mmm gouda

one last week! thankful for cheese, fruit, and dessert platters during a long series of final presentations. thankful for new friends to work on projects with. thankful for laughter and phonecalls and catching up despite busyness. thankful for reminder of surpassng joy, in elizabeth's and mary's songs in luke 1.

Spurgeon quote

“To a man who lives unto God nothing is secular, everything is sacred.

He puts on his workday garment and it is a vestment to him.

He sits down to his meal and it is a sacrament.

He goes forth to his labor, and therein exercises the office of the priesthood. His breath is incense and his life a sacrifice.

He sleeps on the bosom of God, and lives and moves in the divine presence.

To draw a hard and fast line and say, “This is sacred and this is secular,” is, to my mind, diametrically opposed to the teaching of Christ and the spirit of the gospel…

Peter saw a sheet let down from heaven in which were all manner of beasts and four-footed creatures, which he was bidden to kill and eat, and when he refused because they were unclean, he was rebuked by a voice from heaven, saying, “What God hath cleansed that call not thou common” [Acts 10:15; 11:9].

The Lord hath cleansed your houses, he has cleansed your bed chambers, your tables…  He has made the common pots and pans of your kitchens to be as the bowls before the altar –

if you know what you are and live according to your high calling.

You housemaids, you cooks, you nurses, you ploughmen, you housewives, you traders, you sailors, your labor is holy if you serve the Lord Christ in it, by living unto Him as you ought to live.

The sacred has absorbed the secular.”

http://www.spurgeongems.org/vols19-21/chs1205.pdf

tidbits, random

- this video. hahahaha http://vimeo.com/107476647 oh my goodness gracious
- i think my computer's dying D= i had hoped it would last me through grad school... but maybe 5.5 years is good enough for retirement. backing up all ze files! will reassess status once this term is over, assuming it doesn't crash/permanently die before then. thankful that there are computer labs at school and 24/7 access to them, just in case.
- for a while, i'd been thinking that the time it took for me to get home from school was shorter than the time it took for me to get to school from home. at first, i ascribed it to familiarity -- when you're on a familiar route (going home), you go on autopilot and don't realize the passage of time. BUT NOW I KNOW THE REAL REASON. the way home has a much higher downhill:uphill ratio, so i can walk faster without any additional effort or awareness! aha!
- i really like JHIF. this fellowship is supercute. and also gallery church. lovely spiritual homes-for-a-time. =)
- cleaning is so cathartic. haha i felt so stressed out about my poor perhaps-maybe-i-dunno-what's-going-on laptop that i cleaned the kitchen and all the common spaces in the apartment. yay scrubbing!
- and wow, God is really cool. parental relationship very much renewed. fascinating changes and wonderful! beyond my imagination.

This.

http://www.fabsharford.com/wronged-by-jesus/

Ending portion of Luke 2
Jesus's parents: "Why have you treated us so?" -- Why leave us to our fear and anxiety and confusion and hurt and worry?
Jesus: "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" -- I'm exactly where I said I would be, doing what I said I would be doing.

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Food exploration: spicy pumpkin curry (yummmm). haha what an adventure this was, since we *ahem* hadn't labeled our bags of spices (and/or they're so old that the marker faded), and used who-knows-how-ancient coconut milk as creamer-of-choice, and WOW handheld immersion blenders are so fun!

Also, most recent dessert recipe: Cranberry-Apple cake, via Ina Garten -- also known as Nantucket Pie. Can also add other spices, and walnuts/pecans.

Next up: learning to bake gluten-free...

petrichor

what it smells like outside after rain.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrichor (but why is it not in merriam-webster? o.O)

babies

grow so fast. oh myyyyy. cuteness, stahp.

much thanks to my mommy-friends for sharing cute pics and letting me see how they're growing up.

murk

prayer lately. it's just... lists. to-do's. names. and little relationship.

it's so much easier to read about God (or read about other people reading about God) than to stir that spark of wanting-to-know-Him in my heart-of-hearts. i build habit out of the idea that action-builds-belief (just as belief reveals itself in action). so i read. i pray. there are people that i care about that i pray for, too, because i don't want to pray just about me which is what i tend to do when left to my own devices.

and i listen... and do not hear the Spirit's prompting.

i don't want to be deaf to him. i don't want my innermost being to be dead. hm. perhaps not dead exactly. comatose? unresponsive. unsensing.

community helps. even so, a struggle. maybe i'm scared (irrationally, but still) of just be-ing with God. that he'll know all of dark icky selfish un-pretty me and turn away.

assurance: hope. he has come. he has already chosen. he has worked, and continues to work, and will make all things complete.

^truths i know in my head but don't feel are true sometimes.
(confounding factor: maybe being in front of a computer for a long time makes me melancholy)

solution: God-hunts? awareness? thanksgiving?
Praise is the beauty of a Christian.What wings are to a bird, what fruit is to the tree, what the rose is to the thorn, that is praise to a child of God. -Spurgeon

Things I want to make

- Molasses/gingerbread cookies. I think this is the very first time that I've had molasses in the pantry! Tis exciting.
- Roti. Or tortillas. Semi-leavened flatbread, to be cooked on a skillet.
- This cake: http://food52.com/recipes/26709-maialino-s-olive-oil-cake -- but with more orange flavor
- something with apples (handpies?)
- Sprite cake (magic! carbonated beverages and cake mix)

Hm. Those are all carbs. Happy carbs, but still. Too much not good for my belly. Okay, other non-sweet-breads/baked-goods:

- chana masala
- Chinese eggplant!
- Taiwanese sausage =D
- Chicken pot pie?? o.O
- egg drop soup. with wontons
- chili
- peanut butter sauce + veggies

AND cards. I miss papercrafting. Mebbe I should integrate my paper-crafting desire with memorizing-Bible-verses desire. I think I will. Start with one a week.

Happy note: went home this weekend, and remembered to bring Hobbes and Ugly Doll back to the apt with me this time! =D Yay for sleeping buddies.

Finals

I should be studying (heh, cramming) for exams and finishing my papers... but all I want to do is eat and not-think. D=

This is very not good. Go away, procrastination-that-won't-leave-me-alone! I don't want you or need you. Waughhhh

Draconian rule til Friday:
- no blogs (food, Christian, or otherwise)
- no facebook
- no youtube-surfing
- no cooking (must finish leftovers in fridge first)

[Ponder this] quotes from Ann Vonskamp's post last night

Manna is never gathered alone in the wilderness. It is gathered in community, distributed in community, measured out in community, so that every person gets their daily omer of manna. Otherwise, we're dying in the wilderness right now (too little, or excess). The maggots of too much as an insidious ugly way to lose your life.

God gives the world enough of what it needs. All he asks is that we distribute what He gives.
Because if you end up waiting to give when you know how much you have in the bank account, in the budget, in the back pocket --you can end up giving God your left overs, not your first fruits.
When you give God your leftovers, you give God what you can afford to give and not what changes how you live.
Surplus Giving is the leftover you can afford to give; Sacrificial Giving is the love gift that changes how you live -- because the love of Christ has changed you.
God doesn't want your leftovers. God wants your love overtures, your first-overs, because He is your first love.

There is nothing you have that isn't a gift to you.
The essence of the gospel is the essence of the universe:
You aren't saved by works --- and you have nothing in the universe by your work;
you are saved by His grace --- and everything you have in the universe is by His grace.

We don't want comfort.
We want Christ who is comfort,
we want danger that defies safe so people get saved,
we want freedom that flies in the face of  fear,
and we want justice that must rise at any cost, because Jesus has risen and He paid the unfathomable price.

Quotebook

It’s a good thing to have all the props pulled out from under us occasionally. It gives us some sense of what is rock under our feet, and what is sand. [Madeleine L’Engle]

New word

ar·ma·men·tar·i·um
/ärməmənˈte(ə)rēəm/

noun

• the medicines, equipment, and techniques available to a medical practitioner.
• a collection of resources available for a certain purpose. "the entire armamentarium of electronic surveillance"

origin: late 19th century: from Latin, ‘arsenal, armory.’

keke so fun to say! and what a useful word, too.

Interesting

Body won't let me sleep in past 8 despite what I thought was fairly severe sleep deprivation. Huh. WHYYYYY

The best yes

Needed this today.

For all I think I know about "time management" and "making space" for relationships, I am horrifically poor at actually investing in knowing, listening to, being with people. And it's true for my relationship-with-Jesus and it's true for my relationships-with-family and relationships-with-friends and relationships-with-acquaintances-who-might-be-friends-soon-if-only.

"the sadness of an underwhelmed soul because of the stress of an overwhelmed schedule"
precious moments of connection: to be stored away, appreciated, pondered as treasures in my heart (much like Mary, Lk 2:19 perhaps? ha! when do I ever ponder? I read/experience, process, move on. God, have mercy on me and my flippancy for you and your word and your people. Help me to care.)
but in busyness, these moments don't just spontaneously appear (though when they do they're miracles from a good, generous, and gracious God) -- these moments need to be given space.

I'm in a new city, a new school now. A week and a half since moving in, almost a month since school started, my schedule is chock-full -- of homework, research work, cramming-for-midterms work, getting-familiar-with-the-city work, exploring-local-food/grocery-options work, deciding-what-church-to-join work-- and through it all feeling... lonely. And it's my own fault. I've been pretending I'm still in H-ton, where I already had established relationships and didn't need to step out of my comfort zone very much. When have I invited new-friends to really know me, spend time with me, to get a glimpse of the God I claim to love? I've done it just the once, having a new friend over and spending quality time this past Sunday. And school-busyness-during-midterms is no excuse; perhaps an even better reason to create such space to connect. Making the most of these opportunities.

"I want to make sure it's people, not projects, that occupy the sacred places of my heart"
"leave space for the unrushed yes"
http://www.aholyexperience.com/2014/09/the-thrill-of-an-unrushed-yes/

Quotebook

“There are but two lessons for Christians to learn: the one is, to enjoy God in everything; the other is, to enjoy everything in God.” —Charles Simeon
“It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply.” —A.W. Tozer
“The will of God is never exactly what you expect it to be. It may seem to be much worse, but in the end it’s going to be a lot better and a lot bigger.” —Elisabeth Elliot
“God does not promise any of us happiness as we define happiness. We are called to faithfulness, and it is in obedience to God in difficult situations that the great spiritual victories are won.” —James Montgomery Boice
“The greatest of faults is to be conscious of none.” —Thomas Carlyle
“Unless we fix certain hours in the day for prayer, it easily slips from our memory.” —John Calvin
“It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.” —George Washington
“We must never rest until everything inside us worships God.” —A.W. Tozer

Reset

“Today, we will not let the enemy win. Today, you argued and you whined and you rose from bed late. Yesterday, your chores were done with grumbling and half-hearted attempts at finishing.”

“Why are you here on this earth?”

“Why are YOU part of THIS family?”

“We will restart this day with praise and adoration from our lips. We will put aside our grumbling and complaining and reset our hearts to focus on what is really important.”

“We are not here for a halfhearted attempt at living life.”

“ALL for God’s glory. Even on the weekends. Even when it is hard to live with others and more importantly, with ourselves.”

http://www.septembermccarthy.com/2014/09/grumble-the-weekend-away-or-give-your-heart-a-re-set/