the character of God

we were having the conversation. again.

"but the bible is fallible. men wrote it so how can God have written it too." she always seemed to end that particular phrase with a period - as if there were no question, only fact. truth in her eyes. "and all this about the trinity being a reality. the word trinity isn't even mentioned in the bible. so even if someone believes in the bible as truth how could they possibly believe in the trinity. it isn't even from scripture."
"but it is." my responses were always similar to hers: short, succinct, and stated as the truth they were and are.
"no it's not. the word trin--"
"you're right. the word 'trinity' isn't in the bible, but the concept - God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit all being one in the same - is embedded in scripture and repeated over and over. we have given it a name in order to be more efficient. like instead of always saying 'i'll have thirteen bagels please' we can just say 'i'll have a baker's dozen.' or instead of ordering 'two cheeseburgers, a medium fry and a medium coke' we just order a 'number 2.'"
"where is it then?"
"what?"
"where does it talk about all that you say?"
i wish i had read more at this point. i always fumbled around praying in my head "Lord give the verses i don't really know..."
"John 5:16-47 this entire passage is Jesus explaining the ways in which he is God, the ways in which God is His Father and the signs that point to Jesus as the Messiah. Hebrews 1, the whole chapter, discusses God and Jesus being one for the point and purpose of explaining that Jesus is not an angel but much greater. Verse 8,9 is God saying to Jesus 'Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever. You rule with a scepter of justice. You love justice and hate evil. Therefore, O God, your God has anointed you, pouring out the oil of joy on you more than on anyone else.' God calls Christ God here!! there's a verse in Acts...maybe Chapter 10 where Peter is talking with Cornelius - a man that just doesn't understand that Jesus is the only way to God - and Peter says something like 'God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around preaching the good news and healing all who were faced with evil, because God was with Him.' now i should look that up to make sure it's not out of context and completely wrong from memory, but if i'm right about the verse, it's saying God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit (you can see that in John chapter one...where he's baptized) and then Christ went around doing good and healing because God was with Him. God was with Jesus on earth through the Holy Spirit. There's another passage in John 1 that references Genesis, sorry i keep referencing John, but i'm studying it right now, where --"
"whatever."
my sigh was too notable to ignore. how could she not understand?!
"i still think man wrote the bible so it's fallible."
"but that wasn't the conversation we were having, we can if you want, but, i thought you didn't believe in the idea of the trinity...not necessarily the word, but the biblical concept."
"i don't. but how can you prove something when you try to prove it with words the person doesn't believe are really truth anyway."
"i guess i just keep saying the same thing every time we have this conversation. i believe in the power of the truth of God and i just keep praying that if i speak the truth that i know and believe enough, it will hit home one day and make sense to you. to whomever i may speak to. God's words have enough power they will end the world, i mean jesopete, they began the world too. what's the verse 'They shall know the truth and the truth shall set them free.' that's in John...i remember that one...John 8:32. anyway. i can't change your mind on any of this. only God can."

my heart broke. my heart breaks every time i hear this. every time i wonder what else i could have said? how else could i phrase that question? did i say the right thing? and then i am thankful that it's never anything i do. it's about what God does.

"'My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,' says the Lord. 'And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher that your thoughts. The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it." Isaiah 55:8-11

someday...

check out the video of Psalm 23 lots of scotts has posted from yesterday. too cute. maybe someday my children will recite bible verses like this!

ironic much...

yesterday as conrad and i drove back from elkhart we made a few "random" stops. it's true. just when i start getting antsy and need an impulsive day the Lord supplies; and, of course, God-cidently right after the previous post! :) we stopped at a clearance furniture store, snickered at the roadside gas station called "eat here and get gas," and even hopped off 31 south for a quick tour of the Grissom Air Force Museum (which husband hated of course...note the sarcasm!). we made some much needed memories. :) i am thankful today.

that sign says: "Please don't cross the rope." As
Mumble Happy Feet would say "I was feeling
spawn-tan-you-us!"

boyfriend's "pensive" pose by the plane.

i think this is the plane with the ginormous
uranium-depleted bullets which conrad knew
the entire history of. okay...i hyperbolize...
but he knew his history!

that's right terrorists. i'm the new helicopter
pilot...with cute shoes to boot!

pilot conrad in action.

pilot conrad bailing out of his crashing copter.


this is my "take me seriously i'm a pilot and
i mean business face."

husband "flies" the replica Wright brothers
plane. note museum attendant. she chatted
with us a while...i think she was bored.

this is conrad's "i love math" face. the boy is
always happy when learning and seeing math
in action. and yes i just used the phrase
"math in action."

"Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods." Psalm 95:1-3

cold coffee.

yes. i know. months since a new post. hopefully this go around will be better. but then again, i always say that. :)

excitement: i am settling into a routine. i never, in the time that it takes a black hole to suck you in from beginning to end, thought that i would rejoice over establishing a routine. momma can expound for pages on that - as can husband. and they will.

for example:

Saturday morning. Conrad says: want do you want to do today?
Emily says: i don't know.
Conrad says: we should plan out the day so we have an idea.
Emily says: no, i don't want to plan anything. at all. let's just do whatever, whenever.
Conrad looks at Emily: oh it's one of those days.

7.5 months of marriage and he already knows. he's a fast learner. :)

point 1: my mismatched spirit of freedom and routine desires - needs - days without schedules. most importantly days of running random errands, actually creating something with my hands and moments of discovery.

point 2: my mismatched spirit of freedom and routine desires - needs - days with schedules. coffee, bible, write, remember i poured coffee, internet, drink the coffee which is now cold, errands, laundry, cook and make coffee again. i like this schedule. i like this routine. it establishes some sort of consistency in my life. moments of joy and randomness occur even in routine. and this makes me smile.

point 3: the Lord knows this of my spirit. i suppose my word choice is off - he doesn't mismatch spirits. he matches them perfectly.

i think it was the first Sunday in August Rabbi Adler, a Messianic Jewish Rabbi, preached a sermon at our church. the scripture - Psalm 8. i scribbled a note in the margin of my bible that reads: "God could have formed the world in an instant, but he took six days because he loved us so. God is intimately seeking you."

my "mismatched spirit," my yearning for both routine and random, have been intentionally instilled in my heart; written there by the hand of God. who am i to then question this part of my personality?

so.

as i begin to find joy in routine, i will remember the joy in the random.

"When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers--the moon and the starts you set in place--what are people that you should think about them, more mortals that you should care for them? Yet you made them only a little lower that God and crowned them with glory and honor..." Psalm 8:3-5 NLT