Sunday sermon on a Monday

Yesterday in church Neal preached about communion. One of the things that I'm going to take with me is the question, "Are you satisfied with Jesus?" Or, do I constantly want more...have my eye focused on that one thing? Yesterday that was inspring and encouraging because I do struggle with that one thing.

Yesterday - inspiring. Today - challenging and annoying. Yup, I got put to the test. I haven't succeeded yet either.

My thing is friends. You know, I really do believe that I've been blessed in the area of friendships. But, then there are a lot of times when I feel so lonely and just want more or just want them to...to satisfy I guess. It's hard to be satisfied with just Jesus when you appear so justified in your feelings, when your feelings seem more like reality than just emotion.

A while back I read the verse "Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless." I thought about the thing I love the most in a sometimes destructive way, and friends it is. Whoever loves friends never has friends enough; whoever loves friendship is never satisfied with his friendships. This too is meaningless.

(Eccl. 5:10)

My website

This is a bit of what Rob and I have been busy/consumed with for the last week or so. I now have a website for my photography business. It's www.visphotography.com.

Rob made the website look very cool. We're still making some finishing touches, but it's definitely ready for visiting if you feel like looking at some pictures.

My Crush

When we were in school, Rob was the cute, cool, most popular boy in school. I was quiet, shy, sweet Leah. (yeah, I'm calling myself sweet).

I had a crush on Rob from 4th grade til the beginning of 9th grade. He's really cute; do you blame me?

Rob claims that he doesn't have any memory of me during those years. But, don't worry. He just has a bad memory. We definitely shared a special moment in 6th grade. One day I wore my hair down and over to the side. Cool Rob turned around and told me that he liked how I did my hair that day. I pretty much wore my hair like that every day for the next month.

I guessed it worked. We're married now, aren't we?

Watch out

My good friend Bet shared the quote "Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life" (John Ortberg).

Ok, I'm up for the challenge. I'm comin' with fists flying. I'll throw in a surprise kick to the knees. And, I'll even bust out the pepper spray.

My schedule is ruthless, but I'll be standing up for this fight. Every two months or so I say to Rob, "I am too busy. I HAVE to cut something out." Then life slows down for a little bit and picks up again while I'm not even looking.

Even though I don't have a definite solution, I'm not lying down. I'm keeping eye contact until we finish this fight.

It's Simple

Now this hits home, for most of us, I'm sure.

Again, I'm reading The Celebration of Discipline. In his chapter about simplicity, he brings up some very uncomfortable issues.

His whole point is that simplicity brings freedom. It must be inward and outward, and that way it skips the legalism tendancy.

But, he offers a couple of challenges for us to consider: Buy things for usefulness rather than their status. Consider your clothes. Most people have no need for more clothes. They buy more not because they need clothes, but because they want to keep up with the fashions. Wear your clothes until they are worn out. Stop trying to impress people with your clothes and impress them with your life.

Yeah, I didn't write that last part. I know you won't read it if I put it in quotes! But, now I'll be up front with you and give you some more quotes. Promise to read them though...

"One moment we make decisions on the basis of sound reason and the next moment out of fear of what others will think
of us."

"We are made to feel ashamed to wear clothes or drive cars until they are worn out."

"It is time we awaken to the fact that conformity to a sick society is to be sick."

"The modern hero is the poor boy who purposefully becomes rich rather than the rich boy who voluntarily becomes poor."

The clothes part is the hardest for me. I'm definitely not the person who is constantly buying new clothes, but lately I feel the pressure big time. When I have clothes that are older, I feel less confident. When I have a cute new outfit, I have the world at my finger tips. As I write that, I see the lie. It's so obviously backwards, but man the pressure is there and it's thick. That's a toughy.

My life lately

In contemporary society our Adversary majors in three things: noise, hurry, and crowds. If he can keep us engaged in "muchness" and "manyness," he will rest satisfied.....Hurry is not of the Devil; it is the Devil.

I didn't write that. Richard Foster said that in his book, Celebration of Discipline. I just didn't put it in quotes because whenever I see something in quotes, I don't read it.

I've been busy. If I had to pick only one word to describe my life, that might be one that sums it up pretty well. I'm busy and distracted. I have so much going on that sometimes life pulls me along while I just try to stay on my feet. I've been distracted by things I don't want to do and things I do want to do -- things that are boring and things that excite me.

You see the Devil would be stupid to only distract me with things that are horrible. That'd be too obvious and I would catch on really quickly. He likes to throw in new passions, good causes, fun stuff, amazing TV shows like The Office...

The Devil keeps throwing this one at me, but I've caught on to his schemes. It's just a matter of figuring out how to slow down and make room for daily intimate time with God and the things he might want to spontaneously bring my way that I wouldn't have time for being so busy.