My new vine surprised me by blooming right after I planted it!

Jesus had a past.

(oh, and this picture has nothing to do with this post….I just love this new plant in my garden!)

I have never thought long and hard about Jesus' humanity.  Most have heard the story from the Bible about the birth of Jesus…the MESSIAH…the PROMISED ONE…GOD'S SON….GOD IN THE FLESH.  Growing up I heard that every Christmas and then I heard about the ministry of Jesus the rest of the year.  I don't remember anyone teaching me about what Jesus the baby, toddler, child, teenager might have been like.  It almost seems sacriligious to talk about Jesus needing his diaper changed, having his knees roughed up by repeatedly tripping over his own feet, having all the same feelings and issues of all other teenagers.  Sexual urges even!  After all He is God!  

The fact remains though that Jesus left heaven for earth and in essence that was God coming to meet us where we are at.   As Creator of all that is, He could certainly have come as royalty, a king and a ruler,  however, He came in a way that we could understand.  A baby born in the usual way, needing to be wiped and cleaned, screaming to get the air into His lungs….helpless, in need of love, care, provision and protection from His parents!  Jesus was a toddler, a child and a teenager and all that goes with that. He worked along side His father, learning the carpentry trade and he was taught their way of life and beliefs, especially as the first born son in the family.  He increased in wisdom throughout His growing up years.  His family most likely did some planting, sowing and reaping in order to put food on the table so he probably knew about that too.  Living and growing up in Nazareth He knew about poverty, hardship, and family that stuck together through hard times.  He observed family and friend marriages and enjoyed friendships and he experienced the human condition through physical realities as well as emotions.  He got tired, hungry and thirsty and He cried.  Jesus was not God playacting.

His past fashioned Him into the instrument God needed for the salvation of the world!

Does this grab you?  Do you want to know more?  Read your Bible.  That's what I do.  There are also some other great books written by people who have done much research and I try hard to be selective about which of those books I read, making sure they do not disagree with the Bible.  Much of what I have just written in this blog comes from a book I am currently reading.  Although I do not agree with all his interpretations of Scripture I am thoroughly enjoying some new ideas and thoughts and have in some of the above written almost word for word what he says.  The book is called JESUS A PILGRIMAGE by James Martin, SJ.    It's the account of his journey to get to know Jesus better and I highly recommend it!

1. This song so aptly describes the real desire of my heart I just have to post it here.

IN HIS PRESENCE

In the quiet of this hour
As I kneel before You now
I believe Your promise
To be faithful
I don´t always understand
What Your perfect will demands
But I learn to trust You more
In Your presence Lord



In Your presence
There is comfort
In Your presence
There is peace
When we seek to know Your heart
We will find such blessed assurance
In Your holy presence Lord

There can be such sweet reward

When we wait upon the Lord
As we take the time
He gives His perfect wisdom
To be found in Him alone
All our deepest secrets known
We´re surrounded by His grace
When we seek His face

In Your presence
There is comfort
In Your presence
There is peace
When we seek the Father's heart
We will find such blessed assurance
An ever open door
To know our Savior more
In the presence of the Lord

…across the room to share my recipe…..

…the plate was full….

…yes, the plate WAS full but now it is empty.  Because it was just THAT good!

I made a pasta dish today that was so awesome I just have to brag about it a little.  I just made it up so there is no recipe except for the fact that I'm going to document here what I did so that if I ever want to make it again I will at least have an idea what I did.

Since I didn't know what I was going to make I took 3 cloves garlic and smashed them, added 1/2 chopped onion and one stalk celery.  I sauted this in some oil and then added 2 chopped tomatoes, fresh basil, fresh dill, and black pepper.  Then I poured in some white wine and let that cook for a few minutes.  Meanwhile I sprinkled some shrimp quite liberally with a lemon pepper mix and added them to the tomato mixture.  When the shrimp was almost done I added some heavy cream to the pan, more black pepper and finally some freshly grated parm cheese.

I served this over a very thin vermicelli noodle.  DELISH!

...across the room to post "Grace Tells Another Story" by Mercy Me

They say don’t waste your time
You simply cannot find
An ounce of good within the heart of man

They say we’ve got to lay
In the bed we’ve made
And live this life without a second chance

But I’m inclined to say
There must be something more

Chorus
We’ve been told that the heart is just too far gone to save
But grace tells us another story
Where glory sends hopelessness away
Oh grace tells us another story

They say we cannot change
There is no other way
Get used it cause this is all there is.

They say don’t raise your voice
Cause we don’t have a choice
We’re dealt this hand so learn to live with it

Well I have to believe
There must something more

Chorus

Bridge
And though we may not understand
Why You’d give us another chance
We praise You who lets us start again

...across the room to declare my opinion......

So today I read about another teenage "coming out" and a mother who praised him for his bravery.

"Zach, I was surprised by your Facebook post where you came out. I want you to know that I love you unconditionally. I love you with my actions, not just my words. I'm so proud of you. You are the bravest person I know. I'll fight for you always. Your sexual orientation does not define you. You are still the boy who forever won my heart. The only thing that concerns me is the number of empty soda cups and tea bottles in your room. Throw them away before ants come inside. I love you always, Mom." 

What I find disturbing is that we never get to hear of any discussion between parents and their children mentioned in these coming out stories.  It would be so good to hear parents talk to their sons about the fact that males can have what society would refer to as feminine tendencies, preferences and interests and how they can be embraced rather than ignored or hidden without it becoming an issue of sex.  How refreshing it would be to hear  dialogue between parent and child regarding moral values and conduct and becoming people of integrity and good character.  Heart to heart talks between parents and their daughters addressing past relationships, disappointments and failures and the fact that they were not to blame for past hurts and that concentrating on healing and becoming whole is more important than giving up or making a rash decision based on past failures.  That just because relationships with males in the past did not work out does not mean they have to be gay.  Are parents really too afraid, or lazy, or ignorant to have these discussions with their teenagers?  Mostly what I've heard parents say is that they knew their child was gay at an early age because they preferred activities or toys generally favoured by the opposite sex.  REALLY?!  

My heart bleeds for these young people who are so confused and hurting who are getting no input or help to find out why they feel the way they do.  Perhaps they are being bullied into thinking they are gay?  Could it be?  The bullying out there is not just from the heterosexual community.  I've seen it myself and it is very real from the homosexual community as well.  Isn't it worth the effort to walk alongside your teenager and do the hard work of digging into their childhood to see if there is something that needs to be addressed?

It's time for parents to get educated and not take the easy way out when their children come up with these ideas.

I absolutely do not agree that people are born homosexual.  I believe it is a choice people make because of what is happening in their minds.  They believe lies.  When we want something badly enough we will always be able to find an excuse to defend our actions.  Just because we have tendancies uncharacteristic of our gender does not define us as homosexuals.  We can embrace those tendancies, enjoy them, and not turn them into an excuse for a perverted sexual preference.

NOTE:  This may be a work in progress...today I was just so sickened I needed a place to talk and this is my place.

...a walk across the room to get stung and confess....

It started off innocently enough with the two of us going for an exercise walk.  We only do two kinds of walks.  There is the stroll for which he must hold my hand.  We don't need to use our words, inside or outside voices to decide what type of walk we will do.  When he takes my hand as we leave the house I instinctively know we are not exercising on this walk - we are strolling.  This day he was not holding my hand, we were using our inside voices outside - we actually never use outside voices inside or outside.  Whoever came up with this idea anyway?!
This walk was planned carefully and we hit the sidewalk at a good pace all the way down our street to the set of stairs at the bottom of our street.  There was no slowing down as we began the 150 stair trek up to the street above us.  No slowing down until we reached the first landing that is!
I gasped at the pain I suddenly felt in my ankle and within seconds I did what would come naturally to most ...I began slapping at my ankle trying to get rid of whatever was causing the excrutiating pain in it.  So far I hadn't even had the courage to take a look in case I might find something protruding from it that would horrify me even more than the pain already did.  As I glanced down at my ankle I saw a little wasp seemingly squeezing the last drop of poison left in his stinger into my ankle.  The intense anger I felt at that miserable sucker is beyond reason!  That's when the wild out of control slapping began.  Nothing premeditated ... just a reactioanary impulse to turn that poison loaded beast into a quick unrecognizable mess of road kill....a mere smudge on the concrete!  That's when the whimpering started.  And the jumping around on one foot.  Round and round, on one foot, whimpering and gasping, staggering and sucking in of breath.  I have no idea what that all looked and sounded like I was so angry and in pain.  I guess it looked and sounded bad enough that my guy offered to walk back the five minutes to the house to get the car and drive me home!  For just a few seconds I considered continuing this adolescent behavior and letting him baby me in this way.  Especially when I looked down at my already swollen red and blue puffy bruised foot.  Thankfully I quickly grew a back bone and assured him that I could make it home on my own while he continued our exercise walk on his own.
For once I couldn't quite read his eyes as we parted ways.....Disbelief?  Empathy?  Pity?  Maybe a little of each!

...a walk across the room to share a prayer....

Lord, thank you for trials.  Help me to consider them pure joy.  Thank you that trials are a testing of my faith.  Thank you that trials develop perseverance in me.  Thank you that perseverance will make me mature and complete.  Lord, this trial is developing in me something that I am lacking.  Thank you that this trial is showing me where I need wisdom.  Thank you that this trial is pushing me to ask for wisdom.  Please Lord, give me wisdom each day.  Lord, thank you that this trial is causing my faith and belief in You to grow.  Thank you that this trial is forcing me out of double-mindedness and into single-mindedness.  And this trial can ultimately produce stability in me.  Lord, thankn you that persevering through this trial will bring about blessing in my life.  But if I get out of this trial too soon, it will only be a try.  Help me to endure it until the end.  Thank you that persevering through this trial will bring about the crown of life.  Lord, this trial is bringing out temptation in my life.  This temptation is not from You.  This temptation is from within me.  This trial is bringing out a reaction in my flesh (the temptation).  This temptation is producing a desire in me that will entice me.  If I give in to desire,, it will lead me into sin.  The trial - which comes from You - is revealing the weakness in my flesh (the temptation).  Lord, help me to remember that if I give in to temptation it will robe me of the fullness of life.  Help me not to be deceived.  This trial is a good and perfect gift!  (Look at all the good that it will produce!)  Every good and perfect gift comes from the Father of heavenly lights.  Thank you Lord that you chose me.  Thank you that you chose to give me birth...Thank you that I am the first fruits of your creation.  Thank you that this trial has a purpose in line with your great calling for my life.
                                                      Based on James 1:1-18 and written by Steve Pauls