Thankfulness

Thanksgiving break is now over and finals are quickly approaching, but I want to take a moment to REMEMBER. In the Forge, one thing we learned was that we are a very forgetful people--it's good for us to spend some time remembering what God has done.

I'm thankful for...

A wonderful couple of days with my family.
The opportunity to go to college and pursue a degree.
My wonderful family in Texas (and Mississippi!!!).
Being able to meet publicly for church.
Never wondering where my next meal will come from or where I will sleep.
Knowing the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
A great boyfriend who loves Jesus.
Wonderful roommates who also love Jesus and decorate our room for Christmas!!!
My awesome Bible study girls and opening up our favorite coffee shop every Wednesday morning.
Cups of hot tea and watching the sunrise.
Illnesses and failures, because they remind me that I'm weak and that my Savior is strong.

My Forge Family

Lovely Residents of Room 110

My Brother and I

Helping my Nephew Ice Skate this Weekend

My Boyfriend and I

Love is Love?

Today as I walked through campus I noticed several sidewalks chalked with this phrase: "Love is Love." It was being used to promote the LGBT group on campus.

The argument of the LGBT campus group is that if you love someone, that's all that matters. The fact that it is love, qualifies it as valid. I disagree. People can love things that are not good for them. I think of smoking, for example. Cigarettes have a warning from the Surgeon General that describes negative health effects of inhaling cigarette smoke. In addition, people can also love other people that do not have healthy, positive effects on their life. For example, in many abusive relationships, both parties believe they are acting out of love, however everyone agrees that abuse is unhealthy and has a negative life influence, whether or not it is "love."

I bring this up not to argue about the LGBT lifestyle, but simply to point out that this particular argument by the LGBT group is flawed. Postmodernism often says, "I think, therefore it must be so," but responsible human beings need to be able to systematically evaluate the validity of arguments, not just go with the flow.

Purity and Idol Factories

My sweet friend Lauren once described our tendency to love things other than Christ in such a poignant way. She described our hearts (biblically, the seat of our emotions, thoughts, and reason) as little idol factories--"prone to wander" as the hymnist writes.

This morning in Sunday school we talked about God's attributes of righteousness/justice and mercy. Righteousness, we learned, is bascially meeting the standard of what is right, and we know that God is the only thing that is right. He defines right by his very existence (if he didn't, then he would not be God, because the ultimate being must be the ultimate standard).

We began to discuss our righteousness as humans and it got me thinking about the human condition. Though we all wish to believe that in and of ourselves we have redeemable qualities, by observation of humanity, especially a small child, it seems to be quite clear that selfishness and ungodliness are at the core of our being. How is it then that one would hope to produce some sort of pure thing from a flawed source? Most scientists do not expect impure things to beget pure things. Would you expect a diseased mammal to give birth to a completely healthy one? Would you expect fresh water to come from a salt source? And yet we somehow expect that our little idol factories can produce something worthy of the Pure and Holy one. On our own it just isn't so.

Luckily this isn't the end of the story. God has made a way for us to become pure, by offering us the blood of the only perfect sacrificial lamb, Christ Jesus. By sprinkling us he makes us clean. (See Hebrews 9,Isaiah 1:18, 1 Peter 1:1-2)

Flowers and Fall

"For, 'All men are like grass and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.' And this is the word that was preached to you." 1 Peter 1:24-25

Last week I was walking through campus and saw the most beautiful tree. It was a vibrant yellow-orange, frosted with sanguine and overall dripping with color. I felt if I got any closer, I would be dusted with color as well. I just stared as I walked by, enraptured by its beauty.

Today, while walking through campus, I looked again for the tree. Much to my dismay it's enchanting beauty had vanished and the branches that once supported such a glowing array were now speckled with the greyish-brown remains of it's youthful glory. It was at this point that God brought to mind a verse from 1 Peter, which gave me a new perspective and comfort. It reminded me that as I go throughout life, it is not my glory that matters, but the Lord's and his everlasting word.

Soil Not Oil

Because I'm a college student, I have these sweet opportunities to go to interesting lectures from time to time. Dr. Vandana Shiva came to my campus recently to speak about her newest book "Soil Not Oil: Food Security in Times of Global Climate Change." I have to admit that the topics she addressed were ones I haven't thought much about (ecology, feminism, world politics). The take-away for me was that it is difficult to impute American culture (in all of it's facets) into Indian culture and be very successful. There is too much of a contrast, and their way of life was apparently working. I also learned that there is a monopoly on the seed market (who knew?), and so many small farmers are under the thumb of this large, American seed company. She also discussed seed patents and intellectual property. It was rather interesting overall and I'm glad that she is giving a voice to the many women in India whose livelihood depends on agriculture, but do not have a say in its politics.

For More Info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vandana_Shiva