Best commercial ever!   Still remembered most of the lines.  “Where are you goin’ Melvin?”

It is never fun to die

I love the juxtaposition of contradicting words and ideas. Ideas that have no business being paired together. Some of my favorite examples from the Bible: the way that the poor in spirit are actually rich (Matthew 5); how Jesus gives us a “light burden” (Matthew 11); and most poignantly how we are called to lose our life if we really want to find it (Matthew 10).

I love it that God is life and created all life, and as humans we’re all dying in sin and so the answer is that Jesus died for us so that we could have eternal life. And the way that plays out in our lives is that we are called to die. Die to our own sinful nature that makes us selfish, self-seeking creatures who instinctively try to preserve what makes for a spiritually shallow life, and in so doing usually miss out on real life in God and the answer is that we need to lose our life in order to find it. So for us to live Christ had to die and in order to have full, real life, we must die.

¹⁰But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. ¹¹And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.  ¹²Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. ¹³For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live…

-Romans 8 (Bible)

And so I am challenged to die:

“We must invite the cross to do its deadly work within us. We must bring our self-sins to the cross for judgement. We must prepare ourselves for an ordeal of suffering in some measure like that through which our Savior passed when he suffered under Pontius Pilate.”

-A.W. Tozer

If we put some clothes on this spiritual idea, what might it look like in my life, in yours…?

Pride, arrogance, selfishness, greed, desire for safety and comfort at the exclusion of obedience to God, discontent, laziness… these are parts of me that need to die. The type of death you don’t come back from. Not like the death of a character on “24″ or “Lost”… but like real, dead, death. I need to grow and change and see these things left behind as I emerge as a truly new creation in Christ. It’s  a good thing I have my whole life to be “perfected” by God and even then… that “perfecting work” has a lot more to do with forgiveness than perfection. And grace. And mercy. Thank God that he delights in working on us… I have always loved this quote:

Jesus accepts us the way we are but loves us too much to let us stay the same.

God makes my life so full of joy and hope as I follow Him, and yet as I am ever knowing God,  may I  be completely conscious of His voice as he whispers “Come, and die so you may live.”

everything must change…beginning with me

I [Allison] am going to start blogging here mostly about what I’m reading, thinking, praying, et. on my journey in relationship with Christ. Perhaps because I am a Christian, the idea that my life is a journey with God goes without saying, but I need to say it. I need to talk about how my heart is longing to be closer to God. I don’t know if anyone will read these encouragements but if you do, may you also be inspired to draw quietly close to your Creator, Savior, and wonderful Father.

Today I am reading The Pursuit of God by  A.W. Tozer and so the quotations are his.

This is such a central and vital thought for me about knowing God:

“The continuous and unembarrassed interchange of love and thought between God and the soul of the redeemed man is the throbbing heart of New Testament religion.” -Tozer

In Christianity today [in America], the biggest deal is made about us initially “accepting” Jesus into our lives (a term which is not even in the Bible) and Tozer says, “we are not expected thereafter to crave any further revelation of God to our souls.” We have been deceived by this idea that “once we have found Him, we need no more seek Him.” Even the word “crave” convicts me! Do I crave to know God more closely? Honestly, not lately. But today is a new day.

I can think of many characters in the Bible who continue to search for and long after God for the duration of their lives, and these are the people from which we can learn the most about actually walking with God. Moses, Abraham, David (author of many God-seeking psalms), Paul and John are a few who come to mind. It seems we love espousing the idea that we have a relationship with God and that sets us apart from other “dead” religions. But what is a relationship if it is not an on-going, growing, deepening, and changing experience between us and God?  I am strongly sensing that God wants this one thing from each of us that would dare know him: that our top desire would actually be to know God and find ourselves, our hopes, our fulfillment, our happiness, our whole life in HIm. And today I am challenged by Tozer that Christ “waits to be wanted. Too bad that with many of us He waits so long, so very  long, in vain.”

I will no longer be satisfied with simply being challenged. Or with simply having “found God”… today everything must change, beginning with me. I am going to seek to listen, love, and lose myself in knowing God. I am quoting Tozer a lot, but when I read this prayer he penned over 60 years ago, I couldn’t believe how much it was my own prayer, too:

“O God, I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God… I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory I pray Thee, that so I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. … Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Allison’s Birthday Fun

Ivy, Allison, Ezra

Here’s to green eggs & ham, reubens, and sushi– all in a day’s work, since that day was my birthday! Thanks to Jonathan who treated me to a delicious birthday that was relaxing and included some of my favorite foods and activities. It sounds a little over the top, but we had to take advantage of every single, kid-free moment that Jonathan’s mom afforded us [God bless grandmothers]! Just in case you live locally I have to make a recommend for breakfast/brunch or as they call it: “Blunch”– and that is at the Fly Trap in Ferndale. Their entrees are unique, fresh and delicious. I had green eggs: green with poblano pepper pesto and ham: seared and tasty. There are no words to adequately describe the superbly crispy potatoes with whole roasted garlic cloves in them. Then when I requested jam for my rye toast,  I was presented with a little dish of the day’s fresh jam– I can’t remember what kind it was, I think because the shock had  not  yet worn off from it not being in a little plastic container– and so I didn’t hear our waitress tell me… blackberry, snazzle berry … ?? yumberry will do. Oh, and the coffee…its just right to drink a few cups and start your day with a nice caffeine high. Of course I am a little prejudice here, seeing as how Jonathan roasts their fresh, organic coffee.  Okay, and all of these little luxuries served up in one meal might mean a high bill somewhere else, but this place is very affordable! So there you have it, I get passionate about a tasty breakfast!

Allison & Jonathan

The rest of my birthday weekend was fun and relaxing– chock full o’ snow, cake, chocolate moose tracks ice cream, and good times with family. And since the snow played a menacing part during our intented party w/ friends, we will be rescheduling and the fun shall continue… yeah! So thanks to my wonderful husband for making this a special time and for reminding me that this is a “book end year” and so I should set out to accomplish something really great… more on that later!

the last one before the "big one" !

We love this time of year!!!

Ezra made a snow friend

December is one of the happiest, busiest, and most fun months of the entire year. We fill it to the brim with hot cocoa, Christmas music, Christmas movies, eggnog, shopping, crafting, wrapping, baking, decorating, vanilla tea, coffee as always, warm fuzzies, and now…. snowmen!!! I don’t have time to write anything else because of the dozen or so crafty projects I have committed to finish before Christmas Eve [the best night of the year].  So drink something festive — we recommend Ghiradelli ground cocoa and eat something yummy– like homemade  cookies and have the hap-happ-happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap danced with Danny K!!!

Ivy doesn't know what to make of this guy!

Ivy

ok so this snowman is a little intimidating