Entropy is Evidence of God

I teach a College Bio course at a local community college. One of the early definitions that I have to deal with is Entropy. This is a hard concept to introduce because it can be heavy on the abstract end of things and light on the tangible things.

One way that I have heard it described stuck and so I use it in class: If you were walking down the street (on the sidewalk of course) and you came across 30 pennies laying on the ground, you would thing it would be very peculiar if they were all laying heads up. You would expect to see some heads up, and some heads down (tails). This is the tendency for the universe to go towards a more chaotic state (because it is at a lower energy state).

But, I think that this fact alone is strong evidence of a God who has created everything because our world is literally not a massive mixture of elements. The fact that our world is made up of things that are intensively mathematical and structured (which goes completely in the face of Entropy) that there has to be something orchestrating this whole thing. I'll let you chew on that for a while.

I Should Like God As Much As I Like Food

I have officially decided that I have a skewed version of what a healthy relationship looks like. Deep down in my head I know that a strong, continuous communication line (communication being composted of dialogue, not a string of monologues) with the other person in the relationship is essential for a healthy, thriving, growing relationship. But, when I look and analyze any of my (what I would call) strongest relationships I don't do that. It doesn't help that when I do remember to finally call my Mum after about two weeks (or more) of silence we are able to pick right back up where we left off (as if not skipping a beat). If our relationship was in trouble after I forgot to call for so long maybe, just maybe I would learn.

Well, this is where it gets more complicated. With this messed up idea that I can just have scattered meaningful interactions instead of a more consistent interaction trickles down into my relationship with God. I feel like I can just 'forget' to communicate with Him for a long long time and then start right up again like nothing ever changed. (which is the case but it isn't a healthy relationship). Our relationship with God should be a healthy one! We should be striving to develop it every moment of our lives. I blame my issue of having probably the most scattered brain in the existence of the Homo Sapien race for my forgetfulness and lack of working on this relationship every day.

There is one thing that I can remember all the time, that that is to eat. I've never forgotten to do that.

This was my first Jordan Pond House Popover! And I got to share that experience with my 7th grade teacher and my Mum!! (Thanks Mum for taking the picture!)

I should be working on developing my relationship with God to be more like my relationship with food. There is constant communication. I go to it when I need to deal with things, or when I'm board, or tired, or hungry, or sleepy, or angry, or sad. I share it with other people. I talk about it all the time. The one difference is that I should also be having dialogue with God while with food....I definitely don't talk to it and it doesn't talk back. Anyway, this is something that I should be thinking about.

Facial Recognition

One of the reasons why I wanted to get into the Forensic Science Field was because it provided a perfect mixture of my art interest and my science interest. "Well that is kind of strange" you might say thinking about the essence of forensic science and how a lot of times it is dealing with very unpleasant circumstances. But, this is perfect for me. When I was little if there wasn't anything good on T.V. (which tends to be frequent) I would head right to the history channel. (again, strange) But, here is where I would sometimes catch a show that had forensic anthropologists demonstrating how they could use their knowledge of facial bone structure and build a clay representation of tissue over an unidentified skull to form a face. Ah! Awesome!!! This process can be used to help identify a skull found in the woods when there are no dental records found. It can also be used to find living family members and other such purposes. So far I am sure you have not picked up on where I'm headed with this, just wait.

So, when anthropologists only have the bare bones of an individual for identification they need to figure out some way to identify them. By looking at someone's bones you have the potential of identifying their type of diet, their lifestyle (active or not), or even any physical traumatic events in their lives. There is of course more that can be figured out but since I am not versed in forensic anthropology and don't have time to write a text book about it here that should sifice.

Continuing on, if you have ever watched the T.V. show 'Bones' you should have followed me pretty well so far. The idea of that show is that the scientists get a small portion of someones skeletal remains and need to figure out a) how they died and b) who they were (maybe not in that order and maybe never both a and b). But what happens in the show is that they figure out a lot more than just their identity or how their life was ended. They tend to figure out if this person was nice or not, and what kind of people they spent most of their time with. All in all to bring this entry to a conclusion the forensic anthropologists job is to seek the victims face.

We are given that same task as Christians. We are given the task of seeking God's face! This can be done in many ways too. The all-time best seller "The Bible" has countless ways to seek God's character and face. You can also see His attributes all around you, in nature and also in humans. (We can love because He loves).

What I struggle with is that I have such a passion for learning new things and understanding how things work and why they work and their mechanics but when it comes to understanding all of who God is I fail. I would much rather take a nap than spend time figuring out more of who God is. It is not that I don't want to, it's just  I forget to. But, something this important should not be so easy to just 'forget about'. Why can't it be in the front of my mind all the time?? Deep down do I not want to figure out more about who God is?? Do I not want to seek His face? Or am I really THAT lazy to be indifferent about it?? In the letter to the Laodiceans they were lukewarm and indifferent  God tells us that if you are lukewarm He would rather spit you out. I don't know about you but I don't really want to be spit out by God Himself. Not the best thing. So, I need to make seeking God's face more of a priority in my life! Like now!

We Are Like A Sine Function

In an earlier post I talked about one of Josh Wilson's songs. Today, same artist, different song. His song "Linear" was a bonus track on the CD I bought of his. Below I provided a video of this song. Enjoy!

He talks about MATH and GOD!!!!!! He says that God's love is linear! (that is the major concept that he talks about in the song if you didn't listen to it). That means it stays the same! It never changes! Hummmm...that sounds about right. So....if God's love is linear...we must be like a sine function (I provided an example of it below, just in-case it has been eons since geometry class):

If we are (Sin x) than God's love would be (x=0). In the picture above you can see how the sine curve fluxuates from 1 above zero and 1 below zero, while zero never moves. We are human and I know I struggle focusing on anything. I also have a hard time being consistent. The sine function represents how we are close to God and then something happens and we distance ourselves from God. Read that again. WE distance OURSELVES from God. It is not God who is distancing us from Him. It is not God distancing Himself from Us. It is US doing the retreat. God is always there for us, wherever we decide is a better place than safe in His arms. Knowing our tendency to drift from God can help us try to defeat that pattern. They say that those unaware of history are destined to repeat it. Now we know the history, let's prevent it! Your love relationship with God doesn't have to be defined by a sine curve!!!! Straighten that thing out! 

See how these three sine curves have different amplitudes? The blue line goes from +3 all the way down to -3. The green line +1 to -1 and then the red line +0.5 to -0.5. We can decrease our amplitudes so that we stay close to God's linear love.

The "I'm not good enough" Falsity

This little thought is going to be Part One of a two part series haha. This thought came into mind during small group this past Sunday. We are doing a study about prayer and the importance of Worship-based prayer!! (which is my favorite). This 'brand' of prayer is one that a lot of Christian's or even just people in general have little experience with. The concept of prayer and what prayer is comes at a young age. All of the Bible stories and Christian literature have people praying depicted as head bowed, hands folded, eyes shut etc. These 'restrictions' are really placed on small children so that they have less distractions while praying in a group of very distracted children. Also, another thought is that the purpose of prayer is to talk to God (which it is) but to talk to Him about our struggles and issues and what we need help with day to day (which it also is) BUT the heart of our prayers need to be giving God the praise that He deserves!

Well, there are books and books written about this so I am not going to continue with that but what was brought up in small group is that some times we feel like we are 'to bad' to come to God in prayer. That we are ashamed of what we have done and that we are just not worthy of that personal interaction with the MOST HIGH GOD.

Well, in a way that is true. When we sin (which I do on a daily basis) we separate ourselves for God. That instantly makes us not worthy of having the relationship that our soul longs for with Him.

BUT......WE CAN STILL COME TO HIS PRESENCE! Jesus died to cover ALL of our sins! That means that we can still pray to God, even when we are sinners. When we tell ourselves (or when Satan tells us) that we are not worthy or are 'to evil' to pray to God we are also implying that Jesus' death on the cross was not enough. That His death was in vein and that we still have to cover our own butts for the sin we have committed (which is absolutely not the case. JESUS IS ENOUGH FOR ALL OUR SINS).

So, next time THAT is your excuse for why you have not worshiped or prayed....THINK AGAIN!

The Land of Perfect

This was a short little thought I had while talking with my Mum the other day. I had never thought of it before but it was interesting.

God tells us that Heaven is perfect. Why wouldn't it be, when God makes something He doesn't just make it and be done with it. God takes 'time' and pays attention to details and of course goes above and beyond what we would ever do. I try not to think about Heaven too often because I just get too excited, for more reasons than one.

Anyway, in the Bible it says in Revelation 21:4 that the inhabitants of Heaven will no longer experience pain, sorrow, sadness, tears, or death. I can't help but wonder if the people in Heaven are able to see what is happening down on earth while they are up there. That thought is normally followed by the idea that: Well, of course not. If there is no sorrow or sadness than God wouldn't allow them to watch what was happening to their loved ones on earth because earth is filled with evil, sadness, pain etc. How could they watch their loved ones go through pain and suffering or even just hard times without feeling sadness for them?

While I was talking with Mum about this an idea came into my head. What if God allows people in Heaven to see the big picture? His big picture. His plan. The reason we go through all the crud on earth that we go through is because God is making us and moving us in His plan. So would our loved ones in Heaven feel sadness if they are able to see the whole picture? They could see the entire beautiful painting that God is creating with everyone's lives intertwined.

This was just an interesting thought that I had had and wanted to write it down. Of course I have no further insight into what Heaven is going to be like other than what God has reveled to us in the Bible. This is me just thinking out loud.

Science Sundays (kind of): God's Spoken Words

This little post is directly inspired from Sunday school this morning! I can't seem to get this thought out of my head. So buckle your seat belts and make sure to put on a helmet so that when your mind is blown....it doesn't get on the wall. (sorry about that, remember, I am a forensic scientist).

If you read Genesis chapter 1 there is a repeating common theme through the whole chapter. (If you are not familiar with this chapter, than I would strongly encourage you to stop reading this post right now and go read it....wait....I'll just put it below)

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
(Genesis 1 ESV)

 https://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTuuZ4w-Mif_1rw9C0x8beocpMe0BdF3KTXIi8HFXD9kiZ1XnbXMA

I know that was long but....hopefully you pick up on a few things. The first thing being that God existed before anything that we know of existed. He has no beginning middle or end, which could alone blow your mind. But what I really want you to focus on is the fact that God simply spoke and created. He said, "let there be light" and poof, waves of light were created. God said, "let there be ground" and wha-la, there was dirt, and grime, and sand, and silt, and clay, and rock. One of Newton's Laws is that matter is neither created nor destroyed. Well, God blew that one out of the water. Maybe God collected the matter that was surrounding Him and just by saying what He wanted to make it organized it into what He wanted. Even that is astounding! If you have read any of the other posts, I have mentioned just how awesome water is. I am sure I have talked about cells before and I have written about the wonders of a leaf on a tree. Take all of this information....and God made each of those ridiculously complicated systems by simply saying what He wanted made. WHAT!??!!!????!!!!  That is crazy!! Our Sunday school leader compared it to if you walked into the kitchen and said "Breakfast" and it would be made. I would LOVE that! And, I would say "Muffins" ALL THE TIME! So, the major point of today is to sit back and think about just how ridiculous it is that God created everything by speaking it into existence. God has that kind of power, that kind of authority to do that! WOW!

Change!

It is hard to wrap my brain around the fact that God has always existed. There has never been a point in time where God was not around. There was a point though were our earth wasn't around. Same goes for the rest of our galaxy. God is a god of change. He doesn't change. He makes things change. God decided at one point in history to create. He created light and liked it enough that He continued and created the earth. Earth wasn't too shabby so He made sky and water and trees and fish and animals and bugs and humans. Going from nothing (other than God) to having a large collection of planets and stars and even living organisms was quite a huge change (not for God of course, but for us). God continues creating change in the earth. He also makes our lives change. Sometimes it is our body that is changing or other times it is the situation we are in that changes. God also created us as creatures of habit. How hard would it be for you to walk into your church and sit in a different spacial location in the church? What about even a different seat? It just doesn't feel right.....(some people have larger issues with this type of change than others).

Sometimes change is instantaneous. Other times change takes a long long time. There are good changes in our lives, and there are also 'bad' changes in our lives. (I am fairly certain that I have mentioned how everything that happens in our lives has a purpose and God uses our experience resume for His plan so even though there are changes that happen that would naturally be thought of as 'bad' are not actually bad after all. It just takes longer to realize their goodness.

Deep down I think that God provides these changes so that we stay on our toes. If we get comfortable in one situation or habit, how hard would it be for us to change and follow God's calling for our lives when He sends the message. God wants our hearts to be ready for action. He wants us to be willing to 'GO' when He needs us to GO. He wants us to redefine the boundaries of our 'comfort zone'. Our comfort zone should be large enough to include all of God's plan! (which is quite huge if you ask me).

Think about your life and what changes you are going through currently. Do you think of them as 'bad' changes or good changes. If you have some 'bad' changes, try to find the goodness in them. Try to redefine your definition of change so that it includes the big picture (even though most of the time we are not provided the big picture and only a little snippet).

It's Free, Take It

A thought came to mind yesterday and I knew that is what I should post about. I have to admit that I have a problem. I love free things! Like, seriously. It doesn't matter if I need it or not, I feel like I am required to take it because it is saving me money since it is free. At one point I was plotting a good time to stop on an interstate to pick up a piece of clothing that someone had lost there. It was a coral color and I was hoping it was a sweatshirt or something. (I never ended up picking it up but I still regret figuring out what it was). Going along with this whole love of free things, I still have a hard time accepting when friends decide they are going to buy something for you. There is that whole scenario of going to a restaurant and someone covers the whole bill. Everyone else around the table start digging through their wallets and get out their money and try to give it to the individual. They deny their payment but the people insist. Some people at this point will reluctantly accept their payment for the meal and the issue is over. While others, who really would like to bless the others by providing them with a meal for no cost to them continue to refuse the money. It is at this point where I put my wallet back and thank them profusely. I do not like asking for money but I also would like to allow them to give if that is what they would like to do. Who am I do deny someone of blessing others? If I would like to give a painting to someone as a birthday gift, I don't want payment in return. It is a gift. Let me give it to you free of charge. On a similar note, I think that is one of the many reasons why people in our society have a hard time completely accepting the fact that God GIVES us salvation FOR FREE. None of us come close to deserving this gift but God loves us so much that He can't help but shower grace on us and GIVE us that opportunity to exist in heaven with Him for eternity.....that's right......eternity!!!! Many people have been taught that God requires certain things in return. Many of these thoughts include things that are great for society, but the whole thought that God requires them from us is an illusion. God providing Jesus as a way out of our punishment from sin is COMPLETELY and UTTERLY FREE. I'll even say, "NO STRINGS ATTACHED" when there are not strings even around it. So, accept God's gift as it is, free. It doesn't matter that you can do things in return to 'pay Him back'. It is a FREE GIFT. (Things that people think are required by God are things that we should want to do because we are so thankful and LOVE Him so much that they just happen in our lives)

I Find You When I Fall Apart

Once again a song on Pandora has inspired the post. I don't think I have ever heard this song before. But, it came at just the right time. (Imagine that, God's timing was perfect yet again)......

Yeah.....so that basically speaks for itself. Wow.

Why is it that there is a higher probability for me to seek God when life is just fine and dandy when the moments when I feel like I really need Him I talk to Him less?? Logical? I think not. But, I do it all the time. That was one of the reasons why I started this blog....to keep my interactions with God more consistent...well, I have been posting really scattered for the last couple months because I hit a crazy point in my life.....hummmmm.....Interesting.....

Running Around with My Head Cut Off (not literally of course)

This is going to have to be short because I am currently sitting in my lecture class at the computer while my students take their exam.

Some of you might possibly be wondering how my seminar went......well..........It went ok. I can not pinpoint another moment in my life where I have experienced a higher, more concentrated amount of stress. I thank God (literally of course) for my Mum being able to come and support me. I honestly would have been more  of a wreck then I already was if she had not been there. Also, I had a great group of friends who came to support me too. You know who your true friends are who come to watch your seminar (which is dry as bones) just because they knew it was important to me. Unofficially I passed my seminar (my second reader still has to watch it and give it his stamp of approval). That means that all I really have left is to write my thesis.....yeah....that shouldn't be hard right???? hahaha. : |  So...it took me all of Saturday to physically recover from the stress I experienced Friday. And Sunday I still wasn't completely myself. Currently, this week I am subbing for a friend's paper route. This means that my alarm clock (aka my phone) goes off at 2:30am. This morning I was planning on baking cookies for a lesson for my students after the exam but I woke up at 4:30am...ahhhhh LATE!!!!! I literally ran through the paper route and finished at 6:30. I still needed to shower and get ready for the day and leave the house at 7am to go to the store to buy ice cream for VBS (because I said I would bring a gallon completely forgetting that I wasn't going to be there due to my class) and then get to work by 8am for my students to take their exam.

All in all I made it to work at 8:01 (according to the clock in the classroom). I am wicked tired right now and didn't have any coffee in the house (which I do not need but because of my extended amount of lack of sleep I need it just to exist through the day, not to wake up). But, God knew I needed those two extra hours of sleep. I would have rather come back after the paper route to bake cookies and possibly take a nap (and not rush around like my life depended on it all morning). God had other plans and I did make it to work on time. I don't feel like I got two extra hours of sleep but I sure know I needed it. Thanks God.

But....I.....I.....Don't Speak...Good....... :\

A quick post. Tomorrow is my Graduate Research Seminar!!! Um...yeah....so I have a lot of work to get done before that soooo......I felt like this was on my heart....Exodus 4:10-12

¹⁰ Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”¹¹ The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? ¹² Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

God will help me say what I need to say tomorrow! I can't do this seminar on my own accord. Oh, NO! I stubble over my own thoughts and by the time they make it out of my mouth they are backwards and probably inside out too. God, bless tomorrow and give me the energy and the words to say to convey how much work has been put into this project. And, just how awesome my project is!!! (The results are AMAZING!!!)

Finish Strong!

This is more or less a selfish post. I LOVE this video! I watched this game while it was happening. (I actually had an internship literally two blocks from the stadium but that weekend I went to visit my aunt and grandmother).

Anyway, we (Grammy, my cousin Luke, and I) were watching this game. I was rooting for Syracuse (1. because my brother owns just about every article of clothing with that orange 'S' on it and 2. because well, I like them too). I didn't follow any games and really only watched this one because we found it while flipping through channels. Boy am I glad we found it though. The whole game was back and forth. Then, in the second half, it was all Cornell. Like ALL Cornell. You almost got to a point where you forgot what it felt like for Syracuse to score......time was running out.....and.....................(well, why don't you watch it for yourself)

I always tear up watching this. It is seriously ridiculous just how awesome how Syracuse won that game! (I am assuming by now you either watched the video, which, if you didn't, you should, or you are assuming the outcome without watching the video, which, you should watch the video) As a fan you can only be so supportive. The team had dug themselves into what seemed like an insurmountable hole. But, the boys kept playing. They might have felt like it was a waste of time, but they played just as strong (if not stronger) and WON!

I watched this video yesterday to get me motivated to continue with research. I am dragging right now and so I thought I would share this motivation with everyone. If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it. He does not promise that you will win. In fact, He tells us we are going to lose over and over and over again. But, that builds who we are and it prepares us for what other games are later on in the season!

Science Sunday: All of God's Design is based in Math!

Ok, so, if you are a mathmitician about to read this post...I am very sorry to inform you, there are no equations, and no novel math based theories. I like math, but I am not great at it. It takes me a lot of focus with no distractions (which just about never happens). Also, any of the following ideas are not my own. 

Mandelbrot, in 1967, published a paper in Science. It was titled "How long is the coast of Britain?". In this paper (which you can read for yourselves at: http://users.math.yale.edu/~bbm3/web_pdfs/howLongIsTheCoastOfBritain.pdf ) talked about a novel way to describe the coastal shore in it's entirety. His major conclusion is that you can use fractals to describe the coast. If you use a yard stick (which they would never use a yard stick in Britain) to measure the shore you will get a distance. This distance will not be extremely accurate because you are unable to use that yard stick to measure every nook and cranny of the organic coastal line. Then, if you use a ruler to measure the coast you will get a more accurate measurement that describes the distance covered by the coast. Next, if you use a one centimeter ruler (I would never EVER wish this on anyone for a research project! Which, by the way, I give my defense of my research this Friday!!! AHHH! Yikes! But that also means....I'M ALMOST DONE!) Anyway, if you were to take that itty-bitty centimeter ruler and measure the coastline you will get another number that is even more accurate than before. Keeping this trend, each time you use a smaller measurement to describe that line, you are describing it with more and more accuracy. Or, as you measure the coastline with an infinitely small tool, your description of the coast gets infinitely more accurate. 

There you go....Fractals. Fractals are the branch of math that describes naturally occurring phenomena. (A fern is a perfect example of a fractal) 

The medical field discovered that our blood vessels are organized in a fractal pattern. With this information, they can locate a tumor based off of the patterns the vessels form (CRAZY!). If you would like a pictoral example of fractals in nature, jump on over to the following website (they have great pictures):

http://www.miqel.com/fractals_math_patterns/visual-math-natural-fractals.html. God designed the whole earth with math as it's backbone!!!! 

Daily Inspiration!

Research, Research, Research, Research........Research. Congratulations, you just survived a quick look into the inner functions of my current state of mind. haha. Well, again, this post was inspired by a song I heard on Pandora while, well, doing research.

Watch the video below. It is the inspiration for the song I picked today for the post.

And, here is the entire song so you can listen to all of the lyrics.

Well, the God Experience for today: There are many times where you are given more than you can handle. Yes, I said it, MORE than you can handle. You aren't strong enough to deal with everything that comes in your life.....(hopefully you didn't stop reading the post by this point. I am not discouraging you)........and....we weren't designed to be strong enough. GOD is STRONG ENOUGH! The dynamic duo of God and I creates a version of myself that IS strong enough for anything that comes at me. ANYTHING!

I want to quickly just say that this song applies to all of us at some point. We get to a point where we don't even understand how (or why) this is all happening to just one person. But, here is where the title of the post comes from. My mother, or as I call her, my Mum, knows this all too well. She is a beautiful example of how any trial or challenge can be met and conquered when you are paired with a God who is strong enough. Mum, you are amazing!

What a reassuring feeling that we don't have to be strong enough. There is no need for us to try to be strong enough. When in the midst of a trial (well, actually, it should happen all the time....good or bad) take advantage of the benefits of the God and You tag team!

Up, Down, Up, Down. Life is Like a Chevron!

I have been completely inconsistent posting recently. Today I have honestly had so many God Experiences to make up for every day I have missed a post (and then some). It is seriously amazing how listening to worship music while working on something you dread doing can help you get through it, and even enjoy doing it. (Of course I am still talking about research). With each new thought throughout the day I have wondered which one I would end up posting. Well, this one kept playing through my head (it is actually two together, which might be cheating, but this is my blog and I guess that means I can make the rules/guidelines).

The last song that I listened to on Pandora (I finally figured out just how great it is. I was reluctant to listen to Pandora because everyone talks about it) was 'Closer to Love' by Mat Kearney.

I liked the song, and when I found the music video, I liked the song even more! One line in this song stuck out to me (well, actually more than one did, but, once again....right now lets just pretend only one line stuck out to me in the song). The line "we're all just phone call from their knees". True story. It doesn't matter where you are in your life. All it takes is one phone call and it can completely tear you down from where you are (whether it is up high on a mountain top or beginning to climb up again). It was perfect that the song that played right before this song was "Get Down" by Audio Adrenaline (I love those guys!). They use the words "humbleness is left untasted" and "when you're all alone, He's carrying you!". I think I might have posted this song before (I don't have time to look back and check) but if I didn't, check out the Youtube video because it is great! 

Anyway, God tells us we will get knocked down. But, He also tells us that He will be there carrying us when we can't take it anymore. When we get that phone call, it can knock us flat on our faces, but this helps us learn humility (along with many other things). Humility is essential to understand a slew of things but one is how to relate to people, or to love people where they are at. They might be struggling with their faith because they are in a hard time and need someone who has walked where they are before to help give them guidance (or just to be a friend when everyone else has left their side, other than God of course). 

While God has promised us that He will be there for us the whole time we are in a state of 'learning', a lot of times it really might not feel like He is there, or even in the same neighborhood. This is why He also provides friends. Not just friends, but those friends who will always, and I mean ALWAYS, be there for you. From when you have to collapse in their embrace or when you need to call someone to complain about a hang nail, they are there. They know you deep down in your soul, and you have allowed them to know you that intimately because you have developed trust between each other. There are few greater feelings than seeing someone you love after you have been separated from each other for a long period of time! I get down (it seems more frequent than not) but I know He will lift me up, and He has blessed me with friends/family who help me realize that God is right there carrying me the WHOLE time, whether I feel Him or not.

Grace Grace Everywhere. I should probably give some away!

I have been more crazy than ever. I have less than a week to get all my research data collected and then I have my seminar the following week! AHHHHH!!! Oh yeah...and the summer class that I'm teaching started up this week so that means I need to make 8 hours of lecture power points each week for the next 5 weeks (and 4 exams too). Humm....well, luckily I have nothing to do. That should be really fun! Those are just the academic things going on in my life....there is much more happening other than that too....Well, as much as I feel like the above are good excuses for not posting in a while.....they aren't. I have had God Experiences! There were quite a few this past Sunday! But, wouldn't you believe that I have completely forgotten them.

A good friend and I had a conversation through facebook and she reminded me of how much grace I am given every day. I get a ton from everyone around me but what I was focused on was the grace that God gives me. If He is able to be so gracious to me how would I even think about denying someone my grace? That reminds me of the parable of the man who was waived of all of his fees to the king and immediately after his slate was cleaned he went out and threw a man who owed him a minuscule amount of money in jail until he could pay him back. When the king found out about this he was furious and retrieved the man and punished him for not showing the same kindness he was shown to his deter.

We can't with hold grace and compassion from people around us (yes, even when they don't deserve it....actually, especially when they don't deserve it) because we were in the same boat.

Hocus Pocus FOCUS!

Well, I have been in research crunch time for the last month and a half (or more) but currently I am in SUPER CRUNCH TIME mode. Ahhhh! This project has redefined my definition of focus! (Actually, it might have made me even more scatter brained than I was at the start). When I laid down to go to sleep last night I couldn't even stop thinking about my project. My mind was flipping through different methods to eliminate image noise in my head that we (my adviser and I) could try to get a higher phase only correlation value (not important if you didn't get that last sentence..... haha)

Anyway, I had an awesome chat with a good friend on the phone yesterday. And....at the same time I was able to get research done! Yes, amazing, I know. My friend and I were able to catch up with what God is doing in both of our lives since we barely ever get to chat. I discussed with him my frustration with my life currently. (Don't get me wrong, I love my life.) My frustration comes when I think about what I am doing right now with it. I am up to my eyeballs (or even further) in student loans for my education. I am working at nausea to finish my advanced degree. I don't have a full time job to take care of those eyeball high loans. At the end of August I don't have a place to live. And the list continues....This is how the list flies through my mind. My mind only focuses on the negative and then I get super frustrated with where I'm at. Blah Blah Blah Blah....I could seriously keep writing more of how my mind works but, to be honest...it doesn't really apply to my God Experience.

All in all, while debriefing my friend, I came to the conclusion that I am focused on what is (or isn't) to come, instead of FOCUSING on the PRESENT! Like, what is happening right NOW......and NOW......and NOW in my life. Why worry and freak out about tomorrow when I should really be FOCUSED on today! God talks about how beautiful He has made the flowers outside, and even though He has made each one so beautiful and delicate, they only last a short amount of time.

If He spends that much energy making sure those temporary things of this world are taken care of.....how

much more energy does God spend taking care of us? I need to focus on what I am doing in my life today. Tomorrow will take care of itself!

28“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:28-30

FREEDOM!

Ah....well, if you didn't realize it....yesterday was the 4th of July.

http://www.homesbymorningstar.com/uploads/Liberty4th-of-july.jpg

It's the day we celebrate America's independence! Yesterday I celebrated my freedom by doing research all day. But what crossed my mind was that I am free.

I live in a free country! I am meat free! and I am free from the eternal consequences of my sin...........Sin....the self inflicted separation from God. Ewwww.....really anything 'self-inflicted' sounds worse when described as such. Even awesome things lose their luster when 'self-inflicted'. Lucky for us.....sin doesn't lose any luster. The only way that sin has luster to begin with is if Satan makes it look better than it actually is, and that is not nice, why he is Satan and not God.

Anyway.....I am free. The freedom experienced in this country was paid by countless people's lives. In the same way, my eternal freedom was paid for my one man, Jesus. I can never express just how thankful I am for everyone who was part of making this country great. Along the same lines.....try as I may, I will never be able to truly express my gratitude to God for my salvation. (luckily, He knows, since He knows everything....)

I'm Sick of Looking Through the Motel PeepHole

Ok God. I feel completely out of control of my life....oh wait....I am.....ha ha....You are in control! Recently,  there have been a lot of moments like that. I have been trying to find a job, a place to live, sanity, and even just a simple 'plan' for my life. Do I want to move home? Do  I want to stay right where I am? What about moving somewhere completely different? So many choices! I have never really liked having a lot of choices. I struggle at restaurants trying to pick what I want to eat. If I have difficulty choosing something so temporary as a meal how would I decide anything that holds any sort of weight or importance in my life, like a job??!!! It is reassuring that I don't have to plan my life.

But I like maps, and I like knowing where I'm headed. I am a HUGE advocate of being mentally prepared for things. A simple heads-up for me means SO much! Right now I feel like I don't even have a little peephole to view my life through. You know exactly what I'm talking about.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzZgTfkEAgSxpDbpljxhJpLSSO9iPl4RJaLT1R5TcQDuYJNEjfnwA7TUAQxu7I2F260nZ3ndMjj5GsaQuO_uF4vq170jsh_cEDyhunUnf3PahGb4Beee3wzK0rOUKLNNPj_tLmUMnb5ng/s320/peephole.bmp

When you are staying in a motel (or hotel for you upper class folks ha ha) and someone knocks on the door you look through that stupid clear marble in the door to try to figure out who is on the other side without opening the door. Of course, you can cover the peep-hole, but that doesn't even matter because the distortion from the design of the peephole alone makes people completely unrecognizable.

So, I should just trust that God is outside the motel door with something awesome (like pizza!), something great, and completely unpredictable for my life. That's right God. I'm expecting something completely unpredictable and different from anything I could ever dream or plan for. I'm not going to look through the peephole....I'm just going to open the door! Bring it on!

Science Sunday: Burn Baby, Burn!

In high school I took a sculpture shop class. In that class I got to learn how to weld! And, boy, let me tell you, if I had an opportunity to weld the rest of my life, I would should take it! I fell in love instantly (after I got over the sheer fear of blowing up the building of course). Yesterday's God experience was all about metal!

If you look up Zechariah 13:9 (or if you read it below)

This third I will put into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, 'They are my people,' and they will say, 'the LORD is our GOD.'

it talks about metal refinement. In my high school class we did not refine any metals, but I did Google the process. I actually looked up 'smelting' (which is the process of getting the metal separate from the ore it was found in). This is a type of refinement since it is removing a lot of impurities.

http://compendiumofawesome.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/blog-smelting.jpg

I'm not going to get into the details but what basically happens in the smelting process is that extreme heat is used along with other compounds to liquefy the metal and be able to remove it from the 'junk'. In the verse above it talks about God throwing His people into the refining process. We go through extreme heat and tough times to begin to separate from the 'junk' that surrounds us. Different temperatures are used for different kinds of metals. So, for some people they require a lower heat for a longer time to remove the 'junk' from their lives. Other people require an extreme heat for a short amount of time to begin the purification process.

When we experience an increase in temperature in our lives (more theoretical heat, not necessarily the summer or global warming) it is God refining us. He is removing things in our lives that are keeping us from being the purest metal around. Even a little flaw in a piece of metal can keep it from being used to make fine jewelry. And, since we start by being surrounded by so much ore to begin with, our refinement process lasts our whole lives. There is always more 'crud' (to use my favorite scientific term) to be extracted from us.

Don't resist God's refinement for your life. You are precious to Him and He is developing you into the priceless metal you were designed to become.

Shoot For The Stars (because they're in the visible spectrum!)

For Pizza Friday I made a pizza and sat down to watch a nice nerdy show about super novas. There is more than one reason why I love science. One of them is that it simply blows my mind over and over again! I am fairly certain that you are unable to know everything about everything. I would love to try, but at this point, I don't have time or the energy. On this episode of 'The Universe' they used an old movie reel to demonstrate the actual size of the visual spectrum of light in comparison to the rest of the light spectrum. If you were to stretch the movie film from California all the way to Alaska the entire visible light spectrum (the only light we can see with our unaided eyes) would lie right in the middle of the stretched out film and would only be about one and a half inches in length!!!!! Out of all of that, that is all the light we can see! Pretty neat stuff! Science has used different techniques to turn all the other 'invisible' light into visible. But....my God Experience is that almost all of the stars (if not all) shine within the visible range. And that visible range is visible for who to see? God's creation!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b2/Eagle_nebula_pillars.jpg/250px-Eagle_nebula_pillars.jpg

: )

Morning Meeting!

Today I was blessed enough to be part of a brainstorming team for my church. Our church is looking to focus on getting more church attendees involved in a life group (what I have always called a 'small group'). We are looking to stress how critical they are in your life for support, accountability, friendship, new perspectives on things, bless someone else's life (and most likely be blessed yourself), potentially interacting with different generations than your own (scandalous, I know), develop close relationships with people in the church, and if that wasn't all, they are a great way to get more involved with the church.

We talked about reasons why people are not already or currently involved in a small group. Maybe they are too tired or busy and can't seem to find extra time. Or, there is also the argument that life groups are simply 'not for them'.

We also discussed ways to collect people's information to allow them to be placed into a small group oops, I mean life group that best fits their personality, demographic, and location. It was a great experience and I look forward to seeing where this outreach goes and be able to quantify the results. (We are looking for quality of course but at this point it is completely up in the air about the number of responses we might receive!) God is SO good! (ALL THE TIME!)

To top this whole thing off, I got to spend quality time with a friend from church before the meeting! YAY! All in all, today was filled with fellowship, time focused on developing my leadership, and great people!

Don't Be One of Pavlov's Dogs!

While waiting for comparisons to run for my research I was able to spend a good amount of time on Pinterest (which is awesome by the way). I mostly looked for new recopies for baking and cooking. But, this morning while I quickly glanced on there to see if there was anything new there was one post that caught my eye. All is said was "Seek God, not His gifts". Hummm....Interesting. Am I seeking God for God? Or, do I seek Him because I get stuff in return?

There was a scientific study, done by Ivan Pavlov, where the scientist rang a bell right every time right before he fed the test animals, dogs. After doing that for a while, he decided to just ring the bell (with no food to follow). The dogs started automatically salivating because they had associated food with the sound of bell.

God loves us and wants to bless us. But, He doesn't bless us when we do things right. He also doesn't bless us when we do things wrong. He blesses us ALL THE TIME! "There is nothing you can do to make God love you any more. But, there is also nothing you can do to make God love you any less!" We should all be striving to seek God because we love Him. Because He is all-powerful, awesome (causing awe), all-knowing, splendid, perfect, HOLY, generous, gentle, ..............................think of other words today..........

I Have Missed Out

Short and sweet today. Tonight as I was driving back to the lab I got to see the beautiful sky that God painted just for me (well, anyone really but it always feels like it's an artwork specifically for me) How many times have I been so upset or busy to miss some of the art that God has scattered all around me? I simply need to pay more attention!

This picture was taken from the passenger seat while the car was driving, so I am sorry for the blurry trees

Science Sunday: DNA's Auto Correct Buttons!

The video above isn't the most entertaining video but today is SCIENCE SUNDAY and what the video explains is nothing short of amazing!

While I have not explained the structure of DNA (which will have to be a whole other Sunday post) this came to mind today.

One of the reasons you should wear sunscreen is to prevent burning, and to prolong aging on your skin. It is also prevention of skin cancer. Ultra Violet (UV) Light and X-Rays are the top most potent carcinogens we are exposed to, and we encounter UV every day!!! It can do many things but the major one is causes mutations in our DNA. Naturally, when our body is copying DNA and making new cells it makes errors in our DNA. But.....here's the cool part. When God designed our bodies He incorporated a natural proof reader for or DNA! It is able to go over the DNA strand and find the mistake, cut out that piece and fill in the gap with the correct bases! Same thing with the damage from the sun. It causes thymine dimers on our DNA and specific enzymes go over the DNA and remove/fix those spots. Without these proof readers, over the years of our lives we would have collected so many mutations we would have many more health issues that already exist. Pretty cool stuff!

But, if you collect too many mutations or thymine dimers the proof readers become overwhelmed and they are unable to catch and fix every issue in the DNA before it is replicated. So wear your sunscreen and thank God that your body is fixing your own DNA right NOW!

God is like Coffee (only better!)

I am not an avid coffee drinker. Over the last couple months I finally started being able to drink it black, but I still am not at the point where it is necessary every morning for me to wake up properly. (I never want to get to that point). But, I have noticed that my bodies toxicology (how it processes toxins aka caffeine) is a little strange. For example, if I were to drink coffee before Sunday School at around 7am I am still tired through Sunday School and the church service, but once I get home for the afternoon I start running around like a mad women getting things done and at about 100 mph! (Absolutely the coffee, I don't run around or get things done). So, there is around a five hour processing time. If I wanted the 'Good Morning Coffee' effect I would in theory have to wake up at 2am, drink a cup, and then fall back asleep. By around 7am I would be wired! All of this information is strange and not really necessary for my God Experience yesterday.

I had a rough day yesterday. (so, if you could add me into your prayers, feel free. Hint, hint). I got to the lab early, and started working on research (imagine that). But, what I was supposed to work on was not what I ended up working on because my adviser and I added another processing step and we were having some issues. Anyway, I was getting frustrated and it took until about 12:30 to make one graph, and that means that I hadn't even started the 14 hours of work that my adviser wanted done that day........

Since it was Thursday, I had to leave the lab at 5:30 to go play volleyball. (which sounds like fun and a good break but the team played bad, wait no, horrible, and the attitudes were not any better, which resulted in me being angry/stressed out from VOLLEYBALL!

Then, (I haven't talked to my Mum about this yet so Mum, if you are reading this....feel free to call but it seems that everything is fine) on my way home from volleyball (and when I say 'home' I mean 'the lab') I got a little confused about a turn and ended up hitting the edge of the curb with a bit of momentum. I pulled over, put my hazards on, and got out to look at what I had done. Well, the tire wasn't flat (which I was kind of expecting) and I had knocked my hub cap off. (I had always wondered how people lose those things...I now know) and so I ran back down the side of the road and pick my hub cap up and went back to the car. Since the tire wasn't flat and it didn't seem like anything else was wrong I was about to get back in my car to make the rest of the drive to the lab. Then a cop pulled up behind me with his lights on......."yay a cop" my mind cheered. (My comments to myself are just about as sarcastic as I am in person). I didn't know what I was supposed to do. He stayed in his car and was talking on the radio.....am I in trouble? I had only been stopped twice before (once for speeding, which I got a warning for, and another time for The Limo's inspection being expired) so I had no experience with me not really doing anything wrong and being "pulled over".......(well, I guess hitting the curb is wrong but I didn't know that you could get in trouble for it). To cut the story shorter than an other three paragraphs long, basically he asked me a few times if I had been drinking....I told him "no" and then I clearified "well, a little bit of water at volleyball" because it was SCALDING out. He then asked me for my license, registration and insurance...(I was a bit scared at this point. Am I really in trouble right now?). That was about it. He ran my info, came back and then I drove off........Needless to say, no ticket, no warning, but I cried the whole rest of the way back to the lab. I was so tired, frustrated, sad, angry, and probibly a few other emotions. I don't know what I was more frustrated about, working on my research all day every day and still not getting anywhere or the fact that I just had an interaction with a cop and he was convinced that I had been drinking.

For this whole day to be a proper God Experience I needed to process all of it. And what I came up with was Isaiah 40:30-31:

Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

I was very tired. (I was also a tad bit dehydrated which made me a little weary). I need to allow God to be my coffee every morning till my research is completed (well, actually, for the rest of my life). And, God is even better than coffee. There is no coffee crash with God. You will never develop a tolerance (why you need to drink more and more coffee and more coffee for the same effect). And.......since God is Living Water, you will never go thirsty (unlike coffee, which dehydrates you something fierce).

http://creoleindc.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c5e0053ef016764a1b73a970b-800wi

I am sure I could make a few more comparisons but I am in the lab and need to get some work done. I feel a little better today and am going to have a great Worship Song session while I'm submerged in my research. Are you relying on coffee for your morning kick? Why not try God for a change? (I know that was a tad corny but hey, I am corny!)

A Filtered Image

Today I don't really have a lot to say. I am trying to stay motivated on my thesis/research.

I have avoided becoming stressed or frustrated with all the work I have to get done in the next couple weeks (yeah, the count down is in weeks!!! :\ ). But today I had two hours of frustration and doubt! It was not enjoyable at all. Lies flashed through my head that kept me from thinking clearly. "Your not smart enough to complete this!" "Why do you even try, your going to get it wrong" It got to a point where I just had to chill and step away from the computer for a few minutes.

Later I started listening to the worship music play list (which happens to contain a few songs from Chris Tomlin). I had calmed down by now and the songs I was reminded me that God accepts me where I'm at. Even though I am never good enough to get into Heaven (because only those that are perfect get that honor) I know that God looks at me through a filter, a Jesus filter. Whenever He sees me, He doesn't see all the times I've failed. He sees someone who is perfect! (I wish my mirror had a Jesus filter on it....haha) I am SO thankful that I can depend on Jesus and His sacrifice to allow accesses to God! I went from a mindset of doubt and almost anger to an overwhelming thankfulness! Phew! : )

Roll Up Your Sleeves so Your Heart Doesn't Get Dirty!

For a large part of my life I never fully understood the saying, "wearing your heart on your sleeve". But, after a few years of learning a lot about myself and hearing others opinions about my character I have determined that my heart is embroidered on just about every sleeve in my closet. I try to be happy most of the time (or at least appear happy) but more and more it seems that I do not do as good a job as I thought. I also develop very strong emotional/sentimental feelings quickly which can really mess with your heart.

http://www.gomedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/broken-heart-syndrome.jpg

Insider Scoop: For any male reading this post...Women (there are always exceptions to things but I am fairly confident that there is a high percentage of women who fit the following action) tend to over-think/complicate

things. Well, really, everything. This happens even more frequently when there is an association to our emotions or heart. (especially with love (or what some women think is love)).

I'm no going to lie, I have absolutely lost sleep over some guy and I have nothing to show for it. I literally could not sleep because my mind kept flipping through interactions with him. How he smiled at me when he entered the room, the sound of his laugh when we were talking, how our arms brushed when we were sitting next to each other.....etc. All of the events are trivial but they kept playing and re-playing in my head and quickly you develop an imaginary relationship with this person. You end up flipping through everything that would make the two of you a great couple. I have even re-told the different events to other people to get an 'unbiased' opinion. (when it is still biased because I'm telling the events and I get to pick what parts I tell and what ones I leave out). You can even enjoy this whole process to a point because you feel like there is this real thriving relationship between you and some guy when really he was just being a good friend. (ie. smiling at you when you see him or asking how your week was) While it is fun to 'feel' like your in a relationship, this is not exactly healthy. You can make this an obsession and there should be one relationship that becomes your obsession: your relationship with God.

What I have been trying to get to with all of this babbling insight into my persona is that I have been trying to roll up my sleeves to protect my heart. When God designed our bodies He put our heart (the organ/muscle) hidden underneath a whole cage made out of bone and a thick layer of muscle and then some skin! He did this because of how important this organ is for our survival. Our skin (the largest organ) covers the outside of our bodies. As important as skin is, it was put over the rest of us because it is semi-permeable, and it is constantly dying and replacing itself. Organs with higher protection are ones that if damaged or lost would prove to be a big issue for the host (ie YOU). (why the heart and brain are tucked away nicely in their own little cottages).

If God spent so much time protecting our physical heart we should take more time and effort protecting and guarding our emotional heart! 

Proverbs 4:23
"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."

When our physical heart is damaged in some way the whole body is effected. Same thing when you allow your emotional heart to be exposed and it get's damaged, all aspects of who you are is effected. When the Bible says 'guard your heart' it doesn't mean lock it up and never let your emotions show. When the President of the United States is guarded he is still allowed to move about the White House (and even leave the White House). No matter where he is or what he is doing there is always a form of protection somewhere. In some areas it means that he is sandwiched in the middle of a pack of service men or in other instances there are just a few guards around a larger area allowing for the President to move about at his leisure.

Guarding your heart is also not only dealing with your romantic feelings either. Your heart needs protection from many different kinds of assailants. And, it takes practice too. It's not as easy as entering a code and the alarm is set. Think about where you wear your heart and if you need to roll up your sleeves a little.

Science Sunday: God's Favorite Animal!

This post was inspired by the church service this morning. We are still deep into Job! I have learned SO much!! Today's lesson was set up a little different than some of the other services as far as content. Anyway.....

This is going to be a short post. Think about this. Why does God make our planet SO beautiful? Why are there so many different species of anything? (Bugs, birds even types or rocks?? (which I know different rocks are not species)). So, if you figured out why God made our planet so pretty, what about the parts of the world that are simply stunning but NO HUMAN HAS EVER SEEN IT? Why would God spend time to design parts of the planet that no one is going to see? If you are having guests over to your house, you are probably not going to super clean the entire house when you know they will only be in the kitchen and living room. And how about all the different plants? (or even trees?) Really God? Was that necessary?

In Job Chapters 38 and 39 God finally talks to Job. God puts Job back in his place! And..........God even talks about an ostrich! Yes! Those birds are simply hilarious looking. (one of my brothers got nipped on the finger by an ostrich at a zoo once). What our pastor was getting to in this part of the sermon was that what was the purpose of God creating an animal like the ostrich??!! They can't fly, they lay their eggs in the middle of the ground, basically unprotected, and they are wicked fast! But why? Well, what God makes that humans will never appreciate, the ostrich, the rest of space we don't have access to, and parts of creation that we will never stumble upon was all created for God's pleasure. Basically, He made it, because He could.  I have made paintings and plenty of artwork that I simply made because I wanted to, not for anyone else's pleasure. Wow! This is something I never thought about! EVER! All the flowers in the middle of the forest that bloom and die with no one every appreciating it is for God's pleasure! SO COOL!

Enjoy these images!!!! Ha ha!

http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs15/i/2010/055/e/3/Open_Mouthed_Ostrich_by_AndySerrano.jpg

http://tolweb.org/tree/ToLimages/ostrich_feet.jpg

Look at those feet!!! Ah ha ha!

http://www.animalpictures1.com/data/media/9/Baby_Ostriches.jpg

And I have decided that ostrich babies are absolutely ADORABLE!

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Perfecting the Art of Listening

Yesterday I read a few chapters in Jeremiah (27, 28, and 29). Most of the verses that these chapters were composed of repeated one another. There was a reoccurring theme so I decided that was my God Experience for the day (which is funny because I listened to what God was trying to teach me and it fit right in with the verses! Funny how it works out like that.....almost if it was planned......hummm....). The verses consist of God giving instructions to the people and reminding them to listen to His words and not the conflicting words of the Prophets, wise men, dream interpreters etc. God gave them instructions about what was going to happen to them and how they were expected to deal with the situation (the situation not being from the Jersey Shore but being King Nebuchadnezzar).

But what happens if you don't know whose voice is God's and whose is a false prophet or who is passing along false information?

Here is where my collegiate experience comes into play...haha. Just kidding, well, kind of. In a couple of my sports teams through my college years we did many different team building exercises. Some of them were as silly as playing a rousing game of Cranium while others were learning experiences. One of these more important team bonding experiences involved an obstacle course set up in the gym and some blindfolds. Needless to say (if you hadn't guessed by now) the team was split up into pairs and one person from each pair was blindfolded and the seeing partner needed to safely guide the sightless one through the obstacle course. Due to the fact that our gym was not super large and that there were specific goals involved other than simply being directly successfully through the course there was a tad bit of congestion at some points. While being blindfolded if you followed the directions from one of the other pair leaders you would have gotten tangled up or even lost. (What I am glad our team did not do is try to trick partners and give faulty directions to try to trip up another team). It was important to know your partner's voice and to listen to what they were saying. Sometimes it was confusing or I did not understand what my partner was quite saying. You know what I did....I asked questions back. But it mostly involved listening.

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This talent of listening isn't just for sports teams. It is also a key component of your relationship with God. (well, any relationship that you care about for that matter). It is ESSENTIAL for you to listen to what God is saying. Not just what other people say about God but what He is saying to YOU. How do I know it is God talking to me and not someone else (like your own desires etc)??? Well, that is a great question....(I absolutely just felt like I was talking to myself). When you are at the point of recognizing someone's voice, how have you gotten to that place? Did you read letters that they gave you? Did you sing to them? Well, I didn't. I spent time with them, talked with them and listened to their voice over and over and over again. It took practice and repetition. I am not here to tell you that I have fine-tuned the ability to hear God's voice. I simply know that it takes practice to be able to figure out A) what God is saying to you and B) that it is in fact God doing the talking and not the burrito you ate at lunch. I do believe that people have and do hear an audible voice from God but until God speaks to me in that manner on a consistent basis I need to perfect the Art of Listening.

Focus On Volleyball Not The Carnival

All yesterday I spend in the lab working on my research (imagine that). Seriously the whole day.....9am-8pm (which is actually less time that average).

So you can guess just how excited I was to get to play volleyball last night!

YAY VOLLEYBALL!!!!

Let me tell you...I was in rare form! I could not stop laughing (which isn't too far off from normal, but as a team, we were playing terrible so for me to still be laughing was probably not the best thing). I was having a grand old time, until it was my turn to serve. I didn't even get the ball over the net. (For anyone who knows me or has played/watched my volleyball, this is unusual. My serve is what I depend on.) My team mates (who I haven't played with but a couple games) were shocked! One of them asked 'What was that?" I told them not to worry and that it was the beginning of the game and I just needed to warm up.

When it happened again (and AGAIN!) I knew something was up. I could not focus on the volleyball. The court where we were playing was outdoors, and the park surrounding it was hosting a small carnival/fair. There was music (loud music), people, and light flashing rides all around us. Also, it was just after dusk and the lights for the courts were very bright (if you stared at them). To top the whole thing off, I had forgotten my contact lenses at the lab and was forced to wear my glasses which completely eliminated any chance of peripheral sight. The combination of all of this was distracting my eyes from my purpose. I was there to play volleyball (and to play it well).

At this point, you might be wondering where I am going with this long, pointless story. Well, here it goes. Each of you have a purpose for being alive. You all have gifts God has given you to use for His glory. Some might be made to teach, others were blessed with the ability to make anyone and everyone feel loved, and still others were designed to be grand leaders. How many of us are using our gifts completely? The world around us can take our attention away and distract us from what we were designed to do. Does the looming rent payment for the next month distract you from serving others? Are the issues with your car keeping you from praising someone with a 'job well done'? Our distractions don't necessarily have to be a bad thing either. Your family can keep you from using your spiritual gifts. The carnival surrounding the volleyball court wasn't evil. But it was distracting me from playing my best. Today, think about what God has designed you to be. List your gifts. (Yes, take the time to be positive about yourself). Maybe even take the time today to compliment someone else's spiritual gifts and remind them of their purpose!

Hopeful Not Stressful

Today the word 'Hope' came to mind. I started looking up "My Hope" in YouTube for a fun worship song that we would sing at BYC (Baptist Youth Camp: www.byc.cc). But, instead of finding that song I found "My Hope by Aaron Shust" (below). And that song fit exactly what I was thinking! Yes! So enjoy the song....

The reason why 'Hope' was on my mind was because I spent the entire day doing research. For anyone who has read any of the other posts...that is what I do all day, every day. So why would this day be any different?  Well, that is a completely reasonable question to ask! (I asked the same one myself). Well...today is the first full day back in the lab after a nice break visiting my family for my youngest brother's high school graduation. Even though it was not a physically restful vacation, I felt rested mentally when I got back here today. I even felt peace about by research and the thoughts of 'you can absolutely get this done by the end of July' crossed my head! WOW! What a vacation! 

The song speaks of Psalms 62:5....

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.

So....the question is....do I wait in silence because I have complete faith with God. Is my hope rooted in the Almighty? When I get stressed thinking about all of the deadlines I am faced with or all the work that needs to get done it is so hard for me to lose sight of the eternal hope I have! Why is that? How is it so easy for us to forget how much God loves us or how He knows what He's doing in our lives better than we ever could and yet we can remember all the words from songs (and even a couple air guitar solos) that we haven't heard since the 80's (or even longer)? I know I need to work on realizing the source of my hope! When all I can see is a cloud of research and it seems like I will never be finished with my degree.....I need to settle down, take a deep breath (or two...or three), and remember of the hope I have found and will keep!