Yesterday started out with Savannah saying, "Every outside is gray. And muddy. Even the sky looks muddy." Just my day: It was raining. *SIIIGH*
But actually, though so many things that would make a bad day for me yesterday...well...DIDN'T. Funny, huh?
Me and savannah tried watching some of her superman show on her laptop, but the thing kept lying and saying there was a damaged area to skip over! NOT. So it kept skipping ever three mins, so we didn't get to watch the whole thing. We did watch the last part today, though! :)
Well, the thing I remember after that is writing down in my notepad about what a cold and wet day it was, since it was almost lunch time, and it was still raining. I was out of options for writing yesterday, so I wanted to write up a post--but it didn't work that way.
Lunch time came, and peanut started barking. There was no one at the door, so I ignored him. But then, just a minute later, my mom came downstairs with t he phone, talking about disconnection with my dad. The next thing I knew, I saw a blue and white truck pulled up to our house! o.0 and then there was some scratching on the wall outside and....and...then the lights went out! AH!
"So much for my fabled blogpost," I said within myself,"and typing up that story!"
But I wasn't worried. The other kids were excited, because they didn't understand and thought it was an adventure, and the boys must have been scared out of their witts. But I couldn't my sister. Why wasn't I worried? Heck, this has happened more than once, and God took great care of us. He is with us! I kept reminding myself that. And if the electricity didn't come back on ever again, and then the water and then eviction, I knew he would take care of us. And he did. Mommy called Daddy back on one of the cell phones, and though he cursed, he came back, not a smudge of anger or panic on his face. I don't know what happened, but the electricity was back on in about four or five hours.
But let's not go that far yet! While we were waiting for our dad, me and all the girls got together in my room for a a read-aloud party with "At the Back of the North Wind." I was cold, and watched the snow fall down on us. Yes, with what had started out as a drippy day, ended in cold and bitter snow. Wait--what am I saying! There is nothing more beautiful than falling snow. It snowed the entire time the power was out--almost like a comfort in the times of worry. It stopped almost exactly when Daddy got home.
Now I laugh at myself for how depressed and angry I have been lately. I should have known God was there! *slaps myself upside the head* now I am smiling to myself, my heart light.
Before bed, we had family devotions time, and read the part in Job after Job had been lamenting, humbled by what had happened to him. And his friend encouraged him: Eliphaz.
And last night, before bed, I prayed for every one I could think of. Family, friends, neighbors, strangers and enemies. And I asked that they all knew that the Lord was there for them, like I do now. I love you God, and thank you for always there. Thank you for receiving this tar-colored heart, and taking to make it into something entirely new. When I let go, and step off of the edge of this rooftop of the world, thank you for flying around to catch me. Praise you, Oh God!
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Souls aren't made of stone
Do you ever wake up in the morning with a song stuck in your head? I do, pretty much every morning. Probably because music is my inspiration for everything. I listen to music when I'm posting blogs, I listen to music when I'm writing stories, I listen to music while thinking deeply, I listen to music while doing difficult math, and I listen to music when I go to sleep. I tried doing that last night, putting on my dad's old fashioned headphones and turning on Switchfoot. Buuut as I said in an earlier post, I can only lay with my head facing directly upward or the plastic things that cover my ears will hurt me. T.T I couldn't go to sleep like that, so when I was half asleep I got frustrated and yanked the offensive thing off my head.
A lot of people think that the song "4:12" by Switchfoot is about materialism. That does make a small amount of sense, if you look at the second verse, which talks about this character having lowly jobs. But that's taking it out of context. If you look at the entire song, it gets confusing. Abbey, who's pretty apt at picking the meanings out of songs, told me that she thought it was about how people are fickle--everything's fine and dandy with their faith until something bad happens. I think maybe it's a little bit of both, but those ideas are just pieces of the bigger picture that Jon is trying to bring across here.
Ever since the dawn of atheism, the God-haters have been spinning the lie that there is no afterlife. There's no deeper meaning to our lives. We're just a byproduct of biological slime and a wayward bolt of lightning. We're just an accident. We don't have souls. There's no afterlife, no reward for working hard and fighting the good fight. Do you realize how worthless that makes people feel?? I mean, think of all the people who have lowly jobs. Like waiting tables or selling phones at the shopping mall. Those people can just be replaced by other lowly people. So when someone gets depressed, they think, "Oh, well I don't matter much in the world. I'm not making a difference. There's no meaning in my life. When I die, I'm just gonna go 'poof,' so why keep living when the going gets tough?" Can you imagine how many people are out there who have died because of this way of thinking? Or worse, how many people have turned to crime or drugs or sex because they thought it didn't matter?
But you see, we are more than material. This humanism thing that the God-haters have going on, it's nonsensical! Oh, they try to tell us that the idea of an afterlife is nonsensical, that their idea is what makes sense. That's because they don't want to deal with God or an afterlife, because if they do, that means they have to pay for all the scrap they've done! Heaven forbid (pun intended) that! Why do you think I say "When the only sense is nonsense, don't try to make sense of it"? That's one of many reasons!
God created you for a purpose. He's got your whole life planned out, from beginning to end, and He had it planned out when He created the universe! You're not just mutated, electrified slime; your soul isn't stone. You're a person. And inside you, there is a living breathing soul. There is deeper meaning to life. Everything that happens has a reason. If you're that busboy or that guy selling cell phones in the shopping mall, put your hope in the fact that you're not there for nothing. God has something planned for your life. You matter. That's what I'm always telling Zack, that's what I'm always telling Mari, that's what I'm always telling Abbey. In this life, there are no accidents. Remember that next time you feel worthless. ;D
A lot of people think that the song "4:12" by Switchfoot is about materialism. That does make a small amount of sense, if you look at the second verse, which talks about this character having lowly jobs. But that's taking it out of context. If you look at the entire song, it gets confusing. Abbey, who's pretty apt at picking the meanings out of songs, told me that she thought it was about how people are fickle--everything's fine and dandy with their faith until something bad happens. I think maybe it's a little bit of both, but those ideas are just pieces of the bigger picture that Jon is trying to bring across here.
Ever since the dawn of atheism, the God-haters have been spinning the lie that there is no afterlife. There's no deeper meaning to our lives. We're just a byproduct of biological slime and a wayward bolt of lightning. We're just an accident. We don't have souls. There's no afterlife, no reward for working hard and fighting the good fight. Do you realize how worthless that makes people feel?? I mean, think of all the people who have lowly jobs. Like waiting tables or selling phones at the shopping mall. Those people can just be replaced by other lowly people. So when someone gets depressed, they think, "Oh, well I don't matter much in the world. I'm not making a difference. There's no meaning in my life. When I die, I'm just gonna go 'poof,' so why keep living when the going gets tough?" Can you imagine how many people are out there who have died because of this way of thinking? Or worse, how many people have turned to crime or drugs or sex because they thought it didn't matter?
But you see, we are more than material. This humanism thing that the God-haters have going on, it's nonsensical! Oh, they try to tell us that the idea of an afterlife is nonsensical, that their idea is what makes sense. That's because they don't want to deal with God or an afterlife, because if they do, that means they have to pay for all the scrap they've done! Heaven forbid (pun intended) that! Why do you think I say "When the only sense is nonsense, don't try to make sense of it"? That's one of many reasons!
God created you for a purpose. He's got your whole life planned out, from beginning to end, and He had it planned out when He created the universe! You're not just mutated, electrified slime; your soul isn't stone. You're a person. And inside you, there is a living breathing soul. There is deeper meaning to life. Everything that happens has a reason. If you're that busboy or that guy selling cell phones in the shopping mall, put your hope in the fact that you're not there for nothing. God has something planned for your life. You matter. That's what I'm always telling Zack, that's what I'm always telling Mari, that's what I'm always telling Abbey. In this life, there are no accidents. Remember that next time you feel worthless. ;D
Sunday, November 13, 2011
One of Those Filthy Rags, Over Thar Yonder!
So, many of you, might've read the post below! Peace in the spirit, mind, and soul, is the best thing one can have, I shall call this peace a "cleanliness". I must say honestly, that this is a touchy subject, but my house has been infested by the evil cockroaches! Daily we had to keep food away from them, spray them, and even squish them with our hands! But most of the time, I kill a cockroach with "one of those filthy rags, over thar yonder" (hence the title) Have you ever noticed how churches say, "Filthy rags"? by that we think, "oh, we just used a rag on a counter, it's filthy..." NO! That is so unbiblical! If that were true, we wouldn't HAVE to use God's Son's blood to wash us. We could still forgive ourselves and everything would be fine! But that isn't the way it was! Image this: "you-just-cleaned-the-bathroom-kitchen-and-killed-cockroaches-and-all-types-of-bug-ridden-guts-with-lots-and-lots-of-mold-mildew-and-throw-up-and-more-disgusting-things-than-words-to-say-on-a-rag" type of "filthy rags"! Why would God send Jesus to die for everyone if it were just a spot of mud? We were really gross, And to think about it, God must've had a good strong stomach to clean us, not to say that not to say that we should continuously say that we are that bad, cuz God has risen us up for His glory to shine on us, and though we might've been those "FILTHY RAGS" before, we are not anymore, we are cleaned in the blood of Jesus Christ forever! I never thought of how roaches could be useful in a teaching on peace, but with all those, disgusting bugs, and gross things out there, we need to think of how God has, is, and will clean us until we no longer need it (that would be when we are in Heaven) It is the undoing of many wrongs to bring us to that clean, peace, that we have when our home, and rags are no longer in ruin. Although the world is in ruin, we can truthfully say that our lives are not, with that peace that passes all understanding! Think about the pain that Jesus suffered! Would he had done it if we could clean ourselves on our own? No, He wouldn't. But, He knew that we could not handle this on our own. It's like the overwhelmedness that you get when you look at a room that has toys, trash, clothes, and all those things that God can clean, but of your own works you couldn't, because you are only a child that needs the help of your Father!
Say Amen? AMEN!
Mari J. Fahel
That fresh, miny clean feeling...
[I know you guys have all been hankering after another of my introspective, thought-provoking posts. It seems like forever and a day since I've posted one. But since my inspiration is finally being nice to me on my secret novel, I guess I can try shooting for an amazingly inspirational post. ^_^ Here goes nuthin'....]
I'm a weird person. You want to know why? I'm obsessed with keeping my mouth squeaky clean. After I eat, I wash my mouth out with about half a bottle of water. Then I floss. Then, after about ten or fifteen minutes, I have to go brush my teeth because a bad taste is spreading through my mouth. It makes me think about all the bacteria that's starting to feed on the particles of food on my teeth, and I'm like, BLEGH! I can't think straight until I run upstairs and brush my teeth thoroughly. And I do mean thoroughly. I brush my tongue, the inside of my cheeks, and the roof of my mouth. I spit out the toothpaste, rinse the brush, and go over my teeth again just in case. The one thing I hate about toothpaste, though, is that it leaves a yucky sugary residue that starts tasting EYUUUCK after about half an hour, so I have to go get a drink. T.T lol. I'm always drinking water, not because I'm thirsty but because my mouth tastes funny. And I must brush my teeth every two or three hours. I don't keep count.
If you think about it, life is exactly like that. As human beings, we do, experience, and witness a lot of distasteful things. Heartbreak. Abuse. War. Sexual immorality. Sorcery. Lying, cheating, stealing, murdering. Little things, like losing your temper or not cleaning your room. It's all over the place! Everything leaves particles and residues in your brain that start rotting and growing spiritual "bacteria" if you don't do something about it.
When a Christian refers to someone's heart being "dirty," they envision a coating of dirt or mud. Because I've been raised in a Christan family, sometimes I think like that, too. But, honestly, to my mind dirt really isn't all that dirty. It's just dirt. God created the dirt to be the perfect source of nutrients, and the perfect recycling method. Things that were dead feed life to the plants that, in turn, give animals and humans life. And let's not forget, you're talking to the two-year-old girl who actually ate mud and offered some to her dad. xD
No, I think real "dirt" is bacteria, viruses, and all kinds of germs. I'm very conscientious about that. I'm continually washing my hands for apparently no reason; I'm always brushing my teeth way more than I should. I even get jittery when something potentially bacteria-infested brushes my arm or leg and I go stick my foot in the sink. xD Or if I think it possibly got on my clothes, I hurry up and change as quickly as possible.
So, when I think of a "dirty" heart, I compare it to a dirty mouth. I think of a festering, nasty infection with pus...kind of like a really bad ingrown toenail. Am I weird? Yes, I most certainly am, dears. I think of the world being germy. I think of every little tiny bad thing that I do as a brush with potentially bacteria-infested objects. I'm like, EYEWWWW....and I run off to God to get a spiritual checkup and some free spiritual toothpaste, floss, and a brand new toothbrush. ^_^ After I really have a good talk with God, I really feel better. Even if I'm just spouting off all of my emotions. I'm glad that no matter how stupid I am or how dirty and bacteria-infested I get, God's always going to be happy to clean me up again. ^_^
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