when i decided to move to birmingham, i knew i'd have a lot more opportunities to hang out w/ some of my dearest friends, including the incredible mrs. leslie irons who lives with her husband, derek & 5mo. old son, luke about 2 & a half hrs from bham in troy.
montgomery is about half way between troy & bham so some times on my off days, leslie & i try to meet for lunch & hang out for an hour or so. well, let's just say that our few hours of hang out today turned into the entire afternoon/early evening. we met for lunch at 12:30 & the next thing we knew it was 6:30. it was absolute splendid for several reasons but mainly because leslie has been a constant rock & friend & sister in Christ ever since we became friends back during my freshman year of college and i just absolutely love her & being around her & sharing life w/ her. plus, in so many ways leslie & i are the same and it's just so refreshing to share and work through the transformation process w/ her because well she gets me a lot. and now i just love seeing her as the fantastic mother she was created to be & loving on lukeman :)
check her out @ her blog here
today was one of those opportunities i anticipated to enjoy time w/ a dear friend & the Lord just happened to bless us w/ an absolutely beautiful spring day! what a great way to start Passion week since Christ's death & reconciliation allows us to live authentically in relationships with God, the Father as well as with our friends & family.
"I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. I have been reminded of your sincere faith" 2 Timothy 1:3-5
Monday, March 29, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
so long caltucky
while yes, i bleed crimson, the memphis tigers are the first university i knew to root for especially tiger basketball. both of my parents went there, my dad traveled to one of the final fours, one of my grandparents had season tickets back when the tigers played at the coliseum(which is where they should still play if you ask me), & as a little girl, i had/wore a memphis state cheerleading uniform.
so if you have followed college basketball in the past year, you know that in the midst of ncaa violations about to being released the coach left for his "dream job" which it might truly be & leaving the team w/ no recruiting class & the town feeling jaded. don't get me wrong, calipari didn't make memphis basketball...it thrived and ruled long before he came along & you can count on the tigers being nationally relevant long after him but there was something sweet about west virginia beating the wildcats today. i even told my brother that i'm not sure i've ever wanted a team to lose more than today (i know, i know that's not very nice at all but forgive me, please) and you have to admit that is a big thing for a girl who has grown up unable to stand the vols a whole lot more than kentucky.
so here's to a final four minus caltucky...and even hopefully the vols ;)
so if you have followed college basketball in the past year, you know that in the midst of ncaa violations about to being released the coach left for his "dream job" which it might truly be & leaving the team w/ no recruiting class & the town feeling jaded. don't get me wrong, calipari didn't make memphis basketball...it thrived and ruled long before he came along & you can count on the tigers being nationally relevant long after him but there was something sweet about west virginia beating the wildcats today. i even told my brother that i'm not sure i've ever wanted a team to lose more than today (i know, i know that's not very nice at all but forgive me, please) and you have to admit that is a big thing for a girl who has grown up unable to stand the vols a whole lot more than kentucky.
so here's to a final four minus caltucky...and even hopefully the vols ;)
Thursday, March 25, 2010
the Gospel, health care, & my responsibility
i've been debating posting my thoughts about this whole health care issue mainly because my ideas/thoughts on the issue don't personally fit neatly on the republican or democratic side so i think i should just keep all that i've been wrestling with to myself or to a select few...but why would i let myself be silenced? well, that's called letting a little thing called the fear of man & rejection have some reign over the Fear and acceptance of God. plus, a lot of what i'm going to type out here are not new thoughts but thoughts i've been working through for the past year & a half.
well, i learned a LOT(not exaggerating here) in grad school about myself, passions, vision from the Lord, etc and one of the main truths the Lord taught me was that He longs for His church to be His hands and feet wherever He has sent us, that He wants us, His Church, to be the ones in the trenches serving the poor, needy, orphans & widows because these actions are a response to our faith & salvation through Jesus and the direct, true response to God's love dwelling within us & guiding our sanctification. and as believers we are the ministers of reconciliation, the only ones able to share the eternal Good News of who can heal their souls. James 1:27 tells us this "Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world."and reading Jesus' parable in Matthew 25: 31-46 I discern his words to serve all of His creation & children, to love them as He loves us & if they were Jesus himself.
these truths really hit me as at the time i thought the only way for me to be an effective social worker based on my talents, interests, big-picture thinking was going down the social policy road...i find social policy & its history in our country very interesting & still do to this day but God had a completely different idea...He repeatedly has shown me how it is vital for the Church & message of the Gospel to be the ones providing many of the services and programs that i had grown to expect the American government to provide which brings us back to the health care issue. yes, something needs to be done in terms of reform in this country but when i face the Lord i don't want to tell Him that i let the government do what He wanted me to do leaving those the government helped physically lacking spiritually what eternally matters.
here's a quote from rich stearns, the ceo of world vision: "let me take some liberties and paraphrase these verses[matt 25:31-46] for today's reader: 'For I was hungry, while you had all you needed. I was thirsty, but you drank bottled water. I was a stranger, and you wanted me deported. I needed clothes, but you needed more clothes. I was sick, and you pointed out the behaviors that led to my sickness. I was in prison, and you said I was getting what I deserved.'"
and if the Church is the body responsible for providing for the poor, needy, orphans, widows, etc which yes, does include health care, then i have no place to judge or decide if it is a right or privilege or something the person deserves...no human deserves or does anything to earn salvation through Christ but He came, lived, died & rose despite all of that because He loves us unconditionally & selflessly took on our condemnation so i can experience the riches of a relationship with God, our Father.
well, i learned a LOT(not exaggerating here) in grad school about myself, passions, vision from the Lord, etc and one of the main truths the Lord taught me was that He longs for His church to be His hands and feet wherever He has sent us, that He wants us, His Church, to be the ones in the trenches serving the poor, needy, orphans & widows because these actions are a response to our faith & salvation through Jesus and the direct, true response to God's love dwelling within us & guiding our sanctification. and as believers we are the ministers of reconciliation, the only ones able to share the eternal Good News of who can heal their souls. James 1:27 tells us this "Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world."and reading Jesus' parable in Matthew 25: 31-46 I discern his words to serve all of His creation & children, to love them as He loves us & if they were Jesus himself.
these truths really hit me as at the time i thought the only way for me to be an effective social worker based on my talents, interests, big-picture thinking was going down the social policy road...i find social policy & its history in our country very interesting & still do to this day but God had a completely different idea...He repeatedly has shown me how it is vital for the Church & message of the Gospel to be the ones providing many of the services and programs that i had grown to expect the American government to provide which brings us back to the health care issue. yes, something needs to be done in terms of reform in this country but when i face the Lord i don't want to tell Him that i let the government do what He wanted me to do leaving those the government helped physically lacking spiritually what eternally matters.
here's a quote from rich stearns, the ceo of world vision: "let me take some liberties and paraphrase these verses[matt 25:31-46] for today's reader: 'For I was hungry, while you had all you needed. I was thirsty, but you drank bottled water. I was a stranger, and you wanted me deported. I needed clothes, but you needed more clothes. I was sick, and you pointed out the behaviors that led to my sickness. I was in prison, and you said I was getting what I deserved.'"
and if the Church is the body responsible for providing for the poor, needy, orphans, widows, etc which yes, does include health care, then i have no place to judge or decide if it is a right or privilege or something the person deserves...no human deserves or does anything to earn salvation through Christ but He came, lived, died & rose despite all of that because He loves us unconditionally & selflessly took on our condemnation so i can experience the riches of a relationship with God, our Father.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
haiti
it's been 2 and a half months since the earthquake hit haiti but i forget that some days since our main news sources have moved on to discussing/covering other news stories that are just as important to our nation.
but i do have days where haiti & the haitians come to my mind, causing me to pray for the people of haiti who still remain homeless, the haitian government, & those organizations who've been in the trenches before & after the january earthquake.
someone shared this website with me & i wanted to pass it along so that if you're continuing to think of the haitians, curious of a way to invest in their restoration, you have one.
ahomeinhaiti.org
plus, worldvision.org provides you a place to donate $$ to the organization's decades long work in the country
but i do have days where haiti & the haitians come to my mind, causing me to pray for the people of haiti who still remain homeless, the haitian government, & those organizations who've been in the trenches before & after the january earthquake.
someone shared this website with me & i wanted to pass it along so that if you're continuing to think of the haitians, curious of a way to invest in their restoration, you have one.
ahomeinhaiti.org
plus, worldvision.org provides you a place to donate $$ to the organization's decades long work in the country
Thursday, March 18, 2010
march madness
filling out my bracket this year was a bit different because neither the tigers nor the tide made the field of 65. it actually was kinda fun to fill out a bracket as just a college basketball fan without the added pressure to follow my heart & pick the tigers or tide even if the objective pick is for the opposing team. with that being said, the south region might be the easiest path for duke in the eyes of the experts was not the easiest of the 4 regions for me to pick a final four representative...i wanted to pick duke but they haven't had the best of luck in the late 2000s, baylor seemed too much like a trendy pick, & i just don't think i can trust nova outside of their guards. but you have to choose someone because it's a final 4, not a final 3 & to submit your bracket. and i just don't see anyone but kansas winning, which of course irks me since their last win broke my heart.
so, here are my picks:
Kansas vs Syracuse
West Virginia vs Duke
champ. game, kansas vs duke with the jayhawks cutting down the nets
i'm very excited though about the potential for a bunch of upsets this year especially since the bubble was so soft & the jayhawks have been the only consistent team.
enjoy the next 3 weeks as the madness fills our lives, tvs, & convos
so, here are my picks:
Kansas vs Syracuse
West Virginia vs Duke
champ. game, kansas vs duke with the jayhawks cutting down the nets
i'm very excited though about the potential for a bunch of upsets this year especially since the bubble was so soft & the jayhawks have been the only consistent team.
enjoy the next 3 weeks as the madness fills our lives, tvs, & convos
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Project 7
please check out www.project7.com
i've recently stumbled upon this organization & instantly became a fan. seeing their mission & objective makes me want to figure out a project for bham asap!
this is their tweet from today: Eye-opening films on U.S. #humantrafficking: "Playground" http://bit.ly/7O4NS4 & "Very Young Girls" http://bit.ly/duS8nM
the movie trailers make me eagerly anticipate seeing these films.
i've recently stumbled upon this organization & instantly became a fan. seeing their mission & objective makes me want to figure out a project for bham asap!
this is their tweet from today: Eye-opening films on U.S. #humantrafficking: "Playground" http://bit.ly/7O4NS4 & "Very Young Girls" http://bit.ly/duS8nM
the movie trailers make me eagerly anticipate seeing these films.
here we go
after several months of toying w/ the idea of actually using my blogger dashboard to house my own blog & not just those that i follow, i've elected to give this a shot.
the posts may be deep thoughts about life, Christ, sports, weather, current events, etc so prepare yourself for anything & everything.
if you're a friend whom i sadly don't get to see on a regular basis, i hope this provides you a glimpse into my so-called life & current birmingham adventures because let's face it technology gives us that outlet we need to remain in touch w/ those friends we have scattered across the great USofA & globe...and i of course, miss you!
roll tide and enjoy!
the posts may be deep thoughts about life, Christ, sports, weather, current events, etc so prepare yourself for anything & everything.
if you're a friend whom i sadly don't get to see on a regular basis, i hope this provides you a glimpse into my so-called life & current birmingham adventures because let's face it technology gives us that outlet we need to remain in touch w/ those friends we have scattered across the great USofA & globe...and i of course, miss you!
roll tide and enjoy!
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