My Birthday!

I'm 29.
Not a whole lot to celebrate if you know what I mean.
But I got some great presents!!

~~~~~~~~~~
New digital camera!


Necklace :)
Take-and-Bake (I am SUCH a nerd for being so excited about this!)
ALABAMA WIN! 10-0! RTR!!!

this made me laugh.

College Football and the Women We Love

and my Cole Haan's don't match that

I went to TJ Maxx with my mom the other night and purchased the greatest pair of shoes I've ever owned. Their Cole Haan's Nike Air line. Brilliant. Truly magical. They're cute and look great with jeans, but are also SO comfortable. Like Merrell's comfortable, but a lot cuter than that. And for the joy of the Maxx, only $60. LOVE THEM. I've worn them about 6 days of the 7 that I've owned them. You can copy me if you'd like. I would if I were you. Just sayin.

wanna change the world?

You can.
For kindergartners in Vietnam.Join Jon Acuff at Stuff Christians Like.

Donate.
They raised OVER $30,000 in UNDER 24 hours.
So, he doubled the goal.

I like it.

GIVE ~ GIVE ~ GIVE

Matt Wertz

Matt Wertz is precious. His music is great.
And now it's free.


He's changed labels and decided to give away free music! Who doesn't love free music?

Just bebop over to his web site www.mattwertz.com and you'll see a little button at the top of the screen. Then the clicking can ensue, and you'll get new music!

You WON'T be disappointed!

Thanks, Annie

Needed this.

Habakkuk 3:17-19 (The Message)

Though the cherry trees don’t blossom and the strawberries don’t ripen,
Though the apples are worm-eaten and the wheat fields stunted,
Though the sheep pens are sheepless and the cattle barns empty,
I’m singing joyful praise to God.
I’m turning cartwheels of joy to my Savior God.
Counting on God’s Rule to prevail, I take heart and gain strength.

Thanks, Annie.

Nien Cheng

I'd never even heard of this woman until today. I was reading James Fallows and he posted about her death.

His summary of her life (and memoir) made me want to read this book- just added to my wishlist on Amazon!

To quote Fallows:
Life and Death in Shanghai, her memoir of her life in China in the pre-Communist era, and then her daughter's murder and her own imprisonment and torture by Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution, was one of the first notable accounts of those years and remains a powerful work of modern non-fiction. Although it has been two decades since I read it, many of the scenes are still vivid. Soon after it was published in 1987, my wife and I were in Shanghai and traced the neighborhoods she had described.

Nien Cheng never returned to mainland China after she got out in 1980, and over the past twenty years she lived mainly in Washington DC. Several times while walking my wife or I had the amazing-each-time experience of passing on the sidewalk a tiny, increasingly frail, but elegant Chinese woman whom we knew to be her. I never dared to say hello or thank her for writing the book, which I now regret all the more. None of her family is left, but her book will endure.

Flying Solo

My friend and one of my favorite authors, Denise Hildreath, has a blog about living single called "Flying Solo". It's one of those things that I wish I didn't read because it challenges me so much. She has a "guest poster" on their a lot named Ken.
Ken is smart.
And now he's talking about sex.

Which is always interesting.

What I read today was really good- but the part that hit me the hardest was the end.

Most modern Christians don’t do well with being raw. We are afraid that God won’t show up. But Jesus said in Luke 4:18 that he came to set free those who are broken-hearted…that’s us! We need to be set free not in order to sin but to live passionately with God and for Him. Take a risk with God by beginning to take your desires to Him. Be patient with yourself because it will take some time to grow your understanding of God in this way.

Shook me.
I liked it.
And didn't.
You know what I mean?

annoyances

There are things people say in the Christian world that drive me crazy. Not because I'm super sp or anything, but because I noticed. I'm not saying haven't done/do these things, but I'm annoyed with myself if/when I have/had.

For instance.

It really annoys me when speakers/worship leaders/prayer people/Christian talkers of any kind say that the Bible "reminds us that "quote said scripture here".

I heard a guy say the other night-- "the Bible reminds us that all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose".

That doesn't even make any sense.

It's not reminding you. It told you first.
Maybe YOU were reminded by the Bible's words.
But the Bible isn't reminding.

That would be same as saying that "Shakespeare reminds us that a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet".
Uh, no. I'M reminding you. Shakespeare said it first!

This may be stupid. And it may not even make any sense. But it annoys me for some reason.

THE OTHER THING. (and I know this one makes sense.)
I HATE when people say that "worship was good".
Uh. Pretty sure that worship is YOUR response to God, and what you meant was that you liked the music. Just say that. Don't over spiritualize something that IS NOT spiritual.
Your worship can be good in any setting. Good music or not. Fast or slow. Loud or soft. Crying or jumping. It doesn't even have to be music. Because worship isn't music.
Worship is a response.
YOUR response.
YOUR choice.
Stop making it the responsibility of others.
OWN it.
CHOOSE to worship.
Make your worship good.
And let the band know that you liked the music.

My African friend

When I moved to Georgia, one of my very first friends was Kari. She and I went to church together and quickly became very close "church friends". Kari grew up in the Ivory Coast because her parents were missionaries there. Her family moved back to the States when she was in middle school. After college, Kari went back to Africa and began serving in Senegal. During her time there, God did crazy stuff in her life- and she came home, got married, and then moved with her new husband to France for him to go to medical school.

(Kari and her husband being tourists in Hungary)

She has a blog that I love reading- mainly because I get to know what's going on in her life, but also because she often makes me stop and think about things that my mind wouldn't normally venture toward.

This entry on her blog is recognizing a French-Senegalese author that Kari recently read about.

But, the last sentences in her writing stopped me on a dime.

She wrote, "our roots are just the beginning of who we are"

Isn't that true? So much of who I am relates to where I'm from, but it's not my entire identity. I'm not just from the South. I'm not only from a Christian home. I'm not just a Smith.

Those things are just the start of who I am. But I'm not defined, limited, or acclaimed by my beginnings. It's simply the beginning.