a recipe and a challenge

recipe:
http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/83/Allisons_Broccoli_Salad13086.shtml

challenge:
http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/83/Allisons_Broccoli_Salad13086.shtml

*note, the two have nothing to do with eachother, unless you invite someone over for dinner.

glory

think about such things

last week i had a conversation with a dear friend, who reminded me that in order to overcome challenges, you can't just focus on the problem - you have to celebrate small victories. i heard something similar at church this morning. so often we focus on trying not to do bad things, instead of learning to love what is good. but God's desire is not just for us to follow the rules, he wants us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

maybe that's why paul says "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things." Phillipians 4:8

YES!

i believe this is what heaven looks like.

Elijah was afraid, and ran for his life... and the word of the Lord came to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He replied, "I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too."

The Lord said "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by. Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. when Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him "What are you doing here, Elijah?

He replied "I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too." 1 Kings 19:9-14

i started reading this story a couple of days ago and it was very frustrating to me. i couldn't understand how elijah could give God exactly the same answer, after all that had happened. he was afraid, so he ran. and God took care of him, even "passed by him" (which seems to happen only to special people on special occaisions in the old testament) and still, elijah was afraid.

or at least that's what i got out of it. determined to find an explanation, i read commentaries and different translations, hoping a different perspective might help me understand why elijah didn't fall down and worship, or put on sackcloth and ashes, or something. the more i pondered, the more i realized that maybe it wasn't elijah's response that was troubling me, but my own. after all that God has done for me, how can i ever stand before him with the same fears, the same dispassionate attitude? what's wrong with me? yesterday i read in james "mercy triumphs over judgement." i can judge elijah - and myself, but God has a plan for us that can't be foiled by our weaknesses. somehow, he loves us anyway.

appreciate this

who

i heard something today that made me think. ( i love it when that happens, because so often i don't think about what i hear - not enough to make a difference, anyway) anyway... someone said "it's not WHAT you are, it's WHO you are." a WHAT can be anything, but a WHO is very specific. God made me WHO i am. and no matter WHAT i may be, (an employee, a fiance, a friend, a daughter, or a "christian") it is who i am that matters.

"who" is also a process. i've been thinking a lot about consistancy lately, and how (in some cases) it is important to focus on the bigger picture instead of overanalyzing the details. for instance, if i want to know God better, i have to spend time with him on a consistant basis. if i don't do that, knowing him will never be part of "who" i am. (see the post entitled "just do it"). this goes for a lot of other things too. practice takes time, willingness, humility, and it eventually makes perfect (or close to it).


"Not that I have already obtained all this [knowing God], or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philipians 3:12-16