ah. digital post it reminders. genius & even inspirational

Stood out tonight as I browsed my stickie notes:

"We are not made happy by what we acquire but what we appreciate."

Don't Worry Be Happy

Reflect joy. 

[He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock. For the LORD has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him. They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD. - Ps. 34 

Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. -Is. 60]

How True. How Sad

from despair.com; post inspired by wahlah

Good Stuff

'But every trial of our faith is but a trial of His faithfulness.'

-Kept for the Master's Use

For if there first be a willing mind, it is accepted according to that which a man hath, and not according to that which a man hath not.
2 Corinthians 8:12

Hmm. I think I wanna post.

...But am not quite sure what to post about yet.

You know that feeling when you're sitting somewhere, watching something, and you feel warm? Maybe it's a summer night. Somehow What a Night come to mind. Maybe you're wrapped in a cozy blanket. God has been showing me how to become more fully His, that He's got me in His arms, and that He is as faithful to me as He was to Jacob.
[1] [2]

Realizing and describing where I am in seasons isn't quite easy for me; I'm learning how. For a few months I've been wrestling with trusting God and accepting where He's placed me once again- on a threshold. That threshold leads to a whole new and foreign part of His plan for me. God has been faithful to meet me everyday. Everyday He's used someone or something to show me that He's with me, that He cares, and that He's continuing to prepare me for whatever I need prepared for. He's placed me in where I'm supposed to be throughout my life, and He'll continue to do so. I'm not on my own.

It's been at times similar to jumping over an abyss. The abyss sits between personal will and desires and Christ's plan which is known to be everything best. One minute you look at the great gap and you're terrified. You turn away because your flesh doesnt want to jump over it! You're content to stay completely on your own terms. Christ knows the depths of your heart. He sees that beneath the fear and whatever else there is that the true desire of your heart is to be closer to Him. He brings it out of the darkness and to the light. Because of Christ's work on the cross, you are united with the Father. He wraps both arms around you and guides your pitiful and incapable feet smoothly. The inches become feet which become great lengths. The abyss is no doubt large, but how much bigger is our God?

Picture the way a child's hand grasps on to things- hair, toys, clothes. My heart has been like a child's hand. It has had a firm grip. I've had to come to the Lord and allow Him to pry open the fingers of my heart and let the object being grasped be removed so that my heart can fully be filled with Him.

Maybe reading Hinds Feet on High Places is affecting my mind- causing me to think in allegory form ;-)

Oh, and just so the topic doesnt remain anonymous- it's our family moving. Years of seeing this season of life in the distance- well- now it's sneaking up to the position of being smack in front of my face. I'm "sensitive," a "pack rat," and "sentimental." More importantly however, I am God's child and He is sovereign. We'll see how the story unfolds, eh?

Surely goodness and love shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23:6

Quit Tugging on Your Shirt. Buy a New One.

modesty

1531, "freedom from exaggeration, self-control," from M.Fr. modestie, from L. modestia "moderation," from modestus "moderate, keeping measure, sober," from modus "measure, manner" (see mode (1)). Meaning "having a moderate opinion of oneself" is from 1553. Modest (adj.) is first recorded 1565.

I'd like to say I didnt have to deal with modesty, that I've got it under control. I cant. I deal with it every time I walk into the store to buy jeans--how tight and where they hit my waist. I deal with it every time I try on a shirt. Whether it's too tight, too low, whether it's transparent. I have the priviledge and the responsibility to hold a higher standard, to be an image-bearer of God. That can be a struggle when every store seen as fashionable in the teen world of today presents short, thin, tight and provocative as what should be.

The issue of modesty covers not only what I chose to wear, but how I respond to what others are wearing or how I respond to the person wearing it even. It's about reaction as much as action. I cant control what others are wearing, but I do need to control my reaction to it. That is even more true for guys.

In shopping at thrift stores and less name brand places I've found my niche and have continued to settle more comfortably into it.

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So I officially wrecked the 'links' section. I was messing with code trying to find where to paste the html for an ad to this site. I clicked 'revert to classic template' and it changed the layout and link content to the way it was several months ago. The loss of creativity and time made me angry. Granted, I've lost much more important content in the past than the links section of my blog and I should be thankful in the situation. Anger can feel so futile. I satisfy myself by feeling it but ultimately know in the pit of my stomach that I need to let it go. That was earlier this week. Today however, I figured out how to return the template to the way I had it. Huzzah! Relief. & even more emphasis on the lesson of anger being futile.

EDIT: Thanks to the guidance of one Laedelas Greenleaf, the link/animation now has a lovely home in the sidebar!

Forgiveness: from the Heart, with His Help

Matthew 18

10"See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.
12"What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.


15"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' 17If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
18"I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be[d]bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

19"Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

21Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"
22Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

32"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' 34In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

35"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."