"The Eds" Have Made Their March Appearance!

This is some of last week in a nutshell.


Filled: a lot of posts from Matthew 1 - 5:1-12 this past week. A big thanks to all who contributed to them by leaving your comments. I enjoy what questions and perspectives and varying thoughts you offer... so, thanks! Keep 'em coming!

Checked: out OK at the doctor's office (yearly physical)

Figured: my federal and state income tax for 2009. This and a physical all in one week. How can a girl get so lucky?

Visited: my grandparents with Michael. This is normal for "The C&E Team." I clean, he entertains. Mema enjoys Michael showing her his new toys. She's likely more "up" on Bakugan than most any other 86-year-old woman out there!

Moved: my brother and his wife to their new residence. Well, I just helped a bit in reality. I did not move all that stuff by myself!

Transferred: pictures from Christmas and Michael's birthday to my Snapfish account. Finally! This is why you got to see Michael signing the Christmas card yesterday - about six weeks after the fact.

Enjoyed: Syrian School part 1 -- a BBC documentary. I saw sights from Damascus and Maaloula where I'd been - loved that! Now I need to watch the other parts and see if I detect any other familiar sights.

Gathered: with some church friends last night at Mike and Cindy's house! Besides us, Mike, Cindy and their son, Jacob, there was Mark & Lindsay, Tommy, Sherel & DJ, Whitney, George & Marianne, Terry and Kevin in attendance. Did I miss anyone? I knew all of them except George and Marianne, but I quickly made their acquaintance and found out George is Egyptian. He came to the US when he was 12.

Laughed: so hard that my face was sore. Many of those people mentioned above have a crazy amount of goofiness that they share liberally with the rest of us!

Played: board game Apples to Apples last night.

Borrowed: UP! and several books from Cindy. Andrew said that movie will make me cry...hmmm.

Discovered: a good fiction book in the pile I brought home! Yay, I'd been needing a good book to read. I have some nonfiction books that need reading, but I'm not ready to start something deep at the moment. Matthew has been deep enough for the time being.

Wowed: how God often uses Charles Stanley's monthly publications and letters to speak directly to things I'm struggling with. Like really. Does this guy read my mind and personalize his messages just for me?

Teared: up thinking of a sweet man, Brother Fred, from my parents' church who went to be with Jesus last night. He was a dear man.

Pondered: this from the margins of my Quest Study Bible

Referring to Matthew 5:11-12,

¹¹"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹²Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.


The question is: Why rejoice and be glad about persecution?

"Because it reinforces our identity with Christ and the prophets. We can also be glad because, though righteousness has a price, it also has a reward. Persecution reminds us that we can anticipate something better in heaven. Our joy comes not from the physical suffering itself but from the reason for the suffering: Jesus Christ."

This reminded me of yesterday's post about these verses challenging us towards loyalty to Jesus. Also I thought of Acts 5 where the disciples were preaching, jailed, let out of prison, preached some more, flogged and then

⁴¹The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.

One last thing on this topic:

"The Beatitudes are an ethical model that requires our declaration of dependence on God."

We cannot do those things without His help.

(pg. 1390)