A Contradiction Poem...

Pull up a chair and sit on the floor.

I'll tell you an old story that you've never heard before.

One summers day in the middle of the night,

Two dead boys got up to fight.

Back to back they faced each other.

They pulled out knives and shot each other

The deaf policeman heard the noise,

And got up to arrest the two dead boys.

If you do not believe the story's true,

Go ask the blind man, he saw it too.

Yes I am a science nerd...

So as most of you reading this know, I am a complete science nerd and I am OK with that. I came across this video and it totally put a smile on my face, and I knew I would have to share it with all of you. So here it is, Merry Christmas from me to you.

One Friends Adventures = My personal growth in my faith

Chad, a friend of mine studied abroad in Israel in college and I am in the process of reading his blog from the time he was there till a post he made a couple days ago. It was a GREAT start. One of my favorite posts as of now is:

Grey Matter
Please keep this allegory in mind when you read about what I am learning, hearing, and thinking about here in Israel. Some things I talk about or present could be a little different than what you have been taught growing up or might slightly differ from some of your own beleifs. Keep in mind though that our God is a mystery and when we think we have Him or His Word all figured out then we've turned Him into something smaller than ourselves. I have been asking a lot of questions about my faith, life, and myself. I encourage you too to ask questions, for I truly beleive that the unexamined beleif is not worth beleiving. 

"And this is why questions are so central to faith. A question by its very nature acknowledges that the person asking the question does not have all the answers. And because the person does not have all of the answers, they are looking outside of themselves for guidance. Questions, no matter how shocking or blasphemous or arrogant or ignorant or raw, are rooted in humility. A humility that understands that I am not God. And there is more to know." -Rob Bell Velvet Elvis

This is so HUGE TO ME!!! 

Sometimes I question the very existence of God, if there is such a thing as Heaven or Hell, why this or why that? And then after questioning so much (which by the way questioning sometimes comes after bad things have happened in your day, life or just too often) a small miracle happens; either the birth of a healthy child, or the sight of an amazing flower bloomed, a sunset, our own breathing and beating of our hearts; all of those little things puts you in perspective. You are once again channeled in reality, your feet are on the ground and you Thank God you are touching the soil, or feeling the breeze, or feeling the warmth of loved ones, and those are the moments I need to hold onto. 

Recently I have seen a change in some of my personal spiritual practices, that I was not doing say 2 weeks ago, and I am so pumped and excited because I think I am going to be able to keep with it all, especially with the help of some wise people in my life. But reading Chad's post made me realize that it is OK to question my faith. If I think I know it all or do not have any questions about it, then I have gotten complacent. I do not want to be complacent in my faith, and if I am going to ask these questions then I need to be actively looking to my Lord for the answers, through prayer, through friend's wisdom, through his word. What ever the method is, if I am going to ask the question I have to want to know the answer. And right now I do.

Hurricane Party...

Has anyone ever heard of a hurricane party? I grew up in south Texas where hurricanes are a normal part of your summer and fall semester, but never have I heard of a hurricane party. I have heard of having a party and a hurricane hitting during the party, but never one before it hits. Hurricane Dolly is on the southern coast of Texas about to his South Padre Island and then my hometown of Brownsville where my parents and family are. I just talked to my parents and they are partying. Here I am at home, wishing I was home to be with my family during this. They are never easy, even though not much damage will be done by Dolly, it is still a time you wish you were with your family. If I was there, I would be partying, freaking out, but partying.

We will see how it looks tomorrow there, when it starts to get really bad and the eye of the hurricane progresses over my home. Ill keep you posted. :)

Trusting God or my Emotions?

Have you ever become a victim to your emotions? I have. Many times our circumstances stir our emotions and we respond inappropriately. While our emotions toward our situation are not entirely wrong; they are just not entirely reliable. But God is.

Adversity, trials, and sufferings are God's greatest tools for growing us spiritually. However, our emotions can tell us otherwise, making it hard to trust God for a good outcome. I think the reason it may be hard to rely on God in hardships is because we forget who our God is. We are focused on what our eyes can see instead of the unseen hand of God at work in our lives.

God only eliminates the things in my life that don't "look" like Him. If there is a characteristic in my life that needs to be put to death, I can trust God will do it and I'll be better off without it. While my mind may acknowledge this truth, my emotions need God's grace in order to trust Him in the process.

God's grace is always sufficient. He is enough for whatever I face. Recalling God's faithfulness in my past helps me trust Him in the present. Like David, Habakkuk and many others, I stir my faith in God by remembering those past victories. David was able to face and slay the giant because he remembered God's faithfulness in his past battles. Habakkuk, as he prayed about his situation, remembered God's history with the Israelite children and how He brought them triumph. Remembering our past victories reminds us of just how big and able our God is, and rescues us from any doubt in our present situation. It offers strength, hope, and the faith we need to endure.

In our human nature, we fear. But as children of God, we must remember how the righteous live. They live by faith. So I'm learning to say in my circumstances, "God, this is not what I want. It's not what I planned for my life, but though you slay me I'm choosing to trust you."

Instead of trusting my feelings, I'm choosing to trust my God. He is enough both now and always for whatever comes my way. While my emotions my trip me up from time to time, still, I will trust Him. Why--because if something needs slaying in my life, I'm better off without it and God is just the one to make the change a success.

Totally Put a Smile on my Face...

When I heard this then read it, it really made me smile. The way our attitude can haze over our perspective is amazing, and I think this is a great example of that.

Dear Mother and Dad,

It has now been three months since I left for college. I have been remiss
in writing and I am very sorry for the thoughtlessness in not having
written before. I will bring you up-to-date now, but before you read on,
please sit down. You are not going to read any further unless you are
sitting down. Okay?

Well, I am getting along pretty well now. The skull fracture and the
concussion I got when I jumped out of the window of my dormitory when it
caught fire shortly after my arrival are pretty well healed now. I only
spent two weeks in the hospital, and now I can see almost normally and only
get those sick headaches one a day.

Fortunately, the fire in the dormitory and my jump were witnessed by an
attendant at the gas station near the dorm, and he was the one who called
the Fire Department and the ambulance.

He also visited me in the hospital and since I had nowhere to live because
of the burnt out dormitory, he was kind enough to invite me to share his
apartment with him. Its really a basement room, but its kind of cute. He is
a very fine boy and we have fallen deeply in love and are planning to get
married. We haven't set the exact date yet, but it will be before my
pregnancy begins to show.

Yes, Mother and Dad, I am pregnant. I know how much you are looking forward
to being grandparents and I know you will welcome the baby and give it the
same love and devotion and tender care you gave me when I was a child.

The reason for the delay in our marriage is that my boyfriend has some
minor infection which prevents us from passing the pre-marital blood test
and I carelessly caught it from him. This will clear up with the penicillin
injections I am now taking daily. I know you will welcome him into the
family with open arms. He is kind and although not well educated, he is
ambitious. Although he is of a different race and religion than ours, I
know your often expressed tolerance will not permit you to be bothered by
the fact that his skin color is somewhat different than ours. I am sure
that you will love him as I do. His family background is good too, for I am
told that his father is an important engineer for the sanitation department
he works for. Although they say he runs his office from his truck.

Now that I have brought you up-to-date, folks, I want to tell you that
there was NO dormitory fire, I did not have a concussion or a skull
fracture, I was not in the hospital, I am not pregnant, I am not engaged, I
do not have syphilis, and there is no schwartze in my life. However, I am
getting a "D" in history and an "F" in science, and I wanted you to see
those marks in the proper perspective.

Your loving daughter