te·na·cious (tə-nā'shəs) pronunciation
adj.

1. Holding or tending to hold persistently to something, such as a point of view.
2. Holding together firmly; cohesive: a tenacious material.
3. Clinging to another object or surface; adhesive: tenacious lint.
4. Tending to retain; retentive: a tenacious memory.

Yesterday was a long day. I really missed Dad. I always permit myself to miss him
the day he is coming home. It was time for Ash wednesday service. I "wasn't feeling like it" It was an important day to think about, to get into the spritualness of the day.

It was spiritual tenaciousness that drew me to the service. They sang the old hymns.
Jay called last night after going to his ASH wednesday service and said "who gets anything out of those old hymns?" We can't throw out the old for the new we must appreciate the old and the evolution of the new. Utmost message is so perfect for the start of Lent. We need to think spritually not with "what feels good or right"
but pray for God to show us what is good and right. See with eyes that have had the scales taken off so to speak.

So this is lent a glorious growth time. I love you all very much!!

Valentine's Day devotion

I was planning on going out with Ulrich to celebrate a new romance, but God had other plans for us. We were at church on Sunday and we heard a few people who were sad because they didn't have any plans for Valentines and we had canceled our regular bible study. He and I both felt convicted that God's love isn't exclusive. If there is a day to celebrate love it should include people.

So... we hosted a dinner at my house and had a few people over. We ended up having a bible study and read the first chapter of Sacred Romance. This book remind us that we are in a great love story with God. A beautiful adventure where we are courted into the passions that speak in silence.

Just like Kels was talking about, if we sit in silence and listen to God, we hear the voice calling us towards the romance that has been in motion since the beginning of time.

God works in mysterious ways.

I've been deaf

Well, I'm sure that mom will probably have something to say about the time that this was written...my only excuse is...I was cleaning my room! (and strangely, that's the truth!) Oh, and...I'm in college, haha :)

But anyway...

The Utmost entry for February 14 kinda struck home for me, and I decided that it would be a good entry for me to kickoff my blogging with (which I hope Adam and I can stay consistent with from here on out). The lesson was about listening to God, and listening for God. I came to realize that I think some times we all sit around waiting for some big huge neon sign that says "GOD WAS HERE" in order to prove that he's actually paying attention to what's going on in our lives. But really, what we should be waiting for is the quiet moments. The time that we can sit aside everything else, meditate for a little while, and just listen to God. We're not going to find him between the hustled minutes of our everyday lives, we're going to find him in the time that we devote to him, in those minutes of the day where we stop everything else that we're doing and we just listen. I had forgotten that, and I doubt that I'm the only one.

Another part of the lesson, that is found more in the verse than the actual discussion itself, is that what we hear from God in these moments is what we should apply to our lives and share with others. It's unacceptable to give cookie-cutter proclamations...we need to listen for his message and THEN speak it.

The best part about the lesson for February 14 was the imagery. Go ahead and imagine yourself sitting in a completely dark room. What do you do? Do you panic? Do you start calling for help? Or do you close your eyes and listen? Now imagine hearing the song of a bird...that sound is the most beautiful sound in the world because it's the only sound you can hear. What if that bird's song was the message of God instead?

If we take time out of our lives to listen for God in the dark, his message will be loud, clear, and beautiful.

I hope that this blog can help us accomplish that task...and I'm glad to see everyone up and running again! Let's keep it going :)

It's winter of discontent.......

Faith is not feeling. Cause I don't feel like doing many things. Faith pushes us beyond "what we feel like doing" gives us the hope for what is to come when in the present we don't feel like giving it the high enthusiastic team spirit. Jesus knew this about ourselves that is why he always invited us to come and be with him whenever we want. Utmost carries me through those days and keeps me in check when the drab of the winter of my discontent creeps up. Jesus is the spring day in my head. He's the warm sun on my back. He's a melody in my heart. Let him be a melody, a song on valentines day to you.

Acts 5

Last night we kind of went all over the place... let's see if I can recap:

We started with Acts 5 which leads us to the story of Ananias and Sapphira who sold their land and didn't give the full price to the church and were smitted dead.

We looked at this as somehow similar to Cain and Able. There was jealousy and lying about sacrifice. My big question was -- If Jesus came to forgive, why are we seeing old testament punishment in the new testament?

We moved on to read Luke's version of the sermon on the mount. This is Jesus laying out the new covenant. Here we see Jesus flipping the law in its head. As Marty put it "he gave the religious leaders the middle finger" by healing on the Sabbath (really, you should read this in the message. Jesus is so bold -- its kick ass)Then he goes out to teach that people are blessed when they are broken and if you think you have your life together, you need to re-examine your perspective.

we moved into a conversation about the "fear of God" and what it means for God to bless us. what is life? etc etc.

We went back to Acts 5 and read the next section where Peter and John were put into jail. An angel came and released them and they went straight out to preach in the temple. We see God flipping the power dynamics on their head again.

hi