Heaven

I had the divine privilege to listen to our worship pastor preach this morning at church. He gave us a "break" from Proverbs and dove in to a sermon that he titles, "Heavenly Minded". The first question he asked was: What do you picture when you think of heaven?

To be perfectly honest, I don't think of heaven all that often. It seems there is plenty to worry about here in the current life... so much to want, to buy, to need. Thing is, we're supposed to set our mind on things above (Colossians 3:2). This life is going to come and go. In less than a century, we'll waste away. And in another century, we will be completely forgotten. That's a sad and morbid thought, apart from the glorious hope we have in heaven.

Heaven isn't just some place in the clouds with vapors of people with wings and halos. No, the Bible has so much more to say about what heaven will be like, and we just seem to skim right over it. Ryan gave us a bunch of different passages today that refer to the heaven to come as the best things of this life: there will be all of God's glorious creation (mountains, oceans, forests, sunsets), food, wine (yes, wine!), singing, and so much more. The best part - I'm going to get to see God face-to-face... and it's going to put me on my knees...The things we enjoy here on earth are just an appetizer of the heaven to come. Randy Alcorn wrote a book called "Heaven" that I've put on hold at the library... I want to be excited for heaven, and "get a grip on heaven so I can loosen my grip on this life."



I'm so thankful that Christ lead a sinless life and took the punishment for my sins, resurrected again, and forgave me that I might live in eternity with my Maker. Wow. Have you ever stopped to think about that? It really changes my mindset on daily life. Am I living in a way that brings glory to His name? Do the choices I make and the words I say reflect His love and forgiveness? I want everyone to have that same hope in eternal paradise that I've found. And I always find that I could do more to share...

Do you have that hope? Just as heaven is reality, hell is also a very real and scary place. Do you know where you're going? It may be cliche, but check out John 3:16. God's grace is abundant in Christ's salvation.

Library

Confession: I love the library. Yes, I'm a nerd. I don't care; the library is cool, okay?

I went to the library today for the first time in a long time... haven't been there since August except to pick up my books on hold, but even then - I picked up 11 books at one time and then kept renewing them online until I couldn't renew them anymore. (I didn't finish all 11, by the way). In all honesty, I was only hitting up the library today because Grama had some books to be picked up, but while I was there, I fell right into the "oh, I'll just check if they have..." trap. I was there for 45 minutes. I came home with 4 books: 1 Dekker novel, 1 on the history of coffee (okay, really REALLY obsessed with that black beverage), and 2 that are well... cookbooks.

Yep, nerd. I check out cookbooks from the library - what of it? Which brings me to my next point. Is it wrong that I have an obsession with cookbooks? And cooking magazines... I just have this constant need to look at new recipes, read all the procedural tips, and so on. I would spend all day looking at cookbooks if I could. Especially if there are pictures. Which is what I've been doing since I got home at 6:30; looking at cookbooks. From the library.

So, the one cookbook that I have decided I absolutely, 100% need and cannot live without is The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book. Oh. my. goodness. Stuffed French Toast, Rustic Italian Bread, Calzone, Turtle Brownies, Cinnamon-Swirl Cookies, Granola Bars, Whoopie Pies, Rustic Fruit Tarts.... ah, my mouth is watering. I think I might've just drooled a little. And not to mention all the amazing kitchen supplies/utensils and equipment that it recommends. I want, I need.

Okay, I don't NEED any of this, but boy do I love America's Test Kitchen Baking Book. And all cookbooks. And the library.

Song Post

The Lord has been constantly reminding me of His grace... I don't have words to express how I treasure His salvation. But, good thing, in times like these when I'm speechless, bands like Sanctus Real write songs like "I'm forgiven" to say exactly what's on my heart.



"I'm Forgiven" By Sanctus Real

Well, the past is playing with my head
And failure knocks me down again
I'm reminded of the wrong
That I have said and done
And that devil just won't let me forget

In this life
I know what I've been
But here in Your arms
I know what I am

I'm forgiven
I'm forgiven
And I don't have to carry the weight of who I've been
'Cause I'm forgiven

And my mistakes are running through my mind
And I relive my days in the middle of the night
And I struggle with my pain
And wrestle with my pride
Sometimes I feel alone and I cry

And in this life
I know what I've been
But here in Your arms
I know what I am

I'm forgiven, yeah
I'm forgiven
And I don't have to carry the weight of who I've been
'Cause I'm forgiven

When I don't fit in
And I don't feel like I belong anywhere
When I don't measure up to much in this life
Oh, I'm a treasure in the arms of Christ

'Cause I'm forgiven
I'm forgiven
And I don't have to carry the weight of who I've been
'Cause I'm forgiven

Penned Words

I have devoted this overcast Sunday afternoon to writing. It should be no surprise to you that I have an agenda for doing so... well, of course I do - me, the obsessive list-maker. There are a few things that are necessary when I set aside time for writing: a warm beverage, a blanket, and headphones. Some might think it's strange that I listen to music while I write, especially if I'm writing something in particular. But this is how I drown out the cheerleaders on Mac's basketball game, the sound of the dishwasher (YES, I have a dishwasher!), and focus my thoughts. I actually gain a lot of inspiration from lyrics as well. So, here I sit... A WEASel mug full of my newly purchased Vanilla Red Tea, my heavy red blanket wrapped around my lap, and the new Needtobreathe Album streaming through my ears, ready to put the pen to paper. Figuratively speaking.

Everyone knows that no one uses pen and paper anymore. When I speak of this writing, I really mean typing. And that's what I'm doing. Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly appreciate the art of actual writing, like practicing my handwriting. And I do, every day at 6:30 am. But, when I'm on a roll, working on my blog, my letter to my dearest husband or my novel that needs some tender loving, the speed of typing is mandatory.

Oh, well there ya go. On the agenda for writing this afternoon:
1. Blog. I've been pretty good about updating the food blog lately, been okay about updating this one, and terrible about updating the family one. Today, I'm accomplishing a post by writing about how I'm going to write.

2. A letter to my husband. During our dating years, especially when we would be 7 hours apart in the summer, we used to write each other letters. There's something inexpressibly romantic about writing a letter to the one who makes your heart skip a beat. We've been married for 1 1/2 years and I haven't written him a letter once during our marriage. I think its time to do so.

3. My novel. A while back I let out a little secret that I would be writing a book. The topic remains undisclosed as I don't want to set myself any expectations. Also, there is no outline. No timeline. No deadline. Nothing. It's just coming about as the Lord leads and puts words on my heart to add. I have a couple pages done. Not nearly anything to rave about yet. It's just a baby.

So now, I shall move on to agenda point #2. Have a wonderful Sunday!

Real Simple

I get these emails from Free Snatcher for special deals and samples. My favorite item of note are the magazine samples. I've received free issues of all sorts of magazines: Gourmet, Organic Gardening, Tennis (for the husband), Remedy, and Real Simple.

Real Simple just came today. Oh. my. goodness. I was already aware that I LOVE this magazine, but this was the 10th anniversary edition. That means it was twice as big as normal. It also means that it was AMAZING. I love it. I asked Mac if I could have a subscription to Real Simple for my birthday (3 months away, mind you) and he didn't seem to agree with the idea. Oh well, a girl can wish. It's the little things in life.

Anyways, there were so many good cooking, housekeeping, decorating, and beauty ideas in this one, I can't even share them all. I have pretty much every page dog-eared. It's THAT good. The article that stuck out most to me was this: "22 things that are really, truly worth your time"

I dare you to do one.

-Stop and smell a gardenia
-Read the wedding announcements in the Sunday newspaper
-Curl up with your favorite childhood book
-Call someone's supervisor to praise a job well done
-Make the bed
-Let your toddler set the pace (ok, if you don't have a toddler, just slow down your pace)
-Take an affordable class or workshop not related to your career
-Eat something you grew
-People-watch on public transportation
-Spring the kids from school for the day (or yourself from work)
-Put down the box and bake a cake from scratch
-Hold the door open (for someone else)
-Enjoy a civilized breakfast
-Go on a "man date" (or the female equivalent)
-Write thank-you notes
-Document just one week of your life (photograph daily routine, collect receipts and stuff, write a daily message to yourself, then make a scrapbook of that)
-Spend "floor time" with your spouse (basically talk)
-Listen to an entire cd in one sitting
-Toast the sandwich bread
-Take a road trip and stop at every cheesy roadside attraction along the way
-Train for, then run, a race for charity
-Watch one of these YouTube tearjerkers: Christian the Lion, The Patrick Henry Huges Story, Kseniya Simonova's Sand Drawing (by recommendation of Real Simple)

Brain Overload.

That's all I've got for you today.

"Out of the abundance of the heart...

... the mouth speaks." - Matthew 12:34

At church on Sunday, our pastor taught through Proverbs 10. Do you know how many verses in Proverbs 10 talk about how our speech reflects our character? Enough to feel convicted!

"... a chattering fool comes to ruin" v. 8
"...a chattering fool comes to ruin." v. 10
"the mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked." v. 11
"Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning." v. 13
"Wise men store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool invites ruin." v. 14
"He who conceals his hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool." v. 18
"When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise." v. 19
"The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked is of little value." v. 20
"The lips of the righteous nourish many..." v. 21
"The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but a perverse tongue will be cut out." v. 31
"The lips of the righteous know what is fitting, but the mouth of the wicked only what is perverse." v.32

33% of chapter 10 talks about our mouth. This has been my focus this week... learning how to hold my tongue unless what I'm going to say is beneficial and uplifting to others. When I actually focus on it, I realize just how much I say that is NOT edifying. I don't use profanity or cut people down, but I definitely have a lot of room for improvement. My biggest goal this week in particular is to just keep my mouth shut.