Some Ramblings

michegan was tight.
my step nephew is bar-none one of the funnest, sweetest, giggliest little boys ever. i pretty much can't not smile when he's around.
i highly enjoy greek food.
mowing is enchanting.
coffee shops are amazing- what a blessing that st. joe suddenly has a few good ones. i could possibly live in one the rest of my life and be content.
seriously.
really content.

o.k. here's the recent wrestling match, wanting Truth to take over...

1 Cor. 2:2-5 "For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power."

Romans 14:1-19 "Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand...let each man be fully convinced in his own mind...do so for the Lord, give thanks to God... For not one of us lives for himself...whether we live or die, we are the Lord's..let us pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another."

some pals & i have been struggling for some time with the biblical vision of the Bride, Christ's Body, His presence on this earth; awaiting His return. denominations. the very word equates divison, separation, a part of a whole. is there a denomination that exists that Jesus would have been a part of? isn't God way bigger than these segregations? i just am so humbled and blessed by all bro's and sis' and sure some are further along in their walks than others and some know and live out the Word with deeper knowlegde and conviction, no doubt. there's just so much beauty in each member of Jesus' Body! it's insanity. and i no doubt totally get the upside of having smaller, organized groups of Believers , too.

John 17:17-21 "Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you."

oh snap. "I pray that all those bought by my blood are unified, one...just like You, Father and I are one..." ah man, how much time do we maybe waste judging/trying to neatly categorize someone i just met based on what chunk of the Body they claim to be a part of-whether consciously or subconsciously? have i truly spent most of the time, "resolving to know NADA but the important stuff...Jesus & Jesus' sacrifice?" i want so badly for my life to scream Jesus. am i alwayd studying and learning more about Him but humble enough to @ least try to get comfy with saying "i don't know"?
i want to attempt to be o.k. with people and their life experiences not being easily and instantly categorized/figured out. am i for real keeping Christ @ the head, the center, the lead? do i want the sometimes false commradery and sometimes shallow acceptance that is attached to saying i belong to a certain way of thinking about a given set of doctrinal issues?
i don't know, i mean is it best to say, you know what, let's focus 90% of our energies on what we agree on and for exercising the brain's sake think/sort through the Bible together on the stuff up for discussion once in a while...the passages in the Bible that aren't as clear-cut and that have verses for both one side and verses for the other? can we just say "thus saith the Lord..." and leave it @ that - w/o all the tallying of "here's a verse for you...here's a verse for me..."
i mean how much does a lot of this stuff really matter in the day-in, day-out of showing Jesus in the hum-drum of life- the place where most of our life is to be lived for God's glory. how much does all this matter in evangelism to the lost soul getting closer to eternity separated from our wonderful God minute by minute? are we loosing sight of the Big Picture pretty often? i just want to struggle and study and pursue God and His character and what all this means in everyday life, but i suppose i'm learning that i am learning. and it's great. we have this Husband we'll never anywhere near fully grasp and it's so amazing. "everything in moderation".
how beautful moderation and "setting @ one again" are. i don't know. i seriously have no answers. i just know it bums me out that as i am possibly considering seminary once again that i have no idea how to answer the question "which one would you attend?"
i just want people to know God's nutso about them, always has been. i want them to know it all starts and ends with Him. i want them to know that this life stinks. a lot. but it's only a breath, in and out and you're gone. i want them to know He wants them to join their life with Him and experience life to the full.

i am so thankful for all my bro's and sis' in Christ. ya'll light up my soul and teach me so much by just being who ya are. no regrets in regards to your past...surrendered to God it's beautiful and makes you who you are. no fear for the future- God's already there. we get to be married to the One who made that sunset and created the laughter of a child and Who beckons every person on this planet and desires they know Life and Truth. we are so blessed. may we each be bold with what He has taught us and convicted us of, to be stewards of what the Spirit has allowed each of us to learn and experience. to embrace and even encourage the beauty of uniqueness. may He help us remember that presently we "see in part... and are fully known by Him" but we do not fully know Him just yet.
we are getting to know Him.
what a romance and adventure! oh haste the day "we will be like Him for we shall see Him as He really is"!!!