Tears Make Good Fertilizer

We sang a sweet hymn at the end of evening service last night. The third verse reads:

"Morning and evening sow the seed, God's grace the effort shall succeed.

Seed-times of tears have oft been found with sheaves of joy and plenty crowned."
Words: Basil Manly, Jr. (1825-1892)

Recently I have been surrounded by some dear friends whom the Lord, in His good and strange providence, has called to sow seeds this season with their tears. In the midst of their loss and heartbreak, God consistently shows Himself to be sufficient for their every need and proves Himself worthy of their hope and trust.

Unlike my tendency to be harsh and tough, God has not called them to "suck it up" and get over it. He sweetly sympathizes with them in their weakness, equips them for what He has called them to, and endures all things with them.

The faithfulness of these friends in the midst of their sorrow convicts me of how conditional my obedience to and trust in the Lord is. When I am sad or even just cranky, I excuse myself from having to be faithful. But God ordains storm clouds and tears for our good - Not that we would stop being faithful, but that we would persevere and trust in Him.

May those who sow in tears

reap with shouts of joy!

He that goes forth weeping,

bearing the seed for sowing,

shall come home with shouts of joy,

bringing his sheaves with him.
- Psalm 126:5-6

What a sweet promise that when tears fall onto the seeds we sow, the harvest will be ripe with blessing.

John Piper says: "This psalm teaches the tough truth that there is work to be done whether I am emotionally up for it or not; and it is good for me to do it. Suppose you are in a blue funk and it is time to sow seed. Do you say, “I can’t sow the field this spring, because I am in a blue funk.” If you do that you will not eat in the winter.

But suppose you say, “I am in a blue funk. I cry if the milk runs out at breakfast. I cry if the phone and doorbell ring at the same time. I cry for no reason at all. But the field needs to be sowed. That is the way life is. I do not feel like it, but I will take my bag of seeds and go out in the fields and do my crying while I do my duty. I will sow in tears.”

Read the whole article here, it is worth the next 5 minutes of your life to consider this truth: http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/taste-see-articles/talking-to-your-tears

Roasted Red Peppers

I am certainly very far from being a culinary extrodinaire. I'm completely content to have a dinner consist of carrots, a bowl of cereal, and a glass of red wine - don't worry mom, sometimes I throw in a handful of almonds for protein. (Thank God that I am currently single and thus unable to inflict my malnutrition upon others). BUT I had no idea that you could do this! Thank you Pioneer Woman

Yup, just throw the pepper right on top of the flame - how fun is that?!

Looking forward to trying this, when it's not my week to clean the kitchen... :)

Pray for Japan

Support the people of Japan, with your prayers and with your giving.

Welcome to the Real World

For some reason I believe the lie that my life has not yet started. I live as if in some sort of trial run - the points don’t really count, the clock isn’t really ticking. It’s the mentality reflected in the classic college reference to life after graduation as “the real world” and therefore at least for this stage of life, it's a show or a production where actions don’t have consequences or really affect anything. This thinking has spilled past caps and gowns, into Act II, Scene I and somehow I find myself in a drama I don’t think I like very much. Aspirations I built of the “real world” don’t play out quite as I directed them in my mind, the characters don’t keep their script, the emotions are way less exciting (though sometimes more dramatic), and the color isn’t quite as vivid.

This train of thought fuels my desire to hide from others, to not be honestly known by others, or at least to control what others know of me. So long as I keep playing my part, I can manipulate the scene and write the ending. The reality is, this “show” of my life actually IS my life. The habits and patterns, choices and decisions, yes’s and no’s, are real and have consequences – whether bad or good. I am choosing how I live in the decisions that I make, forming my character in the small moments of life. It will not magically start next year as if this is just a staging area, it has been happening. 

My life is not the ideals or the plans in my mind, it’s not what I write or plan for my life, but how I actually live.   It’s what I buy, not what my excel spreadsheet says my budget is. It's who I actually meet up with, not just who I want to or plan to meet up with. It’s how many times I hit the snooze button and how often I don’t read my Bible, not the reading plan I wrote for my quiet times. It’s who I actually pray for, not how many people I tell that I will pray for and then forget. It’s how often I check e-mail and facebook during the work day and rush through my actual work, not the productivity my co-workers assume I accomplish due to the sound of frantic key strokes (that are actually the dialogue of a g-chat). 

There is much I can convince people I do, a character I can act and even convince myself that I am. But there is no dress-rehearsal, and there is actually One who does see. There is One who cannot be tricked or fooled or manipulated or deceived by a “show." Those times when I relish the fact that no one actually knows what I am thinking or planning or loving, someone actually does know, and knows even more than I do, because I can deceive myself, but not Him.

“O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.” - Psalm 139:1-4

And this One who sees, His opinion actually matters. Funny (pathetic/sad actually) that I am so concerned about what people see, and not at all concerned about the opinion of the One who DOES see and whose judgment of my life DOES matter. But, this One who sees me fully, correctly, honestly, is also the One who loves me completely, fiercely, dearly. He knows not only what I do, but when, how and why I do it. The One who sees me, loves me.

 “The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O Lord, endures forever – do not abandon the works of your hands.” - Psalm 138:8

I am the work of His hands, not the production of a life that I get to create. Rather than spending time rehearsing a life where I am in control, I need to trust in the sovereignty of the One who created and sustains the real world. God is really in control, and God is really good. And I am seen, known, and loved by Him. In the words of Relient K: He's the only one who knows me yet still loves completely." That is real.

Begone Unbelief

Begone unbelief, my Savior is near,

And for my relief, will surely appear.

By faith let me wrestle with God in the storm

And help my, my Savior, the faith to adorn.

Though dark be my way, since He is my guide,

'Tis mine to obey and His to provide;

Though cisterns be broken and creatures all fail,

The word He has spoken will surely prevail.

Determined to save, He watched o'er my path,

When Satan's blind slave, I sported with death;

And can He have taught me to trust in His name,

And thus far have brought me, to put me to shame?

Why should I complain of want or distress,

Temptation or pain, He told me no less:

The heirs of salvation, I know from His word,

Through much tribulation must follow their Lord.

Since all that I meet will work for my good,

The bitter is sweet, the medicine food.

Though painful at present, will cease before long,

And then, O how glorious, the conqueror's song!

-John Newton

Taco + Korean = Takorean

You know you've made it when you can make men in thousand dollar suits wait in line for 45 minutes to eat something you've made in a truck. http://takorean.com/
Oh DC, you make me laugh.