ambivalence

Sometimes I can't exactly tell how I feel about California. I have so many ambitions, and sometimes one located in the golden state sneaks into my thoughts. I've considered coming back to Bible college. My aunt needs a nanny. But the whole money thing is hard. I have my dream job. I don't know what I want to do much less what God wants. I also think I want to move to Lubbock. But again I have my dream job. I have a bird in my hand. Why search for the ones in the bush?

I think I'm just stir crazy. I'm very transient I think.

Maybe I'll finish these thoughts later

borderline

Keep your soul in mind when you reach that borderline
There's a crossing that divides right from wrong
There's a line in the sand
Have you chosen where you stand?
You can linger but you can't linger long
When you're standin' at the borderline…

Better believe that there'll be snares
Better believe you'll see your share
Better believe temptation's gonna come around
You gonna stumble here and there
You gonna think that life's not fair
You gonna feel just like the world is tryin' to bring you down

There's a fork in the road
Do you know which way to go?
You can't always see what's comin' round the bend
You better watch for the signs if you're gonna walk that line
Or you just might have to turn around again
Turn around…

Standin' at the borderline

--Borderline--newworldson

Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. . .But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord Joshua 24:15

Therefore let him who think he stands take heed lest he fall.
1 Corinthians 10:12

"No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and depsise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon."
Luke 16:13

It just takes one

What if we moved
What if we wandered
Took a reckless ride to the other side of the tracks
What if we knew somebody’s story
Would we write them off like a number on a check

Or could we be the only souls
Who take the time to love and find
The beauty in a nameless face

(It just takes one)
It just takes one
One to step out from the crowd,
And show what love is all about
One, (it just takes one)
To change a life forever, touch the world
And make it better
(it just takes one)

So what if we moved with no hesitations
And learn to love the least of these without reserve
Let’s spark a change in this generation
And let our actions speak louder than our words

And what if there’s a world in need of hope
That only we can bring
Brighter than the midday sun

(It just takes one)
It just takes one
One to step out from the crowd,
And show what love is all about
One, (it just takes one)
One To change a life forever, touch the world
And make it better
(make it better)
(it just takes one)
One(It just takes one)
It just takes one
One to step out from the crowd,
And show what love is all about
One, (it just takes one)
One To change a life forever, touch the world
And make it better

One(It just takes one)
It just takes one
One to step out from the crowd,
And show what love is all about
One, (it just takes one)
One To change a life forever, touch the world
And make it better

--It Just takes one--Addison Road

One person CAN make a difference.
Look at our Saviour. He's still impacting the world 2000 years later
But, you say, he doesn't count, he's God. Well, what about Mother Theresa? Jim Elliot and Nate Saint? Eric Liddell? Chuck Smith?

Step outside of the boundaries society drew for you. Don't be afraid to be radical.

The people I mentioned above didn't make a difference with their money or their power or their intelligence. They did it by being a willing servant with a heart for God and His people.

Whether you realy realise it or not, you have a reputation. What kind of reputation are you making for yourself?

peppermint oreo bark

This treat is named 'Peppermint Oreo Bark' for 2 reasons: it looks like an Oreo and has a peppermint flavour and it contains Cool Mint Creme Doublestuf Oreos.

Here's what you'll need:
16 oz (1pkg) chocolate flavoured Candiquik/bark/dipping chocolate
12 oz (12 squares, or 3/4 pkg) white chocolate Candiquik &tc.
1/2 c crushed candy canes/starlight mints
8 crushed Mint Oreos
Peppermint oil (don't use water based flavourings!)

This recipe should fill a 9x13 pan (I used a 9 inch cake pan for about a third of this amount and it didn't quite fill it) . A cookie sheet will also work

Line the pan with wax paper

Melt half the chocolate according to the directions (just use a microwave!)
Mix in half the crushed Oreos, spead in a thin layer on the pan. Place in fridge until hardened (5-10 min)
Melt the white chocolate, stir in crushed candy canes, and a few drops of peppermint oil (a chopstick works well to catch a single drop at a time) and spread directly over the chocolate. Place in fridge until hardedned. Melt the remaining chocolate, mix in oreos, and spread across the white chocolate. Place in fridge till hardened, the break apart into small pieces.

Pics will be up soon!

White as snow

'Come now, and let us reason together,' Says the LORD, 'Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.' Isaiah 1:18


His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them. Mark 9:3

Before I moved to Colorado I didn't realise just how white snow is. It reflects SO much light. Last night as I was looking around me, I realised I could see quite well. We have been told in science that white is a reflection of all the colours of light. That is why the smallest amount of light hitting snow will make it easy to see. During the day, the snow is SO bright and at night even with thick low clouds and no moon it's pretty easy to see around.

Something to think about. When we are cleansed from our sin, and this white as snow, we reflect the light.

Nasty four letter word

Wait.

Seems so bad sometimes to just wait.

We want everything now. We move at such a fast pace that we don't have time to wait--to wait in lines, to wait on God, to wait for His blessings.

Romance seems to be an area in which this four letter word is virtually unknown. We don't wait patiently for us to meet the right person. We don't wait to enjoy certain benefits of marriage-but rather hop into bed with the first [willing, attractive, &tc.] person we come across.

But what if we aren't called to be searching for our next lover? Should we not just be busy doing our duties as Isaac and Rebekah did? Should we not trust that our Maker is also our Matchmaker?

Arranged marriage seems so bad to us. . .but I think Jewish ladies must have had it nice. They knew someone was working on their behalf to bring them a spouse that they would learn to love. Note the use of the word 'learn.' They didn't believe in love at first sight as a determining factor for their companion!

I'll be frank. I want romance. I'm tired of waiting. hello, my biological clock is ticking!!! jk, I'm still a little young for that. I want to think I'm ready to give myself to another person and to love him daily. But then I wonder, maybe I'm not ready. Would I become bitter and feel obligated to serve instead of being a joyful servant? Could I care for a man, much less kids?

I wonder why God hasn't told me who I will marry, or when, or even if I will


. . .

but maybe there is good reason for that

Wait
by Russell Kelfer


Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I plead and I wept for a clue to my fate . . .
And the Master so gently said, "Wait."

"Wait? you say wait?" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word.

"My future and all to which I relate
Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait?
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,
Or even a 'no' to which I can resign.

"You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply."

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,
As my Master replied again, "Wait."
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,
And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting for what?"

He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine . . .
and He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.

"I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.
You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me.
You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint.
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.

"You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence are all you can see.

"You'd never experience the fullness of love
When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.
You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

"The glow of my comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask
From an infinite God who makes what you have last.

"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss, if you missed what I'm doing in you.

"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.
And though oft My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still . . . Wait."