You are 27 weeks old today... still in my tummy, of course. :) Hopefully we will see you in less than three months, or as soon as you are ready to greet this world.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Tribulations
I went to The Harbor last night, for the first time in a super-long time. I tend to have a strong start and a weak (if at all) finish... thus seemed to be the case with my Christian walk, at least until very recently.
The guest speaker (whose name I have forgotten right now - I blame it on the pregnancy) left us with a seemingly simple challenge of hiding a bible verse in our hearts. It may seem simple, but oh! how powerful it can be. I have been ruminating on John 16:33 - "In the world, ye shall have tribulation." This may seem like a strange verse to pick, but it kind of found me, via Charles Spurgeon's twice-daily devotion. The particular devotion that I read can be found in its entirety here. I will try to sum it up, mostly because Spurgeon seems to prefer typing in "ye oldie English" - too many "thees, thines, hithers, and dosts" for my dim mind to process all at once.
Basically, when you ask why you suffer tribulations, you need to look in four places.
Look up. Think about God for a bit... He is a perfect being, holy and pure. When we get to Heaven, we will be like Him. Before we get there, we need to be refined as gold is in a fire - hence our tribulations.
Look down. Satan toils beneath us, eager to put us to the fires. He is mad, for he has lost you - he will not let up on you easily. Hence our tribulations.
Look to the side. You are in an unfriendly, hostile world. You belong to God, and not to the world. Just like mosquitoes will not attack natives as much as they will attack foreigners, the world will attack Christians more than they will attack those who are of the world. Hence our tribulations.
Look inward. We are still human - still subject to sins of the flesh. We cannot help but make our own decisions, and take our own paths, leading us astray from the Lord. When we leave God, we invite trouble into our hearts and into our actions. Hence our tribulations.
This devotion hits on some sore spots, I must admit... the whole being "not of the world" aspect is bigger than I can comprehend. So I am praying for understanding on this matter... on how much of the world I am allowed to partake, and what needs to be my motivation when I do partake of worldly things.
And now, off to bed soon.
~Cherlyn
The guest speaker (whose name I have forgotten right now - I blame it on the pregnancy) left us with a seemingly simple challenge of hiding a bible verse in our hearts. It may seem simple, but oh! how powerful it can be. I have been ruminating on John 16:33 - "In the world, ye shall have tribulation." This may seem like a strange verse to pick, but it kind of found me, via Charles Spurgeon's twice-daily devotion. The particular devotion that I read can be found in its entirety here. I will try to sum it up, mostly because Spurgeon seems to prefer typing in "ye oldie English" - too many "thees, thines, hithers, and dosts" for my dim mind to process all at once.
Basically, when you ask why you suffer tribulations, you need to look in four places.
Look up. Think about God for a bit... He is a perfect being, holy and pure. When we get to Heaven, we will be like Him. Before we get there, we need to be refined as gold is in a fire - hence our tribulations.
Look down. Satan toils beneath us, eager to put us to the fires. He is mad, for he has lost you - he will not let up on you easily. Hence our tribulations.
Look to the side. You are in an unfriendly, hostile world. You belong to God, and not to the world. Just like mosquitoes will not attack natives as much as they will attack foreigners, the world will attack Christians more than they will attack those who are of the world. Hence our tribulations.
Look inward. We are still human - still subject to sins of the flesh. We cannot help but make our own decisions, and take our own paths, leading us astray from the Lord. When we leave God, we invite trouble into our hearts and into our actions. Hence our tribulations.
This devotion hits on some sore spots, I must admit... the whole being "not of the world" aspect is bigger than I can comprehend. So I am praying for understanding on this matter... on how much of the world I am allowed to partake, and what needs to be my motivation when I do partake of worldly things.
And now, off to bed soon.
~Cherlyn
Photos from yesterday
Yesterday we went with some friends to a relatively private beach about 20 clicks up north. The private aspect of it allowed us to bring our dog - this was her first time going on an outing with us and we were worried she would bolt, never to return to the oppression of domesticated life. As it turned out, our worries were needless - she behaved perfectly and took to the beach like she had been living on one all her life.
Bobby, however, was not so easily swayed... he seems to be afraid of the waves, and never strayed from my side. Once he noticed that the rock wall seemed to be alive with hermit crabs, however, he loosened up a little bit.
Here are some photos.
Bobby, however, was not so easily swayed... he seems to be afraid of the waves, and never strayed from my side. Once he noticed that the rock wall seemed to be alive with hermit crabs, however, he loosened up a little bit.
Here are some photos.
~Cherlyn
Back to daily life...
and enjoying it, as much as it can be enjoyed. :)
We had a good time on our trip to Hawaii/California, but it sure was great to walk into our familiar home last weekend. Rob and I enjoyed several days in Hawaii, relatively carefree and uneventful (although Rob will be the first to tell you that I was glued to a cellphone for much of the time, due to discomfort at being so far away from Bobby). We shopped, lounged, napped, ate, and walked to great excess. In the meantime, Bobby had a great time staying with the grandparents (my folks) out in California.
After our time in Hawaii, Rob and I went back to CA and spent several more days there, spending time with family and enjoying yummy stateside food!
California pictures will follow hopefully soon - look for them in the next week or so.
The pregnancy is going well - the little one is attempting to kick and punch his way out through my abdomen. Another active little guy... like older brother, like younger brother. I am almost 26 weeks along, so not too much farther to go. Unfortunately, it gets worse from here - being pregnant in the Okinawan summertime is nothing short of ghastly. If you need to get in touch with me this summer, look for me at the pool - I will pretty much be living there.
As I said, being home now is nice... I have been working on a number of small day-to-day "projects". Cleaning the house, acquiring things for the baby, getting my NEW MACBOOK set up (yes, I have crossed over!), and (hopefully soon) getting some scrapbooking done before the baby gets here. We are also gradually thinning out some of our stuff... hard to believe we PCS in just seven short months!
Until next blog (which should be soon),
~Cherlyn
We had a good time on our trip to Hawaii/California, but it sure was great to walk into our familiar home last weekend. Rob and I enjoyed several days in Hawaii, relatively carefree and uneventful (although Rob will be the first to tell you that I was glued to a cellphone for much of the time, due to discomfort at being so far away from Bobby). We shopped, lounged, napped, ate, and walked to great excess. In the meantime, Bobby had a great time staying with the grandparents (my folks) out in California.
After our time in Hawaii, Rob and I went back to CA and spent several more days there, spending time with family and enjoying yummy stateside food!
California pictures will follow hopefully soon - look for them in the next week or so.
The pregnancy is going well - the little one is attempting to kick and punch his way out through my abdomen. Another active little guy... like older brother, like younger brother. I am almost 26 weeks along, so not too much farther to go. Unfortunately, it gets worse from here - being pregnant in the Okinawan summertime is nothing short of ghastly. If you need to get in touch with me this summer, look for me at the pool - I will pretty much be living there.
As I said, being home now is nice... I have been working on a number of small day-to-day "projects". Cleaning the house, acquiring things for the baby, getting my NEW MACBOOK set up (yes, I have crossed over!), and (hopefully soon) getting some scrapbooking done before the baby gets here. We are also gradually thinning out some of our stuff... hard to believe we PCS in just seven short months!
Until next blog (which should be soon),
~Cherlyn
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