no eloquence here...just ruffled feathers.

so. i have been thinking about some verses lately. i came across one a few days ago and then several since then. i keep looking at them thinking: 'hmm...i should write this down in some fashionable font and hang them on my wall.' but we're out of wall space in the golbov household. so then i thought: 'self, why don't you write a lovely little essay or piece including a dissection of these verses. maybe you could connect them somehow???' but then, it lacked any sort of clarity or beauty. that, i could not handle. then, i read in inanera's post this morning: "If there was a well-designed blog [NOT Bible Gateway] that was dedicated to entering nuggets [I hate that word] of the Bible, would you read it?" after this i thought: 'emily ann, the word of God is enough alone. if He blesses you with some sort of insight, but all means share it. but if he simply lays these verse on your heart, he will use them how he sees fit.' hence, i give you some verses on my heart:

"Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. Don't forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies." Hebrews 13:1-3

• on this particular verse i have a comment (or two...forgive me!) my pastor recently preached on this passage. his point, rather God's point, to quote him "It's not about how to go to church but how to do church." so true.

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." Hebrews 13:8 (bet you can't guess what book of the Bible we're going through in church right now! (; )

"'I am who I am' say this to the people of Israel: yaweh, the God of your ancestors, -- the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob -- has sent me to you. This is my eternal name, my name to remember for all generations." Exodus 4"14, 15

"You are my God, and I will praise you! You are my God, and I will exalt you! Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever!" Psalm 118: 28,29

• perhaps i am being taught a lesson in the endurance of the Lord. a lesson in His unchanging nature, regardless of my changing nature. He is the same always.
  

"The world would love you as one of it's own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you." John 15:19

• this last one is from the study i am doing in John during my morning devotions. i love the way Kathleen, the author of the study references this verse: "Jesus said outrageously true things in order to shine light on people. We keep them to ourselves in order to avoid problems or criticism or misunderstandings. Do we want to be a light or not? Do we want to be well-liked, popular? It won't work. They hated Jesus...they are going to hate us. Get past it."
  

thank you Lord for your Word. thank you for making it accessible to me on a daily basis. thank you for sending your Spirit to tickle my brain and say "hey! this is important, don't ignore it! speak up, have courage and stop being politically correct for the sake of not ruffling feathers!"

so. ruffle away i will.

thinking back time...

for some reason i cannot stop thinking about my mother today. she created such wonderful memories for my brother and me: turning trips to the grocery store into exciting learning experiences, hand-crafting numerous halloween costumes, allowing us to run rampant through the house with our pot and pan marching band and even going the extra mile to establish small familial traditions that no other family had or has. i can't even begin to thank her for all the hard work. i know on several occasions i called her the "meanest mother in the world" or yelled out the phrase "i can't WAIT to move out of here." but all in all i'm so very glad to have had the meanest mother in the world, because that meant she cared. thanks mom for being the amazing woman of God that you are and always putting in the extra effort to make Ross and me feel needed, loved and at home.

day one of...

+ exercising early to start the day off with a bang

+ coming home with an hour before husband gets up to drink coffee & water, read the Word and enjoy the mellow blueness of morning.

+ tearing through my old room, mom and daddy's basement & attic in an attempt to FINALLY move EVERYTHING out.

+ writing a letter or card every morning to someone.

+ reading again. oh good books, i've missed you so.

+ expanding my vocabulary. word of the day - here i come!

+ new routines of ambling and taking time for what matters. :)

on the brain...

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