Abbie is moving

Yes, that is right. After the initial hold up, my waterfront (well or not so waterfront) home has become a reality. And this Friday, I will close on the house and become a first-time homeowner. Hmmm...strange. It has been a rather lengthy process which I suppose will culminate with an appropriately excruciating experience of paper signing. Good times. After which I will actually own the first major thing I have ever really owned in my life besides my Mitsubishi and my Min Pin.

Abbie has been having some difficulty adjusting to the idea of the move.

I sat her down to tell her about the move and about her new yard!

She got so excited that she went leaping out of my arms to go try and find the yard right away! Not yet Abbie. Not until Saturday for you!



But her friend Jasmine will be there to play with her!

She has been pretty nervous with all of the packing and just does a lot of pacing and whining.

The other day she took it upon herself to start guarding the boxes. "Hey lady, don't even think about coming over here."

Yes Abbie, we can take your toys with us too!

Passover Seder

This weekend I observed my first Passover Seder. Although I am not Jewish, part of my house church gathered this weekend to observe and honor the heritage by which we gain salvation! It was such an amazing experience.


I didn't know anything about celebrating the Passover and coming out of a pretty mainstream background, I am not familiar in general with religious rituals and the significance that they can really have.

The Passover Seder is celebrated as the ritual feast held on the first night of the Jewish holiday of Passover, a remembrance of the Israelites deliverance out of slavery in Egypt. We celebrated the Messianic Seder, since we are believers in Jesus, which also celebrates our own deliverance from sin by Jesus! The whole experience lasted close to three hours but it was such a sweet time of remembrance and fellowship. Traditional customs include drinking of four cups of wine, eating matza, and partaking of symbolic foods placed on the Passover Seder Plate. The Haggadah, the story of the deliverance from Egypt, is also read. Some of the food you eat is not that great, like bitter herbs, but it all symbolic of something that God has done for His People.


After some of the traditional elements had been served, we had the Passover Supper! The meal, which was incredible. And I was so full! In Jewish families, they have songs they sing and games they play to go along with the Seder. It is a very special celebration of remembrance for what God has done.



For me, it was really an honor to get to celebrate the Passover Seder. Our hosts talked about the fact that this was likely the same Passover dinner that Jesus was celebrating with his disciples before his crucifixion. I was struck with how far removed I am from the life that Jesus lived and the customs that God ordained for Israel. The acts of remembrance and reciting God's goodness during the Passover feast were good and really life-giving!

Caffeine Free

I have a love-hate relationship with caffeine. I mentioned it yesterday but thought it deserved more attention today.

In my family, caffeine and especially sodas of different types are almost revered. I started drinking them as a young child. My lunch during high school was a Dr. Pepper and two Reese's cups. Healthy, I know. I loved Dr. Pepper. In fact, it was also in high school that I began my addiction to Sonic. My friends and I went to Sonic almost everyday and I had a favorite drink: a Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper. Even saying that today makes my mouth go dry as I think of all the sugary goodness it contains. Back in those days, I used to drink a medium which could be obtained for a mere $1.07. Imagine the deal!

But college came along and things got tougher and then I started working for the church, and staying up late at night finishing homework and papers and frankly, I just needed more caffeine. So I graduated to at least one, usually two, Route 44 Cherry Vanilla DPs everyday. Let me tell you, that is some serious caffeine and sugar. It was also around this time that I started to develop some pretty serious headaches which I figured out were probably a result of the enormous amounts of caffeine I was ingesting daily. But that did not hinder my love for the drink.

Sure, there were times that I went without the Sonic drinks or Dr. Peppers. Like when I was in Australia or Vienna. I mean, you have to do what you to do. But then, came the kicker. It was the summer of 2003, I was in graduate school had been suffering from migraines for a couple of years and was heading to Honduras for the summer. I knew I was going to have to give up Dr. Pepper. So I made the ultimate switch: DIET COKE. It was huge.

But I survived. And started a new relationship which quite honestly was almost as fulfilling as the first one. I am here to tell you that I have not had a Dr. Pepper since 2003. But when I came back from Honduras I decided it was time once and for all to stop the madness and give it up. Give up the caffeine. And so, eventually I did. Right in the middle of graduate school and internships and searching for a job and all of that, I just quit. Oh, it was hard but I did it.

I will admit, it has been hard. I have relapsed. Like when we went to Europe for the Olympics, I just couldn't help myself. Or recently, when Sonic came out with this happy hour. That has been hard for me. I love some good Diet Coke from Sonic. Or really anywhere else for that matter. But two weeks ago, I made the commitment again, NO MORE CAFFEINE and I have struggled through it.

I love the feeling of being free of stuff I feel like I have to have. Why give up caffeine? Well, lots of reasons I guess. I feel better when I don't drink cokes. Plus, I always have the comfort of knowing if I get stranded on a deserted island I won't be worried about where my Diet Coke is going to come from. But mostly, it is just that feeling of knowing that I am not depending on something to get me through the day. I hate that feeling. But I still love Sonic.

Unfaithful

I was telling a friend the other night that I have been reading a lot lately about Isreal's unfaithfulness and God's faithfulness. She gently pointed out that this is pretty much the major theme of the Old Testament. It struck that this may mean something about my previous lack of awareness of the Bible. Or something.

Anyway, I have really been pondering this God who has been faithful. This God who is the Same. The God who was and is and will be. The I Am. The God who watched his people turn their backs on Him time and time again after he saved them, delivered them, gave them supernatural bread from Heaven and signs and wonders of who He was!

I have also been thinking about how God never changes. Sometimes it is hard to think about that. I mean, I change all the time. I change my mind about whether or not I am going to drink caffeine from one day to the next; what music I am listening to from hour to hour sometimes; if I am going to really buy a house or just in the end back and out and live at my parent's house! Good grief I even change my clothes a couple times a day. I like to change!

So this God who never changes is hard to understand. His people are unfaithful. Isreal was unfaithful. Today, we, the redeemed in Christ are unfaithful. But God, God never changes, he remains Faithful. He has set up a covenant with us and He is sticking with it. But our unfaithfulness makes him really sad. I didn't used to understand that, but then I was reading this and it really struck me.

The Lord is talking about His people bring unacceptable offerings to Him and he says, "Oh, that one you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you," says the Lord Almighty, "and I will accept no offering from your hands. My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations." (Malachi 1:10-11).

I was thinking about this God who never changes and about how great He his. His desire is for a pure sacrifice from His people! He is not pleased with anything less. He will stay faithful to us no matter what, that is the covenant he has made with us but his desire is for that pure offering from our hearts. I am so thankful for God's faithfulness inspite of my unfaithfulness.