Sometime soon I am going to start adding pictures to the blog. I have some fun ones from a nephew's birthday party earlier this month and from Thanksgiving.
Soon...but not quite yet.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Liberty
This morning I read 1 Kings 9. The first of part of the chapter is about the Queen of Sheeba’s visit to King Soloman. She was amazed by his wisdom and wealth and gave the credit to God for it all. In verses 8-10 she says, “ “
In thinking about these verses this morning and wondering how they should, in a very practical way, effect and change my life I thought about the wealth that I have. My wealth to many people doesn’t seem like much, but to others I’m extremely blessed. The last 10 years or so look a bit like this:
• Age 18: go to Word of Life Bible Institute in Florida for a year. I had to get a small loan to complete the school year but it was paid off within three years.
• Age 20: After coming back to Iowa I got a good job without even looking for one. My hours were 1-9pm Tuesday to Saturday so after a year of working, in which I bought and paid off a car, I was able to go to a local Christian college.
• Age 21: After a year of school I decided that I shouldn’t continue my education there. During my year there Liberty University changed their age requirement for their Distance Learning Program.
• Age 22: My hours at work were cut in half. During this time the secretary at my church and her husband were getting busy with deputation for going to Portugal to teach in a school for missionary kids. She resigned and I was asked to take her place as the full time secretary.
• Age 23: I started school through LU’s DLP and end up taking a two week missions trip to Costa Rica.
• Age 24: I bought my house.
• Age 25-28: while I continue and eventually finish school I spend two weeks in South Africa, and basically just live my life.
• Age 28: a girl in my church who needs help and a place to live moves in with me for six months. This is a growing and learning experience for both of us.
• Age 29: my hours at work are cut more than in half. Even though my car is old and junky it is still running so I don’t have to worry about replacing it…at the moment. I am able to buy a new furnace and a computer. I find other jobs to help supplement what I am no longer earning at the church (and need to continue to find more).
All of this makes me rich. I don’t need or want a ton of possessions. I have everything.
Another thought I had about the life of Soloman is this: if someone like Soloman lived today the average Christian wouldn’t pay attention to him, no matter how much wisdom God gave him. Here is part of my logic: How many wives and concubines did he have? How many slaves were under him? I know that times have changed and polygamy isn’t accepted anymore, but it wasn’t widely practiced back then either. I think it was fairly limited to the wealthy.
Also lets take a look at Soloman’s dad, King David. We all know what he did with Bathsheba. And don’t forget about what David did when he was running from King Saul and acted like he was insane: drooling and acting like a mad man. With the prevalent mentality today, we wouldn’t give David a second thought other than to tell our kids to stay away from him. We would never believe that God would or could use someone like that.
This mentality and view of people who “sin big,” when personally applied to ourselves, can keep us from truly following God and living in the freedom that he has given us through the cross.
A few years ago I was talking to someone about Chrsitian liberty. What he said still sticks echoes in my mind today even though I haven’t fully realized the truth of what he said. He basically told me, “Christian liberty isn’t about having a shorter list of don’ts. It isn’t about a list; it doesn’t even include the concept of a list. Christian liberty is about the freedom we have by being children of God. We aren’t bound by sin or the law. God doesn’t want our allegiance to a list of dos and don’ts. He just wants us. Our sin will be taken care of, we will change, as we grow closer to Him.”
In thinking about these verses this morning and wondering how they should, in a very practical way, effect and change my life I thought about the wealth that I have. My wealth to many people doesn’t seem like much, but to others I’m extremely blessed. The last 10 years or so look a bit like this:
• Age 18: go to Word of Life Bible Institute in Florida for a year. I had to get a small loan to complete the school year but it was paid off within three years.
• Age 20: After coming back to Iowa I got a good job without even looking for one. My hours were 1-9pm Tuesday to Saturday so after a year of working, in which I bought and paid off a car, I was able to go to a local Christian college.
• Age 21: After a year of school I decided that I shouldn’t continue my education there. During my year there Liberty University changed their age requirement for their Distance Learning Program.
• Age 22: My hours at work were cut in half. During this time the secretary at my church and her husband were getting busy with deputation for going to Portugal to teach in a school for missionary kids. She resigned and I was asked to take her place as the full time secretary.
• Age 23: I started school through LU’s DLP and end up taking a two week missions trip to Costa Rica.
• Age 24: I bought my house.
• Age 25-28: while I continue and eventually finish school I spend two weeks in South Africa, and basically just live my life.
• Age 28: a girl in my church who needs help and a place to live moves in with me for six months. This is a growing and learning experience for both of us.
• Age 29: my hours at work are cut more than in half. Even though my car is old and junky it is still running so I don’t have to worry about replacing it…at the moment. I am able to buy a new furnace and a computer. I find other jobs to help supplement what I am no longer earning at the church (and need to continue to find more).
All of this makes me rich. I don’t need or want a ton of possessions. I have everything.
Another thought I had about the life of Soloman is this: if someone like Soloman lived today the average Christian wouldn’t pay attention to him, no matter how much wisdom God gave him. Here is part of my logic: How many wives and concubines did he have? How many slaves were under him? I know that times have changed and polygamy isn’t accepted anymore, but it wasn’t widely practiced back then either. I think it was fairly limited to the wealthy.
Also lets take a look at Soloman’s dad, King David. We all know what he did with Bathsheba. And don’t forget about what David did when he was running from King Saul and acted like he was insane: drooling and acting like a mad man. With the prevalent mentality today, we wouldn’t give David a second thought other than to tell our kids to stay away from him. We would never believe that God would or could use someone like that.
This mentality and view of people who “sin big,” when personally applied to ourselves, can keep us from truly following God and living in the freedom that he has given us through the cross.
A few years ago I was talking to someone about Chrsitian liberty. What he said still sticks echoes in my mind today even though I haven’t fully realized the truth of what he said. He basically told me, “Christian liberty isn’t about having a shorter list of don’ts. It isn’t about a list; it doesn’t even include the concept of a list. Christian liberty is about the freedom we have by being children of God. We aren’t bound by sin or the law. God doesn’t want our allegiance to a list of dos and don’ts. He just wants us. Our sin will be taken care of, we will change, as we grow closer to Him.”
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Changes
I've been part time for a couple weeks now. I'm really enjoying the more relaxed schedule. Until this week, I haven't had to be anywhere by 8:00 am. It's been nice. My only concern is that I still don't have any additional house cleaning jobs beyond the one I got in October. It will all come together eventually though.
I got my computer a week ago yesterday. It's nice. It is exactly what I want. The only problem is that I can't seem to get the mouse settings adjusted so that the cursor insertion point doesn't change every couple minutes based on how long the mouse has been sitting still.
I got my new furnace last Friday. It won't be installed for a while still, but it is nice to have it.
I guess that not much else is going on in my life right now beyond cat sitting while my sister and her family is in Arizona. I'm not a big fan of cats since I am alergic to them. Oh well. I'm glad that I can help out.
Now that I have a computer I will try to blog more often. I don’t have internet, but my sister has wireless and I recently discovered an internet café that is close to my house. It shouldn’t be too much of a problem to keep up with things now.
I got my computer a week ago yesterday. It's nice. It is exactly what I want. The only problem is that I can't seem to get the mouse settings adjusted so that the cursor insertion point doesn't change every couple minutes based on how long the mouse has been sitting still.
I got my new furnace last Friday. It won't be installed for a while still, but it is nice to have it.
I guess that not much else is going on in my life right now beyond cat sitting while my sister and her family is in Arizona. I'm not a big fan of cats since I am alergic to them. Oh well. I'm glad that I can help out.
Now that I have a computer I will try to blog more often. I don’t have internet, but my sister has wireless and I recently discovered an internet café that is close to my house. It shouldn’t be too much of a problem to keep up with things now.
Friday, November 02, 2007
Uh Oh
With only 13 minutes left of my fulltime career here in the office, I'm starting to get sad.
Thankfully, and unexpectedly, yesterday God gave me the opportunity to buy a new furnace for really cheap. And thankfully since I can get the furnace for about $2000 less than I was anticipating I was able to go ahead and order the computer I want earlier today.
God is good, even when it is bittersweet.
Thankfully, and unexpectedly, yesterday God gave me the opportunity to buy a new furnace for really cheap. And thankfully since I can get the furnace for about $2000 less than I was anticipating I was able to go ahead and order the computer I want earlier today.
God is good, even when it is bittersweet.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Life and Changes
Tomorrow is my last day of working fulltime at my current job. I’m looking forward to the change of pace. It will be nice not to have to be up early next Monday morning. Hopefully that schedule won’t last too long since I need to get cleaning jobs lined up soon, but a week or two of not needing to wake up early would be nice.
Earlier today I was asked if I was nervous about tomorrow. Surprisingly I’m not nervous, upset, or anything like that…at the moment. Tomorrow may be entirely different. I know that people will be watching me all day to see how I am handling it all. That may get to me more than the change does. Actually in this situation I may end up being my own worst enemy. I'm hoping that I don't wake up and think "This is my last day to get up early to go to the office." and "This is the last time I will have to deal with the school rush to get to work." I would seriously annoy myself by doing that.
My desired new schedule is this: Mondays and Wednesdays - clean in the mornings and work at the office in the afternoons. Tuesdays and Thursdays - clean sometime during the day and then work for APS (a.k.a. the guy in my church - I think it is called APS anyway). Fridays - work at the church most of the day as secretary, or whatever I am called nowadays, then clean the office.
Since I only have one cleaning job lined up so far, next week I will be able to spend more time working for APS. Right now it is good for APS that I don’t have other work lined up. Since we are trying to get things organized and set up, the job will initially be more time consuming. Next week I will also start typing the dissertation for a lady in the church congregation.
My life used to be boring. Now on top of working as an “office assistant” I am a custodian, house cleaner, book keeper, and typist. I’m sure that before things get settled I will be able to add to that list.
I am hoping that eventually an opportunity will open up at a place I had applied at a month or so ago. That job is along the lines of what I think I want to do with my life. But until then or until God shows me something else I need to be doing, this is what I am pursuing.
Earlier today I was asked if I was nervous about tomorrow. Surprisingly I’m not nervous, upset, or anything like that…at the moment. Tomorrow may be entirely different. I know that people will be watching me all day to see how I am handling it all. That may get to me more than the change does. Actually in this situation I may end up being my own worst enemy. I'm hoping that I don't wake up and think "This is my last day to get up early to go to the office." and "This is the last time I will have to deal with the school rush to get to work." I would seriously annoy myself by doing that.
My desired new schedule is this: Mondays and Wednesdays - clean in the mornings and work at the office in the afternoons. Tuesdays and Thursdays - clean sometime during the day and then work for APS (a.k.a. the guy in my church - I think it is called APS anyway). Fridays - work at the church most of the day as secretary, or whatever I am called nowadays, then clean the office.
Since I only have one cleaning job lined up so far, next week I will be able to spend more time working for APS. Right now it is good for APS that I don’t have other work lined up. Since we are trying to get things organized and set up, the job will initially be more time consuming. Next week I will also start typing the dissertation for a lady in the church congregation.
My life used to be boring. Now on top of working as an “office assistant” I am a custodian, house cleaner, book keeper, and typist. I’m sure that before things get settled I will be able to add to that list.
I am hoping that eventually an opportunity will open up at a place I had applied at a month or so ago. That job is along the lines of what I think I want to do with my life. But until then or until God shows me something else I need to be doing, this is what I am pursuing.
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