Bubblegum Ally

Here's another entry about art in unexpected places post. We stumbled upon this ally covered in bubblegum in San Luis Obispo while on vacation this summer. I had read about it before, but had forgotten to find out exactly where it was and didn't expect to see it. It was disgusting, but cool too. The ally smelled sticky sweet and like saliva. Gemma couldn't leave without adding her own creation to the wall-- the face in the bottom right corner.

Art...

is found in unexpected places.

The wood carvings were found in Santa Cruz and the objects embedded in dried mud were at Pigeon Point Lighthouse, outside of Santa Cruz.

And I quote...

"You alone know what is expedient for me; You are the sovereign master; do with me according to Your will. Give to me, or take away from me, only conform my will to Yours. I know but one thing, Lord, that is is good to follow You, and bad to offend You. Apart from that, I know not what is good or bad in anything. I know not which is most profitable to me, health or sickness, wealth or poverty, nor anything else in the world. That discernment is beyond the power of men or angels, and is hidden in the secrets of Your Providence, which I adore, but do not seek to fathom."
    - A prayer by Blaise Pascal

Sunday Lie

"Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever." Psalm 145:2

Do I bless the Lord everyday? Do I praise Him everyday? Ashamedly, my answer would have to be 'no'. I can go for days with out praising and blessing my Lord. I'm not talking about words and songs so much as living life as an act of worship to the Lord.

During worship on Sunday we were singing the lines:
    Today, today, I live for one thing,
    to give You praise in everything I do...

And as I sang the Lord spoke to my heart and asked, "What about yesterday, was I your one thing yesterday? What about tomorrow, and the day after? Will I be your one thing then?"

The truth is, most days, I live for everything else. I'm guilty of worshiping the Lord in song on Sunday and forgetting about Him Monday through Saturday. I guess that makes my Sunday declaration of living for the Lord my one thing a lie.

"My little children, let us not love in word or tongue, but in deed and truth." 1 John 3:19

Stone Heart

In My Garden...

was a giant caterpillar. It's technically a tobacco horn worm and it's big. And gross. I found it while picking some tomatoes this morning. I knew something was eating my tomatoes, but I didn't think it was this!

I caught it and put it in a jar. I use the term caught loosely. I put on thick gloves, put a mason jar over it, cut off the branch it was sitting on, and quickly screwed on a lid that I punched air holes in. Catching this creature did not require me actually touching it. If it did, it would still be hanging out in my garden, eating my tomatoes.

I read that if you put these caterpillars in a jar it will force them to cocoon and turn into a moth. I think I'll see if Gemma's teacher wants it, because I certianly don't!

And I quote...

A.W. Tozer. "It would be a convenient arrangement were we so constituted that we could not talk better than we live. I am afraid we modern Christians are long on talk and short on conduct. Unquestionably there is is not another institution in the world that talks as much and does as little as the church. We settle for words in religion because deeds are too costly. It is easier to pray, 'Lord, help me to carry my cross daily' than to actually pick up the cross and carry it."

Eight Years

Matt and I have been married eight years today, and known each other for almost ten. For us that seems like a long time. I know it's really not that long, my grandparents will celebrate their 60th aniversary next month, but Matt and I have spent about a third of our lives together thus far.

Here's a few of our wedding picutes I scanned.

Street Art

I love street art. I'm not talking about the kind of graffiti some thug sprays on the side of a building to mark his territory, but the kind that is created intentionally to inspire, beautify, or spread a message. We saw a lot of it while on vacation. Hope Jesus Saves was in Monterrey under a pier, Jesus is Coming and Heart were in San Francisco.

And I Quote...

Hannah Hurnard:

"As Christians we know, in theory at least, that in the life of a child of God there are no second causes, that even the most unjust and cruel things, as well as all seemingly pointless and undeserved sufferings, have been permitted by God as a glorious opportunity for us to react to them in such a way that our Lord and Saviour is able to produce in us, little by little, His own lovely character."

Father Knows Best

Yesterday as my daughter was getting ready for school she came to me with shining eyes wearing a rainbow plastic necklace and matching bracelet. "Doesn't this look nice, Mom? I'm going to wear it to school!"

Uh, oh. I know my daughter, she's easily distracted and fidgety. That jewelry was going to get her into trouble if she wore it to school. "It does look nice, but I'm sorry baby, you can't wear it to school."

As you can imagine, she wasn't too happy about that. I explained my reasons. She promised it wouldn't distract her. All her friends wore jewelry to school. She would be fine. I held my ground and she took the plastic necklace and bracelet off. Mommy knows best.

There's a spiritual lesson to be learned in this.

How often we think, "I need this," or "I'm going to do that," and "Things need to happen this way." We pray and God doesn't answer our prayers in the way we wanted. Things don't pan out in the way we expected, and we're upset because of it.

We don't know what's best. We want things that are going to distract us or get us into trouble. We want things to be easy. God doesn't always let us have our own way, and that's a good thing because we choose foolishly. But our Father, He knows best and what He gives is always exactly what we need.