bless you

Last weekend I went to church with Kevin & fam in Cleburne. They were going through presbytery (1Ti 4:14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery) that week where leaders from that church and other churches will come and prophesy over people in the church. They record it so that you can keep the words of encouragement spoken over you.

Anyway, there was a guest teacher that weekend, a guest teacher I happened to have heard about already. His name is Kerry Kirkwood and he pastors a church in Tyler, TX. In our small group every other Monday, I remember that Candiss had talked about a "recent" service at Shady Grove where he had preached this really super awesome message about blessing. By recent I of course mean last June. Anyway, what we talked about was really good and so Erin & I asked Candiss to get us cd copies of the teaching.

Flash forward to this morning - I still hadn't listened to that dang cd! She got it to me like 2 days after I was aware of said teaching's existence and I didn't listen to it for 9 dang months! Geesh! This is a something about myself that is prevalent in other areas of my life and I need to work on that (I'll add it to the list)!

Nevertheless, this morning I was reading in my daily study bible that Annie and I are going through together. (It's supposed to work out where you'll be finished in a year, but....what are "deadlines" anyway... *nervous*) Aaaaanybuns, I was reading in Romans this morning and I got to this verse (which is also where I stopped):

"Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation." -Rom. 12:14-16

This instantly did two things in me. 1. Struck a chord. 2. Reminded me of that Kerry Kirkwood cd that was still shining brightly on top of my turn table (thanks Keevs!) - though it's luster was a bit diminished by the layer of dust that has been ceaselessly accumulating on it's sweet face.

Let me talk about each of those numbas.

1. Bless those who persecute you. We've all heard this before I'm sure. But to really put it into practice? To truly desire to bless someone who dislikes you or works against you or even loathes you? To pray for their good and for the fulfillment of God's best for them in their lives? That's a difficult thing to do with a sincere heart and without selfish intentions. Especially when you don't particularly like this person and maybe.....maybe it might feel pretty nice to see them NOT succeed and NOT be blessed.

This is sadly true of me in lots of areas. And of course by cursing, it doesn't mean saying "I curse you that you will bear no children and that you will die......SOON....AND HORRIBLY!" I mean, I guess maybe some people think things like that but that's a little creepy. It means even something as simple as calling someone an idiot - even if you don't verbalize it.

(Sidebar: There is a lot more I could write about associating with the lowly, not being haughty in mind or wise in my own estimation, but I think if I want people to actually finish reading this mini novella, I'll save it for another entry. TWICE!)

2. When I was FINALLY listening to the cd in my car this morning, Kerry Kirkwood (who, henceforth will be referred to as KK) was describing cursing as calling someone something less than what God has created them to be. Dang. When he said that my instant thought was, "Oh no." I do that more often than I would like to admit, even if it's only in my mind. The instances and capacities might be too many to mention here.

KK also said that when we curse others, in cursing God's creation, we in turn curse him. As it says: "And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'" Mat. 25: 40

I think I'm going to start trying to bless some more. If you are in anyway interested in listening to this blessing discourse, you can listen to some of his teachings at the Trinity Fellowship Church website and get your bless on!

.......

*runs away*

we hope you win

Jimmy Fowler of Ft. Worth Weekly (I said that like I know who that journalist is and I don't) wrote a review of Radiant's recently released album, "We Hope You Win."

Check it out!

the langley schools music project

In response to my "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" post, my friend Jerome wrote a post about The Langley Schools Music Project.

He's a great writer and he's great with musical reviews, so I thought I'd give him a shout out on this one. Please note his assessment of the Eagles in the 4th paragraph. It's comments like this that keep the friendship going.

FOREVA!!!

world contact day

It came. It finally came. At a recent practice with Bosque Brown, my friend and fellow musician, Winston, introduced us to a song by the Carpenters. It was a song I'd never heard of theirs, and it was very....entertaining. It's title, you ask?

Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft (The Recognized Anthem of World Contact Day)

If that isn't enough to spark your interest, I don't know what to say. It's on the Carpenters Gold greatest hits album released in 2005. I ordered it from Amazon about a week or so ago and it came in the mail today! Hurrah! Please. Please listen to it.

there's a hole in the bucket, dear LIZa....

That's it. It's finally happened. Liz Penelope Lowrie (that's not her real middle name) started a blog. Click on the word "blog" in the previous sentence. It's not the normal "link" color, so I am forced to leave you, my devout readers, instructions. I ask that when you go to the address that you look closely at the URL. I love it! Here's Liz:


She's funny, cute and married to boot! Read her blog. Religiously.

cuddles magoo!

Annie.....er....I mean Samuel posted a blog with some pictures of Cute Face Samuel.....er...himself (that's his street moniker) on his blog. You can see all of them here.

I've chosen a few gems....and by gems I mean photos that feature me....to post here for your undoubted viewing pleasure.

Samuel and I. My indifference to the drool on my shoulder is indicative that I will one day be a really good mom:


Here's one of Rian and I making a Samuel Sandwich. What? We were hungry. Oh and don't worry, he's not laughing:


I love Samuel's cheeks!

escuche

Monica wrote a great post that is speaking to me real direct-like. She's been reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer and here's an excerpt:


She pretty much says what I feel about myself in the rest of her post, but one thing I can see a lot in myself is that I often want to give advice in lieu of just listening. I want to be able to contribute and help and solve and make right. I imagine that sometimes this is warranted or even requested, but I'm not always so good at making the effort to distinguish. I can also see in my life how not always listening and always talking has become habitual, even in my conversations with God. I want to learn how to listen more. To my friends and to the voice of God.

Friends, help me out. If I'm talking, and you need me to be listening...please tell me.