patronizing nonsense

"I am trying here to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often say about him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. . . . Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up as a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great moral teacher. He has not left that option open to us. He did not intend to."
~ C.S. Lewis

sentimental

I have so very many things that have happened and so very many thoughts that I have had that I really want to blog about and I will...eventually, but for now I just have to say I heard a baby crying down the hall in my residence hall (I think someone's family was visiting) and I really felt like my heart dropped. I miss children so very much. This sounds so incredibly sappy, but I really feel like a whole part of my life is gone. I just want play with kids and I just want hold a little baby and rock him or her to sleep.

Reading in the Valley of Vision today I came upon a part of a prayer that immediately reminded me of this. I love it when the Lord reminds me of something he has introduced me to and how much more I still have to learn from it.

I think of the thy glory and my vileness,
                   thy majesty and my meanness,
                   thy beauty and my deformity, 
                   thy purity and my filth,
                   thy righteousness and my iniquity.
Thou hast loved me everlastingly, unchangeably,
     may I love thee as I am loved;
Thou hast given thyself for me,
    may I give myself to thee;
Thou hast died for me,
    may I live to thee,
         in every moment of my time,
         in every moment of my mind,
         in every pulse of my heart.
May I never dally with the world and its allurements,
    but walk by thy side,
         listen to they voice, 
         be clothed with thy graces,
         and adorned with thy righteousness. 

traveling

Traveling back and forth between college and home has been quite the interesting endeavor for me. For the first time in my life, I am part of two entirely separate and unconnected "worlds" and I travel back and forth between them every couple of months. I feel a little bit like standing in an enchanted forest hopping into pools that become worlds all their own. However, my transition is little less picturesque and adventuresome and little more like teenagers sitting in the same cramped position inside of a packed car and dozing in and out of consciousnesses for eight hours. Anyway, it is strange to be constantly going back and forth between "worlds" because conversations, events, implications, etc. are isolated between places. Quite frequently, I will go to say something and realize that I am talking to the other group of people. After catching people up for fifteen minutes, what I was about to say kind-of looses its point.

2 Timothy 2:1-4

"You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him."

greatness

Today in Church the Pastor talked of true greatness. We read through Mark 9:30-40 and the Pastor summarized the idea of true greatness as humble servitude. He then went on to name many families in the Church who provided examples of living out this true greatness. One family took in foster care children because their own children were in school every day and another couple purposely bought a house with extra bedrooms so that they could provide them for people in need. He spoke of many people who used their professions to serve instead of increasing their job status/income. They all provide such beautifully inspiring examples of using their lives to serve others. It immediately reminded me of my dad and specifically when we lived in the old Victorian house. My dad worked in plumbing, heating and air conditioning at the time. (It definitely wasn't what he wanted to be doing or anything like what he studied in college, but it was the job God provided at the time). He worked long, hard, physically grueling days and came home exhausted every evening. I remember my siblings and I running and screaming through the long hallway to the kitchen door to greet daddy. (Side note: I also remember one day that Dad told Zach that Mom got the first hug each day and then he would hug all of us. So, in typical Zach fashion, he would devise new ways to try to sneak the first hug every day. Hahaha, I love him and my whole family and I can't believe this was so long ago.) Anyway, I remember countless evenings that my dad would sit down to dinner with us only to be called away with a phone call from a Church member with a plumbing, heating or air conditioning issue. He would try to help them over the phone if he could (I would always try to figure what he was explaining :P), but usually he ended up leaving to go help the family. And there were times when my selfish heart was mad that someone else was taking away my daddy when I hadn't seen him all day and when he was visibly exhausted. But my dad never complained. He always wanted to help in any way he could. Now, my dad knows Hebrew, Greek, Bible Doctrine, Advanced Physics and Advanced Calculus, but the way that God was calling him to serve at the time was in plumbing, heating and air conditioning and he always served in such humility.  I know that he has helped countless families in the Church who were struggling financially by offering his expertise and service. My heart still harbors much more selfishness than I would ever like it to, but I now see what a beautiful example of humble service my Dad has always been and continues to be. So many more examples are running through my head right now. I pray that I could be even half the person, half the servant that he is someday.

I must apologize for I quite obviously have not kept up with or even started my goal of incorporating Scripture into my blog posts. All I can say is that I am once again reminded of how marvelous and necessary it is that my life is not dependent on my actions or consistency. Thank you Lord for your grace and mercy.