Fun Stuff

Friday, November 8, 2013

a much needed list...

at a lovely breakfast this am, we wuz a chatting for a minute (a hot minute) about current learnings.  and, i realized i am a learning the art of contentment.  i think, at least.   meaning, i am wanting to learn it.  so, deuteronomy 8, yes.  but also reminding myself of how good god is.  and, the things i am uber thankful for here.  and, can so easily forget he has done...

the work list first.
...a job i enjoy.
...a fantastic office sharer and club director.
...folks who care about and support what i am a doing.
...coaching soccer. i think i can say i do love that.
...the ability to coach and talk about jesus. to use teachable opportunities to talk about the gospel.
...sweet siblings who all play soccer.
...my one-year soccer ball presentation and kid speeches.
...coaching with macey.
...watching paul so enjoy coaching the U8 girls.
...working a super flexible schedule.
...a ministry director with vision who challenges me (in a good way).
...balancing keeping the main thing the main thing.
...knowing folks are seriously praying for me.
...working with brandon and anne this summer.
...exciting future ahead for northstar youth ministries.
...new friend joining staff in may.
...awesome volunteer coaches.
...kids - full of life and fun times.
...friday lunch with the kiddos at princeton.
...fundraising coaching - that i am not doing it all on my own.
...fantastic sunset views after practice.
...parents stepping up and leading in the club.
...working with some awesome coaches with really good hearts for our northstar kids.
...a eleven year old crying because his teammates aren't good sports.
...respectful young men and women at soccer practice.

and, the life list second.
...a beautiful city
...that i haven't gone a meal without.
...the mountain brook library.
...running in mtn brook (my how pretty it is).
...jemison trail. my new fav running place.
...lakeshore trail. a close second.
...taziki's - arguably my favorite restaurant here.
...new friends.
...conversations - fantastic, tough and needed, fun, thought-provoking and everywhere in between.
...old friends - and staying in their lives (one is silver and the other gold, eh? ha).
...the fantastic views in this fine city.
...homewood.
...lots of parks.
...how close everything is. i can get anywhere in the city in 25 min or less. usually more like 10.
...red mountain church.
...c.s. lewis and his writings - namely those chronicles of narnia.
...a cool baby house to live in.
...mowing the lawn.
...iphones - pretty cool gadgets.
...watching val's baby bump grow.
...steel city pops.
...church street coffee.
...jim n nick's.
...golden rule.
...chick-fil-a.
...moe's.
...the roommate and i's random but deep and thought-provoking conversations.
...phone chats, prayers, and encouragement from friends in other cities.
...time to myself - to think, sleep, pray, process, read, relax, and waste time.
...writing letters.
...mailing packages to friends far far away.
...reading books.
...rediscovering how much i love to read and learn.
...watching movies while recouping from a little car accident.
...god protecting me and the other driver from major harm (even though my car is now toast).
...the fact that i don't have everything figured out and still question - cuz that leads me to him.
...having my saturdays back for a few months (jokes).

happy friday :)

Thursday, November 7, 2013

remember.

so, i can't remember the exact context of these verses.  i think moses is saying these words to the people of israel before they are about to enter the promised land.  i have really liked this passage of late.  for whatever reason, it is easy for me to forget these days all that god has done.  i am a stupid israelite.  ha.  i forget too.  just like they did.  god took care of them oh so well.  and moses wants them to remember that before they go to the good land and forget about god - the one who took them through the wilderness, fed them, made sure they were straight.  ha.  so, yep.  here's to remembering more...

“The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers. And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years.  Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you. So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him.  For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.

“Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness,with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. And if you forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.


- Deuteronomy 8.  amen.