Happy Things

From the sublime to the ridiculous . . .

• "He was using the parts of life that I hated to get my heart. And when He got it, He was satisfied. And if He is satisfied, I am satisfied." --Katie A., in women's meeting
• "The more wholeheartedly we pursue our calling, the more actively we are allowing God to fulfill His plans." --Aaron S.
• "My actions may betray who I am, but they never define who I am." --Dan C.
• "The pack never wins a race." --Dan C.
• Hearing Dan. C. and Chris N. (two key youth ministry influences in my high school years) speak and sing again and being tremendously comforted and inspired that they are still excitedly going on with God
• "Whatever grace we think we need, God always has more." --Dan M.
• [As he looks at Jesus,] "the very things he has been so long trying to do will be getting done within him." --A.W. Tozer, quoted by Dan M.
• Reveling in God's mercy shown through providing the cities of refuge in Deuteronomy 4, and in the meanings of their names and locations: Ore of precious metal (Bezer)--in the wilderness; high places (Ramoth)--seen from afar, or something similar (Gilead); exile (Golan)--soft, rich soil (Bashan). God provides these places of refuge. I can be purified in the wilderness. I can gain perspective by getting away and seeing a bigger view. And fruit can grow in the soft, rich soil of exile.
• Realizing that when I'm sad, I enjoy being with broken people. They bring me comfort. I always kind of assumed that Jesus spent time with lowly people because He saw them as His mission field, but I wonder if spending time with them actually brought Him comfort, because they knew what it was like to be afflicted and hurting. He lived the ultimate brokenness by trading His heavenly kingdom for rugged earth, so it hit me that He probably identified far better with the bruised and broken of the people around Him than with the smug and satisfied. When I am hurting, the last people I want to be around are those who have all the answers. Is that why God says He resists the proud but gives grace to the humble--because He by nature is humble and does not enjoy being around anything else?
• Kate S. testifying that she works at a horse barn, taking care of Kayla
• Josh calling the Dome of the Rock a zit
• "I wouldn't want to see Shaquille O'Neal go through it." --Josh, on Hezekiah's tunnel
• "There was an army on our way down [Masada], coming up." --Kate S. [she meant a group of soldiers]
• "Typical boys, I tell you--or men . . . whatever." --Kate S., telling how the guys disregarded the signs at En Gedi and swam anyway
• Chad telling us about his moment of fame participating in a slam dunk exhibition at his school. His first attempt, he fell flat on his face on the mat, in front of 2,000 students and administrators. Later, students offered to replay him his moment of glory, because they'd recorded it on their cameras. :-)
• "You need memories, including bad memories. That's where the great stories come from." --Dale N.
• "I don't want a trailer. I want a house. I deserve a chance." --Eight-year-old Lisa N., when her father showed her the double-wide he was considering upgrading to
• Loving the words of Paul Gerhardt's hymns (and loving that he wrote them in German)
• "A theologian sifted in a sieve" --caption below a picture of Paul Gerhardt
• Being in charge of guys' gender group at Phoenix, with all its joys and trials
• Having S mutter, "I don't want to be on the same team as . . . the saint" when I offered to make the kickball teams even
• Playing football for the first time in my life with the Phoenix kids
• Being on S's team for football and having him later state that we should keep the same teams next time and call ourselves the "Flying Nuns"
• Phillip R. pointing to Craig's birthday sign in Hebrew and asking me, "What is that?" so that he could snatch some of the snacks I was setting out for church. Several minutes later, Lydia R. coming along and asking the same question, and me telling her firmly, "I'm not falling for that trick," only to realize that she was truly wanting to know!
• The Reeds' former house phone number being assigned to the Obama campaign for Peterborough. The Reeds' grandma arguing with the Obama campaign person who answered the phone when she accidentally called the old number, because she was convinced it was Phillip teasing her.
• The Fairwood students being back & noise in the Main House again
• A long, unplanned chat with Sarah A.
• Now having my plane ticket to go to Carl & Jamie's wedding!
• Sue W. & Paul D.'s skit on how cliches we use in English don't translate well