Thank(mas): Christmas - Part 4

"...then the LORD God formed the man of dust 

from the ground and breathed into his nostrils

 the breath of life, and the man became a living creature."

 - Genesis 2:7

In the beginning of the world, God gave us life. The ability to breathe in and out, a muscle to pump precious blood throughout our body, a brain to command our functions and make choices. Our choices led to darkness, but even in the darkness God's love shone. He sent His son to penetrate the darkness. To live among us, to feel the weight of our struggle, the pain in the journey, to live, and live purely in it all. And then, His son was killed, to atone for us.

"For while we were still weak, at the right time

 Christ died for the ungodly. 

For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—

though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—  

but God shows his love for us in that 

while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

-Romans 5:6-8

When God died in our place, the missing piece appeared, and the gap between our sin and God's perfection was bridged. Jesus came and lived a perfect life. He faced the same day to day struggles we do, and never succumbed to the darkness. When He hung on the cross, forsaken by God, you can almost imagine the joy felt by the devil. But not for long. Because when God died, we were given a chance to live.

"In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." - John 1:4

Jesus did not just die to even the equation (sin entered the world through one man etc - see part 1) He came back to life. He did not just sucumbe to a horrific death for us, He conquered it. He surpassed it. He made a way for us to do the same. We are free, because God lived.

"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, 

and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." 

- Galatians 5:1

God came into the darkness, out of love, manifested Himself as a human, and conquered death all so that we would be free from the yoke of slavery. Slavery to the laws of the flesh. Slavery to the darkness we brought on ourselves, the second we chose the flesh over God. When we couldn't live up to God's standard we became a slave to death. When Christ came to live among us, and die for us, and come back to life for us, He conquered it all. No matter how often we fall back into the ease of slavery, we are inescapably free.

"But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin,

 the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, 

he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life

 to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. 

So then, brothers, we are debtors, 

not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 

For if you live according to the flesh you will die, 

but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, 

you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,

 but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, 

by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”"

 - Romans 8:10-12

Christmas is a time of year that we set aside to celebrate Jesus' birth, His coming. His light coming into the darkness, His Love manifesting life. Christ came, and I have the Spirit of God, who vanquished death, once for all, living inside of me. Christ came, and lived a human life so I can call Him brother, and God, Abba Father. At Christmas we celebrate the life of Jesus, but more so, we celebrate that through His life, we all have an opportunity to live, eternally, in unity with the One who gave us breath. I can not hold on to that tight enough. Glory be to the Light in my Darkness, to the Lover of my heart, to the Manifestation of God, to my very source of Life, for this season and the rest of time. Let me never forget, my greatest gift.

"Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood,

 much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God

 by the death of his Son, much more, 

now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

 More than that, we also rejoice in God

 through our Lord Jesus Christ,

 through whom we have now received reconciliation."

 - Romans 5:9-11

Christmas - Part 1

Christmas - Part 2

Christmas - Part 3

Association of Music

For some reason or another, I have been talking or thinking a lot about association. Specifically musical association.

So this is me, shuffling through iTunes for 10 songs. We'll see what happens.

Eric Church - Springsteen

Rebekah Pitts. Hands down my first thought on this one. I see her when this came on the radio in the kitchen. Pausing in the middle of the aisle (probably blocking whoever was walking around trying to work) arms outstretched, red hair swinging, telling us all to appreciate it.  Then we walked around the kitchen and sung it at the top of our lungs. 

Also appropriate first song because of this line, "Funny how a melody/ sounds like a memory."

Need to Breathe - Signature of Divine

My first thought is Jackie Burch Barré. She was one of my first blogs to follow and she was one that first got me wheels turning as to how much sharing music can communicate with friends. This song was one of the first that she put at the end of a blog for "What I'm listening to." I can hear here fantastic rolling laughter that comes way more often that it arguably should.

Natalie Grant - Our Hope Endures:

Charissa, my sister, introduced this song to me. I remember the darkness that she shared it in, and the inspiration it gave. I remember sitting around the old desktop in the hallway, waiting for the you tube video to load on our dial-up and then I listened to it multiple times afterwards. 

Phil Wickham - You're Beautiful 

The memory is standing in-between my brother and sister-in-law in their church in Denver, CO. Standing under the strand of bare lightbulbs and singing this song. It then stayed in my head, and I later bought it and listened to it for the entire last thirty minutes of my flight home. I hear it and see those lightbulbs, and I see the landscape of Georgia stretched out underneath me. 

Audio Adrenaline - Big House

 When I hear this song, I am suddenly standing into a middle field in Northern Georgia, surrounded by nearly a hundred campers and staff. We yell it at the top of our lungs, and dance to the motions of having a big house, and a big table, and playing "SOCK WAR (you're OUT!)".  I can see the faces, lit up with adrenaline post game, everyone of us out of breath, but still we sing. 

Amos Lee - Windows are Rolled Down

The person that comes for this song is Ben Helton. I see Ben sitting in the recliner across the staff lounge while people are lined up on the couch, waiting for one of us to make a decision on where we're going to eat. Ben has his eyebrows up, sitting on the edge of his seat, leaning forward in urgency, talking over the other conversations, asking me to look up just one more song on youtube. This one, "an almost perfect driving song".

  

Augustana - Boston

This one makes me think of my college roommate, Megan. She spent her undergrad years at Gordon College in Boston. I think of all the times we sat around the house trying to stay focused on school work and failing. We'd take a break, pick a song and dance, laugh and sing our way back to whatever paper, essay, book, or quiz that required our attention.  I can clearly see her "let's get down to business face" cracking as the laughter pushed its way out of her eyes, and the corner of her smile. 

Boyce Avenue - Perfect

Another camp memory. This one of dance class. I can see Angela and Rachel working on the choreography in the lodge during staff week. Walking back to the infirmary to check on them and finding one laughing on the floor by the computer, and one up brainstorming possibilities  I can see all the little faces they taught the dance to, and see their giddy joy every time they told me about how ready they were for a performance.

Regina Spektor - Hero

This song makes me think of the movie 500 Days of Summer and all the fun hours spent with Katlyn, Thomas and Owen just chilling on couches and watching this movie more than once in a summer. While never functioning above basic level and fighting over Strong Rock Blankets still I would usually end up in a ball on the floor because I just didn't want to move after the session at camp.

Mumford & Sons - Lover of the Light

Any Mumford presently pulls an image of Taylor Wade because the last time I extensively listened to it we were driving back from Lucas and Jen's wedding and he kept coming up with random facts about the band because Promise, his roommate is apparently a big fan, so much so that he has accurately called the next popular singles for the past three years. This one I think was one. We drove and sang, and I watched the passing lights of the towns, and peered through the coming fog and rain, and ever so often mentioned my niece and how cute she was, eliciting a predictable shake of his head (but I know he was smiling on the inside - she's so cute how could you not?).

I plan on finsihing up the Thank(mas) series in the coming days

with Christmas, parts 4 and 5, 

and Family, part 2(maybe 3).

Stay tuned.

Thank(mas): Family - Part 1

Callie was still hiding inside Pam at this point.

As of last night, 10 out of 11 of my immediate family members were together under one roof.  Two parents, six sisters, two brothers, and a baby niece. We are an overwhelming bunch to say the least, in so many ways.


We could be overwhelming because right now, Glenn and Sarah are eating lunch and talking historical and educational discussion of the church etc, and different classes they have encountered while Sarah works on her Bachelors at UNC and Glenn works on his PhD at Marquette.



Or maybe its the abundance of opinions given. That you look angsty, that you are helpful, that you are pretty, that you shouldn't use that glass, that you need to not pass a baby around, that you need to eat more, that you need to eat less, that you need fresh air...we are terribly interested in everyone else's life.

Baby niece Callie, and my sister-in-law, Pam.

Or maybe its the volumes we reach. Between Callie's crying, and Bo's blowing rasberries to entertain her, or sisters laughing, or dropping pots while washing dishes, or us trying to have conversation across the room.

Or maybe we are overwhelming because there is so much unspoken. So many habits, and traditions that we don't realize we have. Unspoken cues, like random chocolate in the pie cabinet is available, but the Christmas cookies on the porch should not be touched before Christmas Eve.

Or maybe its the stories we tell - or our bluntness - or the over abundance of sarcasm or that we have theological books like Bonhoffer and Banner around the house that we actually read and discuss.

Sometimes Callie gets overwhelmed and starts crying...
Sometimes I want to join her. 

But I think what is so overwhelming is our sheer number and the level at which I love them all. As I sit down to write about them I am overwhelmed. Everyone last member of my family from Bo (father) to Callie (baby niece) has a beautiful, strong personality that I could write volumes on. I keep having to step back and make myself take a breath and not try to experience everything at once.

Hopefully, I will write on specific parties within my family, that's my plan, but family has a tendency to happily through plans off.

Thank(mas): Strong Rock Camp

Camp by the Numbers extended...

6 - The number of times I have looked at my summer and decided to give it to Strong Rock Camp.

1 - The number of years I spent serving in the kitchen.

3 - The number of years that I have spent as counselor in the cabin with so many amazing Pebblebrook-ers (I could not be more proud of each of you). And the number of AMAZING co-counselors I have had. Lauren, Taylor H. and Bekah, were and are more of a blessing that I could imagine or express.

60 -  The approximate number of times an hour during the summer I felt blessed to be a leader of such an awesome staff of lady counselors and the number times I was honored to lead with such a fantastic co-head-counselor as Taylor W.

400 - The approximate number of campers I got to welcome on day one of each session this summer and subsequently watch as they went from ‘returners’ and ‘new’ campers to one amazing group of pieces in the Strong Rock legacy.

365 - The number of days in the year that I am humbled, blessed, amazed, grounded, blown away, and otherwise awestruck at the privilege I have to be a part of SRC’s ministry.

45 -  The approximate number of minutes that my heart aches, inconsolably every time I drive away from the people I work with.

2.5 - The approximate number of hours that Daniel and I talk when I re-interview each year.

0 - The number times I have regretted or rethought coming to camp. No matter the cost, it has been and will be, indelibly, worth it. 

Thank(mas): Christmas - Part 3

"In this the love of God was made manifest among us,

 that God sent his only Son into the world, 

so that we might live through him."
 - 1 John 4:9

 "Our faith falters when we think that God, the infinite, incomprehensible, ineffable reality, transcending all glory and majesty, should be defiled by associating with human nature"

- Gregory of Nyssa

When God set out to save us, it would seem the main thing to be accomplished was the sacrifice of Jesus' death. As the passage in Romans from Part 1 of this series said: "Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people." But God did not just send a perfect gift to atone our lives  (think the goat appearing to save Isaac).

"Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. 
He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 
So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. 
And to this day it is said, 
“On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
- Genesis 22:  13-14

God did not just send His Son as a sacrifice, He sent Him to live with us. Emmanuel means "God with us". God did not just come to die, He came to live among us for a lifetime. He was not in bubble of safety and peace, He was born into a dark world and lived in darkness. He grew up the son of carpenter, His birth came out of, what the world perceived as, a scandal. Within His first two years, the ruler of the age went on a killing rampage, murdering every little boy under the age of two. He spent His early years as a refugee, He was hated, mocked, and loved. Life was not rosy for Him. He faced temptation and stood against it. 

“Have this mind among yourselves,

 which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God,

 did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 

but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, 

being born in the likeness of men. "

- Philippians 2:5-7

Christ's death is made a million times more significant because He was not just a sacrificial lamb, He was incarnate (embodied in flesh; in human form ), He was Love MANIFESTED (v.display or show (a quality or feeling) by one's acts or appearance; demonstrate).

"“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy

 that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day

 in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ""

- Luke 2: 10-11

"Do you ask the reason why God was born among men? If you exclude from life the benefits which come from God, you will have no way of recognizing the divine. It is from the blessings that we experience that we recognize our benefactor, since by observing what happens to us, we deduce the nature of him who is responsible for it. If, then, the love of man is a proper mark of the divine nature, here is the explanation you are looking for, here is the reason for God’s presence among men. Our nature was sick and needed a doctor. Man had fallen and needed someone to raise him up. He who had lost life needed someone to restore it. He who had ceased to participate in the good needed someone to bring him back to it. He who was shut up in darkness needed the presence of light. The prisoner was looking for someone to ransom him, the captive for someone to take his part. He who was under the yoke of slavery was looking for someone to set him free. Were these trifling and unworthy reasons to impel God to come down and visit human nature, seeing humanity was in such a pitiful and wretched state?"

 - Gregory of Nyssa

See Part 4

Thank(mas): Christmas - Part 2

"We live in this everyday, in darkness that can not be reconciled with the Light." (Part 1)

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 

from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 

that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be 

strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,  

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, 

being rooted and grounded in love, 

may have strength to comprehend with all the saints 

what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know

the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, 

that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

 - Ephesians 3: 14-19

The love of God is incomprehensible. As humans we try and wrap it up in neat little packages. For many people it is "God is love" and we let that stand as an excuse for pardon. Others would say that there is no way that God could be love when there is so much bad in the world. But the fault in either position is trying to wrap God and His love into one single statement. 

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? 

Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?"

 -Romans 8:35

God set up the standard for us, and we fail to meet that standard. In order for Him to stay God, He can not shift His standard, and because we are human we can not live up to it. In the darkness we brought upon ourselves we sat at an impasse. God, by logic, had every reason to leave us be. He set rules, we didn't live up to them, consequences are all on us. But something other than logic was at play, God's love.

"For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—

though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 

but God shows his love for us in that 

while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, 

much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God."

 - Romans 5:7-9

God loved us so much, that He refused to let us sit in our own grime, hopeless. He did not shift His standard, but instead gave us a way to meet it. His love is not that He decided that it didn't matter what we did with our lives, His love is giving us a way to live up to the standard. That standard that was set up in the garden, where nothing wrong, sad, bad, tragic or misunderstood. He refused to leave us in our own mistakes. No where else is Love so complex, or so complete.

"In this the love of God was made manifest among us,

 that God sent his only Son into the world, 

so that we might live through him."

 - 1 John 4:9

(Read Part 3 here)

Thank(mas): People Say...

(if you wanna know what's going on, click here.)

I am still not on top of anything (as displayed by my absence of a post yesterday), so today I am posting on things already said. Things that people say to me that make me laugh. 

Kids:

5-year-old girl I nannied ( on Thanksgiving): “Those people who were from new york came over on the rose ship and they only had barbecue with salt, raw, to eat and raw rice. That’s all I really know what they had to eat. They were on the ship for fifty on fifty days and then they found land and we taught them how to find fish and make a big house because they were in the little house and some of those people died. There were only this many left and there used to be a hundred. “

8-yr-old on heaven. “We can eat bacon all day and never puke”

9-year-old boy I nannied: “You never know how valuable breath is ‘till you rap. I’ve known that for many years.”

9-year-old boy I nannied (trying to describe a receptionist):

 “She’s one of those ladies who sit there with the big hair and says hello.”

The Kids I nannied.

5-year-old girl I nannied (on making soup out of leaves etc outside):

Me: “What is the secret to great chicken noodle soup?”

Girl: “The sauce of yummy...chicken noodle soup is all about having fun. But don’t touch it while I’m gone, there’s nasty ingredients.”

5-year-old girl I nannied: “I think that every flower that blooms, there is a baby there...that’s why (my brother) just saw one flower, but I saw two. Cause it saw me...” 

5-year-old girl I nannied (while we play in the back yard):

Me: “I’m cold Ellie.” 

Girl: “I might could sew you a jacket.” 

Me: “Sew me one?” 

Girl: “Yes, out of leaves, that is why I live in nature.” 

Friends:

Dustin Martin: "I feel like there is a bunch of miniature attractive 

women hugging my feet when I wear these shoes."

Taylor Wade: "You know that cooler in there, with the drinks (at a restaurant), there was a sign on the door that said, 'Every drink in this cooler has to be dated' and I was like, 'Hello there chocolate milk, whats say we get out of here?'" 

Taylor

Me: "The line is, 'are you choking?"

Katlyn Mobley: "That's a problem."

Taylor Wade:"When I was washing dishes by the sink, my phone had service. But when I stepped away from the sink, the phone said I was roaming. I'm not sure, but I think my phone thinks I'm a woman."

Katlyn, me, and Mary Beth - who is also hilarious, but I have no specific quotations.

Katlyn Mobley:"When life gives you cheese. Make it a grilled one."

Ben Helton: "I got an idea for a small business...'Goody Tissues'. A Christian kleenex company. 'Satan is blown away by our low prices!'...This is the brainstorming process people..you've got to dig through the hard unattractive rock to find the rubies and gems."

Ben Helton

Jenna Lacey: "I'm just gonna have to break his heart (Winston the dog). Cause I'm a cowgirl. I love and leave, that's how it is....I like to fly solo. I can't be tamed."

Jenna

Family:

My brother.

“I was trying to get Andrew dressed one morning.” - Mom 

“Well that was your first mistake.” -Andrew

We’re staying over at the dadd gum La Quienta and 

he’s checking the fiber content of the towels!” -Mom

“90% cotton, 10% polyester...pretty good.” - Dad

My parents.

“What did you say to make him mad?” - Mom

“Oh honey, come on. Middle school me? Come on.” - Dad

“Why do you guys take such cute pictures?” - Daughter

“Because, we’re old.” - Dad

“I always feel like such a good wife to be when I’m making pie.” - Sarah

“You know while ya’ll are complaining about being up on the hill, Tim Tebow is out in Denver, Colorado freezing his butt off to help his team win a game. Think about it, it's his first time as a starter, and no one is even caring.” - Bo

My Gigi

Dad: “You’re with family - where else would you be?”

Gigi: “I’d be all alone, lost on the highways and byways. ---most likely the highways.”s

“Don’t let Andrew sit like that! He looks like a nazi.” - Gigi

“You want Tylenol all the time now, you must be addicted to it.”-Bo

“You look thin, you should stand like that all the time.”-Gigi

“Honey, why are you being so grouchy?” - Mom

“Because! That’s how we play games!.” - Dad

My little sister Sarah

“Holiday Inn, that wasn’t a good one.” -Sarah

“You haven’t seen it.” - Me

“Yeah-huh! With Queen Latifah?!” - Sarah

(See more Family quotes: here)

Laughter is a gift.