This Pilgrim's Progress

2003-05-21T10:44:00.000-07:00

I think God definitely has my best interests at heart. Certainly He cares for me much more than I care for myself.

2003-03-27T08:57:00.000-08:00

Spring is a beautiful season. The sun starts to warm the earth; plants start to bud and bloom; animals start having their babies. I think God chose the spring season for His own rebirth because it is a season of rebirth. Eternal promise of a better future. And in this time of war, what better promise than that something better is coming?

2003-03-05T12:09:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I wonder if God feels stress. I mean, He's in charge of lots of stuff, and He's blamed for a lot He didn't do, and not given credit for a lot He did and does.

Maybe He does feel stress, but has ways of coping.

Grant me some of Your peace today, Lord.

2003-01-16T12:29:00.000-08:00

Heaven has to be all that is good here on earth, and then some. I'm sure some things in heaven won't be like anything I've ever seen before, but a lot of it must be familiar. When God created this world, He pronouced it GOOD. It may be fallen, but some of that goodness is still here.

Sunsets. Sunrises. The brisk clear water from a mountain stream. God surely takes as much pleasures from our pleasure in these things as we experience in our enjoyment of what He has made.

2003-01-14T12:28:00.000-08:00

The older I get, the more I think God has been more than kind to me in giving me a single life. Far too many of my married friends are struggling in their marriages. And if it isn't the spouse who is the problem, it's the kids who are. I'd rather be single than have the conflicts I see.

Thanks, Lord, for taking care of me.

2003-01-09T11:57:00.000-08:00

The new year is a time of renewal. God is a God of new beginnings. He takes what was old, tarnished and tattered and replaces the old with new, the tarnished with shiny-ness, and the tattered with fresh garments. He doesn't just mend the old; he transforms it into something new. We are new creations in Christ Jesus.

2002-12-20T10:53:00.000-08:00

Why do I fear children? Oh, not the teenagers, them I understand. It's the little ones, under 10 years old that I fear. In my therapy group we touched on this fear of mine, and I still don't understand why I feel this way. I say it's because I might hurt them, but I wonder just how true that is.

Then I have to decide if I'm ok with this fear. I don't have to address it, although I would probably be better off inside my ehad if I settled this strange belief.

2002-12-17T14:02:00.000-08:00

I love music. I think of heaven and one of the things I believe will be there is music. All kinds of music, too, not just the kind I like the most. CS Lewis in his _Screwtape Letters_ had his demon say something along the lines that in heaven was music, but in hell was "noise". I think he had the right idea, there.

2002-12-16T11:53:00.000-08:00

Had our Christmas musical offering Sunday, and it went well, praise God! We really had fun singing, and everything went well. Next week we will have a pot-luck dinner service, and the pastor will talk while we finish our desserts.

I'm so glad I have a loving church family here.

2002-12-12T09:23:00.000-08:00

I know that one reason God allows bad things to happen to us is to remind us that we're just as human as those who don't know God. Experience will give us a common ground with which to relate to others. But it sure is hard to accept that He knows that difficulties we're going through are just as important as the good stuff.

I guess that's why we have to keep our hearts on heaven rather than on the things down here on earth.

2002-12-10T14:10:00.000-08:00

God tells us that we are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. From this I realize two things. First off, we have to love ourselves. This isn't as easy as it sounds. Sure, some people love themselves more than they ought, but lots of people hate themselves. I know I sometimes hate me. When I do things that are stupid or sinful, it is easy to hate myself for those things. But God loves me, so I must be lovable. And if God loves me, how can I hate me?

Secondly, we have to love others. Not their deeds, necessarily, but them. It is hard to divorce the sin from the sinner, but God tells us we must. This is where asking God to love people through me helps. I say, "God, I'm finding it really hard to love this person because..." and God says, "Love them anyway." I say, "God, I can't do it myself," and God says, "Then let me love them through you."

Lord, make me a channel of Your love.

2002-12-05T09:09:00.000-08:00

I'm happy today. I don't seem to have any special reason for being happy, I just am. Maybe it's partly because it's almost Christmas, which to me is a special celebration of Christ's coming to earth as a baby. Trouble is, we want to keep Him in that manger, and not deal with His teachings, His death, burial and resurrection. Christmas has become secularized as a time of giving gifts. Not that giving gifts is bad, but the meaning of His coming is almost suffocated by the hype.

I want to keep Christ as the centerpiece of the season.

2002-12-03T14:01:00.000-08:00

It snowed this morning...

The image of "whiter than snow" and "white as snow" and "white as linen" comes up in scripture now and then, and I got to thinking, "If it's whiter than snow, that's pretty white!"

2002-12-02T14:04:00.000-08:00

Today is foggy. It cleared up a little, then got all foggy again, and now it is clear (sort of), but the clouds are out there just waiting to drop back down and become fog again.

Life is like that, sometimes. Sometimes we can see so clearly the path ahead of us. Then in rolls the fog, and we see things dimly, or not at all. I'm so glad that I don't have to worry about the path ahead of me. I only have to be sure my footing is secure, planted firmly on the Solid Rock that is Jesus Christ.

2002-12-02T11:04:00.000-08:00

Since this is for my beliefs, I imagine anyone coming across it may have opinions of their own. When I figure out how to allow comments, I might like hearing them.

2002-12-02T10:54:00.000-08:00

I'm going to use this blog as a journal of my progress in the Christian walk.