Dear Dad

Dear Dad,

Since I won't be able to enjoy Father's Day with you over ribeye steaks, loaded mashed potatoes, and cabernet sauvignon, I decided to do the next best thing, which is to write you an early Father's Day letter, dedicated totally to you.  Sound good?

Protection.  You, Dad, take your role seriously.  You let us know that our family has rules for a reason.  Lots of times, the rules were to prevent premature exposure to what the world had to offer.  More often than not, howevever, as little kids, we didn't understand the "why" behind the rules, and we were simply told to trust you.  This exemplified the way in which we were to interact with Christ.  How many times will we be called to simply obey and trust that He will know the "why" even while we won't?  Yes, through your protection of us, you taught us instantaneous obedience and trust.  Perhaps those are the most important lessons you taught me.

All the credit for this next lesson learned in my life goes to you as well.  Remember when we'd sit in the truck bed and watch the rain pour down from the safety of our garage?  Or remember how we took a walk in the snow one quiet evening, or how you'd wake several of us up to witness a meteor shower?  More recent history has you taking turns about the vegetable garden.  You love to stop and smell the roses, taking every opportunity to enjoy the life that God has given you.  Yes, this lesson taught me to live life and live it well.

I can't tell you how thankful I am for your laughter and all those times you've laughed til you cried.  I can't tell you how many times your sayings randomly pop in my head while I'm away.  I can't tell you with enough emphasis how I may never read those first 30 pages in that photography book that you keep hounding me to read.  I can't tell you how many times I may still walk through the non-walkway.

But what I can tell you is how blessed I am to have your genes.  Even though I know you're going to make a snide remark about blue jeans with that last sentence, I think it's pretty cool how people say I look just like you.

Thanks for the lessons, memories, laughter, and hot wings.

You're amazing, and I love you!

Love,
Owl Licks

Just Another Lively Update

I know I've been on a theological kick of late, and that's not a bad thing, but I thought it to be high time I give an update on life.

A few musings are thusly:

1.  School is over and done with for about a year hence.  Why?  You'll have to see the update below to fully grasp why.  But yes, finals have been taken, exit exams completed, and grades uploaded on CAMS.  This has me very excited!

2.  I'm going to Israel in a few months for an extended period of time to enjoy getting to know how another culture lives their day-to-day lives.  I'll be volunteering at a guest house.  But I'm sure this will have a post all its own in the upcoming months.

3.  I'll be staffing with Worldview Academy once again this summer!  Just for a week, but I'm uber stoked.  Think hard. Think well.

4.  As in previous summers, this summer I am mostly just working and saving up for my upcoming trip.  Slightly stressful since I really have to save just about every penny, but it'll be worth it (is what I keep telling myself.)  ;)

5.  Now that it's summer, I'm trying to read as many books for fun as I possibly can.  I've been out of school for 3-ish weeks now, and I'm working on finishing book 3 for the summer.  Awesomesauce, if you know what I mean.  My hope is to get a good selection of both fiction and non-fiction going to broaden my mind and thinking capabilities.  ;)  Can't wait to see the myriads of books that will fall into my lap over the next couple of months.

And that's about it for now!  I do hope all of you are enjoying your summer thus far.  :)

Identity Theft (Part 1)

“I’m sick of it… just… sick.”

My roommate and I had this conversation on more than one occasion.  As we both sprawled out in our living room, we vocalized our frustration with CINO’s.

Christians in name only are NOT Christians, contrary to popular belief.  If your walk doesn’t reflect your talk then shut your mouth and change your name.

Think of it in this way.  Imagine a woman.  Not just any woman, a woman with an identity.  She knows who she is and who she belongs to.  Likewise, those who know her know who she is and who she belongs to.  It’s quite simple, really.  Why?  Because she bears her father’s name.  Because of this, it is her job to represent her father’s name with accuracy and with honor whenever she is out and about or just sitting at home.  Once she gets married, she bears her husband’s name and is entrusted with accurate and honorable representation in this case as well.

Identity.

A sense of belonging where you know without a doubt whose you are and therefore what you are supposed to do.

How does this reflect Christianity?

Let’s take a look at Exodus.  Exodus is the book in the Bible that for the first time introduces the law to God’s covenant people.  Specifically, the law shows how God’s people are supposed to act both towards God Himself as well as their neighbor.  There’s one major law, however, that has launched my mind into orbit as it has pondered the details of a purposeful life, and therefore living a life of excellence.

“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain."  Exodus 20:7

What does that even mean?  I truly believe this to go deeper than just saying things like, “Oh my God.”  I think that this law represents a whole lifestyle!

Remember the woman and her identity?  The same applies here to God’s people.  If one truly associates himself with God, he typically calls himself a Christian.  Christian.  Christian.  Follower of Christ.   That person has taken the name of his God upon himself, making a statement to the world that he no longer assumes the identity of the world, but the identity of Someone so much bigger!  What a great identity!

But what happens when a person who calls himself a Christian simply doesn’t represent Christ accurately to the world?  Not only has he lied about his identity, but he has misrepresented God’s very character.

"Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children.  And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." Ephesians 5:1-2

My mind reels with the implications of what said imitation looks like.

The Simple Life is Not for Me

I don't believe in frettin' and grievin'
Why mess around with strife
I never was cut out to step and strut out
Give me the simple life

I'm not gonna lie, I have huge dreams of living quite the simple life.  I long to get married, have kids, and make home the place my family wants to be.  I don't need to get involved in politics and I certainly don't need to waste my energy fighting for causes that may never be won this side of heaven.

But you're called to be a fighter

It was just a few days ago that while I was dreaming of living the simple life, God seemed to say, "You're a fighter.  You were made to fight for my kingdom.  While peaceful sunny days spent sitting on your back porch with your children playing around you and an ice cold lemonade within arm's reach seems like paradise, you're not in paradise yet."

Rats.

In one fell swoop, my dreams and aspirations of living where the green grass grows disappeared into thin air.

A cottage small is all I'm after
Not one that's spacious and wide
A house that rings with joy and laughter
And the ones you love inside

I realized that as a Christian, I am called to put on my armor and prepare to do battle.  That thought hit hardest when news of the Gosnell murders came to my attention.  This is a sad, pitiful, fallen world, yet I am called to fight with everything I have in me.

I don't desire to expend my energies fighting, yet it is becoming more and more clear that that is precisely what I am supposed to do.

Perhaps you think this should be a blaringly obvious call for the Christian, and perhaps it is, but there's that part of me that lives in denial.  It's a struggle to get down on my knees and fight for the kingdom.  It's a struggle being intentional about learning as much as I can so I can fight as best I can.  It's a struggle figuring out the nitty gritty details of what I believe and then fighting for them.  It's a struggle.

The thing is that Christians aren't called to the simple life.  Romans 5:3-5 says, "More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."

As Christians, there should be a constant struggle.  There should be something that requires endurance.  There should be something to fight for.

It is for the very fact that I am a Christian that I need to get involved in politics.  I need to fight for causes that may not be won this side of heaven.  I need to be informed and know what's going on.  I need to take a stand and fight!

While I wish with all my heart I could simply make a home for myself, dig around in the garden, read on the back porch, lay on my back and star gaze every night, I know that those sorts of things can't compose the whole of my life. 

Not yet.  There's so much work to be done!

The voiceless need someone to stand up for them
There are people who need a shoulder to cry on
There are people who need to hear God's truth

Here's the most important underlying issue of all our battles: because we live in a world that thumbs its nose at God, there are many, many people who need to be taught how to fear the Lord!

The simple life.  Not for me.  Not right now.

Now is the time to fight.

Intercession = Passion

What's wrong with me? I thought to myself as tears streamed down my face.  Why am I having such trouble calming down?  It's been an hour!

I'm not big on crying.  It annoys me.  I don't even like to cry in front of myself!  When my tear ducts decide to overflow on me I go into the bathroom, shut the door, and keep the lights off so I can't see myself in the mirror, compose myself in a timely manner, and go on with life.

Not this time.

I had just been convicted of my lack of quiet times, so I resolved to get up early the next morning, to have coffee with God to make up for lost time.  My reading was Solomon's dedication of the temple.  That portion of Scripture is filled with God's covenant faithfulness towards Israel.  I highlighted, circled, and underlined like crazy!  Then I moved on to prayer.

At first I was just thanking God for mundane things, when out of nowhere my younger brother's name popped into my head.  I wasn't really sure why.  The last I had heard, he'd settled pretty well into school up north and that he was doing great.  Because I thought of him, though, I began to pray for him.  I wasn't sure what to pray exactly, so I prayed over him what I had learned in my reading: that God's faithfulness would be made known to him, and that God would become ever more real in his life.

As I prayed I began to cry, which, like I said before, was unusual for me.  Something was going on.  I sent Luke a quick text letting him know that he was on my heart and that I had prayed like crazy for him.  The tears continued to come.

I got a shower, brushed my teeth, and began studying for the day, and still I cried.

That evening Luke and I skyped each other.  When he asked what I had prayed for him, and when he heard my answer, he responded with, "Wow!  That's exactly what I needed!"  I almost fell out of my chair at that!

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What I am getting at with this narrative is that God has opened my eyes to a new passion --> intercessory prayer.

Oh how I love to pray for other people! 

Yes, I pray for myself all the time, and there is a time and a place for that, but during those times when God has given me a break from my own mountain climbing, I love to pray for those who are in the climbing process!  As I began to realize this, God brought many people into my life who needed prayer and were willing to share with me.

I can't tell you how many hurting people came to me last semester, either just needing someone to listen first and then pray later, or for someone to pray with them right away.  Some of my favorite memories from last semester were the times when I and all my roommates gathered together in our living room to pray for each other as various situations came up. 

What a beautiful picture of the body of Christ, coming together, sharing each others pain, and bringing it before the only One who could truly teach and mold us through our circumstances.

You know what?  It's encouraging to me to get to see my prayers answered.  It doesn't always happen, but I praise and thank God when He allows me to catch a glimpse of what He's doing.  I fall ever more in love with Him regardless of whether or not I see that my prayers have an affect because I am spending more time with Him.

Spending time with God. 
What a wonderful, wonderful blessing that we should never take for granted! 
I get to have a relationship with God, and I get to commune with Him.  WOW!  I am constantly blown away by that!

On Sunday during communion, I remember begging God to help me never cease to be in a state of awe at the work on the cross.

And that's one of the reasons why I love intercession.  It is because of the finished work on the cross, because the sinless savior died and rose again, that I have faith.  It is because of my redemption that I have hope for tomorrow, and it's because of that hope I know it's worth it to pray for others.

Is it strange that I feel the most useful in God's kingdom when I'm flat on my face on my bedroom floor?

Intercessory prayer is my passion, and I hope God will continue to bring me to my knees on behalf of my brothers and sisters for the rest of my life.

Bound and Determined

Here we gooooo!  (Peter Pan, anyone?)

How am I preparing for the new semester?

So glad you asked.  ;)

~  I've been working over the past couple of evenings on gathering new (and cheap) recipes!  I decided to be more adult-like in my lifestyle this year, so instead of finding the easiest foods to eat (which typically means running over to Taco Bell), I'm going to be cooking more.  I love to cook, but last year I discovered that I don't know how to cook for 1, so my meals actually last me about a week.  Also, I learned that I don't feel like cooking until I'm hungry, and when I'm hungry, I want to eat right away!  Enter in determination #1:  cook more, eat healthier, and plan ahead.

~  During the school year, I typically restrict myself to reading only books I need to get through for school.  These books are GREAT, don't get me wrong, it's just that at times, I need a mental break.  So, I dug up a few books that I've received during Christmases past that I still have not gotten around to reading.  Determination #2:  do a bit of light reading before bed each night.

~  Last year, I was haphazardly healthy.  I ran a little, ate a piece of fruit or two, and thought about riding my bike.  This year, I plan on actually being healthy.  My parents gave me a blender for Christmas last month (please, spare me your "Father of the Bride" comments as I was quite happy to get it), and I plan on using it to make lots of smoothies.  Determination #3:  ride bike to work, run once a week, drink smoothies.

No, these are not New Year's Resolutions because resolutions fizzle out about two days into the new year.  These are things I am determined to do in the hopes that I'll enjoy life more!  Join me in my new adventure in active living!

This is looking like it'll be a great year!

Family History

It's been a year since my great-grandmother died, and I'm just now getting around to rooting around all the old books that we got from her.  Hidden inside many of them were old newspaper articles about WWII, research notes, and discussion questions.

I spent the afternoon amusing myself with my treasure hunt.  In one book, I discovered a letter written to Mommom and Poppop from my dad.  In it, he told them he loved them and that he was sorry he wasn't corresponding as regularly as he would have liked.  He also told them that this would probably be his final letter to them before life began to get busier due to new distractions, referring to the birth of my older brother.  Little did he know that he would have 9 more distractions down the road.  ;)

Among old books and aging copies Times Magazine I found pictures of my dad when he was in grade school.  Also, Mommom kept every single picture we had ever sent her, including the ones of my brothers, sisters, and I when we were just a year old, all the way up to our high school graduation invitations.

Another gem that I came upon, which also happens to be my favorite, was the letter addressed from Germany.  It wasn't a lengthy message, but long enough for me to get to know the woman writing it just as well as my great-grandparents did when they read it all those years ago.

You see, my great-grandparents loved to travel!  Europe was a well-visited destination for them, and they met all sorts of interesting people.  The German woman who sent them this letter told them how excited she was to meet them and help them discover which part of Germany their (and incidentally, my own) ancestors hailed from.  Also enclosed in the envelope is what I think was one of their German train tickets.

I could spend hours listening to stories of Mommom and Poppop's travels, or the various jobs that Poppop worked to support them, or their family traditions.  If I could, I would pore over old letters and read every single note they ever wrote in the margins of their books.

Family history - learn it!