Bridges & Faith

I've heard of a bridge over troubled water, but what about . . .

a troubled bridge?

May we all be bridges in life - and not walls -
no matter how troubled we may be.

"Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace,
and pursue it." ~ Psalm 34:14

I read a quote yesterday in a book. Something about the opposite of faith not being doubt, but certainty. Do you agree?

I'd not thought of it that way before, but it makes sense. If we see God sitting in the room with us, we can believe in Him easily and that doesn't require faith. We are trusting because we see with our eyes, hear His voice speaking to us, feel His hands if we take hold of Him. If we see the next step God has planned for us and the next and the next, we are certain and that require no faith. It's interesting how God told Abraham to get up and leave his father's house and country and go to a land where God would lead him. Abraham didn't have a detailed 15-year plan, a map, or even a set of instructions like we'd receive in order to set up our computers. He just - as far as we can tell - obeyed God without question. And even today Abraham is held in high esteem, a man honored by billions in this world. Several months ago I was talking to someone and he mentioned that there is no real friendship without trust. So how can we claim God as our loving and caring Heavenly Father, yet not trust Him? It seems rather insulting to Him in some ways, doesn't it? Faith - not certainty - is so important! We can't please God without it.

Do we walk by faith or by sight?

Hebrews 11:6 -- "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

The Stand

So I’ll stand
With arms high and heart abandoned
In awe of the One who gave it all

So I’ll stand
My soul, Lord, to You surrendered
All I am is Yours

We sang this song in church today and I really liked these words. I hope one day I can pray them and mean them. Surrendering is tough.

One Word

September 11, 2001

Just some stuff

Today's date of 09/09/09 was pretty cool, wasn't it? I was talking to Samer on Skype earlier and he started teaching me the Arabic alphabet. I was using this list at Wikipedia, trying to just say the names of the letters. Wow, it was pretty hard. And that's not even the sounds of the letters or what they look like. I had to just look at the "name" column. I looked something like



I took Michael to visit Mema and Pop today. On the way home I was telling my dad how Pop was asking me where I was from and such things as if I were some nice stranger who just came over to help them clean. Michael heard me talking and said, "Pop sounded like a psychiatrist" when he asked me those things only Michael pronounced the "p" when he said "psychiatrist." And he said the middle part a bit wrong as well if I recall. Said he'd learned about psychiatrist from the extra features on a Looney Tunes DVD...hmmm.

Michael asked me why God wanted to destroy the earth and create a new one. He said that and the killing in the Bible bothered him. "I really wish God would have given those people a second chance." Then Stephanie told me he was learning the Ten Commandments for school and he asked her "what is adultery?" Ahhhh, the things you have to explain when seven-year olds start asking tough questions!

One Year!

"You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."

~*~Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!~*~

:-)

Wandering Thoughts

The moon sure has been lovely the last couple of nights. I love when the full moon comes and shines so brightly in the sky.


I watched Michael three days this week because my sister worked at her church's preschool. (She had two year olds and Michael told me today, "Sus, can you believe mom said she liked me more than two year olds?") Two days we visited Mema and Pop and today we just stayed at his house. He wanted to bake something as a gift for his mom and dad so we found a box mix of cinnamon muffins. He poured in the oil and milk and stirred it. I cracked and added the eggs. Then we both worked on greasing the muffin pan and putting the batter into it. Michael told me I was a good helper. :-)

Thankfully they turned out well and Michael seemed very proud to present them to his mom when she returned around 12:30. She was appropriately appreciative of his thoughtfulness.

I told him about a friend of mine whose brother needed prayer and when he went to do his homeschool work, I said, "Michael don't forget to say a prayer for ____" to which he replied, "I already did and when I finished I made a perfect G." (He was practicing his cursive S and G today in writing. I guess he thought his praying for others caused him to do good in writing.)

A week ago today we left for Myrtle Beach, and we stayed until Monday. Michael went with us, and we had a good time. The weather was great on Saturday and Sunday -- hot like you want it to be when you are in the water. Andrew enjoyed riding the waves (there were some good ones maybe thanks to Tropical Storm Danny in the Atlantic!) and Michael dove into them, rolled with them (rather they rolled him!) and punched them with a huge smile on his face. I stood out there with him and had fun watching him enjoy the salty waves! In fact I smiled so much my face hurt. I guess I'd not exercised it by smiling much lately. :)

When we came home the weather was much cooler and most days this week were lovely indeed! Very fall like in the upper 70s for highs and into the 50s at night.

I noticed recently that I have worn a groove in the left "shift" key. Must be doing a lot of capitalizing and writing ???? ... hmmm. I showed Andrew last night and he did a double take and laughed. Why yes, I DO use my computer right much. :-D But I hardly watch the TV in the other room. I have only watched the news this whole summer, I think. OK..maybe Andy Griffith and Seinfeld once or twice while doing some bookwork. I did watch 3 movies this summer with Andrew. DVDs we borrowed from my sister. That's like a record for me since I am so not a movie watcher.

I helped with my church's food pantry last week. We met for a couple of hours, put dates on the fronts of cans (partly to make sure they were still in date) and then sorted them by type. All the corn goes in one place, green beans in another, spaghettios in another and so on. Then we made up boxes of assorted foods so the deacons could take them to needy families. I plan to help with that a couple times a month. I signed up for two Tuesday mornings so far in September.

I can't believe it's September already. It seems I was just in Damascus not that long ago, but it's been 7 months. I still miss it a lot. Presently they are in Ramadan so I know it's quite different this lunar month than when we were there. Yesterday I had a hankering for babaghanoush. I wasn't sure if I'd like this stuff, but the taste was really great and I liked it everywhere I had it (three places, maybe.) I thought it might taste like pickled veggies, but it did not. I don't care for strong vinegary foods. But babaghanoush and pita bread? Yum. And how about a bit of that Turkish lamb kebab while we're at it . . .

I think I've rambled on long enough. Good night!

September: The Prodigal Son

It's the first day of a new month and September 1 is rather special. I am reflecting on the three parables from Luke 15, the last one in particular. God used the story of the prodigal son in a powerful way one year ago today. Just picture this story as Jesus told it long ago. Consider this Jewish audience of tax collectors, "sinners," Pharisees (the religious folks) and scribes and the Middle Eastern culture as you read it.

¹¹Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. ¹²The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.

¹³"Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. ¹⁴After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need.

¹⁵So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

¹⁷"When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! ¹⁸I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' ²⁰So he got up and went to his father.

"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

²¹"The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'

²²"But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. ²⁴For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.

²⁵"Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ²⁷'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.'

²⁸"The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. ²⁹But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!'

³¹" 'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. ³²But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' "

Today I am praying for wayward children, men and women who have left home and are living apart from their families and most importantly apart from God. I know God is powerful and can change hearts and lives. I pray today for Him to soften hearts and draw these wayward people back to those who love them. And I pray that we will always have attitudes of forgiveness and unconditional love towards those who have hurt us.

May God be merciful and bring our lost loved ones home.