Construction-paper giants

Eph 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
Eph 6:11	Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
Eph 6:12	For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Eph 6:13	Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
Eph 6:14	Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
Eph 6:15	and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.
Eph 6:16	In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;
Eph 6:17	and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
Eph 6:18	praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
Eph 6:19	and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel,
Eph 6:20	for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
Eph 6:21	So that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything.
Eph 6:22	I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage your hearts.
Eph 6:23	Peace be to the brothers,[fn5] and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Eph 6:24	Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.   This morning I have been reading several different passages and while I was reading I remembered this passage and what a great picture it is. A picture of how God equips us for each day. I think this would be a good thing to pray through each day, or at least often. This passage also reminds me of when I was little and the giants we made out of construction paper in Sunday school. We made them in order to show the different pieces armor that we're supposed to put on as Christians. I think I put mine on my bedroom door. :) I have this perfect image of what they looked like though, which is cool, and it makes me think of how it was important then and how it remains to be the same now. Praise God because of the grace, mercy, and salvation He gives to those He loves!! (I was struggling last night and this morning has been a great blessing. God's word is so healing and refreshing for my sinful bones.)

Living under the shadow of the end of all things

   I'm writing again, which means I've been thinking a lot. And yet again, it could also mean that I have been encouraged to do so, and have finally mustered up enough motivation to follow through. It feels good to write!

  I was thinking throughout the day about what I would post and so here I go. I definitely will not try to catch up from where I left off, but instead, I hope to write about some things that have been really important in my life recently.

  Soo..a couple weekends ago my Mom was playing the Return of the King soundtrack, a lot. After I left home I couldn't get the thoughts about this story out of my head and was thus moved to watch Return of the King on my spring break trip, in the car, on our way to Niagara falls. I have seen it before, and I love it every time I watch it. (By the way, my Mom does not know that she was the spark of this entire post, I think I should tell her. :) ) I think there are several reasons why I like this movie (as well as the other two, and really I should say book or story because afterall the movies come from the books. I have not read them, yet). Instead of talking about the many reasons why I like this story I want to just talk about the biggest reason, and it all comes down to Romanticism. I don't agree with all that this ism has to offer, but there is something about it that captures me. Watching Return of the King made me think about Medievil times with all the horses, castles and kingdoms, swords, kings and queens, etc. I thought about how hard it must have been to live back then and how these times have been highly romanticized. I feel like the Lord of the Rings movies romanticisize those times, but also know that there are far deeper things involved in the story, which make me love it so much. The story is not about giving a romanticized depiction of medievil times, but simply using it as a medium to tell a great story of love, friendship, honor-- the battle between good and evil (this is my opinion at leat, I would love to know what all Tolkein had in mind when he wrote the books). This story makes my heart swell with passion and the desire to be involved in a great adventure,to be a good friend, a battle for the good over evil. I love romance, and not just from a romantic relationship stand point, but in the more general sense. I'm not quite sure how to describe it. I love science fiction/fantasy because of the great adventure, the impossible being made possible, and more. I am struggling now to focus these things into one main idea. :)

  To me, these things are romantic. So now, after attempting to explain how I feel about Romanticism and Romance I come to another thought, the arch enemy of Romanticism, that is Realism, reality, the real world, the "get your head out of the clouds" ism. This idea comes with its own value. I don't believe I should live in such a way that masks reality, which Romanticism is quite capable of doing, but believe that I should live knowing what the world is like, what our sinful human nature is like, what I am like (with the hope of salvation through Christ). I need to know and be aware of the realities of life, which so often suck all the romance out of things. And now I have a question (or several rather, under one idea), is it right to enjoy romance, to desire it in my life? Is it okay to love Sci-fi and fantasy as much as I do? Can I be a romantic Christian? Can both aspects of Romanticism and Realism coexist, or am I not allowed to have both?

  -- It's time to eat! So I'll have to finish this later. I have many more thoughts, a few more on this topic and more about things I learned this past Sunday. Stay tuned, if you so desire. :)

-- Well, dinner is over, and I'm back. Dinner is one of my favorite times of the day. To me it is the time of day when I get to eat good food with good friends, and it really means a lot to me.

  I suppose it's back to my questions and possibly trying to answer them, although I can't spend much time on it right now as there are others things to be done. Today I was also thinking about real life adventure and that we often face much of what is told in stories, just without the fantasy world and a soundtrack playing in the background. I think about firefighters, war, true love and friendship, and definitely the battle between good and evil. These things are real and things that we ought to be passionate about, and I suppose the trick is to maintain a balance. We ought to use our emotions, our romance, in the right way, and not as a way to escape our daily realities. Even though in the above paragraphs I talked about Romanticism and Realism, I admit I am no expert about them and rather, have used them in order to help me understand my own thoughts and try to explain them to others. As some sort of closing I think that it is right to be passionate about life, to express the myriad of emotions God has given us, to desire adventure, strong friendships, to express love. But these things must be within God's will for His children and not used as a means of escape from the daily tasks He has called us to, which sometimes can feel pretty mundane. These things must not be used to take my focus off of Him and what He wants for my life, but I think they can certainly be used to glorify God in what He calls me to do each and every day.

  So I haven't exactly answered all of my questions, and I hope to continue to think about these things through out the year. Let me know what you think, I'd really love to hear others' thoughts and opinions!

  The title of this post refers to a sermon by Gordon Keddie, which I wanted to write about as well, but for the sake of time will have to postpone to a later date.

    Salut. :)

As they chirp outside my window.

Another page has turned...

         Spring is here, or was here..sometimes I wish that those dates on our calendars that mark the winter, summer, fall, and spring solstices were dates on which we could rely. For example, the first day of spring was March 21st (right?) and boy was it a day full of spring! It was beautiful. Spring continued to resound until a couple of weeks ago when all reverted back to gray, cold, and gloom. Sometimes winter is a guest worth kicking out, but these weathery conditions aren't left up to us to decide. This made me think about God and His infinite wisdom, and how He has a plan even for the weather. So while it is easy to love the warm, sun-filled, happy spring days, why not try to love the somewhat gloomy wintry ones as well (they all must have a purpose).

     I've been learning my lesson when it comes to letting the weather (among other things) alter my mood. In a perfect world I would wake up each day remaining as constant as God's love and glorify Him perfectly. Oh, how I long for my heavenly home...a new thought: If I am blessed to have a family someday maybe I'll name one of my children something that has to do with constancy and pray that they reflect that of God and His promises for His children. You could be praying this for me as well. I would appreciate it, truly truly!

    Life is never how I imagine it to be and yes, another page has turned.

http://www.hcwarner.com/alcove/section_artists.html  (check out some cool/not so cool/interesting artists)

Currently Listening Half the Perfect World By Madeleine Peyroux see related

shades of blue...