Otherness

Joseph Stowell, one of my favorite radio pastors, spent a whole series of radio broadcasts talking about the christian sense of "otherness". That strong feeling from inside that God has set us apart. Our view of the world, of life, our values are "other" than the way the world sees things. Imagine my surprise, then, as I'm reading a new book called "Pen on Fire a busy woman's guide to igniting the writer within", when I run across the chapter called 'celebrate your otherness'!! She talks about writers feeling as if they are on the periphery of life, observers, detached wishing to blend in but always somehow removed. I almost jumped up and down at the description. Yes Yes Yes! I want to celebrate that as a Christian. Having that sense that God has put me here for a reason (sometimes I have no clue what that is) but still having that odd sense that I get that I really don't fit. My view of things is skewed but it is not such a wrong thing. "If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you..." (jn 15:19)

Enjoy the ice, snow and storm. Stay warm

What's the weather going to be?

Need to take a trip? Have plans out doors? Need the weatherman to be accurate? I hear the weather this weekend is supposed to be lousy. And I need to travel to Sioux City for the day tomorrow, though I don't relish that thought if the weather is going to be bad. So I dug out the weather prophets to see what they have to say. Maybe they will be wrong like they often are. Believe me, there are plenty of sayings out there. Not much about a snow or ice storm, though. Let's see which one fits??

• A year of snow, a year of plenty." or Year of snow, fruit will grow...
• Red Sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky in the morning, sailor take warning."
• When clouds look like rocks and towers,the earth will be refreshed by showers
• A cow with it's tail to the west, makes weather the best, A cow with it's tail to the east, makes weather the least. (this actually refers to clouds)
• If the rooster crows on going to bed, rise with a watery head!
• If crows fly low, winds are going to blow..or if crow flies high wind is going to die.
• A sunshiny shower won't last half an hour
• A rainbow at noon more rain soon.
• If it's cold in February summer will be pleasant. (This one should work for us this year)

Whether it's cold or whether it's hot we shall have weather whether or not!

Wake up! Sun's up

These beautiful mornings I've finally started to notice the sunrise again, and the fact that it's actually staying up longer in the evenings. Went to work the other evening and whereas before it would have been dark when I went (5pm) now it's still light outside. Hurrah! But this morning's sunrise was beyond beautiful. It was awesome. So I have a few shots for all you sleepy heads that were still in bed!! Enjoy.

It's Not about Me... Are you sure?

Here's a bit from Max Lucado in It's Not About Me on the 3rd Commandment. What? you don't remember it? It's the one that says "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in Vain" Did you grow up knowing that it meant you shouldn't swear or use foul language by saying the name of God as an expletive? I did. But Lucado challenges us to look at it differently. Look at it In a way that should make us as Christians squirm. He says "Don't think language, think lifestyle. He tells a story about a daughter of an executive who takes advantage of her position. Putting her father's employees in uncomfortable and compromising positions, making them and her father look bad, and making everyone miserable by use of her position. The boss's child dishonoring the father not with vulgar language but with insensitive living. On the other hand think about it in the opposite light. Reverse the whole process and have the daughter living in a way that in every sense makes people not only think highly of her but of her father as well. She lives in a way that reflects her father's heart." Lucado encourages us in every way to make our lives show our father's heart and intentions in the best of ways. A keeping of that 3rd commandment. This fits right in with all that I've been reading in my Blue like Jazz adventure. To escape the clutches of self centered thinking and to think of someone else more highly than myself and in that way let my lifestyle be a pure sweet language for the King! (thanks Lynn)

The winter garden

Everything's in waiting right now. The silence does not mean that nothing is happening. Because we don't see the life below does not mean it's not there. Soon. Soon. We'll see the life show itself above and we'll rejoice in it!