to taste a toadstool
Our young niece trailed behind my husband. “What’s this?” she asked. Dennis glanced back. “It’s a toadstool. It’s inedible.” He continued down the path, assuming Kristin followed. “It doesn’t taste good.” Dennis whipped around. “Didn’t I just tell you not to eat that?” he scolded. Follow me over to The High Calling where we conclude our discussion of The Life of the Body: Physical Well-Being and Spiritual Formation by Lane Arnold and Valerie Hess. Leave a comment over there for a chance to win one of TWO copies of this book. Sometimes I still want to taste a...
you are God’s poemia
I stand in the checkout line, cart loaded with perimeter foods–berries and avocados and lettuce and cherries and grapes. I can’t wait to get home to have a plate of hummus with pita bread and a side of Kalamata olives and a handful of carrots. Oh, and a few (or more) Oreo cookies. If I didn’t have to wait, the magazines wouldn’t talk to me. And the headlines wouldn’t scream at me. Complete with exclamation points. Like these: ICED TEA MELTS FAT! Lose 40 pounds–without dieting… Age-Proof Your Brain (with sweet potatoes!) Reverse Memory Loss (with grape juice!) Can’t zip your jeans? Try the bloating cure in your own backyard! Discover the “detox” supplement that ENDS TIREDNESS! Crow’s Feet?...
self-care or selfish?
I slammed doors, stomped feet, and spewed all kind of venom. How dare the company ask us to move (even if only for a short time), and how dare my husband say yes. He could just go alone. Without me. Because here is where I was. The I who’d found my identity and importance in doing good. Never mind that I was weary and overwhelmed and not so much doing good for my husband. The tantrum didn’t last too long, and I resigned from all my responsibilities (and later discovered life in that place did not collapse without me.) We moved into a smaller house that I now had time to clean and keep neat. I baked bread again, cooked healthy foods, and we walked every morning before my husband went to work and after he came home. Those long days gave me time...
when you neglect your body
I throw off everything that could weight me down while I weigh myself–first thing in the morning, before a drop of water passes my lips. I smile because the needle settles a few pounds lower, and I know it’s because of my recent illness. Sickness has its benefits. I mentally pummel myself for all the times I’ve failed, for where I could be now if I’d finished everything I started. I might sport slimmer arms, a flatter tummy, brighter eyes, and a sharper brain. If I’d actually used all those videos, followed though with that Weight Watcher’s program, continued with the trainer, stayed the course with the treadmill/elliptical/bike, took more walks, splashed in more water, stretched more muscles. If I boycotted Dairy Queen...
beth moore and why i can’t not blog
We’re done with this book, and I’m glad. Though I’m also glad I read it. I think. It was hard and uncomfortable. It’s made me question my faith and my following. Basically, I understand Platt to say that if I’m not making disciples, I “may not actually be a Christian, for these features are the fruit of followers of Christ.” ~p. 209 He quotes Dawson Trotman, “How many persons do you know by name today who were won to Christ by you and are now living for Him?” ~p. 201-202 Ummm… none. At least that I know of. My circumstances and financial situation don’t allow me to realize my childhood missions dreams–to travel to far countries to love people and touch them and ask them if they know...
follow me: love one another
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. ~John 13:34-35 I had a pastor who cautioned us about the danger of using the “random finger” method of finding God’s will. He often told the familiar story of the man who opened his Bible at random and pointed to Matthew 27:5. “Judas went out and hanged himself.” The man didn’t think that applied to him, so he tried a second time, opening to Luke 10:37: “Go thou and do likewise.” He didn’t think God really meant for him to follow Judas, so he tried one more time, and his finger fell on John 13:27: “That thou doest, do...
when you feel like a flop as a follower
I feel a little bit better this week. A little. At least I don’t feel like a total flop as a follower. Some of the thoughts I’m chewing on… We can’t decide to make Him Lord because He already is. It’s our job to submit to His lordship. It’s not our job to personalize Jesus. It’s His job to revolutionize us. We can’t customize Him so we are comfortable with Him. We can’t decide to follow Him and at the same time dilute the cost or disregard His words. As a follower, it’s not about letting go of things we love to embrace what, “if we’re really honest, we loathe.” It’s about letting Him embrace us and cause us to love what He loves. We can’t play near the edge of the...
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