Easter Season and what I am pondering...

Some of this is directly related to where I am personally and may not make sense out of context. Our local church body has been talking about some pretty serious stuff (all good) lately and considering what following Jesus really looks like, the cost of following, and the life that brings. If you would like to listen to the latest sermon from our Easter service you can listen to it here: Community Church Teachings (I am reflecting on 4.5.10 specifically, but all of them under spiritual disciplines contribute to the conversation)

The following are my attempt to put into some coherent words some of what I am cognizant of the Lord doing in me lately (I know he is doing more that I am not aware of at all)...

I have been trying to live into the reality of the Resurrection this week. This past Sunday's sermon definitely spoke to me. 

I have been considering areas of death/sin in my life throughout Lent, but didn't really rest on any one thing (not because there are so few places of death in my life, but because there are so many). I felt the Lord just asking me to rest in him, spending time reading scripture, trying to listen to his voice, and taking time to pause in my day. 

I dont have any great revelations, summations, or answers from this week, but the Incarnation/Indwelling and Resurrection are themes that keep coming up for me in prayer, reading, and thoughts. I think part of it is that these are real events are substantial in the way we view and interact with the life of Christ and ultimately, like Thad (one of our church pastors) expressed they point to God's character as a Life Giver and Death Conquerer. I think I am stuck by how different this makes him from us, and yet (I dont even know how to express this) how if we want life it comes only from him, we have to be connected to the True Vine; wound inextricably into him, and how our life is really about or created from becoming more and more entwined into him. 

I am also just meditating more on the Incarnation and the Resurrection and struck by the mystery and power of these two things that really illuminate each other. I am including two items from other people that have been part of my journey this week...

1. I have been using a devotional guide lately called Living the Christian Year by Bobby Gross. I am happy to tell more about it, but for now I am just including a quote from the author's introduction to the season of Easter:

"The followers of Jesus watched their leader die. They were disheartened - confused, afraid, grief-stricken, and drained of hope. Despite Jesus' enigmatic statements about rising after three days, they had no expectation of his immediate resurrection. So when the women reported the tomb empty and word of his appearances reached them, joy eclipsed disbelief. They experienced what Tolkien calls eucatastrophe, the sudden turn of events that brings a disastrous story to an unexpectedly good conclusion, which 'pierces you with a joy that brings tears.'"

"'The Birth of Christ is the eucatastrophe of [human] history. The Resurrection is the eucatastrophe of the story of the Incarnation,' asserts Tolkien, adding that 'this story begins and ends in joy.'"

2. InterVarsity has a big missions conference every 3 years called Urbana; our last one was this past December and our theme was The Word Became Flesh (so basically Incarnation). Anyway, I have been thinking back often to one speaker in particular who pointed out some really great things about God's character and his sending out his Son and the ways he is calling us to go out to pour out life also. If you would like to listen to it, the video is 30 minutes long and can be found at Urbana09 Vidoes under Day 3, go to Money and Power: Oscar Muriu (he is pastor of Nairobi Chapel in Kenya and one of the most Spirit-led and powerfully prophetic speakers I have ever heard).

Homemade Pizza

I have been wanting to make my own pizza for a while, but I was too intimidated to make my own dough and couldn't find any at the grocery store. We get take-out every so often, but what I really like is a blend of unusual flavors and lots of toppings, which is expensive in takeout. Drew and I are fans of California Pizza Kitchen, but there is not one anywhere near where we live.

So, I finally found frozen pizza dough at the grocery store. Its not very expensive and I was able to use a few ingredients I already had in the pantry as toppings. We had one BBQ Chicken (yes, I totally stole this idea from CPK) - it had BBQ sauce, cooked chicken breast cubes, mozzarella cheese, fresh cilantro, corn, Carribean spices, and red pepper powder on it. I wanted to add some black beans, but didn't have any on hand. it was plenty filling with out it. The other pizza was a mix of Mediterannean flavors - it had pesto sauce, mozzarella cheese, sundried tomatoes, feta cheese, and greek spices on top.

I forgot to take a picture, but apart from burning the sundried tomatoes on the Mediterannean pizza they turned out really well. I know we will be making these more often in the future.

Cornish Hens

Drew has mentioned to me a few times that he always wanted to try Cornish game hens. They always look so festive and delicious when they are in pictures.

They also look ridiculously hard to make and like they will take forever! But I love my husband and I want to make him happy. Plus, I inherited a few William-Sonoma holiday cookbooks at our church group White Elephant gift exchange and it included a cornish hen recipe. I was also feeling adventurous and cooking is a good way to satisfy this urge (most of the time).

Here is how they turned out:

So before you comment, yes I am aware that this dish is very orange. I didnt realized everything I made had an orange hue until I took this picture. I was craving sweet potatoes and I like having them more often than regular potatoes because they have more vitamins, and carrots, well because they were easy and what I had on hand. Maybe my body was craving whatever assortment of vitamins and minerals come in orange foods (I am sure Drew could tell us, plus why it is good for you and the pathways it takes to be deconstruction and turned into energy in your body, I dont know how he memorizes all of this stuff!)

Anyway, the birds turned out pretty good. They were a good deal of work, mostly butterflying them - after that you just put the seasonings on and stick them in the oven. Its almost a shame they came out so good because after I slaved away making them Drew took a bite and said, "you have to make these again!" Well, I probably will, I am a sucker for that guy. :) But I will probably wait until next winter.

Snow Day!

Today was a snow day! It has been snowing since around 11 this morning! Here is what it looked like this afternoon from our apartment, and it kept coming down.

Of course, being the Texans that we are we all go a little crazy in the snow. Most of our neighbors have already been out throwing snow balls at each other and I have seen several snow men of varying shapes and sizes. We are trying to keep off the roads to stay safe. I cancelled all the student meetings I had planned for today and tonight. I do not want a meeting to be the cause of an accident that someone could have avoided.

So Drew and I are tucked safely and warmly away in our apartment for now. I was planning on making pasta for dinner tonight, but because of the weather I think I will make chili instead. I found this great recipe for black bean corn pancakes that go great with warm and spicy chili. I will have to post that later.

Sorry for the complete negligence of our blog lately, life has been pretty busy. I do have a few entries started from the last month which I will try to post soon (over the next few days).

Hope you are staying cozy and warm wherever you are...

Christmas

Christmas this year was alot of fun and very busy for us. Drew and I only had a week in which he was off from school and I was not gone to Urbana, so we packed alot into that week. :)

We hung out with my family for a few days which was very fun. Ate lots of good food, opened presents, watched movies, laughed, ate more food. We have taken to sleeping out in the garage because it is actually very comfortable on our air mattress and best of all there is no animal hair or dander out there to both Drew's allergies. He said it was the best visit yet for him. I think he was able to breath through both nostrils the whole time (BIG victory, who wants to feel miserable when they are on vacation with family?)

Then we went and hung out with Drew's family. I have lots of good pics of our cute niece and nephews. We also ate lots of good food, opened presents, and laughed with them. There was also a good deal of snow, ice, and a slow driving trip in that snow, ice, and blustery wind from Christmas Eve service in Sherman back to Jameson. But all turned out alright; Drew did a great job driving and keeping us safe. :) Here are some pictures...

After all of the excitement Drew and I headed back to Dallas to spend the night in the garage again before I headed out to St.Louis for URBANA and Drew headed back home...to study, play video games, and (in true best husband ever fashion) clean and organize the apartment 'til it glowed. I was so relaxed when I got home because there was nothing left for me to do! I really love my husband and the ways he cares for me.

Back at Home

I have a few posts and pics from Christmas with our family. It was alot of fun! I also have a few posts from Urbana09 - InterVarsity's Missions Conference, held every 3 years. There were 16,000 university students in attendance! It was held in St.Louis Missouri and I was working there most of last week.

For now, I am taking this week off...as Drew goes back to regular (grueling) class schedule. We had a fantastic and relaxing weekend together though. We bought ourselves the Platinum Extended Edition of Lord of the Rings (used & cheaper on Amazon) and had a marathon watching them over the course of a day and half. We pretty much just took breaks to eat and sleep. For us, there are few opportunities to indulge in such complete relaxation and little responsibility. We enjoyed every minute. Drew definitely made it a great weekend for me because he cleaned the whole house, top to bottom (even inside the fridge), so I had nothing to worry about and could just focus on spending time with him.

So the rest of this week, I will be getting back into the swing of regular life, without adding work on top just yet. I went grocery shopping yesterday and have all our meals for the week planned out. I have a stack of library books sitting on my desk, waiting to be read. I am so excited to have time to get lost in several good books. And since the apartment is so clean I can get to some reorganization projects I have been putting off (closet, desk, and that pesky corner in the living room). We like to keep clutter to a minimum, and especially since we move so often purging unnecessary items is vital. I also plan to bake a few things, I enjoy doing this when I feel I have the time to both create something tasty and then clean the kitchen. :) I am also planning a short trip up to Dallas later in the week to spend some time with my brother before he returns to the frozen north at Carnegie Mellon. He has been telling me all about Avatar and how awesome it is, so I think we might go see that together. Feel free to give me a call if you would like to catch up this week, its definitely a good time.

Do please pray for Drew, it is hard for him to return back to school, knowing that he has NO BREAKS until this summer. He has a spring break, but he needs to use that time to study for his licensing exam (part 1), called the Step 1 that is in May or June. The next 6 months for him will be spent gearing up for this important milestone. The next 6 months for me will be spent supporting him, helping him stay sane, and encouraging him when he does not want to do it anymore.

Advent Reading: Week Three

I was hoping to at least do one post per week on Advent, but I missed last week. Oh well.

This week's theme was on anticipating joy. Anticipating the approach of Christmas Day, renewal, and salvation. Waiting patiently but hopefully. I have to admit this is a good but difficult practice for me. Most of the time I don't like to wait and when I have to, I tend to despair or get angry, not more hopeful. But then, I thought about childhood and waiting for a special gift. That kind of waiting I really never minded. I enjoyed all the anticipation.

So I am trying to apply more of my anticipatory Christmas joy to the other areas of my life that I need to wait with hope and joy in my heart.

I think the biggest area for me to wait with hopefully anticipation right now is in Fund Raising. Working with InterVarsity, a non-profit Christian ministry, affords me lots of opportunities I might not otherwise have in other jobs. One of these opportunities is in personally gathering support (financially, emotionally, spiritually) for the work I do, for the students I serve, and for the campus I am sent to.

I believe in fund raising; I even think God came up with this idea and that its biblical. More than that, I believe in the work that God is doing through me and through InterVarsity. If you want to know more about my philosophy and ethic on fund raising just ask, I am definitely open to discussing it. But that is not the focus of this particular discussion.

This week, with my students gone back home for the holidays, I have been focusing on my funding. Trying to use my time wisely and prepare for the spring. I have been praying often. And I realize this is just a hard area for me to believe, truly believe, that God will provide. I know (in my head, sometimes) that he will. I have experienced him provide before. I even had an unexpectedly large donation just this week! Thank you Jesus!

But when I really examine my heart I know that I have room to grow in living in this season with anticipatory joy, looking forward to January, expectant to see all the ways the Lord has provided for our family and this ministry. So I have been praying each day this week "Lord because you have called me and you are faithful, I believe you will do this."

I am very thankful that Jehovah has been faithful, is faithful, and forever shall be faithful. So for now, I try to wait on him, rest in his unfailing character (rather than my own worries) and anticipate with great joy celebrating his faithfulness.