The Wonder of it All!

Have you heard the Easter story lately? I mean I know its Easter and you have thought about it, but have you REALLY listened to or read it lately? Have you pondered it? It is a story full of wonder and mystery. Why would God come and live among us and then die in our place? Why would perfection take on imperfection? Why would people rather have a murderer loose in their town as opposed to a guy they didn't like because they thought He was a heretic? How did Jesus resurrect from the dead? Why didn't Jesus use pyrotechnics to draw attention to the power He had...why use women? Why did Jesus let Thomas touch Him instead of getting angry at his unbelief? Why did Jesus forgive Peter and allow him to lead His church? Do questions make you nervous? Have you already started asking why in the world I would post this? Does it make you a little uncomfortable that you don't have answers to all of them? I mean we know basic answers, but do you really, completely understand how Jesus resurrected? Yeah, I don't either. Isn't that great!

I am reading a book right now by Ed Gungor called religiously transmitted diseases. So far, I am loving it. One of the chapters is called unreligion: recapturing the romance. In it Gungor, after relaying a story about killing a frog as a kid to see what made it tick, says, "It is as though I am uncomfortable with wonder. I find something full of life and , instead of enjoying the mystery of it, I want to dissect it, to figure out the how and why. But dissecting life results in death. And once death comes, the mystery disappears." He goes on to talk about Romans 11:33 which says, "Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!" See, its good to study God's word and to learn more and more about Him. We should all be doing that daily. But don't think for one minute that you are ever going to completely get it. When we "get it", we have missed God! "How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!" That's the wonder of God! And I love it! That is why we are called people of faith. It takes faith to believe what we don't completely understand.

I fly a lot for mission trips. I don't understand how huge airplanes can float through the sky. I don't even understand what goes on in the cockpit. I couldn't even tell you how the engine works. But, I do know that I have been in lots of airplanes and they have all flown. So, with a little fear, I board my plane, and know that odds are pretty good that my airplane will fly. I don't understand all of the things of God. I don't know why He chose me. I don't know why He loves me, other than the fact that He is love. But even that, I can't fully get my head around. But I know that EVERY time I have ever trusted Him in the past, He has been true and faithful. EVERY TIME! And so with no fear, I can put my faith and trust in Him, because He has NEVER failed! Oh the Wonder of it All!

My favorite sport (besides Clemson football)...go figure!

Do you ever really enjoy something and you have no idea why?  Well, I am coming out with a passion that has been hidden up until now.  Some of you have heard bits and pieces, but never before have I released all of the information.  I don't understand it myself and really it is something that has been coming to me in weird fragments of information for years.  So....here goes (in chronological order!)  When I was in college I started collecting Santas.  My grandfather was the Santa in Seneca for years, so I thought it would be neat to collect them to keep the memory alive. So one day, sometime between 2002 and 2003, I heard about a place where they set up a real live Santa workshop in Sweden.  I thought it sounded interesting, but didn't really look into it until 2004, when I celebrated my 30th birthday.  See my birthday is in December and so i started thinking that it would be a lot of fun to celebrate my 40th birthday at Santa's workshop (I am a bit of a planner).  So I looked this place up and it was way more than I had imagined.  It is in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden.  There is a hotel there called the ICEHOTEL.  Oh my word, I get excited just typing it.  This is a hotel that is completely built of ice.  The beds are ice, the walls are ice, the restaurant and chapel are ice.  Anywhere you might want to sit or lay down is covered with reindeer skins.  You can also take camping trips out to places where you can see the Northern Lights.  There are sleigh rides in the snow pulled by reindeer and snow mobile trips.  And here is the part that I have always been the most excited about.... a dog sled team will come and pick you up from the airport.  How cool is that?????  So for the last 5 years, I have tried to find companions willing to trek to Sweden with me (so far I am 0 for about 5,429) and I have spent countless hours figuring out when I could go, how much it would cost, and how I can fit all of the activities into the few days I could afford to be there.  Ok, so I know you are wondering where the sport title of this blog comes in...well, here it is.  Since I have gotten so excited about the possibility of a dog sled team picking me up from the airport in Sweden, I have come to love mushers and sled dogs.  Well, in case you didn't know, the 2009 Iditarod is currently underway.  It has already been won by three time champ Lance Mackey, but there are still teams out in the tough terrain making their way to Nome, Alaska.  If you haven't watched any of the coverage on VS, you should check it out.  It is amazing to think about these athletes and what they go through on the race from Anchorage to Nome.  It is really cool to see all of the different mushers.  There are men and women, young and old.  The youngest musher this year is 18 and the oldest is 63.  How many sports have such a diverse population of participants?  I love it!  So...now you all know...I have a weird love for sled dog racing.  Go figure!

Life at the Lake

Today, after church, the Carter family tromped down to Lake Hartwell for a picnic and to see if the snow and rain had helped the sad water situation. Scout and I got out our favorite family quilt, which I was informed Matt had already claimed in the will...haha, and we set out for the sunny part of the yard for our picnic. As we were laying on the quilt, basking in the sun, and telling funny stories about grasshoppers with red toenail polish the two neighbor kids came driving across the yard on a four wheeler. They were having the time of their life and I was a little envious of the fun ride. Their names are Zoey and Bobby and they have got to be two of the coolest kids on the planet. They are getting some life experience that most kids only dream of. They spend a lot of time at their grandma's place at the lake and the rest of the time in the country with 12 goats. Zoey is the oldest, 8, and in the 2nd grade. She was the one navigating the four wheeler. They both know how to fish, clean fish, ride seadoos, and all kinds of other things kids in the country get to do. So today, after the four wheeler ride, Bobby decided that he was going to go turkey hunting. We spent the rest of the afternoon shooting bb guns and watching Bobby turkey hunt. Oh, did I mention that he was turkey hunting with a rake. It was awesome! He had a whole bag of tricks and when he would see a bird, he would sneak toward it with his bag and rake. He had a whistle to attract them and a toy helicopter so that they would think there was another bird in the air. His plan was to attract the turkeys (which later turned to ducks) and then swat them down with the rake. Don't you wish you had that kind of imagination? I do! I miss the days when I could tell the story of a grasshopper with red toenail polish or hunt turkeys with a rake all while thinking it was perfectly logical to do so. When did I get so logical? It's not nearly as much fun!

50 Degrees!

There is only one thing to say when you are sitting in front of the fire in your flannel pjs and the thermostat is registering 50.

Burrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!  

What a sense of humor!

Well the last thing that I wrote yesterday was "looking forward to some good sleep this week ." Last night, when I got home, my upstairs was a little on the toasty side...about 80 degrees. So I turned the thermostat way down thinking that maybe it the heater had just gone on a mad run and was getting ready to go back off. I went downstairs and watched a movie and worked on the computer for a bit and then headed off to bed. Well now the upstairs was about 82 degrees. So I turned off the thermostat and went to bed. It was so hot!!!! I tossed and turned from about 10 pm to about 12:30 am and finally drifted off (or passed out from heat exhaustion...not sure :) ). At 3 am, my dog leaped from the bed acting like he was dying of thirst and headed downstairs. When I followed him into the hall, the thermostat was registering 90 degrees. Oh baby! Talk about a sauna! I headed downstairs and gave Cop some water and let him out in the cold to cool off and I got online to figure out how to fix the thermostat (as if...haha). When I got on the company's website, one of the only directions that I actually understood was "turn off the breaker." Wow! Why didn't I think of that? So that's what I did. By 9:30 am, we were still registering 65 degrees and Copper and I both looked like we had been through it! So here's the good part. After writing that blog yesterday, I laid in bed at 3:30 am this morning thinking. God, you got this! You can fix it! You can make it affordable! You can provide the funds! You can help me think of ways to cut back in other places! Whatever the solution, I'm just going to wait and not worry, because you are in control. You've got this! And pretty soon, I was fast to sleep. Granted the alarm went off 2 and a half hours later, but it was 2 and a half more hours than I would have gotten worrying. I would love to tell you the end of the story, but I don't know it yet. A heating guy came for a little over an hour today and said that he couldn't fix it because it was a mechanical problem and he is sending someone else tomorrow. So we'll see, but I know that no matter what 1. God is in control and 2. I am not going to make this wait about the wait. I am going to hear from God about what He is teaching me about trusting Him. And since the breaker is still shut off, it may be a little easier, because I won't have to listen over the sound of heat roaring through the house. :) Haha

Perfect Peace of Mind

Wow! Doesn't that sound incredible! A day with no worries, a night full of restful, sound sleep.... mmmmm! Isaiah 26:3 says, "You will keep in perfect peace the mind that is dependent on You for it is trusting in You." Between Greenhouse and the Truth Project I am being bombarded with this thought, "If I really believe that God is who He says He is, then why don't I trust Him with it all?" Maybe I don't believe as much as I say I do. Maybe if I really believed then I wouldn't worry so much. Maybe if I really believed I would not only accept the waits in life, but I would cherish them. And on top of all that, worrying doesn't help at all. In fact, it hinders the process, because it keeps our minds so cluttered that we can't hear clearly from God. So, what's the next step? Well, last week I started using my cellphone less. This week, I am going to stop and give God control every time that I begin to worry. That will probably be something that I have to do over and over and over, but this week, that is my goal. I am going to earnestly try living like God really is who He says that He is, because I know that that is truth! And I am not going to let the wait be about the wait. This week, anyway, I am going to listen harder than ever before and hear what God is saying during the wait. And boy oh boy am I looking forward to some good sleep this week!

Journaling

Everyone (don't you love that clear as mud indefinite pronoun) says that journaling is one of the greatest things that you can do for your spiritual walk. They (hee hee) are probably right. Journaling, however, is one of the hardest things for me to do! I always start well and then three or four days later fall short of my original goal. I either put it off, quit, or completely quit being honest and start writing as if my journal is going to be the next Diary of Anne Frank. Well, this session in Greenhouse I am teaching a class called What To Do With Your Wait. It is the best class that I have ever taught. I am really loving the material!!!! Except....the author of the study wants us to journal. So here we are a week into it and I, as the teacher, am still trying to figure out how to journal. And then it hit me. I should kill two birds with one stone. So for the next six weeks, my blog is going to become my journal...and I have all of you to keep me accountable. I am going to blog about what God is teaching me through this Greenhouse class. So here goes.....

This week I have really been thinking a lot about how God wants to use the "waiting room" of life to teach us things. There are things in life that I have been waiting for for a little while and things that I have been waiting for a lifetime and I am struggling to learn much in the process. I think I used to be better at it than I am now and I think I may know why.... TECHNOLOGY. I know that sounds really strange, but I think it is true. My cell phone allows me to check my email, text and call my friends, surf the internet (including my facebook page), play games, etc.... My DVR allows me to record all kinds of tv shows that I would normally miss due to work or sleep or life. My IPOD and XM radio allow me to hear the music or comedian or talk show or ball game that I want when I want it. So anytime that I have a spare minute to think or listen or hear, I can quickly find something in life to make noise and fill that space up. And unfortunately, that is what I find myself doing more often than not. When I get lonely, instead of asking God what He is trying to teach me in this "Single" stage in life, I catch myself checking my facebook and email a thousand times a day to see if anyone is planning anything fun. When I begin to think about my finances or my health or a habitual sin that God is convicting me of, I turn on the radio or the tv and drown out the hard lessons that God is trying to teach me. So I am working on not being a technology junkie and on taking time to just listen and hear. I was talking to Marshall about this this week and he reminded me of Psalm 46:10 where it says "Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

You know, now that I am doing it, I realize even journaling can be a way to think and hear what God is saying. I guess they really are right.