went through everything in man’s experience, sin only excepted; as man He lived; as man He went to the cross; as man He died. As man He shed His blood, in order that He might save us, poor shipwrecked sinners, and establish a communication between earth and heaven! As man He became a curse for us, in order that He might bridge the gulf, and make a way by which you and I might draw near to God with boldness, and have access to God without fear.
—J.C. Ryle, Old Paths (Edinburgh, UK: Banner of Truth, 1999), 440
Christ saw us ruined by the fall, a world of poor, lost, ship-wrecked sinners. He saw and He pitied us; and in compliance with the everlasting counsels of the Eternal Trinity, He came down to the world, to suffer in our stead, and to save us.
He did not sit in heaven pitying us from a distance: He did not stand upon the shore and see the wreck, and behold poor drowning sinners struggling in vain to get to shore. He plunged into the waters Himself: He came off to the wreck and took part with us in our weakness and infirmity becoming a man to save our souls.
As man, He bore our sins and carried our transgressions; as man, He endured all that men can endure, and went through everything in man’s experience, sin only excepted; as man He lived; as man He went to the cross; as man He died. As man He shed His blood, in order that He might save us, poor shipwrecked sinners, and establish a communication between earth and heaven! As man He became a curse for us, in order that He might bridge the gulf, and make a way by which you and I might draw near to God with boldness, and have access to God without fear.
—J.C. Ryle, Old Paths (Edinburgh, UK: Banner of Truth, 1999), 440
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
1000 Gifts List ...
464. a day at the beach
465. driving along a road sheltered with canopy of oaks
466. window shopping in downtown Fernandina
467. listening to my precious daughter share her heart
468. chocolate ice cream for lunch
469. dinner with some teenagers at the Crab Trap
470. fried shrimp
471. finding more Class of '79 friends
472. making plans for a family Easter Dinner
473. Holt's cinnamon rolls
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