Last night I went to Sanctuary, and I just wanted to share some of the thoughts that I’ve been thinking about since then.
The message given was of Abram and Sarai, and how though it seemed impossible due to old age and barrenness, God promised to create a great nation from them. It was about their faith in God despite human logic. And it was about promises that God made to them, about inheritances and the promised land that had not been fulfilled by the time they had died.
That last line is what really hit me, and it’s spoken of in Hebrews 11:13
13All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.
I often fall into the same mindset that the speaker mentioned - this belief that I’ll finally achieve all there is to know, that I’ll be living fully for God, and that challenges and learning will all be over and done with. That I’ll be able to sit around without ever a trial, without ever a testing of my faith. But that’s not the case. This whole life will be full of challenges and trials - and just as Abraham died before entering the promised land, I too will still have to be living by faith day by day, trusting in an ever-faithful God.
One of the songs we sang has stuck in my head as well:
Holy, You are still holy
Even when the darkness surrounds my life
Sovereign, You are still sovereign
Even when confusion has blinded my eyes
Holy, You are still holy
Even though I don’t understand Your ways
Sovereign, You will be sovereign
Even when my circumstances don’t change
What a good reminder that God is faithful, and that even though we will have struggles and trials all throughout life, and even though there will be times that we make poor decisions and stray from the path - God is still holy. And his promises still stand.
Just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, and I hope you all have a wonderful day!
Ok, so I’m sorry I leave my avid readers so hopelessly bored with this blog, but I don’t always have things to write about… and I know how boring it can be to read boring posts, so I try to avoid posting about my ever-boring daily routine.
It’s been hectic recently, as I’ve mentioned on here at other times. We’ve either been gone every weekend, or had stuff to do during the week. I’m not sure how much things will slow down before Christmas, either. Said goodbye to my mom this morning - she’s leaving for Cameroon this afternoon. This week Andrew and Cristin are flying out, and Thanksgiving already has an hour-by-hour schedule starting sometime in the morning. Friday is a planned shopping day - I have dreams of getting all my Christmas shopping done in one fell swoop. I’m sure this weekend will be fairly busy as well, and I’m taking Andrew and Cristin to the airport on Sunday (in Boston).
And then it will be December.
But for now, it’s November 21st, and once our lab here at work is set up I’ll have more to do than post on my blog…
Maybe sometime I’ll come up with something creative to say.
In keeping this separate from the fun of going to the Patriots football game, I didn’t mention this in my previous post, but I got a call part way through the game from my Uncle, letting us know that my Grandpa had taken a turn for the worse and was in the hospital. The diagnosis? Acute leukemia with an astonishingly high white-blood cell count of 325,000.
On Tuesday, along with the diagnosis came the prognosis: 3 days, including Monday, so really even less. Abby and I had been in contact with my parents after the football game on Monday night to let them know he was in the hospital, my parents we in contact with Uncle Ken on Tuesday to get more details. On Tuesday night Uncle Ken called and left a message during the night on my cell phone letting us know that Grandpa had passed away around 10:30 pm Tuesday night.
Today, I got up, got the message, and called my parents to let them know. My mom is flying back to the States, scheduled to arrive in Boston Friday afternoon. Abby and I will meet her at the airport and drive straight out to NY (7 hours) from there. The viewing and funeral are set to take place on Saturday.
A couple weeks ago we had a big family get-together to celebrate my Grandpa’s 95th birthday.
This weekend we will be celebrating his whole life.
Monday night a bunch of us went to the Patriots vs. Colts football game. We’ve been planning it for a while, and for me it was a win-win situation. When it comes to football, I’m first and foremost a Patriots fan. The Colts, however, are my next favorite team. I guess that’s what happens when I’m _from_ New England and I went to college in Indiana…
The weather turned out to be really nice, and by that I mean it didn’t rain. See, last year we went to the game the weekend after Thanksgiving and it rained the whole time. At that game, we had to deal with end of November temperatures, wind, and rain. This year it was chilly - but not as cold as last year - and dry.
Well, the Pats lost, so it was somewhat depressing because of that, but at least I got to see my two favorite teams at the same time!
This from Reuters:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Quaker Maid Meats Inc. on Tuesday said it would voluntarily recall 94,400 pounds of frozen ground beef panties that may be contaminated with E. coli.
Yeah, that’s right - the article says beef panties. Don’t you hate it when your fingers get fat and you accidentally hit the n instead of the t…
Full article here.