Blogging...

I really want to get better and more consistent about updating this blog. I feel like if I'm more regular about posting, I might have people that actually read it and comment and I love that!

I had an idea for a blog entry last night or this morning, but sure enough, I sit down at my computer and it's gone... Oh, well.

Until again, friends.

(for those of you reading on Facebook, this is originially from www.jbrtva.blogspot.com *smile*)

The Gospel for Geeks

So, this morning while I was cleaning my apartment, I decided to listen to some podcasts that I have been saving up on my computer/iPod for such a time as this. I didn't know that it had been quite so long since I listened to them but this morning I heard a sermon from Riverview on 8/27/07. Wow...over 2 years ago.

Anyway, Noel was starting a series on "The Gospel According to..." and the first week was about John Calvin and Hudson Taylor. The message was good, but something especially stuck out to me that I wanted to write down in a place where I could find it again by doing a google search (as opposed to writing it in a journal and then wanting to go back and find it, needing to look through 3-4 journals before I find the right one...)

The topic was about our earthly bodies being tents, and in heaven we'll get bodies that are houses. Tents are leaky and fall apart all the time: temporary. Houses, though, are more permanent and sturdy.

Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. (2 Corinthians 5:1)

Then, Noel goes off on a tangent..."You know, no one ever contextualizes the Gospel for geeks...."

Our bodies right now are like beta release software. The bugs and kinks haven't been worked out yet. So God released the beta software in the Garden of Eden. Then sin (a virus) was introduced. Now there are all these software upgrades and patches that need to be installed every so often. When we get to heaven, we'll get the final release software with no need for further upgrades or installs.

That made me laugh and smile. It's an interesting analogy.

Our bodies are temporary and flawed. But Christ, through his perfect sacrifice "has made perfect those who are being made holy" (Hebrews 10:14). There you have it. Any time I get frustrated with my body/appearance, I can just look forward to the final release software...*smile*

Confessions

Well, last week's menu didn't work out as well as I had planned...

Sunday I ended up eating out because some friends invited me over to the ranch.
Monday I did make dinner, what I had originally planned for Sunday. More potatoes than I could eat in a year...the downside of being single with no roommates...
Tuesday I ate out...orchestra rehearsal
Wednesday...don't remember Wednesday...I feel like I might have eaten out or skipped dinner entirely...really busy evening
Thursday dinner with Lacey's family
Friday breakfast and lunch out (traveling), fancy dinner at Chicago(ish) hotel (but I didn't pay *smile*)
Saturday lunch out with the "gang" in Chicago(ish), fancy dinner at Chicago(ish) hotel (again, I didn't pay *smile*)

This week will maybe be better?

That's all.

P.S. I started reading "Passion and Purity" by Elisabeth Elliot....good stuff. She has a way of writing that is authentic to what she was going through, including journal tidbits and scriptures that encouraged her and held her fast during times when she struggled with lonliness or singleness in general, especially when she and Jim Elliot loved each other but needed to be apart.

A Steward of my Singleness

I've been meaning to blog about what I've been learning in regards to relationships. More specifically, dating relationships. Don't get excited, I'm not in one *smile*, but I've been doing a lot of thinking, praying, reading and studying about dating relationships and, in turn, marriage.  There are many thoughts that I have about this topic, but they are all jumbled up in my head and I'm not an expert by any means (my last relationship was over 4 years ago...). I just have some thoughts.

I'm not going to write them down here just yet. What I am going to do, though, is write about how I can be using this time of singleness that I have right now to prepare myself for the future. Not that I'm wasting away this time waiting until I "arrive" at married/family life, but things that I can do now that will help my future life whether or not I end up married.

1. Finances:

• I need to start a budget and stick to it. I've piddled around with budgeting tools, but I haven't found something that I have sat down and taken the time to plan out everything and make a smart budget to go from. 
• I need start being more disciplined with keeping my checkbook up to date. With debit card transactions, it's easy to forget to write something down and then only notice when the bank statement is ready. It's a discipline that I need to start making a priority

2. Meals:

• One huge priority for me is learning how to plan a menu and stick to it. Do the grocery shopping on the weekend so I have everything I need for the week, and then make the meals! It works even better if I can do some of the prep work the night before so that when I come home at night I just need to stick it in the oven or pan.
• Eating out less. This could go under the budget item, too...I just feel like it's such a waste of money!

3. Maintaining a household:

• Set a schedule for cleaning, whether it's one day per week that is devoted to cleaning the apt. from top to bottom or smaller chores each day of the week. There needs to be a schedule, and it needs to be a discipline. I have seen how I can become lazy about it and not dust for weeks at a time...if I can't do it in a small apartment, what happens when I have a house? Or 2 kids running around?

There are plenty more things I could add to this list, I'm sure. These are the ones I'm actually working on right now. These are the ones I want people to keep me accountable for. This is where I'd like to see growth. There are other, internal things I'm working on along these lines, too...maybe those will be in another post.

For those who are interested, here's my (proposed) menu for the week: (not good on the eating out category...still working on that one *smile*)
Saturday - Baked chicken, spaghetti squash, salad
Sunday - pork chops, Romano Potatoes, salad
Monday - chicken & broccoli ring, salad
Tuesday - probably fast food or leftovers, orchestra rehearsal 7 - 9:30
Wednesday -  pizza, salad
Thursday - dinner with Lacey's parents or out on my own...in Richmond overnight
Friday - will be in Chicago eating a fancy dinner at the Westin Hotel for my Dad's Inauguration (Illinois Optometric Association)