In Genesis 2 and 3, we read the story of the creation of humans. It is a great story of love! God, the Creator of all, formed man from dust and created him in his own image, in his own likeness, and He gives man a companion to live in perfect unity with one another. He creates this universe, this world, and everything in it for his most loved creation, us. He gives them the great task of naming the animals and tending the garden; they are to praise him in their work. These things as they are, in complete harmony, do not last long.
Many see the fall of man as a great time of God’s judgment, and it does indeed have this aspect included. He does punish them for what they have done, for disobeying Him. There is a broken relationship between animals and humans, this perfect relationship between man and woman is also torn, pain in childbearing is increased, the ground is cursed, and man must toil. There is, no doubt, an aspect of punishment and judgment, but this story does not end in despair. It is, as stated earlier, a story of great love and grace.
At this point of God’s greatest creation turning their backs on Him, he could have chosen to wipe them out. I can imagine myself creating this beautiful wholeness out of complete chaos only to have it ignore me, as if I never existed; the slate would be wiped clean without a doubt. This is just one thing that makes God so much greater than me. Notice in Genesis 3:21, instead of destroying humans, as deserved, God shows grace. They were naked and ashamed, and he makes clothes for them. He provides for them even after what they have just done! Amazing? The story continues.
Generation after generation turn their backs on Him, and, at the point of wanting to annihilate the whole of creation, He remembers Noah in love. After the flood, he once again remembers Noah and dries the land. The story continues.
God chooses a people through his faithful servant, Abraham. Through sacrifices, he gives them a way of repentance, not for Himself, but for his people. Sacrifice has been used in the worship of other gods, but each time a sacrifice was made, the people felt they had to give something greater in order to please that particular god. Year one, they may have given some of their best crop in order that the harvest would be plentiful. Year two, they may sacrifice a small animal, year three, a large animal. This led to greater and greater sacrifices until the people were sacrificing their own children. This is indeed a sad story, but, once again, God steps in and gives his people a new way. They no longer need to make greater and greater sacrifices; they have set amounts that will do. Many would even say that God does not need these sacrifices; they are more to ease the minds of the people. He wants their lives.
Time and time again, however, the people turn to idols. God has shown them great mercy and love, yet they still do not understand. Throughout Judges we see the people worshiping idols, God sends an oppressor, the people cry out, and God hears their cries and sends a judge, a deliverer. He shows grace. The story continues.
In their crying and groaning for the promised Messiah, God hears. This Messiah, however, is much different than they ever imagined. They expected a great king to conquer the Roman authority and lead them to great power. Instead, God sends the suffering servant. No longer do the people make sacrifices to Him; He sends a sacrifice for them, for us all. He offers himself, his Son, Jesus the Christ, to live among His people, suffer, and die. He does this, once again, not for himself but for us because he is love. He is grace.
But Christ is not left alone in death. He conquers our final oppressor; he faces and defeats the evil that entered the world because we turned our backs on Him in the Garden all so that we would not have to. He is resurrected and alive, and he promises to return again to complete the restoration act that has been going on since God clothed Adam and Eve as they left the Garden. The story continues.
We now live in the “time between times” and are called to faithfully insert ourselves into God’s ongoing story. Paul writes that we must offer ourselves as “living sacrifices” and live each day to reflect Christ who, himself, lived, died, and lives again. He wants our lives. As “Christ’s ambassadors,” we must live each day as if the Kingdom is already here; the story still continues.
-Matt
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
Recipes
I got some cookbooks for Christmas and Matt and I have tried out a few that are delicious! In one of the books, all of the recipes contain Campbell's soup. The other two books are the same, only with Eagle Brand Milk, and Hershey's Cocoa. We enjoyed some them so much, I decided to share a few. As we try more of them out and find some good ones, I will be sure to share! Enjoy!
CORNBREAD CHICKEN POT PIE
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 30 min
Makes 4 Servings
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) CAMPBELL'S Cream of Chicken Soup
1 can (about 8 ounces) whole kernel corn, drained
2 cups cubed cooked chicken
1 package (8 1/2 ounces) corn muffin mix
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (2 ounces)
1. Preheat oven to 400. In 9-inch pie plate mix soup, corn and chicken.
2. Mix muffin mix, milk and egg. Pour over chicken mixture. Bake for 30 min or until golden.
3. Sprinkle with cheese
BEEF TACO BAKE
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 30 min
Makes 4 Servings
1 pound ground beef
1 can CAMPBELL'S Condensed Tomato Soup
1 cup PACE Thick & Chunky Salsa or Picante Sauce
1/2 cup milk
6 flour tortillas (8-inch) or 8 corn tortillas (6-inch), cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 ounces)
1. In medium skillet over medium-high heat, cook beef until browned, stirring to seperate meat. Pour off fat.
2. Add soup, salsa, milk, tortillas and half the cheese. Sppon into 2-quart shallow baking dish. Cover.
3. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes or until hot. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
(I added some Pinto beans to ours and it turned out wonderful. Also, since Matt and I don't like big chunks of tomatos or onions, we used a real creamy salsa. I also added a spoonful of sour cream and some fresh avocado to my serving. We served it with corn on the cob.)
WHITE CHOCOLATE SQUARES
Makes 2 dozen bars
2 cups (12 ounces) white chocolate chips, divided
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine
1 (14-ounce) can EAGLE BRAND Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted
Powdered sugar
1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease 13x9-inch baking pan. In large saucepan over low heat, melt 1 cup chips and butter. Stir in EAGLE BRAND, egg and vanilla. Stire in flour and baking powder until blended. Stir in pecans and remaining chips. Spoon mixture into prepared pan.
2. Bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cool. Sprinkle with powdered sugar; cut into squares. Store covered at room temperature.
(These are WONDERFUL! You WILL need a pretty large pan to mix everything together. They are especially good when they first come out of the oven and are still warm.... Mmmmm!)
CORNBREAD CHICKEN POT PIE
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 30 min
Makes 4 Servings
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) CAMPBELL'S Cream of Chicken Soup
1 can (about 8 ounces) whole kernel corn, drained
2 cups cubed cooked chicken
1 package (8 1/2 ounces) corn muffin mix
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (2 ounces)
1. Preheat oven to 400. In 9-inch pie plate mix soup, corn and chicken.
2. Mix muffin mix, milk and egg. Pour over chicken mixture. Bake for 30 min or until golden.
3. Sprinkle with cheese
BEEF TACO BAKE
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 30 min
Makes 4 Servings
1 pound ground beef
1 can CAMPBELL'S Condensed Tomato Soup
1 cup PACE Thick & Chunky Salsa or Picante Sauce
1/2 cup milk
6 flour tortillas (8-inch) or 8 corn tortillas (6-inch), cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 ounces)
1. In medium skillet over medium-high heat, cook beef until browned, stirring to seperate meat. Pour off fat.
2. Add soup, salsa, milk, tortillas and half the cheese. Sppon into 2-quart shallow baking dish. Cover.
3. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes or until hot. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
(I added some Pinto beans to ours and it turned out wonderful. Also, since Matt and I don't like big chunks of tomatos or onions, we used a real creamy salsa. I also added a spoonful of sour cream and some fresh avocado to my serving. We served it with corn on the cob.)
WHITE CHOCOLATE SQUARES
Makes 2 dozen bars
2 cups (12 ounces) white chocolate chips, divided
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine
1 (14-ounce) can EAGLE BRAND Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted
Powdered sugar
1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease 13x9-inch baking pan. In large saucepan over low heat, melt 1 cup chips and butter. Stir in EAGLE BRAND, egg and vanilla. Stire in flour and baking powder until blended. Stir in pecans and remaining chips. Spoon mixture into prepared pan.
2. Bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cool. Sprinkle with powdered sugar; cut into squares. Store covered at room temperature.
(These are WONDERFUL! You WILL need a pretty large pan to mix everything together. They are especially good when they first come out of the oven and are still warm.... Mmmmm!)
Thursday, January 22, 2009
In All Things...
This morning, while speaking with one of my professors, he told me his story of how he became a professor at Austin Grad. In his story, he said, “I think sometimes there are just some coincidences, but, at times, it is easy to see that what took place was no coincidence. It was clear that God’s hand was guiding me and leading me for something greater.” I agree with him and have seen this in my own life. I will not deny that God is guiding my steps, but I will also not turn down the fact that, at times, things are just a coincidence. Today, however, was a day of little coincidence.
I began the day with a trip to the doctor’s office. After receiving the diagnoses of allergies and a secondary infection, I dropped off my prescription of antibiotics. I then went to the school. Before starting work, I had the above conversation with my theology professor; then, I began work in the library with the previous conversation in mind. It wasn’t long before I decided to set these thoughts aside to invest some time in homework assigned in yesterday’s class, Interpreting the Bible. My homework was to read numerous translations of Romans 8:28-30 and find where each translation differs. I was then to give my thoughts regarding the differences, and attempt to make sense of the confusion. In looking over these verses, I put much of my focus on verse 28:
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Of course, each translation differs from the next, but the idea of each is basically the same; however, I spent a good amount of time reading, thinking, praying, and studying about this one verse. Soon enough, the time had passed, and my shift in the library was up.
During my break between work and class, I ran to the pharmacy, picked up my prescription, ate lunch, and took my first dose of antibiotics. I was then off to zone in and out of class due to the amount of allergy and sinus medication I had recently taken.
After class, I pulled away from the school on my way back to the house when I saw Dave. Dave is the man that stands on one of the corners close to the school. It had been a couple of weeks since I had stopped to talk to him, and, to add to that, I had not even seen him standing there for a couple of days. I had actually begun to worry if something had happened. To say the least, I was glad to see Dave. So, I parked my truck and made my way across the street. I could tell before I got there that something was wrong; he looked and acted pretty upset. As I approached him, I asked him how he was doing.
Dave was having one of those days.
He has recently been sick, like myself, and was currently trying to get money to pay for antibiotics (Dave gets medical service because he is a Vietnam veteran). Being sick, he has already had a bad couple of days. He told me of how he was pretty depressed because he had been sick, and, on top of that, he had just lost a $5 bill. While reaching into his pocket, he thought he had accidentally pulled it out, and it blew away in the wind.
He said to me, “Sometimes things are pretty good. Sometimes things are not so good, and it has been a bad couple of days. I understand that things like losing a few bucks happen every now and then, but why did it have to happen today?”
While talking about the good and bad times, God took control and showed me that everything that had happened earlier in the day was leading to this moment. It was then that Romans 8:28 came back to mind:
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
After sharing this verse with Dave I said, “We all face some good days and some bad days, and I’m sorry this happened to you. But we have hope, Dave, for we know that in all of this, God is working for the good of those who love him and is unfolding his plan.” I then added, “It could just be coincidence that you lost that money, but maybe, just maybe, that $5 bill landed in the hands of somebody who really just needed at that particular time.”
Dave said, “We do have a greater hope, and God’s will is much greater than our own. It could be coincidence, but I hope it landed in the hands of somebody who really needed it right then.”
After talking a little while longer, we said our goodbyes for the night, and I drove away to my warm house to eat a warm meal with my antibiotics, Dave in the rear view mirror. Pulling away leaving people like Dave behind is, no doubt, heartbreaking, but knowing that the purpose of that moment had been fulfilled gave me, and I pray Dave as well, nothing but a greater hope in a God who, in all things works for the good of those who love him.
-Matt
I began the day with a trip to the doctor’s office. After receiving the diagnoses of allergies and a secondary infection, I dropped off my prescription of antibiotics. I then went to the school. Before starting work, I had the above conversation with my theology professor; then, I began work in the library with the previous conversation in mind. It wasn’t long before I decided to set these thoughts aside to invest some time in homework assigned in yesterday’s class, Interpreting the Bible. My homework was to read numerous translations of Romans 8:28-30 and find where each translation differs. I was then to give my thoughts regarding the differences, and attempt to make sense of the confusion. In looking over these verses, I put much of my focus on verse 28:
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Of course, each translation differs from the next, but the idea of each is basically the same; however, I spent a good amount of time reading, thinking, praying, and studying about this one verse. Soon enough, the time had passed, and my shift in the library was up.
During my break between work and class, I ran to the pharmacy, picked up my prescription, ate lunch, and took my first dose of antibiotics. I was then off to zone in and out of class due to the amount of allergy and sinus medication I had recently taken.
After class, I pulled away from the school on my way back to the house when I saw Dave. Dave is the man that stands on one of the corners close to the school. It had been a couple of weeks since I had stopped to talk to him, and, to add to that, I had not even seen him standing there for a couple of days. I had actually begun to worry if something had happened. To say the least, I was glad to see Dave. So, I parked my truck and made my way across the street. I could tell before I got there that something was wrong; he looked and acted pretty upset. As I approached him, I asked him how he was doing.
Dave was having one of those days.
He has recently been sick, like myself, and was currently trying to get money to pay for antibiotics (Dave gets medical service because he is a Vietnam veteran). Being sick, he has already had a bad couple of days. He told me of how he was pretty depressed because he had been sick, and, on top of that, he had just lost a $5 bill. While reaching into his pocket, he thought he had accidentally pulled it out, and it blew away in the wind.
He said to me, “Sometimes things are pretty good. Sometimes things are not so good, and it has been a bad couple of days. I understand that things like losing a few bucks happen every now and then, but why did it have to happen today?”
While talking about the good and bad times, God took control and showed me that everything that had happened earlier in the day was leading to this moment. It was then that Romans 8:28 came back to mind:
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
After sharing this verse with Dave I said, “We all face some good days and some bad days, and I’m sorry this happened to you. But we have hope, Dave, for we know that in all of this, God is working for the good of those who love him and is unfolding his plan.” I then added, “It could just be coincidence that you lost that money, but maybe, just maybe, that $5 bill landed in the hands of somebody who really just needed at that particular time.”
Dave said, “We do have a greater hope, and God’s will is much greater than our own. It could be coincidence, but I hope it landed in the hands of somebody who really needed it right then.”
After talking a little while longer, we said our goodbyes for the night, and I drove away to my warm house to eat a warm meal with my antibiotics, Dave in the rear view mirror. Pulling away leaving people like Dave behind is, no doubt, heartbreaking, but knowing that the purpose of that moment had been fulfilled gave me, and I pray Dave as well, nothing but a greater hope in a God who, in all things works for the good of those who love him.
-Matt
Friday, January 16, 2009
Lucy
Mom sent me this video last night of Lucy reacting to the video of Matt playing with the two labs. She said that the first time she heard it, she stood up and put her paws up on the computer desk and stuck her nose straight on the speaker! In this video she is just turning her head back and forth listening. Mom said she might wait a day or two then play it again and see if she can get another video. Anyway, it is pretty funny so check it out!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Dogs
The Brights are dog-sitting their son's two labs this week and Matt and I have had a lot of fun playing with them and wearing them out! The chocolate lab is Dakota and he is 9 years old. The other is a yellow lab, Cali, and she is around one year old. Needless to say, she is a lot more rambunctious than Dakota! Matt was playing with them yesterday and getting Cali all worked up by talking in an extremely high and squeaky voice. I thought it was hilarious so I caught him on video! But first, here is a picture of Cali trying to climb up in my lap... she is HUGE!
Matt playing with both of them:
And now, the funny video:
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Engagement Pictures
Oh yeah! Matt and I finally had engagement pictures taken on New Years day! We should get them back sometime this month, but we're not sure exactly when. Once we get them, I will be sure to put them up online somewhere so everyone can see. We're really excited to see them! We'll keep everyone updated.
Picnic in January
A while back mom and I found this really neat picnic basket that was marked down a LOT. I don't remember the original price, but it was quite a bit. It was marked down for under $20 and we thought it was so neat! There were only two left, so I gave in and bought one. That has been a while ago and I hadn't used it yet, so Matt and I took it out yesterday and went on a picnic! The temperature was just right, but the wind was a little chilly!
Here is our cool picnic basket...
This shows all of the nice things that came with it... two plates, to glasses, salt and pepper shaker, cork opener/knife thing, and two sets of silverware.
We took that stuff out for this picnic and replaced it with a frisbee, two sandwiches, two bottles of lemonade, two string cheeses, two bags of chips and two apples!
Here is our cool picnic basket...
This shows all of the nice things that came with it... two plates, to glasses, salt and pepper shaker, cork opener/knife thing, and two sets of silverware.
We took that stuff out for this picnic and replaced it with a frisbee, two sandwiches, two bottles of lemonade, two string cheeses, two bags of chips and two apples!
We went out to Mary Quinlan park. We had never been there before, but it looked really nice on the website so we decided to check it out. It certainly was NOT what it looked like on the website, but we still had a good time. It is right on the Colorado river (or what they call Lake Austin here). I caught a picture of Matt eating his yummy sandwich!
Then we tried to get a picture of ourselves... this is one out of about 5 that we tried, haha!
Our view of the other side of the river...
My spot at the picnic table was already marked! :) (it was already there - we didn't do it!)
These got way out of order, but here is Matt getting stuff out when we first got there...
We enjoyed just sitting outside for a while and taking it easy before classes start up this next week! Once the weather gets nicer we'll have to use our cool picnic basket more often! :)
Then we tried to get a picture of ourselves... this is one out of about 5 that we tried, haha!
Our view of the other side of the river...
My spot at the picnic table was already marked! :) (it was already there - we didn't do it!)
These got way out of order, but here is Matt getting stuff out when we first got there...
We enjoyed just sitting outside for a while and taking it easy before classes start up this next week! Once the weather gets nicer we'll have to use our cool picnic basket more often! :)
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