the green gloom

Summer is good for a lot of things.

I. ice cream

 II. ending

III. beginning

IV. sleeping

mayday, mayday

Power source: Peanut Butter
Dreams of: Reality
Age: ?
(let's just say that since his mid-life crisis is afoot; his life expectancy is 30)

(about sums it up)

Also.
I know the cat-ness ratio in the latest pictures
has been exorbitant.
But they require their homage.

We know the punishment. 

roar like a coward

You may have heard it thrown out caustically, or banned quickly in a blind fear;

it may have lurked around in your own thoughts before;

but you have seen this perception.

Christians don't get to really live life! 
Giving your future to God is giving up all your chances and opportunities.
Not following your own heart?
What . . . a sacrifice.

Let's talk about sacrifice. 
But first an old poem.

"His Plan for Me"

When I stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ
And He shows me His plan for me,
The plan of my life as it might have been,
Had He had His way; and I see

How I blocked Him here, and I checked Him there
And I would not yield my will,
Will there be grief in my Saviour's eyes,
Grief though He loves me still?

He would have me rich, and I stand here poor,
Stripped of all but His grace,
While memory runs like a hunted thing
Down the paths I cannot retrace.

Then my desolate heart will well nigh break
With tears that I cannot shed;
I shall cover my face with my empty hands;
I shall bow my uncrowned head.

Lord of the years that are left to me,
I give them to Thy hand;
Take me and break me, mold me to
The pattern Thou hast planned.

Martha Snell Nicholson

So often I worry if I'm doing it right.  What if I choose the wrong choice? 
Imagine how my future could have gone with a different decision!
I know I've made choices that have led to ruin before;
and I can count on the fear that promises I'll do it again.
So, often I stress about tomorrow, and try to control the direction of my life; relying on my own wisdom like one trying to swim in the reflections rain will paint on murky streets and city sidewalks.

But why, why lean on my own wisdom when I could have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that I may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.  (Colossians 2)

And why toss in a pother in the thin hours of the morning about my little plans and huge dreams that could go wrong when within my grasp is a sure road to take, a road following the Person who loves me infinitely, and infinitely more than I can ever deserve?

When I rule my own life; I am subject to a life of fate that will disappoint and coincidences that can never happen as dreamed. All this while I'm shoving a life of eternal purpose behind me and ignoring a still, small voice.  When I fall back on my old, familiar nature and those old, familiar wants, I turn my back on Jesus' fulfillment for me and submit my steps to chance.   

Instead of shaping myself to try to be perfect and important in what I do
as the old self would snap at success; God calls me to give up fighting my invisible armies 
to rest in the shadow of His right hand.  For my entire life, every single day, it's not about what I do;
it's just about how I do it.  God wants me to be working wholeheartedly for Him in whatever I do.
If I stop boiling over trying to live right and let God live in me . . .
if I put my heart and life and will up and say, 'God, I will live this life for you'-
He is going to use that right where I am!
That will look like doing school.  Wholeheartedly, and working at it for God.  School! 
It looks like being a servant in my family when I desperately want to be served,
and not being distracted with the pull of glinting mirages and the magnet of closed doors. 
So sometimes following His plan is simply getting lost in His presence,
falling back in love with Jesus and waiting on the small voice to open those doors
and show you His plans.  A future so sure that you have nothing but hope for it. 
That's what I call living.

 Proverbs 3:5-7
 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge Him,
and He will make your paths straight.

Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord and shun evil.

Unless whatever I'm doing is God's plan, then I can only be wasting my time. 
Unless whatever I do is for God's glory, then what could I have done? 
It can only be fleeting, harmful, dead. 
So when someone (or yourself) asks you why you'd say 'no' to so much sin,
and give up your dreams to love an enemy, and go around practically acting
as if you were actually dead to yourself(fancy that), making such 'sacrifices' for God . . .
ask them when they'd like their heart's definition of 'want' to transform from sin to righteousness,
when they'd like to receive an unconditional love that saves,
when they'd like to achieve the impossible,
and when they'd like to stop chasing happiness and start being blessed beyond hope
with life and peace and meaning.  

Proberbs 3:13-17

 Blessed is the man who find wisdom, the man who gain understanding,
for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold.
She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her.
Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.
Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace.