About a week and a half ago I started feeling baby movement. It was very exciting, but very sporadic, and most of the time I wasn't sure I was feeling baby or intestinal movement. When I say sporadic I mean that I would feel the same thing two or three times in quick succession and then never again, and then another different movement two or three times maybe 12 hours later or maybe not for a day or two.
Well... I'm pretty sure I felt the baby moving all day yesterday. I think I was getting kicked! It felt like a little tap-tap-tap very low in my pelvis a little on the left side.
It's a very strange concept to have an entirely different person growing completely enclosed within my body. It's kind of Star Trek or Men In Black - ish. Could anybody other than God have come up with this system? It's pretty amazing.
Pretty amazing and certainly educating! I'm having to learn how to touch and feel without my hands. Every time I feel movement below my belly button my impulse is to put my hand on my belly... except that usually makes the baby stop moving. So instead of reaching out and touching with my fingers, which has been the norm for all 28 years of my life, I'm trying to learn how to touch and feel with the inside of my belly. It's not part of my body that I'm accustomed to thinking about as a "sensory input" area, but it's exciting to learn!
What an adventure!
Update - I think I've just had the first "touch-communication" with the baby... a small press against the lower left side of the belly resulted in a relatively large movement on the upper right side! And then we did it again! So cool!!!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
18 weeks on my 28 birthday!
Thanks, Grace, for the cute birthday shirt! I got lots of compliments on the flower and buttons :) And thanks, Mom, for the birthday skirt(s)! So comfortable....
James took me to the Houston Symphony last night to see Berlioz's Symphanie Fantastique. It was pretty fantastic! I got a workout jogging through downtown trying to make it there on time (left the wedding a few minutes late then got stuck in traffic for some sort of festival downtown, then had to park really far away... pregnant lady in heels jogging across the street after climbing 3 flights of stairs must be pretty funny to see...! So thankful we made it in time!)
The first half was a guest pianist (Simon Trpceski) who was incredible... he played Saint-Saens' Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, which totally blew us away. He got a standing ovation for about 6 minutes straight and then came out and played two encore pieces! The first time back out he sat down and thought for a minute and then turned to the audience and said "It seems like the whole world is celebrating the anniversary of Chopin," and the audience let out this delighted little sigh/giggle. Out of however many hundreds of pieces the man knew, he chose to play a "little waltz that [he] learned when [he was] 6 or 7 years old." It was so sweet to watch him play this piece that was a perfectly nice little waltz but was obviously one of his favorites. There's something about learning a piece as a child that makes it feel precious to you - it was so sweet to hear him play it!
And then, of course, Symphonie Fantastique was... well... fantastique! I've never seen it live before - the third movement calls for FOUR timpani players! They shared two sets of three drums and it really sounded like thunder!!! The two harps were also pretty cool, and the off-stage oboe solist was a neat effect. Then in the fourth movement (March to the Scaffold), which is my favorite, the snare drum is apparently revolutionary because it hadn't been used in orchestra before, and he wrote for 2 tubas (well, the tuba's predecessor), which was also revolutionary. And movement 5 (Witches' Dance in Hell) was super spectacular with two timpanists, two antiphonal bass drums (one on either side of the stage), and orchestral chimes (also revolutionary) off stage that were so tall the guy had to climb a ladder to play them. It was spectacular! Definitely one of the best concerts I've ever been to!
So I told James that once our kids are grown and we have money again I want season tickets :-P We'll see if he remembers in 30 years...
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Buttermilk Biscuits and Strawberry Jam
Last week Kathy Littlefield and I made strawberry jam. Actually, Kathy made it and I helped. The strawberries are so red that if I was served them in a sauce or jam at a restaurant I would assume there was food coloring in them! And SO SWEET! Anyway, I was inspired to make buttermilk biscuits to go with the jam :) (btw, Kathy has also made jalapeno jelly and orange marmalade, among other delicious things. I'm going to start inviting myself over to her house more often...)
Buttermilk Biscuits - recipe found in Fannie Farmer Cookbook. It's the same as a Baking Powder Biscuit recipe, but cut the powder in half and add 1/4 of that new amount of baking soda, substituting buttermilk for regular milk (ex - 4 Tbsp powder becomes 2 Tbsp powder plus 1/2 Tbsp soda).
In lieu of a food processor or pastry knife, I used a whisk to combine the shortening/butter with the flour/dry ingredients. It worked pretty well, although if your recipe calls for cold butter this would be difficult. Hopefully I'll get a food processor at some point in my life!
Then, after adding the buttermilk, the recipe instructs you to knead the dough 14 times (folding it over on itself to make the layers that become flaky buttery goodness). 14 times worked pretty well the first time I made them - they rose nicely and were fairly flaky. But when I made them yesterday morning they didn't rise as much and were kind of lumpy. Right around 10 folds the texture of the dough started to change. My plan for next time is to fold the dough until the texture starts to change and then stop, whenever that is.
I used a square cookie cutter yesterday. I was excited that it wasted less dough, so you have fewer "lump biscuits" with the trimmings, and more of them fit on the pan because there was less wasted space. I know, I'm a nerd, but it was exciting to me nonetheless.
I packaged some of them up to take to my friend Amy in the hospital who just delivered her baby Thursday morning. She was induced at 7, had an epidural shortly after 9, and baby Holton was born at 9:15 (before the epidural took effect... oh boy!). Amy's doing GREAT, baby Holton is adorable, and the two older sisters are already calling him "my baby" and doting on him! Poor daddy has less hair than the baby, lol :) Congratulations Shale and Amy!
I also took some to Kathy, for her to try with the strawberry jam. Her husband, Dirk, appreciated the square biscuits for the same space-saving qualities that I did. Thanks, Dirk, for not thinking I'm crazy!
Enjoy :) :) :)
Buttermilk Biscuits - recipe found in Fannie Farmer Cookbook. It's the same as a Baking Powder Biscuit recipe, but cut the powder in half and add 1/4 of that new amount of baking soda, substituting buttermilk for regular milk (ex - 4 Tbsp powder becomes 2 Tbsp powder plus 1/2 Tbsp soda).
In lieu of a food processor or pastry knife, I used a whisk to combine the shortening/butter with the flour/dry ingredients. It worked pretty well, although if your recipe calls for cold butter this would be difficult. Hopefully I'll get a food processor at some point in my life!
Then, after adding the buttermilk, the recipe instructs you to knead the dough 14 times (folding it over on itself to make the layers that become flaky buttery goodness). 14 times worked pretty well the first time I made them - they rose nicely and were fairly flaky. But when I made them yesterday morning they didn't rise as much and were kind of lumpy. Right around 10 folds the texture of the dough started to change. My plan for next time is to fold the dough until the texture starts to change and then stop, whenever that is.
I used a square cookie cutter yesterday. I was excited that it wasted less dough, so you have fewer "lump biscuits" with the trimmings, and more of them fit on the pan because there was less wasted space. I know, I'm a nerd, but it was exciting to me nonetheless.
I packaged some of them up to take to my friend Amy in the hospital who just delivered her baby Thursday morning. She was induced at 7, had an epidural shortly after 9, and baby Holton was born at 9:15 (before the epidural took effect... oh boy!). Amy's doing GREAT, baby Holton is adorable, and the two older sisters are already calling him "my baby" and doting on him! Poor daddy has less hair than the baby, lol :) Congratulations Shale and Amy!
I also took some to Kathy, for her to try with the strawberry jam. Her husband, Dirk, appreciated the square biscuits for the same space-saving qualities that I did. Thanks, Dirk, for not thinking I'm crazy!
Enjoy :) :) :)
Random events and photos...
First - pregnancy update :)
We have an appointment on May 10 to have the big ultrasound (YAY! I LOVE seeing the baby!), measure the baby's growth, and find out the gender. Yes, we are finding out. I don't feel strongly one way or the other, but I'm happy to find out. No, I don't think this is a tragic decision that will take away the wonder and mystery of the birth process. I have been shocked by the responses I've had from friends, family, and coworkers, ranging from, and including many responses in between, "of course you'll find out!" to "oh.... you can't wait, huh?" to "WHAT?!?!?! I CAN'T believe you would DO that!" followed by a 10 minute spiel on the tragedy of not having a surprise at birth. Seriously, people, chill out. If you're freaking out about this, how are you going to handle other parenting decisions James and I make? I'm just excited to see the baby again! I think ultrasounds are one of the COOLEST things about pregnancy :)
Yes, we've talked about names. We've talked about names for the past 5 years :) The current plan is to have one or two names picked out and then not actually decide until the baby is born. I know this is sad for those of you who like to monogram everything, but that's the plan. We're avoiding the unnecessary input from everyone else on the baby's name, while at the same time leaving our options open until we actually meet him/her.
So, after the May 10 appointment I'll post the ultrasound photos (now that I think I've figured out how to scan them in so they actually look like something) and a "belly shot" (fully clothed) for your viewing pleasure :)
In other news, I turned 28 yesterday. My Mom was 28 when I was born. I always thought that was late to start having kids and I wanted to be a younger mom than my Mom was. Hmmm. Disclaimer - I never thought my Mom was OLD... certainly not. I just wanted to be youngER. God certainly has a sense of humor :)
Mom and Grace and Poppy all bought me some maternity clothes in March in honor of my birthday, and Mom and Grace both sent me another package this week! You guys take such good care of me! Grace decorated an Old Navy tank top - photo below.
Mom Barnes sent me mugs and dessert plates that match my kitchen! They're so pretty! I've been using them for breakfast every day this week! See photo below :)
More pregnancy news - the last appointment was a little tense because I switched from my OB (who has a 40% C-section rate!) to a group of midwives. These midwives deliver at St.Luke's hospital down town (whose maternity ward is actually owned by Texas Childrens). It's a fantastic set up and I'm really excited! But they're concerned that my blood pressure is too high for this early in pregnancy and that since I'm overweight I may have diabetes. If my BP is too high and I get diabetes they might have to switch me back to an OB :( Well, the conclusion after this appointment is that my BP is normal (we switched to a longer cuff and that seems to have fixed the measurements!) and I don't have sugar problems at this point (they did an early test). However, my stress load is too high so I have to take some time off from school and start prenatal yoga classes. All in all, a conclusion that I can live with!
My friend Kathy, who has delivered twice with the Womens Specialists of Houston, is due two weeks after I am :) So we've started taking prenatal yoga classes together, which is great, and on my days off I sometimes go hang out with her. Last week we made strawberry jam! SOOOOOO delicious! I went and bought buttermilk so I could make buttermilk biscuits to go with it. (yesterday's "birthday biscuits" are pictured on the green plate Mom Barnes gave me in the above picture) YUM!
In other news, my concert was this Thursday - it was great! The kids did a fantastic job! We even called Al (percussion guy - see Katy's blog link on the right) at the end so the kids could all say HI to him.
Today, I'm playing in a wedding of a couple who was divorced and has reconciled and is getting re-married. They are new to our church so I don't know them very well yet, but I hope I get the chance to sit with Gabriela and tell her how encouraging and exciting her re-wedding is for me! God is SO GOOD. BTW, please continue to pray for my parents' marriage.
After the wedding James is taking me to the Symphony to hear Berlioz's Symphanie Fantastique. One of my favorite pieces :) James is so sweet to me to take me to the Symphony for my birthday!
My mini-garden is doing well. We ate broccoli and another tomato last week, and the mint and parsley are exploding! The basil smells WONDERFUL and the tomato plants have flowers all over them. The bell pepper plant has one flower :) I think the orange tree and broccoli pots aren't draining enough so I need to ask James to drill more holes at the bottom.
Praise God for ALL of the blessings he gives us - especially those that surprise us and those of which we are unaware!
We have an appointment on May 10 to have the big ultrasound (YAY! I LOVE seeing the baby!), measure the baby's growth, and find out the gender. Yes, we are finding out. I don't feel strongly one way or the other, but I'm happy to find out. No, I don't think this is a tragic decision that will take away the wonder and mystery of the birth process. I have been shocked by the responses I've had from friends, family, and coworkers, ranging from, and including many responses in between, "of course you'll find out!" to "oh.... you can't wait, huh?" to "WHAT?!?!?! I CAN'T believe you would DO that!" followed by a 10 minute spiel on the tragedy of not having a surprise at birth. Seriously, people, chill out. If you're freaking out about this, how are you going to handle other parenting decisions James and I make? I'm just excited to see the baby again! I think ultrasounds are one of the COOLEST things about pregnancy :)
Yes, we've talked about names. We've talked about names for the past 5 years :) The current plan is to have one or two names picked out and then not actually decide until the baby is born. I know this is sad for those of you who like to monogram everything, but that's the plan. We're avoiding the unnecessary input from everyone else on the baby's name, while at the same time leaving our options open until we actually meet him/her.
So, after the May 10 appointment I'll post the ultrasound photos (now that I think I've figured out how to scan them in so they actually look like something) and a "belly shot" (fully clothed) for your viewing pleasure :)
In other news, I turned 28 yesterday. My Mom was 28 when I was born. I always thought that was late to start having kids and I wanted to be a younger mom than my Mom was. Hmmm. Disclaimer - I never thought my Mom was OLD... certainly not. I just wanted to be youngER. God certainly has a sense of humor :)
Mom and Grace and Poppy all bought me some maternity clothes in March in honor of my birthday, and Mom and Grace both sent me another package this week! You guys take such good care of me! Grace decorated an Old Navy tank top - photo below.
Mom Barnes sent me mugs and dessert plates that match my kitchen! They're so pretty! I've been using them for breakfast every day this week! See photo below :)
More pregnancy news - the last appointment was a little tense because I switched from my OB (who has a 40% C-section rate!) to a group of midwives. These midwives deliver at St.Luke's hospital down town (whose maternity ward is actually owned by Texas Childrens). It's a fantastic set up and I'm really excited! But they're concerned that my blood pressure is too high for this early in pregnancy and that since I'm overweight I may have diabetes. If my BP is too high and I get diabetes they might have to switch me back to an OB :( Well, the conclusion after this appointment is that my BP is normal (we switched to a longer cuff and that seems to have fixed the measurements!) and I don't have sugar problems at this point (they did an early test). However, my stress load is too high so I have to take some time off from school and start prenatal yoga classes. All in all, a conclusion that I can live with!
My friend Kathy, who has delivered twice with the Womens Specialists of Houston, is due two weeks after I am :) So we've started taking prenatal yoga classes together, which is great, and on my days off I sometimes go hang out with her. Last week we made strawberry jam! SOOOOOO delicious! I went and bought buttermilk so I could make buttermilk biscuits to go with it. (yesterday's "birthday biscuits" are pictured on the green plate Mom Barnes gave me in the above picture) YUM!
In other news, my concert was this Thursday - it was great! The kids did a fantastic job! We even called Al (percussion guy - see Katy's blog link on the right) at the end so the kids could all say HI to him.
Today, I'm playing in a wedding of a couple who was divorced and has reconciled and is getting re-married. They are new to our church so I don't know them very well yet, but I hope I get the chance to sit with Gabriela and tell her how encouraging and exciting her re-wedding is for me! God is SO GOOD. BTW, please continue to pray for my parents' marriage.
After the wedding James is taking me to the Symphony to hear Berlioz's Symphanie Fantastique. One of my favorite pieces :) James is so sweet to me to take me to the Symphony for my birthday!
My mini-garden is doing well. We ate broccoli and another tomato last week, and the mint and parsley are exploding! The basil smells WONDERFUL and the tomato plants have flowers all over them. The bell pepper plant has one flower :) I think the orange tree and broccoli pots aren't draining enough so I need to ask James to drill more holes at the bottom.
Praise God for ALL of the blessings he gives us - especially those that surprise us and those of which we are unaware!
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Pizza, Balloons, and Rock Band
Occasionally James has a couple of guys from church over to play Rock Band. They order pizza, drink soda, and rock out on fake instruments. I offered to buy him a real guitar but he likes the video game better :-P Anyway, I'm glad to open up our living room to these guys every several weeks because it's always a great time of fellowship and I can't ask for a better group of guys to hang out with my husband!
Anyway, while the boys are re-inventing classics like "Livin' On a Prayer" I escape the testosterone (and decible levels higher than the band room at triple fortissimo) and invite myself over to one of the other wives' houses.
Last night I went over to Bethany's house for some "make your own pizza" and play time with the toddlers. Not only was the pizza fantastic (apparently the secret is 2/3 bread flour, 1/3 whole wheat, and letting it rise over night) and the conversation well worth the mad dash in rush our up from Bellaire, but the kids were SUPER cute. We decorated our own pizzas, had a huge pillow fight, chased each other around the house, and chased balloons as they deflated. I highly suggest the balloon game for anyone with little kids - they got so excited chasing the flying balloons around the living room - an inexpensive and highly entertaining game! It was a fun night all around!
This was the beginning of the game... only 1 balloon. It evolved into 4 balloons going at the same time. Fun times!
Anyway, while the boys are re-inventing classics like "Livin' On a Prayer" I escape the testosterone (and decible levels higher than the band room at triple fortissimo) and invite myself over to one of the other wives' houses.
Last night I went over to Bethany's house for some "make your own pizza" and play time with the toddlers. Not only was the pizza fantastic (apparently the secret is 2/3 bread flour, 1/3 whole wheat, and letting it rise over night) and the conversation well worth the mad dash in rush our up from Bellaire, but the kids were SUPER cute. We decorated our own pizzas, had a huge pillow fight, chased each other around the house, and chased balloons as they deflated. I highly suggest the balloon game for anyone with little kids - they got so excited chasing the flying balloons around the living room - an inexpensive and highly entertaining game! It was a fun night all around!
This was the beginning of the game... only 1 balloon. It evolved into 4 balloons going at the same time. Fun times!
Monday, April 5, 2010
Yum!
Tonight's dinner was:
40 Cloves of Garlic and a Chicken
Green Bean Casserole
Roast Broccoli
Tomato/Basil/Mozzarella Salad
Did anybody notice there's no starch? Other than the 3 crackers crumbled on top of the green bean casserole, there's no starch. Seriously? I'm the starch queen and I didn't even plan this! Now... if I can only keep it up...
(actually, we had a piece of bread with dinner... so there was starch :( But it was only to spread the roasted garlic... James loves it!)
First harvest from my garden! Fresh thyme and basil :)
Chicken with 40 cloves... recipe suggested by Kathy Littlefield, found on Food Network online by Alton Brown. I modified it by using boneless, skinless chicken thighs, which worked pretty well but didn't brown in the pan as nicely as they should have (took a lot less time in the oven, though! Only 40 min!). I also only used 20 cloves since it wasn't as much chicken :) and drizzled the olive oil instead of using 1/4 cup like the recipe says. Fresh thyme from my garden, though!
Roast Broccoli from Kim's Concoctions (I just used Parmesan cheese). I've done roast broccoli before and I love it every time... the 10 min at 400 degrees works better than what I've tried before, so that's a happy revelation! and Green Bean Casserole suggested by Laura Corombos. For this recipe I cut everything in 1/3 to only use one can of beans (well, I eyeballed the measurements, actually), and I used whole wheat flour instead of white, a little less butter, rinsed the beans several times, and omitted the salt (I'm trying to lower our sodium intake). I only used 3 unsalted "saltine" crackers for the top with about 1/2 Tbsp butter... It was great! As Laura said, definitely better than the canned soup variety! She put french fried onions on top of hers... which sounds great but I didn't have any tonight. It still turned out fantastic! Can't wait to have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow!
Dinner all put together... yum!
This would have been a fantastic dinner if Baby Barnes weren't making me dislike garlic right now... what a surprise after putting that much garlic in with the chicken! I couldn't get enough garlic 2 weeks ago at Amy Weatherly's baby "sprinkling" at the Italian restaurant... what happened?!? Fortunately I LOVED the green beans, broccoli, and salad... I'll definitely be making more of those recipes!
40 Cloves of Garlic and a Chicken
Green Bean Casserole
Roast Broccoli
Tomato/Basil/Mozzarella Salad
Did anybody notice there's no starch? Other than the 3 crackers crumbled on top of the green bean casserole, there's no starch. Seriously? I'm the starch queen and I didn't even plan this! Now... if I can only keep it up...
(actually, we had a piece of bread with dinner... so there was starch :( But it was only to spread the roasted garlic... James loves it!)
First harvest from my garden! Fresh thyme and basil :)
Chicken with 40 cloves... recipe suggested by Kathy Littlefield, found on Food Network online by Alton Brown. I modified it by using boneless, skinless chicken thighs, which worked pretty well but didn't brown in the pan as nicely as they should have (took a lot less time in the oven, though! Only 40 min!). I also only used 20 cloves since it wasn't as much chicken :) and drizzled the olive oil instead of using 1/4 cup like the recipe says. Fresh thyme from my garden, though!
Roast Broccoli from Kim's Concoctions (I just used Parmesan cheese). I've done roast broccoli before and I love it every time... the 10 min at 400 degrees works better than what I've tried before, so that's a happy revelation! and Green Bean Casserole suggested by Laura Corombos. For this recipe I cut everything in 1/3 to only use one can of beans (well, I eyeballed the measurements, actually), and I used whole wheat flour instead of white, a little less butter, rinsed the beans several times, and omitted the salt (I'm trying to lower our sodium intake). I only used 3 unsalted "saltine" crackers for the top with about 1/2 Tbsp butter... It was great! As Laura said, definitely better than the canned soup variety! She put french fried onions on top of hers... which sounds great but I didn't have any tonight. It still turned out fantastic! Can't wait to have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow!
Dinner all put together... yum!
This would have been a fantastic dinner if Baby Barnes weren't making me dislike garlic right now... what a surprise after putting that much garlic in with the chicken! I couldn't get enough garlic 2 weeks ago at Amy Weatherly's baby "sprinkling" at the Italian restaurant... what happened?!? Fortunately I LOVED the green beans, broccoli, and salad... I'll definitely be making more of those recipes!
Friday, April 2, 2010
God's plan
Sorry this is so long... I have the day off and woke up really early... so here are my meditations on childbearing and Easter..
I am being reminded lately that God's plan is usually different than what I would have planned, had I been given the authority to plan anything. This is not a bad thing. Usually it points to my own ignorance, sinfulness, or just plain lack of creativity :) Praise God for his plan(s)!
For example - if you had to design a method of procreation, would you have come up with conception/gestation/labor/delivery/recovery? Would you have made a newborn baby so fragile and in complete dependence of his parents while at the same time hearty enough to make it through the birthing process and sturdy enough to survive new parents trying to figure out how to physically care for him? How about a woman's body during this whole process - my Mom keeps reminding me how amazing God's creation of our bodies is in all of the different functions that it does and all of the changes it goes through during pregnancy and birth. Praise God for his creative and amazing creation! I feel like we stand in awe looking at beautiful landscapes, seascapes, and starry skies but I forget to really consider how awe-inspiring the human body is - we worship and serve an awesome God!
But what is even more amazing and what should fill us with more awe and wonder is God's plan of redemption for us. Do any of us fully understand the Trinity? Is that even possible? I can't understand why God would choose to create us in the first place - He, one being in three persons, eternally perfect and lacking nothing/no-one, chose to create. It was good - for a while. And when that creation sinned, He didn't destroy it and start over or just go back to being perfect without creation. Instead he chose to be glorified through creation.
So here we are several thousand years later - still steeped in sin, living in a fallen creation, surrounded by natural disasters, death, sickness (frequently tragic), lawlessness, greed/corruption, etc... the list goes on. Even when the disasters, sickness, and death aren't direct results of someone's individual sin they are symptoms of the fallen creation - without sin none of these would exist! And yet God, who is perfectly holy and just and perfect (and requires perfection) doesn't destroy us. Even the earth we work is fallen. Everything around us cries out for redemption - for something or someone to come and fix it or to at least alleviate the suffering. I can barely watch the news for fear of hearing of the disgusting, abominable things people do to each other.
"BUT GOD... "
I, like our pastor Brad, love that phrase. It's heavenly! It's like dripping soap into a greasy pan - all the grease disperses and after a little scrubbing everything is clean and shiny again. Praise God for his "grease-fighting action" against our sin! But is it the plan I would have come up with? No. Is it better than anything I could possibly have invented? Absolutely. And certainly more effective! But contrary to what I hear on the radio and see on "evangelical TV," God's redemptive plan wasn't easy. It, like my dirty pan, required work - and dirty work - to accomplish. And just like I don't know what exactly is in the soap that cleans my pan or why it works the way it does, I don't know what Christ went through to secure my redemption.
I may not be a murderer or child molester but I absolutely fall short of God's requirement of perfection. He's not like me - I let my students' bad behavior slide, I'm inconsistent, and I don't give appropriate consequences - even on my best days! No, God is consistent. And he is just. The wages of sin - ANY sin - are death. Period. End of story. It's perfection or sin: those are our two choices. And anyone who's spent 5 minutes with anybody else (or just themselves, for that matter), can testify that we all sin. Even just a little bit... but the size doesn't matter because sin is sin and no matter what the sin is, it's defiance of God's standard (putting aside the physical consequences of our sin have a wide range depending on the sin itself - I'm speaking spiritual here). So we're all in the same, sinking, boat. No, scratch that - the boat is sunk and we're dead. Dead in our transgressions. All of us. From Mother Theresa to the Pope to the Uni-bomber, to my friends' sweet children, to me. And you, whoever you are reading this. We're corpses. If we don't acknowledge our sinfulness and the spiritual consequences of that sin then we're no better off than the corpse in the morgue.
"But GOD..."
... spent hundreds of years giving us hints of how he would redeem us, finally culminating in the cross of Christ. Praise the Lord he chose to send the Holy Spirit to inspire men to write these down as scripture. And praise God the Holy Spirit opens our eyes and hearts today to respond! My plan certainly wouldn't have required a blood sacrifice. But then my plan would have compromised God's justice. Since sin requires death, somebody has to die for my sin. So Jesus was born, and lived, fulfilling EVERY prophesy given about him in the Law and the Prophets (Old Testament). And then he was betrayed, beaten, was the "suffering servant" that Isaiah spoke about, and ultimately murdered, hanging cursed on a tree, then buried. The only perfect person who ever lived, never sinning, completely fulfilling God's requirement of perfection, is our spotless lamb - sacrificed to fulfill the lawful and perfect requirement of death for sin. And amazingly enough, Jesus went willingly, completely obedient to the Father's will (with which he was perfectly aligned), fully knowing what would happen to him.
"But GOD..."
... didn't stay dead. No, after Jesus died for my (and your) sins, he conquered and overcame death by rising - alive again! And alive still! Further fulfilling scriptural promises of his bodily resurrection (and ensuring ours), and ascension into Heaven. Which we know is a real place because he, in his physically resurrected body, sits there NOW. The dirty work is finished. He is triumphant, glorified, and exalted. PRAISE GOD!
Praise God for HIS plan. For ALL of his plans. Praise God that in the last days he will redeem all of creation and everything will be made new. Praise God that there will be no more suffering, pain, or death. Sin will be NO MORE and all of the earthly consequences of sin will be wiped away and creation will again be GOOD.
Praise GOD for his mercy and loving-kindness and for his timing. His mercies are new every morning. Great is YOUR faithfulness, oh God our father!
Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow! Praise him, all creatures here below, praise him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. AMEN!
I am being reminded lately that God's plan is usually different than what I would have planned, had I been given the authority to plan anything. This is not a bad thing. Usually it points to my own ignorance, sinfulness, or just plain lack of creativity :) Praise God for his plan(s)!
For example - if you had to design a method of procreation, would you have come up with conception/gestation/labor/delivery/recovery? Would you have made a newborn baby so fragile and in complete dependence of his parents while at the same time hearty enough to make it through the birthing process and sturdy enough to survive new parents trying to figure out how to physically care for him? How about a woman's body during this whole process - my Mom keeps reminding me how amazing God's creation of our bodies is in all of the different functions that it does and all of the changes it goes through during pregnancy and birth. Praise God for his creative and amazing creation! I feel like we stand in awe looking at beautiful landscapes, seascapes, and starry skies but I forget to really consider how awe-inspiring the human body is - we worship and serve an awesome God!
But what is even more amazing and what should fill us with more awe and wonder is God's plan of redemption for us. Do any of us fully understand the Trinity? Is that even possible? I can't understand why God would choose to create us in the first place - He, one being in three persons, eternally perfect and lacking nothing/no-one, chose to create. It was good - for a while. And when that creation sinned, He didn't destroy it and start over or just go back to being perfect without creation. Instead he chose to be glorified through creation.
So here we are several thousand years later - still steeped in sin, living in a fallen creation, surrounded by natural disasters, death, sickness (frequently tragic), lawlessness, greed/corruption, etc... the list goes on. Even when the disasters, sickness, and death aren't direct results of someone's individual sin they are symptoms of the fallen creation - without sin none of these would exist! And yet God, who is perfectly holy and just and perfect (and requires perfection) doesn't destroy us. Even the earth we work is fallen. Everything around us cries out for redemption - for something or someone to come and fix it or to at least alleviate the suffering. I can barely watch the news for fear of hearing of the disgusting, abominable things people do to each other.
"BUT GOD... "
I, like our pastor Brad, love that phrase. It's heavenly! It's like dripping soap into a greasy pan - all the grease disperses and after a little scrubbing everything is clean and shiny again. Praise God for his "grease-fighting action" against our sin! But is it the plan I would have come up with? No. Is it better than anything I could possibly have invented? Absolutely. And certainly more effective! But contrary to what I hear on the radio and see on "evangelical TV," God's redemptive plan wasn't easy. It, like my dirty pan, required work - and dirty work - to accomplish. And just like I don't know what exactly is in the soap that cleans my pan or why it works the way it does, I don't know what Christ went through to secure my redemption.
I may not be a murderer or child molester but I absolutely fall short of God's requirement of perfection. He's not like me - I let my students' bad behavior slide, I'm inconsistent, and I don't give appropriate consequences - even on my best days! No, God is consistent. And he is just. The wages of sin - ANY sin - are death. Period. End of story. It's perfection or sin: those are our two choices. And anyone who's spent 5 minutes with anybody else (or just themselves, for that matter), can testify that we all sin. Even just a little bit... but the size doesn't matter because sin is sin and no matter what the sin is, it's defiance of God's standard (putting aside the physical consequences of our sin have a wide range depending on the sin itself - I'm speaking spiritual here). So we're all in the same, sinking, boat. No, scratch that - the boat is sunk and we're dead. Dead in our transgressions. All of us. From Mother Theresa to the Pope to the Uni-bomber, to my friends' sweet children, to me. And you, whoever you are reading this. We're corpses. If we don't acknowledge our sinfulness and the spiritual consequences of that sin then we're no better off than the corpse in the morgue.
"But GOD..."
... spent hundreds of years giving us hints of how he would redeem us, finally culminating in the cross of Christ. Praise the Lord he chose to send the Holy Spirit to inspire men to write these down as scripture. And praise God the Holy Spirit opens our eyes and hearts today to respond! My plan certainly wouldn't have required a blood sacrifice. But then my plan would have compromised God's justice. Since sin requires death, somebody has to die for my sin. So Jesus was born, and lived, fulfilling EVERY prophesy given about him in the Law and the Prophets (Old Testament). And then he was betrayed, beaten, was the "suffering servant" that Isaiah spoke about, and ultimately murdered, hanging cursed on a tree, then buried. The only perfect person who ever lived, never sinning, completely fulfilling God's requirement of perfection, is our spotless lamb - sacrificed to fulfill the lawful and perfect requirement of death for sin. And amazingly enough, Jesus went willingly, completely obedient to the Father's will (with which he was perfectly aligned), fully knowing what would happen to him.
"But GOD..."
... didn't stay dead. No, after Jesus died for my (and your) sins, he conquered and overcame death by rising - alive again! And alive still! Further fulfilling scriptural promises of his bodily resurrection (and ensuring ours), and ascension into Heaven. Which we know is a real place because he, in his physically resurrected body, sits there NOW. The dirty work is finished. He is triumphant, glorified, and exalted. PRAISE GOD!
Praise God for HIS plan. For ALL of his plans. Praise God that in the last days he will redeem all of creation and everything will be made new. Praise God that there will be no more suffering, pain, or death. Sin will be NO MORE and all of the earthly consequences of sin will be wiped away and creation will again be GOOD.
Praise GOD for his mercy and loving-kindness and for his timing. His mercies are new every morning. Great is YOUR faithfulness, oh God our father!
Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow! Praise him, all creatures here below, praise him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. AMEN!
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