Belated Birthday Blog (How's that for alliteration?)

I've been meaning to get better about recognizing important people's birthday and I would be remiss if I didn't give a huge shoutout to someone whose birthday was, I'm afraid, yesterday.

The King! Wait... oh, shoot. Wait, that's not who I meant:

It's Erika! My first friend in Campbellsville waaaaay back in 2004. We've shared a lot of, shall we say, interesting experiences together. We've laughed together, cried together, prayed together, gone on double dates (I think, right Erika? I mean anytime the four of us hung out together it could be considered a double date!)

And even though she lives in another land (ok, or just Western Kentucky) I know she'll always be among my most cherished friends.

So Erika, have a great 24th year!

PS: I've got a quite terrible case of BSA in this picture.

Jesus and Lady Wisdom

Tonight we started back with our regular Sunday night routine. Dusty is essentially breaking John down chapter by chapter, verse by verse. It's going to be a great study because he is not using some pre-made lessons complete with a workbook and DVD.

We looked at the Prologue this evening, John 1:1-18. He drew a comparison between Jesus bringing revelation to the world and the Lady Wisdom personification of Psalm 8-9. Asking teenagers to think abstractly is a pretty scary game plan, but Dusty took it a step farther. Not only did he ask them to read both sections and draw comparisons between the two, but since the Prologue and Proverbs 8-9 are very poetic he thought it would be great fun to then ask them to team up and write a haiku about the similarities!

I was skeptical, but I must say I love what everyone came up with:

Dusty's:

wisdom is Jesus
who existed from the start
creating with God

Jenny and Jesslyn:

Jesus and wisdom
are both precious and worthy
we can trust in both

Ethan's haiku which plays off "hating things of the world":

you must hate to love
the wise will seek and find Christ
come and eat my food

Lauren and Zack, who found the both Jesus and wisdom are "very old":

He is the most wise
He was here before the flies
He has no disguise

Emily and Mallory, along those same lines:

both are old and smart
they offer good things for life
follow in their ways

Emily and Mallory also decided that one just wasn't enough:

wisdom is good stuff
Jesus rocks like wisdom, yo
so be like them dawg

Marc and the Famous Will Gorgeous Campbell came up with this little gem:

Jesus and wisdom
are most righteous and holy
always existed

And here's mine:

wisdom and jesus
calling in streets and on earth
are after our hearts

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday. I'm a little bummed that I can't be with her in person today, but I think it's something we've gotten used to through the years.

I don't have many pictures of or with my mom because she believes herself to be rather un-photogenic. But here's a sweet moment that we shared back in May of 2008... I won't need to explain really:

My mom is one of my favorite people in the world. She listens to me when I have a bad day, and I usually leave the conversation with a smile on my face. She has taught me how to be married to a "man in the ministry" without losing your sanity. She has also proven time and time again how much she loves and supports her family. Also, if you put the two of us side by side you'll see an almost uncanny resemblance. The first thing people told me when she was here visiting for Christmas was, "Wow, you look exactly like your mom!" I guess that's not an all together bad thing.

So happy birthday Mom! Sorry I haven't gotten you anything yet, but rest assured this blog post isn't your gift!

Love,
Emily

2009, A Best Of

From my iTunes, song play count, here are my top 5 most listened to songs:

1. Oh My Sweet Carolina-- Ryan Adams-- Play Count: 50
2. In Your Atmosphere-- John Mayer-- Play Count: 49
3. Desert Song-- Hillsong-- Play Count: 39
4. Stronger-- Hillsong-- Play Count: 38
5. Blood Bank-- Bon Iver-- Play Count: 36

From the books I've read this year, here are my top 3 favorite:

1. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
2. There's No Me With You by Melissa Faye Green
3. The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs

From the pictures I've taken this year, here is my favorite:

From the movies I've seen this year, here are my four favorite: (not necessarily new releases)

1. Inglorious Basterds
2. Slumdog Millionaire
3. Amelie
4. Gran Torino

This verse has really categorized my year with the Lord:

"Don't bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This is not a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we're in. If your little boy asks for a serving of fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? If your little girl asks for an egg, do you trick her with a spider? As bad as you are, you wouldn't think of such a thing—you're at least decent to your own children. And don't you think the Father who conceived you in love will give the Holy Spirit when you ask him?" Luke 11:10-13, The Message

2009, you started off pretty rough (especially with the freakish ice storm) but your ending has been smooth and sweet.

2010, you've got some big shoes to fill.

Merry Christmas!

Everyone had a great time this year, except for one furry little friend:

Bears, Beets, Battlestar Galactica

This is an extremely random blog post, but my cousin-in-law's profile picture on Facebook is probably the most epic thing I've seen in a while.

Behold:

Yep, he shot it dead.

Lessons from Simeon

This past Sunday Dusty and I lit the second Advent candle at church, the peace candle. This got me contemplating a lot, because I think "peace" is so often marginalized into an abstract concept or lofty goal that in this day and age is all too unattainable.

It all really reminds me a lot of Simeon, because Simeon found his life's peace with the advent of Jesus the kid. In Luke 2 you'll find Simeon, a man full of the Holy Spirit and living in the promise that he wouldn't die until he saw the Messiah in the flesh.

The Spirit leads him to the temple the very day that Mary and Joseph were there to present Jesus for circumcision. And Simeon, upon seeing that kid, exclaims, "I've seen it all Lord! I can die in peace! You did what you said you would do!"

I long to have that kind of certainty about the Lord! I'm supposed to have it all together because I've been a follower of Christ for 14 years, and because my husband is a youth minister, but I cannot count the times throughout the year, the week, the day, that I find my innermost self saying, "Lord, I do not believe you."

There are some things that I definitely feel like the Lord has promised me. Until the time comes that I see those things into fruition, I find mostly that what I want is enough peace to wait in patient expectation, just like Simeon.

Here are some things that I've learned about peace in the past year:

1.) Peace is almost always preceded by expectation. Maybe it's the expectation of something that makes you anxious, or maybe like me and my friend Simeon, the fulfillment of promises.

2.) Peace and adversity often, and strangely enough, stand side by side. I think it's because in adverse times the absence of peace is exaggerated, until we realize that it's what has been missing all along.

3.) True peace, I mean lifelong lasting peace, is only found in Jesus. He carried it with him in his birth long ago, it's available to us through the Holy Spirit today, and we are anxiously awaiting the time when that peace will be the ruling standard in our world.