9.13.08

sometimes you're on a blog-roll.... this is one of those times.
woke up this morning at 7am. that's sleeping in for me. *sigh* husband still sleeping soundly.... it's actually okay, I like the quiet mornings......
this morning in particular has been quite lovely. a slight chill in the air, windows open all night... got the flannel pj pants on..... first morning since April that I made a french press...drank it all to myself..... Put a roast in the slow cooker. I love chopping up veggies in the morning. I always feel so productive and ..... like susie-homemaker....:) the house is already starting to smell wonderful. Is it fall yet?.. so maybe I'm jumping the gun a little bit, pulling out the crock pot..but who cares that it's supposed to be 97 today... i'll just transpose the numbers and say 79 will be the high for today.....
thanks to Christian, I picked up Velvet Elvis again. My mother-in-law had this book before us... not sure if it was Jeremy's or hers..anyway, she marked some pages, actually quite a few pages, so I was scanning through them.... and came across this one section that slapped me in the face......check it..
"there is an issue of identity. it is letting what God says about us shape what we believe about ourselves. This is why shame has no place whatsoever in the Christian experience. It is simply against all that Jesus is for. As the writer to the Romans put it 'Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.'
None.
no Shame.
No list of what is being held against us.
No record of wrongs.
It has simply been done away with.
It is no longer an issue.
Bringing it up is pointless.
beating myself up is pointless.
Beating others up about who and what they are not is going the wrong direction. It is working against the purposes of God. God is not interested in shaming people; God wants people to see who they really are.
'Let us live up to what we have already attained.'
I am not who I was.
You are not who you were.
Old person going away, new person here, now.
Reborn, rebirthed, remade, reconciled, renewed.
Jesus put is this way: 'You are in me and I am in you.'
When we stumble and fall back into old patterns, we call them what they are: old patterns. Old ways. Old habits of an old person.
Something new is happening inside of us.
I thank God I am forgiven.
I make amends with anyone who has been affected by my actions.
And then I move on.
Not because my sin isn't serious, but because I am taking seriously who God says I am. The point isn't my failure: it is God's success in remaking me into the person he originally intended me to be.
God's strength, not mine.
God's power, not mine...." -Rob Bell

I think I will leave it at that..... Rob Bell, bring it.
peace-a.

ps-you didn't now Jesus and Elvis were BFF's? yea..... me neither...