A tribute to the face senses

If eyes are a window into the soul
Then what are mouths?
Perhaps the voice box
Sometimes a mask…

And what of ears?
They are necessary for hearing,
But not perceiving.
A tool for listening,
A way to gain information
That the mind will process.

My nose!
It must be the Disney land of all organs!
To have the sole responsibility of
Smelling, recognizing scents of
Nature, people, places…
Some good, and some not-What fun!

Touching is

the connection to reality

To know that something/someone exists

Radically changes perception...

Touch, nose, ears, mouth,
And then back to eyes.

Will life go on if one of these
Players of life recognition
Goes out of business?
Fortunately yes.
However, recognition isn’t quite as much fun.

I am grateful for my eyes
-may they be the window to my soul.
I am thankful for my mouth
-always a voice box, hopefully never a mask.
Hurray for my ears-hearing is my favorite!
I love my nose…

And to touch is to feel

What a gift to sense…

Judas, Peter

Because we are all
betrayers, taking
silver, and eating
body and blood, and asking
(guilty) is it I, and hearing
him say yes,
it would be simple for us all
to rush out
and hang ourselves.

But if we find grace
to cry and wait
after the voice of morning
has crowed in our
earslearly enough
to break our hearts,
he will be there
to ask us each, again,
do you love?
-Luci Shaw

Branded by Blood

Based on Luke 8:43-48
No one can know
No one can see
But if I could just touch Him once
I might be clean

I have waited alone too long
I have tried everything else
Great hope, Great faith, Bitter disappointments
If only I could just be clean

The blood makes me dirty
I am unfit for good company
I have been left by all those who claimed to love me
But, I can't blame them
After all, I am unclean

There are so many people around Him
I must get through the crowd
I can't see Him yet
There are so many people-it is so loud

There He is, I must get through
Its now or never...Thats it, the floor is good enough
I will crawl,
Just one touch of His garment

Cleansed forever.

Don't call me "little miss perfect"It makes me afraid.

Because I know the inner recesses of my mind

And I know my past mistakes and future struggles

And perfect does not describe them.

If you really knew what I struggle with,

If you had been there in my dark days,

If I could show you my sin...

Well, I just wouldn't want to.

Please, don't put me on that ivory pedestal

I have been up there before,

Fallen hard, And never want to go back.

Standing upright with all your expectation

is just

too

tiring

For I have known hardship, pain,

and FAILURE...especially failure.

My life has not been conflict free.

The success you claim to see

Is born out of failing.

The joy that you see

Is an intentional response to fear.

My confidence is born out of insecurity.

So you see,I am not "little miss perfect"

-Nor will I ever be.

But, I am in the process

Of being perfected...

Doing Church as a Team

As a part of my internship at my church, I am reading a book called "Doing Church As a Team" by Wayne Cordeiro. At the end of each chapter are thought questions-I have chosen to blog my answers...

1.) Read John 15:16. If God were to tell you six things that he wants for your life to stand for, what would they be?
John 15:16 (New International Version)
16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.
· Protection of the oppressed and hurting
· Protection of the truth of his word and its importance in our everyday lives
· Passionate worship in music and in life
· Pro-active leadership development in self and others
· Pursuing relationships with believers and non-believers alike
· Purposeful interaction with people in every life situation

2.) Why do you think God gave you certain gifts and placed you in a specific church?
I don’t believe in chance. I chose Mountain Ridge church because of the family atmosphere and the instant bond that I felt with the people. I believe that I have specific gifts that fit the specific needs of the church. Because God placed me at mountain ridge, I play an integral role in reaching the Redmond area for Christ, and strengthening and empowering MRCC family members in their faith. I take that opportunity/responsibility seriously.

3.) What is one thing you want to accomplish before God takes you home? Write as a prayer.
Father, there are so many things I want to accomplish-I want to serve you with my whole life. I desire to be a good friend, and a good wife, but mostly I want to be a good mother. Lord, please give me the opportunity and responsibility to raise children who love and serve you with their whole life. I want to mother children from my own body and also to mother those who have no one to raise them and comfort them. I want to be a part of raising up a generation that honors you and brings you glory-please let me a part of that! Not my will but yours be done.

Originally, I told my pastor that I would do two chapters a week, but after this first chapter I realized I can only do one chapter a week-these questions prompted the re-writing of my life purpose statement and included a lot of deep introspection.

The art of pie...

I am a busy person. I always have been, and I think I always will be. I have a very large capacity for "stuff' in my life, and I handle stress very well. However, every once in a while, I feel the need for relaxation and rejuvenation. This entire week I have felt the need for a "me" day, and today I finally was able to have one.
I love to bake, but I never have time to, so for my "me" day I decided to bake 3 pies and choose three of my friends to give them to. So, I woke up around 11 this morning, went for a run, ate lunch and then preceded to make my very yummy pumpkin chiffon pies. I was excited to make this particular type of pie because of the memories surrounding it. I used to make this type of pie with my Nana every year at thanksgiving, but since moving away to college, I haven't made it in awhile. I smiled to myself through each step of the pie process, remembering the time spent with my Nana on Thanksgivings past...
The pies turned out great! And I think I will make more next Saturday!

There is something about baking that just makes me feel so creative. I kinda get in this zone, and feel a sense of humble invincibility. The art of pie is that I can make it however I want to, and I know that it will be thoroughly enjoyed by anyone who partakes of it. What a great day I have had!

Another Story...

Once upon a time, there was a daughter of a king who lived in a peculiar kingdom. Her father, the king, allowed the princess the task of rallying up his support amongst the inhabitants of the kingdom. Every Saturday, the princess would leave her comfortable home that was filled with her many books, and her stables filled with her beautiful horses, and venture forth into the peculiar kingdom to spread the news about her father’s awesome power, stories of his bravery, and tales of his benevolence, mercy and love. The princess knew she didn’t have to go out and tell the kingdom of her fathers attributes, after all, sooner or later everyone would experience him in their own way and on their own time, but the princess loved her father so much that she was excited to boast about him on the streets. The princess experienced rejection and heartache from those who didn’t like the king, but nothing could stop her from sharing her stories. One day, as she was sharing with a group of skeptics, a young boy asked her why she endured rejection just to talk about her father. The princess told him that the devotion she felt to the king demanded her allegiance, her pride, and perhaps her life. She told the boy that talking about the king wasn’t a chore. In fact it was a delight, because she found joy in remembering and sharing the stories. The boy was impressed. He had seen the princess come and talk to the people of the kingdom for months. She didn’t seem to discriminate against anyone, the princess talked to everyone. And at the end of her stories she would always offer services to help those in need paid for entirely by the king. More people rejected her offer than accepted it, thinking it was a trick or a ploy designed to lull them into a false sense of security. More curious than anything, the boy asked the princess for a job in the palace. He wanted to see this king in action for himself. The princess took him to the palace and showed him what his duties were. For the next few months the boy did his work and observed the people around him. Everyone was so happy to be working for the king; the boy didn’t understand why everyone was so joyful, to him it was all just hard labor. One day the boy got fed up with all the ridiculous happiness around him. He dropped the shovel he had been digging with and went in search of the princess, so he could tell her in person that he quit. Working with all these nice, joyful, humble people, made him insecure about himself, and he noticed more and more all his shortcomings. He had worked himself into such a tizzy that he didn’t realize the king was standing not 100 feet away from him, and as he stomped up the gravel walkway he ran right into the king. The king was no small man. He stood regally tall, with broad shoulders and a commanding presence. Just by looking at him, you could tell that he was capable of wielding great power; and yet, there was a control about him that stopped the boy from running in terror. There was a deep compassion in his eyes that connected to the boy’s heart. The boy stammered out an apology for running into him, and mumbled something about how stupid he felt, and how he knew he deserved to be punished by the king. Amazingly, the king didn’t even look angry; instead he replied “I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”(Ex. 33:19) “I have watched you working, I know what you seek.” The boy looked up in surprise, “you do?” the boy asked. The King looked at the boy and reached out his hand “do you trust in me”, the King asked “for I have fought many battles on your behalf, and you will fight them with me if you take my hand and trust in me.” The boy knew at that moment that he was making a choice between life and death. He felt total freedom to refuse the King, but at the same time, he knew he didn’t want to live without him.

Dear Friends, we have the duty and the privilege to serve the King, and we also have the choice to refuse Him; but do we really want to? So many times we miss opportunities, or choose to ignore the ministry God places us in; just remember that even though we have the freedom to refuse the King, we don’t really want to. As sons and daughters of the most high King, we have the honor of sharing in a very real and dangerous battle fought, and won by Christ; you and I are just beginning on our quest to share his story with a very peculiar Kingdom, one who doesn’t really want to hear it. My prayer for you is that you always find joy in remembering and thinking of the King, and that your joy will spill over into the lives of others.

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrated his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:6-8

“For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the first born among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.”

Romans 8:29-30