Bowling

Matt and I went bowling the other day and I got a score so bad, and so low... I scored a 32... for the entire game... and not as a joke, I really was that bad. I have never been a great bowler, but I have never been THAT bad!! I am always really inconsistant... but I could not get ANYTHING! It was just one gutter ball after another! It didn't help that Matt got his BEST score ever! He ended up with 195! He was really upset that he didn't break 200, but I didn't want to hear about it.... :) We played two more games after that and I did significantly better, but still not great. Anyway, I'm sure Matt will make fun of me for a long time for scoring a 32. :)

Webcam Fun

Sometimes Matt and I like to play with the webcam features on my laptop. You can add all sorts of weird things and do funny voices and stuff... so these next few videos are extremely embarrasing, but (to us, at least) real funny. I'm sure most of you won't find them nearly as entertaining as we do, but I figured I'd share anyway. :)

Me doing the Phantom of the Opera song...



Matt giving himself a mustache...



Me being "angry"... (and trying not to laugh)



This was Matt attempting to make a video, but he couldn't stop laughing. I don't think he realized it, but it had one of the voice effects on it so his laugh sounds real funny...



Yes, we are easily entertained and YES we are a little strange... I just saved all of you the time and energy of leaving comments to let us know we're weird... you're welcome. ;)

Scorpion and a Swollen Lip

A little over a week ago I kept telling Matt that my bottom lip hurt. I had been in the sun a LOT that day and had gotten a little sunburned on my cheeks and I told Matt it almost felt like my lip was sunburned too. I don't think I had ever sunburned my lip before... but I think that is exactly what happened! When I woke up the next morning, this is what I found...


It didn't really hurt anymore, it was just a little tender. I couldn't help but laugh! I called Matt and said, "Man I wish you could see this!!" Unfortunately for Matt (and fortunately for ME) the swelling went down pretty quickly. It was still a LITTLE big on that one side for the rest of the day, but nothing like it was when I first woke up!

My swollen lip was the first adventure of the morning, but little did I know that there was more to come! When I walked over to my sink I found a scorpion in there! I was so scared and I had no idea what to do! I had never seen a scorpion before and it was way bigger than I had imagined them being. So, I considered squishing it with a shoe or something but the sink is kind of deep and in my head I imagined that if I didn't hit it or kill it with the first jab that it would jump onto the shoe and onto my arm and sting me. No joke, that is what I thought. Then I started to worry that it would crawl out of the sink and escape behind something and hide there until I reached to get something THEN it would sting me! I started frantically looking around for something to kill it with and one of the first things I saw was a can of OFF Bug Spray. I started spraying the scorpion non-stop for probably a full minute. There was literally a cloud of OFF around my bathroom counter. Once the air cleared a little bit I stepped back to the sink to see if it did anything. The scorpion was trying to crawl out of the sink but the sink was wet from the bug spray so it just kept slipping back into the sink. So I had now eliminated the possibility of it crawling out of the sink, but it was moving faster than ever now. I had to think fast. So I grabbed the bottle of Cucumber Melon Antibacterial Moisturizing Hand Soap and covered the scorpion. It went crazy and started striking at the soap! It was able to work its way out of the first round of soap, but didn't survive the second...

Now... AFTER this was all said and done, I realized that what I had done was pretty silly! My emotions were a mixture of complete fear and fascination! When I told my mom the story she said, "Why couldn't you have just filled the sink with hot water and washed it down?" Well... that thought didn't even cross my mind. The reasonable and practical ways to get rid of the scorpion were far from my mind. So instead I killed it with OFF bug spray and Hand Soap.

So anyway - if you ever need to kill a scorpion and can't find practical ways to kill it, know that Hand Soap will do the trick! :)

Imagine

When we see a painting of Jesus or picture Jesus in our minds, more often than not we see the long, flowing, dark brown, curly hair, full brown beard, blue eyes, and rosy cheeks, almost like a young version of Santa Clause. This image has, of course, been “romanticized.” The artist has painted a version of Jesus to fit their culture and make him look like one of them.

I sometimes wonder if this is what we do with every aspect of Jesus, including who he was as a man. Although Jesus was fully human, he was also fully God. He struggled with the same things we do. He had some of the same thoughts and emotions; however, the way that he handled these struggles, the way he thought is not the same as we tend to think and handle difficulties. Oftentimes I find myself facing a problem or struggling with a decision and handling it in such a worldly manner, thinking worldly thoughts and feeling worldly emotions, but Jesus faced such situations perfectly. My dad once told me that people tend to expect Christians to always be thinking about the Bible and God and to not worry or struggle with worldly things. He said, though, that Christians still face the same difficulties and problems that the rest of the world faces. We still have financial difficulties, struggle with losing loved ones, and possibly even fear becoming weak and feeble in old age. The difference is not in our struggles and fears; the difference should be in how we respond. I can’t help but wonder if we have attempted to remake Jesus to look and act like us rather than realizing that we are made in his image as Scripture tells us.

Imagine if you were to wake up tomorrow morning and go through the day remembering that you are made in the image of God. What about the way you lived and the things you did today would change? If you were to wake up each day recognizing that every person with which you came into contact is made in God’s image just like you, how would you treat them differently?

-Matt

Express Game

Ok! Last thing from Memorial Day weekend! :) When we got back to Austin from San Antonio we met up with Josh and Carly and we all went to a Round Rock Express game! I successfully ruined most of the pictures of us because the sun was in my eyes and I was making really weird faces... but here is one good one of the whole group!

The Express lost... :( It was the first game Matt and I had been to where they didn't win! We still had a good time though. :) I was pretty tired when the weekend was over - but we had a great time!

LBJ Ranch

On our way to San Antonio we visited the LBJ's childhood home and his ranch. Here are some pictures that Matt took...


I thought this was a really cool picture! He got a few really good ones!

The house on the ranch...

This windmill was close to his childhood home - I think it was on the property that was his grandparents which was just down the road...

I think that I have been to the ranch before, but I didn't really remember much of it, so it was cool to walk around and tour everything!

San Antonio

Matt's parents came down to Austin during Memorial Day weekend. They picked us up and we went to Johnson City, then to San Antonio and spent the weekend with us! Blogger is being funny and not letting me post as many pictures as I'd like, so I'll do these pictures in seperate posts. Anyway, while we were in San Antonio we went to the zoo! So here are some pictures from the zoo...

I think his name is Emmet... :)


This bird apparently didn't like me. He was pecking at me through the fence and hit my shoe once!

I think this is such a funny picture! There was a room you could go in and you could watch the fish and the hippos under water! It was pretty cool!

Even though this waterfall is fake, it has more water than the one on our hiking trip!

The leopard (or cheetah - I don't know) taking a nap!

Matt will be mad at me for posting this picture, but I think it is too funny to pass up! :)

We didn't get to every animal because it started POURING down rain! Everyone was crowding into the tiny gift shops trying to wait it out. It rained for quite a while. We ran out it in for a little while to get to the restaraunt and by the time we got done eating it had stopped.

That night we went to the Riverwalk and ate supper then went to Jim Cullum's Landing and listened to his jazz band. I wish Matt were here to talk about who Jim Cullum is and all the things he's done - sorry, but I couldn't tell you! What I DO know is that we had a great time and the music was awesome! If you look up his name on YouTube there are tons of videos from the 80's of him playing - check it out!

I hadn't been to San Antonio in years, so it was fun to go! After that trip Matt said something along the lines of "I think I wouldn't mind living around San Antonio!" :) We had a great time!

Hiking Trip

Matt is going on Trek next month so he, along with the rest of the group, have been doing a lot of things to prepare for Trek. Nearly every Sunday there is some kind of activity - a hiking trip, or water volleyball or running or something to try to get everyone into shape. A few weeks ago (probably more like a month or so ago) we went to check out a hiking trail in the area. We had a good time and the weather wasn't too hot that day! Here is a picture we took somewhere on the trail...


We saw on the trail map that there was a waterfall at the end of the trail so we were really looking forward to that! We finally got there and this is what we saw:

Do you see the "waterfall"? We had to look pretty hard to find it. Technically, YES, there IS water falling - but it certainly isn't anything impressive! Oh well. :)

Catch Up

Wow, I know it has been a long time since I've posted! As I explained before, my new living situation and my new job have left me with very little time to be online at ALL, so usually email comes first and that is about all I have time for. Sooo.... prepare yourself for a few long posts as I try to play catch up!

Grab Your Partner, Dosey Doe

I was recently reading through Exodus preparing for a Bible class. I read of how God used Moses and Aaron to deliver the people out of slavery in Egypt , and I couldn’t help but wonder one thing:

Why didn’t God take care of this himself?

I realize God was working through Moses, so, in a sense, he did take care of this himself. My question is this: why didn’t God step down and directly speak to Pharaoh? Why didn’t he just go to him directly himself and say, “You will release these people.” I found this strange, but as I began to think about many stories in the Bible, except of course for the cross, God did not come himself to be seen and directly carry out the mission. He used people like Paul and Peter; he used Mark and Luke. The list of names can go on and on. Still today he is using people to carry out his mission, but why?

There is truly something special about living this life. God wants a relationship, and he’s wanted it since the very beginning. God placed Adam in the Garden “to work it and take care of it” (Gen. 2:15). God could have tended the garden and kept things in perfect working order without any help, but that’s not what he wanted. He did not want to do this alone. He wanted a relationship, a partnership with his creation.

Even today God wants a relationship, and he’s working toward fulfilling this perfect relationship once again. He wants us to partner with him. In what is known as the Great Commission in Matthew 28, Jesus charges his disciples with the great task of making other disciples, baptizing them, and teaching them to obey. And then he says, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Jesus gives them the job to continue the mission he has already begun. If he would’ve stopped with this command and disappeared, it would seem as though we were alone in this life. It would be as if your boss brings you multiple stacks of papers to file and says, “I did the first one as your example. Finish what I started. Good luck!” But Jesus gives this command and then promises to be right here working with us daily to carry out this mission. Surely Christ is just as much present in the world today as he has ever been before!

What are we going to do this week to partner with God to continue this great restoration movement? He could do it alone, but he has chosen to work with you. He believes in you and knows your gifts and abilities which only come into fullness when they are used in partnership with him. There is truly something special about living this life.

-Matt

Ministry

The other day I was reading a book that contained a brief description of the word “ministry.” The author stated that ministry is set aside by the church for only a select number of people in an office in order to carry out special service in the church; it is not done by every Christian. While I will agree that there are particular jobs within a congregation that not everybody does within the worship assembly or while hired under a congregation, ministry goes far beyond the “offices” set aside by the church.

In John 21, Jesus appears before his disciples while they are fishing. Once Peter recognizes the man on the shore as the resurrected Jesus, he rushes to the beach. There, Jesus reinstates Peter because of his earlier denial. In this intimate conversation with Jesus, Peter acknowledges the love he has for his Savior. Following his confession, Jesus charges Peter with a great task, the same task given to the whole body of Christ: “Feed my sheep,” and “Follow me.” This is the firm foundation that has been laid in order to begin the task of being God’s minister. It is not simply in the offices that have been set aside within a particular congregation that ministry is carried out, but it is in the lives of God’s people, daily striving to faithfully follow and continue Christ’s ministry of feeding his sheep. As a member in the community of faith, one is called into ministry and must follow in the very steps of the suffering Savior who, because he was God, knew nothing other than to humbly submit and sacrifice himself in faithful obedience to the will of the Father and loving service to others.

The writer of James calls us the “first fruits of creation.” With this, I believe we are to be the special gifts that God has created to take care of the rest of creation and each other. Additionally, Paul charges us all to be “Christ’s ambassadors.” If the task of ministry is left only for the hired group of people within a congregation, then we are not living as the church and performing the task with which we have been charged. As God’s reconciled people, we are to faithfully insert ourselves into his ongoing story, and with the Spirit, take part alongside God in restoring His creation, feeding his sheep and following him. This is true ministry, a daily task carried out by each member of the body according to his or her own gifts.

-Matt

I know, I know...

I know, I know... It has been way too long since I last posted! Unfortunately, this post is going to be boring too. :( I recently moved in with another family from church because the Brights are putting their house back up on the market. I knew that there was a possibility that they would do that this summer, so it wasn't a huge shock when it came time for me to move. The place I am at now is great though, and I am already getting settled in. I don't have an internet connection there so that is why I haven't been giving updates on the blog! Matt moved into an office here at the church building so I'll have to come hang out up here when I need to do a lot online. I'm going to try to get back on this week and post some stories and pictures from our trip to San Antonio with Keith and Renee!