Tried With Fire

In order to get thoughts out of my head, I dashed off a post. Some of it was in righteous anger but some of it was not. The following is much better than anything I could have written because it directs my desire for justice to the One who is just and the One who will make all things right. Come, Lord Jesus. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” Revelation 21:1-4 (NASB)

The saying goes that "A friend in need is a friend indeed." Well, I writing at Out of the Ordinary today abut a true and safe friend. I was overwhelmed with a pile of work. I was stuck in traffic. I was tired and didn't know where I would find the wherewithal to "do it myself," but I couldn't see any other way out. It may not have been a full blown meltdown, but I vented my frustration. Initially, there was some relief, but that feeling was quickly replaced with shame. I should have known better. I should have done better. I shouldn't be feeling this way as a Christian. But here I was, and even though I knew the truth in my head, my emotions weren't lining up as quickly as I would like. Hence more shame. Thankfully, God came to the rescue in the form of a friend... Read the post here .

It's my turn at Out of the Ordinary : Curmudgeon : a person (especially an old man) who is easily annoyed or angered and who often complains. If you are familiar with Twitter, one of my favorite accounts is the  Church Curmudgeon.   He is the quintessential grumpy old man, able to blend wit and complaint in 140 characters or less. As a parody, the Church Curmudgeon is very funny, but if this was real life? I think the humor would be quickly lost. As I contemplate growing older, I often wonder, what will I be like in 20 or 30 years should the Lord tarry and He allows me to live that long? How will I respond to changes down the road? When they come to take my car keys away? When I have to turn my checkbook over to my daughter because I forget to pay the bills? When I can no longer live on my own? These are ordinary activities that I've taken for granted for decades, but when they are gone, I suspect it will hit hard. "I used to be able to do XYZ, and now it seems ...

I've been having trouble blogging lately. It was a lot easier when I first started. No one read what I wrote except for a few folks wandering over from Calvinist Cartoons . I wrote what I felt like writing and didn't care what people thought. But it's different now. Lisa put her finger on it when she posted on the unspoken rules  of blogging. And with those rules comes pressure. Pressure to write well, pressure to be meaningful/deep/profound. Pressure to find your niche in the blogsphere. I don't like the pressure. But who says I have to abide by the rules that aren't really there? And as for fear of man, that needs to take a long hike. In the end, the only thing that should motivate me is pleasing the Lord. So in that spirit, I am turning over a new blogging leaf. No pressure. No feeling like I need to live up to a nonexistent standard. My daughter told me, "Don't feel like you have to maintain an image. Just be yourself." Wise girl, no? I don...