the den

so, i started a blog for the den youth center. check it out.

feeling sorry for yourself?

i get frustrated sometimes. today i felt like God led me to 1 peter. and, the following is the first thing i read...

Cultivate Inner Beauty

^1-4The same goes for you wives: Be good wives to your husbands, responsive to their needs. There are husbands who, indifferent as they are to any words about God, will be captivated by your life of holy beauty. What matters is not your outer appearance—the styling of your hair, the jewelry you wear, the cut of your clothes—but your inner disposition.

actually i read it in the niv first so it says, "wives, be submissive to your husbands." which was funny to me.... i was like, "man, why would God lead me to that scripture right now?" ugh. anyway, i like my husband :) read on...

^4-6Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind that God delights in. The holy women of old were beautiful before God that way, and were good, loyal wives to their husbands. Sarah, for instance, taking care of Abraham, would address him as "my dear husband." You'll be true daughters of Sarah if you do the same, unanxious and unintimidated.

⁷The same goes for you husbands: Be good husbands to your wives. Honor them, delight in them. As women they lack some of your advantages. But in the new life of God's grace, you're equals. Treat your wives, then, as equals so your prayers don't run aground.

Suffering for Doing Good

^8-12Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that's your job, to bless. You'll be a blessing and also get a blessing.

Whoever wants to embrace life
and see the day fill up with good,
Here's what you do:
Say nothing evil or hurtful;
Snub evil and cultivate good;
run after peace for all you're worth.
God looks on all this with approval,
listening and responding well to what he's asked;
But he turns his back
on those who do evil things.

^13-18If with heart and soul you're doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you're still better off. Don't give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you're living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They'll end up realizing that they're the ones who need a bath. It's better to suffer for doing good, if that's what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. That's what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others' sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God.

that is some good stuff :) i love Jesus :)

today

typically i do not sleep past 7:30. this is in large due to the fact that mazerick wakes up pretty early. but today, i rolled over to see the clock say 8:21. oh my. maz has to be at school at 9. okay, well we've still got time to get up and get ready and get him there on time. so, i get up and get dressed. i go down the hall to get maz up. i go in his room and say, maz... time to get up. and he says, "mom, you've got to be kidding me." no joke. even in his sleep he's funny. i was like, yeah maz. you've got to get up to go to school. and he says, "but i'm still sleeping." i say, "okay, well... you need to start waking up. i'm going downstairs, but i'm leaving your door open so you can start to wake up and get up on your own." and i went downstairs... not a minute later i hear "click" he closes his door. what a kid :) he got up about 5 minutes later, but man... that kid cracks me up :)

God is good :)