Steady On

2007-05-11T21:26:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone at home in Indiana! How is CFC? The Lord is taking care of Phil and I. Here are some updates just to let you know what's going on with us:

**The Lord, in His grace, is teaching and growing us in Him. He is so AMAZING: patient, wise, gracious, loving. What thrills me is the system of eternal joy and life that He designed.

God is ultimately holy and beautiful and worthy of all glory.
He gives us the desire for HIM, and then we do desire Him, and then we worship Him...
...and find that experience (interaction with the God of Life) to be so much more intense and joyous (because of who God is) than anything in the world that it-- the worship of Him-- is what we want to do more than anything else! But more than that, we enjoy God Himself. And He gets glory from us desiring Him and worshiping Him! It's a cycle-- what a gracious God to have designed it that way!

**We have been so blessed with "family" out here (though it doesn't take the place of family and friends back home, y'all.) We have some wonderful friendships through church, and enjoy fellowshipping and learning at the weekly Bible study we attend. We've just started on Judges. (I mean to put some pictures up soon!)

**We love Whole Foods! (Organic/local foods grocery store.)

**Phil's preparing to go back to school to finish his degree, probably a B.A. in Illustration. He's working diligently on his drawing skills (the Lord has blessed him with a talent there.) We're also working together on our design skills (he's reviewing, I'm learning.)

**Yes, of course, we love the ocean, and the "cool heat", and the environmental awareness... It's not the Midwest, and that area still has a special place in our hearts-- mostly you. (And I still miss my RAIN!)

**We love you and miss you!

2007-05-11T21:17:00.000-07:00

The pursuit of joy in God is not optional. It is not an "extra" that a person might grow into after he comes to faith. It is not simply a way to "enhance" your walk with the Lord. Until your heart has hit upon this pursuit, your "faith" cannot please God. It is not saving faith.

Saving faith is the confidence that if you sell all you have and forsake all sinful pleasures, the hidden treasure of holy joy will satisfy your deepest desires. Saving faith is the heartfelt conviction not only that Christ is reliable, but also that He is desirable. It is the confidence that He will come through with His promises and that what He promises is more to be desired than all the world. [Bold font my own.] (Piper, 2003, p. 73.)

Liberty to love

2007-02-27T22:45:00.000-08:00

1 Corinthians 13: 1-7--

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

We were listening to Derek Webb's song, "Love Is Not Against the Law." The title reminded Phil and I of Galations 5:22-23: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." There is so much freedom in acting in love. Love is limitless-- move in it as much as you want. Love is endless-- you can deal in it all of this life and for eternity. All the fruits of the Spirit are to be freely exercised! (Thinking in this way can cause giddiness.) Who is the Author and Source of this amazing love? Our Creator. The greatest commandment in living for Him is love:

"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." (Matt. 22:36-40.)

I like thinking about that; everything we're commanded to do is always first rooted in love for the Lord and then in us acting in His love to others. We don't gossip because it dishonors the Lord (as we're His children), and because it hurts others. We are patient and kind because those traits are fruits of the Spirit; God is patient and kind in love, and we exhibit that fruit as He changes us when we submit to Him and our relationship grows in love to Him. (Obedience falls under love; in John 14:15 Jesus says, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments.") And when we're patient and kind, it shows His love to others. So it's good to evaluate when you're about to speak or act: "Does this fall under love? Can it be categorized as love?"

He was working in my heart, showing me these things, and I had to thank the Lord for His incredible gift of love; His "yoke is easy" and His "burden is light" (Matt. 11:30)! Serving under a rule of love-- He's such a gracious and wonderful God! Go and be crazily generous with love! Our Father is RICH in it, and He's commanded us to do it! Deal it out to everybody (even enemies--look at Matt. 5:44-45)!

Our Church

2007-01-09T21:50:00.000-08:00

Hello, I know it's been a while, and now I really have something to write about. Our church, by God's grace, is Bible-believing church who desires to love and glorify the Lord and to live as lights to display Him to the world. The Lord has given our lead minister, David Miller, such a heart for Him, such a deep, deep love for the Lord. For those of you who don't know, our church was an episcopal church-- one that believed the complete Bible to be the Word of God, the standard for Christian living. I say "was". In the middle of December, after having discussed the issue for some time, we voted unanimously as a congregation to leave the Episcopal denomination. The Episcopal church has been having problems for some time, and at the last U.S. national convention, made it clear that the leading heads of the denomination were not interested in reaffirming their belief of Christ as the only way to salvation, as well as other doctrines crucial to being an orthodox Christian. One issue that has recently been in national media is the denomination's stance on homosexuality; that is the issue that our local media chose to fixate on as they "covered" our departure from the denomination. All this to say, PLEASE pray for our minister, as he could use all the prayer and encouragement you could give. This is a tough time, as you can imagine. I'll give more details soon, I will, but please pray for David Miller and our congregation as we stand for Biblical truth and strive to display Christ's love to the community. Love you all!!

Surprise

2006-09-20T21:52:00.000-07:00

And now for a story.

Early August, Phil and I were at our apartment watching TV, and while the episode was in the middle of a high-speed car race, our apartment building starts to shake. Back and forth pretty quickly, like fast heavy right-to-left vibrations. Then, after a second of that while Phil and I look at each other, (me thinking somehow this could have something to do with the race on the tv?,) the building starts to move back and forth, up and down pretty heavily. My thought is that some huge truck has just crashed into the apartment below us. We glance towards outside, hearing people talking; we stand up as the building keeps moving, and I follow Phil, who's started to move toward the door. He starts to run, so do I, and he says, "Hurry, get outside, it's an earthquake." We barefoot down the cement steps to the ground, where other tenants are coming outside. By now the earthquake's over. We watch people across the complex start talking to other neighbors they don't know about what just happened. Phil says we should stay outside just in case there's more. After about a minute of no moving, we go back inside. It was really strange; it was exciting in the way that huge thunderstorms are exciting when nobody gets hurt. In fact, it was like thunder on the ground, if you can imagine that. You know how you it starts out somewhat quiet, then is suddenly loud, and you can feel it the whole time? It was more feeling than sound, though. Now that I think about it, I guess there was a sound that accompanied the moving. That must have added to my dumptruck-in-the-building theory.

2006-08-15T16:47:00.000-07:00

Alright, Bethie (and everybody who asked.)

My sweetie and me.

At the Sonoma County Fair-- almost as big as Indiana's State Fair.

Crazy Phil... and me.

2006-08-12T13:06:00.000-07:00

Have you ever tried running after something? I mean to run after something, run for it, run to it. Phil and I were on our path this morning, and had decided that I would walk and he would run. We started by walking together and talking; then he took off. As I watched him go, I realized I didn't really want to be left without him. After a minute of trying to rationalize to myself that there was nothing wrong with him going on ahead as he had many times before, I started to run. Phil takes a good clip when he moves, and as he was an eighth of a mile ahead of me, I had to push hard. For those who don't know, I'm not built to run distances, unlike my sister Cindy. My muscles are bulky, not long; it's hard for me to find energy to move all my body parts at that rate of speed while exerting push. But Phil was still in sight, and like a child who imagines that her doll is sad when she doesn't sleep with it, I ran like something would be wrong if Phil went out of sight. I ran. When he went around a bend out of sight, I strained to find him. If he went around a corner, desperation overwhelmed me. I was too tired, I realistically wasn't going to catch him, was it even worth it? Walking for a while, the desire to at least have a bond through sight resumed. A desire stronger than desperation. I started again. And so it went through the duration.

I never did catch him. He didn't even know I was running behind him. But I did realize that while I was focused on keeping my eyes on him, willing my body to catch him, everything else was a blur. I did not pay attention to the birds, or to the smells, or to the dogs. I was seeking Phil. Everything, mind, will, emotions. I was reminded of the Scriptures-- what Paul describes when he writes of the goal and prize. Philippians 3:13-- "But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:8, 9-- "What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the supassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ..." Let's seek hard after the Lord!! He is deeply satisfying. Let's press and strain for the goal to win the prize!! Don't give up, look to Him for strength. His grace is sufficient*, especially when you feel you can't breathe and step at the same time. And you will never be running for Him alone; He promised**.

*2 Cor. 12:9, 10-- "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

**Hebrews 13:5-- "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'~ "

~Deut. 31:6

California to Indiana

2006-07-06T22:36:00.001-07:00

Now, California and Indiana. Differences and similarities.

In this part of California, there's very little humidity.

We have a dry season (March through September) and a rainy season (October through February.) Like Africa. In fact, this area reminds me of what Mom says she likes. We'd drive through Colorado for vacations, and she'd point out dry, rocky hills with scrubby bushes and exclaim that she loved the scenery. I just didn't understand it. But recently I realized it must remind her of her young home. Same reason I like the rain.

The sun doesn't set here until 9pm. I guess now that would be a similarity, due to Daylight Saving Time.

Everything is brown and dusty here in the summer, starting in June (sometimes sooner.) Greenery comes with the rain.

It is legal and expected for motorcyclists to ride between same-going lanes of traffic. There's a term for this, but I can't remember it. (I know, Dad, I know!)

This area has an odd mix of old hippies and yuppies. Which means that it is chilled-out with all the modern amenities affluency demands. Birkenstocks and Beemers. Ponytails and Porsches. Yoga and Volkswagen. And yes, it's very liberal and new-agey and politically correct. Tolerance is being championed as the national religion pretty much everywhere; people are embracing it here. In lieu of that, our Biblically-firm church here (another post) is standing strong by God's grace. It's a beautifully stark contrast! Pray for us!

It's "soda," not "pop" or "Coke."

San Francisco is referred to as "The City." "Hey, we were all planning on going to The City Friday; wanna come?"

People are open and seemingly less concerned about appearance (this is very different from LA to the south of us). But people are not as friendly as in Indiana. There's a feeling of not-as-hurried, not-as-frenzied, not-as-bothered... I think it has a lot to do with the fact that there's considerably less commercialism in this area than what I'm used to in Indiana. Hardly any billboards around our town (you'll see a few on the freeway), very few chain restaurants and stores... And TV-watching seems less prevalent around here. No messages screaming for you to "BUY!! LOOK GREAT!! EAT THIS!! AQCUIRE THAT!!" It's nice.

Yeah, "freeway" instead of "interstate." Because, really, it IS a "freeway" with lots of very short exit and entrance ramps. And sometimes it turns into more of a highway than an interstate, with stoplights at various places for an intersecting road. People drive more crazily, sporadically, almost. Fast accelerations and speedy stops to get the most out of the road. There's not the common feeling that 10 miles over the posted speed limit is a given ok, like there is in Indiana and surrounding states. People change lanes a bit uneasily, it seems. All of this, I think, comes from the fact that Californians aren't used to driving over long stretches of flat road. There are hills, and frequent traffic jams, that keep the flow of traffic more like a crawl-and-GO than a flow.

The laws are set up so that the little guy wins, to protect him from the CORPORATE BADNESS.

My sisters are not here or anywhere nearby.

Phil is as crazy here as he was at home, which is great. :)

I still change my haircolor (it's as blond as it was black.)

Tomato soup with milk tastes the same, except for the absence of rain and Mom.

I still love you all!

Home?

2006-07-06T21:46:00.000-07:00

Hey, I know it's been a while (a long time, even.) Phil and I are still in California, and the Lord is still taking care of us. For instance, He has provided couches, a kitchen table with benches, a bed, and a vaccum sweeper-- we had no real plan for acquiring these things. But we did need them. The Lord used His people to bless us, and aren't givers blessed in the process of giving? The Lord is so good. I'd intended to write about how I'm homesick, but this came out instead. I'm reading in John Piper's book, Desiring God, about God's sovereignity and how, since He controls everything, everything in some way gives Him glory. Even blogging.

I have been wanting to talk about how California is different from Indiana. And what defines home. I'm learning alot about that. Phil is now my family, and California is my home. But I still miss my family, and California doesn't feel at all homey. I think that if California in some way resembled Indiana, I wouldn't feel so far away. And maybe it would be easier to miss my family. Like if it rained, or if there were nice, big, dark trees around where we lived. Something that gave me comfort. But it's always just sunny. Sun, sun, sun. Open fields that are brown and golden and hilly. Nothing is green here in the summer; even the trees are blackish green. It never rains in the summer, and that means no thunderstorms. I want rain like most people want sun. Phil has been trying to get me to open up to the possibility of not only accepting the dry heat around here, but liking it. But they've always been such fierce opponents, SUN or RAIN, that I'm afraid if I started to like the sun alot, I'd stop loving the rain. So I'm homesick.

I am enjoying the people here, though. And although (or maybe because) it's a little difficult for me sometimes here, I think the Lord might be trying to teach me that He's home, and He's enough. "Home" takes a while to grow. Our apartment does not feel like home yet. Phil doesn't exactly feel like family the way my family does.* But the Lord is the same, always. Always. And He is comfort. And His people feel like family and they love you like family, because you have the same Father and the Spirit through the Son.

We read these verses tonight. I'd like to share it as encouragement for us all:

"But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for 'love will cover a multitude of sins.' "

-- 1 Peter 4:7-8

*But he already loves me like my family. Our relationship just doesn't have the platform of years like the one that my family's is built on. It's just natural that it takes time.

California living

2006-04-18T20:56:00.000-07:00

God is good-- we're here! Currently I'm sitting in the house of Mr. John Miller, a bachelor house for 4 bachelors, while he and Phil play a computer game known as World of Warcraft. It sounds wicked, but it's just quests with not-so-great graphics. There are just some things about men living alone together that is funny. These guys have made a strong effort: real furniture; fairly tidy living space; a printed chore list posted on the wall that's been there for a while. Two of the guys are sitting on the couch watching show to show: baseball; Discovery Channel about horse-breeding; brief interest in the beginning of the Miss America pageant; now it's the 70's Show. Ah, boys.

I haven't blogged in a LONG time, so I'll give updates in as read-easy fashion as possible.

--We had a great drive out here. My parents graciously drove us halfway, and Beth graciously gave up semi-tropical spring break destinations to come along. We had a great time. From Ft. Collins, CO, Phil and I drove the rest of the way by ourselves. He led in a rented minivan, and I followed in our Honda Civic. The Japanese did not intend this cute go-forever 4-cylinder to attempt mountains. It was a little fatigued by the Appalachians on our honeymoon. The Rockies really gave it a challenge. We made it, though about a week ago our muffler went out; I really had to punch it to keep speed on those hills. The muffler is another story. Continuing our journey, we made it through the first part of the mountains and into Tahoe. It was snowing,(yeah, we didn't expect to run into that on our way to CALIFORNIA) and there was slush starting to accumulate on the roads. But it was really just wet stuff. Turns out we were just over the California border, and in California it's a law that ANY accumulation is somewhat of an emergency situation. They closed the interstate, making everyone exit into the town of Tahoe/Truckee. Not knowing that this was a temporary close just to allow salt trucks room to clear the roads, we consulted the map and decided to take a highway that bordered Lake Tahoe south to another westward highway. We started out. Snow was really accumulating, maybe 3 inches or so, which became tricky b/c the road was narrow and curvy, sometimes steep, and increasingly more remote and unplowed. We drove at about 30 mph for 50 minutes, walkie-talkie-ing back and forth, Phil checking on me and sending road condition warnings back to me as he led. I was a little concerned b/c I had seen signs on this road stating that something was closed X miles ahead... Phil didn't think it was the road we were on. But, turned out it was. After 50 minutes we arrive at a snowed-off dead-end. Closed. This is where Phil talked to some locals and we discovered that the interstate closing was temporary. To finish this story, we turned around, drove back to Tahoe/Truckee, and tried the interstate again, which was open. Great, no problem. WE didn't need chains on OUR cars; we're from Indiana! Slush is nothing! C'mon. But up the road they were stopping everyone that didn't have chains, and giving you two choices: pay $60/car to put chains on, or get off the interstate. It was about 7:30, and it was a 3.5 hour drive to Petaluma. We went back to Tahoe/Truckee. After talking, we got the last room in the nice Holiday Inn Express; the elderly lady behind the counter felt bad for us and gave us a discounted rate. It was an unexpected stop in our trip, but as Becca will appreciate, it was SPONTANEOUS and it was fun. The rest of our trip was fine.

--Our apartment is bigger and nicer than the last one, and we've been given nice furniture for it!! Our apartment complex is quiet; the whole area is surrounded by huge hills-- small, grass-covered mountains. I work at Kval in an office processing worksheets and payroll. Phil and John Miller work there as well; it's a great company.

--Our muffler got a hole from it's trip through the mountains. It wasn't til the second week of our California residence that this became apparent. It was a little noisy, nothing too bad. We decided to brave a "mountain" road one day to drive to the fog that was covering the top of a hill. We'd heard that this road was pretty bad; some erosion, broken pavement... We decided to try it. With the rain, I guess pretty bad had become really bad. During that excursion, our muffler-exhaust pipe connection hit the ground and broke. So now our car was LOUD, the muffler was dragging on the ground and the exhaust pipe was scudding on the ground. We limped back to the apartment complex with our hazard lights on, fearing a ticket for noise pollution. The cop that did tail us let us go; he realized our situation and had pity. On the way to the shop the next morning, our exhaust pipe fell off. Phil got out and put it in our backseat; I thought it was hilarious. We dropped it off at Midas, and John gave us a ride into work. Later that day during the weekly lunch prayer meeting, Phil shared (to my surprise) that it would take more money than we had available to fix the car. The elderly matriarch of the company, Mrs. Patty Kvalheim, is a believer; she sponsors the prayer meetings in her office for any of the believers who'd like to join. (Fellowship of believers is a great comfort at work.) Patty immediately expressed her concern, and told us to talk to her after the meeting. We prayed, including that concern. After the meeting, she wrote us a check as a gift, saying that when the Lord blesses, we should share. It was more than enough to cover the car cost. The Lord humbled me with that gift. As Dad said, the Lord always provides!!

Ok, so there's some of what's been going on; I hope to post more soon. It's late, and we're tired; Phil's left the computer game. The Lord is so good, and He's taking care of us! Thanks for your prayers. We love you and miss you all.

Girl Office

2006-02-17T12:03:00.000-08:00

I'm not a "Girl Friday" (or was it Tuesday?), because I'm not Miss Hepburn. How delicate. I'm forced into finally completing my first post, as I want to post a message on Cindy's spot [chroniclesofcindy.blogspot.com], but can't. I lost my blogspot account I created in December because I didn't want to post at the time.

An English/writing major, I know!

I just feel that writing wears me out. It does, when I'm not brimming with something to say. Funny thing, though: yesterday, I had 2 ideas that I thought I'd like to write about. And last night, the Lord again showed me His love and greatness in revealing His goodness. So that's another topic for writing. Then Miriam called me up this afternoon, telling me to look at her blog. I'd forgotten she had one. I'd forgotten all my sisters have one. She reminded me. Which also reminded me that I wanted her to meet my new friend-sister, Mary Frances, of Petaluma, CA. I found that she has a website/blog. All this pressure to create and maintain a blog!!!

I don't know how everyone has so much time to write; I'll try to keep up between answering phone calls and entering data.

Ok, here I go.