Romans 8

(Pre-warning. This is very personal. I wrote it in response to a question I had been posed due to a Bible-Study I am participating in. The Question was "Have you seen Romans 8 in your own life?")

Well January, you've been pretty cruel. To everyone. The only way I can describe you is -- entropy.

It started off watching my grandfather slowly deteriorate from "severe gout" and destroyed bone marrow from the chemo he received last (2? ) year for his prostate cancer. He has been reduced to a wheel chair, "progress" is considered him walking to the TV and back. My grandma and him aren't even sleeping in the same bed anymore. My grandmother's OCD and anxiety have only heightened because of what's occurred. I heard my grandfather say "I love you" to my father, for the first time in my ENTIRE life, and I had the privilege of watching my father break down in tears.

My former best friend (still a friend in my mind :P) hates me so much I think he mightta moved to another church. Or at least found a way to conveniently NOT be there when I am. Which I guess is okay, nobody likes to be in a room with someone who loathes them (And won't even tell you why and if they were a friend, should forgive the other person for whatever it was they did to be loathed. Really, what's on the unforgivable list???)

My pinano playing friend passed out and spent the day in the ER. The longest she's stayed awake is some 6 hours.

My beach buddy has had surgery on her knee (due to a loose patella) had surgery due to cysts in her stomach, been informed she's diabetic and THEN that her immune system's shot. (i.e. she may die.) On top of that, she just found out she may have to put her dog down.

My mom almost died.
Your blood sugar is supposed to stay around 90-100. Any lower = bad. Zero = dead.
She took the wrong insulin.
By the time we gave her three glucose tablets (which is a LOT) her blood sugar was only up to 42. I don't want to know how low it got. Talk about scary. I still can't believe she's alive. I hope I NEVER have to see that again.

Despite all this, some good things have happened. I have learned that we don't have long; death is sitting at our door. We need to love lots, and always forgive. Someone else maybe hurting, that may be the cause of their stupidity. More than that-we're not gaurenteed tomorrow, why waste it complaining and pointing out people's flaws?
My grandpa's beginning to see that 1 Corinthians 13:3-8 is key. In a way, as sad as his situation is-- it's proving Romans 8. It's conforming him to the image of Christ. I'm really hoping he doesn't miss the lesson.

If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. (NIV)

With the weird situation, I have learned that other peoples opinions are not essential, I have learned a great deal of patience, exercised my "hope" muscle and learned how to forgive. The situation is not solved. I can't fix it. But I do know through a rough, dirty, problem Christ has prevailed. My faith has grown stronger and my worth secured in Christ's loving arms.

Between my two other friends, I cannot speak for them. I don't know WHY God's allowing that to happen, but I know he has a good reason. I know it's teaching me to trust, and show God's love through rough times.

Again, my mom almost dying was a reality check. Who is guaranteed tomorrow? With that love being absent, what would happen to my faith? It would SO take a hit. I'm not afraid to say that. My faith isn't in my mom though... It's in Christ, and how he saved me from my mortal body soaked with sin, and is leading me by the hand through the valley of death into glorious light where I will live with him forever. No more tears, pain, or death.

So yes, I have seen Romans 8 in action. All creation groans. We are dying. We hold on to hope because all things work together for the good of those who love Him. We're being conformed to the image of his Son. We're a bunch of messed up people. But God doesn't leave us there. What a beautiful thing to see the gospel daily.

:(
So my friend can't come over, her mom doesn't feel like driving "that far." to my house. (sadcryface)
Oh well. I guess God has a different plan.
...
I even bought oreo's and everything. Brooke's babysitting tonight and moved back up to her room. So I'll be by myself tonight I guess.

The Speaking Rock is coming over to teach me math. Bleah. I don't like math. I don't think anything will MAKE me like math. I could be wrong.
And to top it all off we're having ham. Yahyahyah, I know I make the meals... but I didn't realized it was pre-glazed. BLEAH. (hey, maybe it'll turn out ok.)

Oh well.

On the bright side, God answered a totally different prayer this morning, and the results bring me great joy ^_^

Oh, and I driveded my mommy and I to Walmart and back without killing anyone, or even getting honked at :D
Yep, wonder what God has planned differently tonight.
Weird how my Bible-readings keep lining up with my weeks.... (Romans 8) Guess I really shouldn't be surprised at that.....
:) YEP that's my life.

Hey, if I'm sinking up does it sound like "plub plub plub?"

s;ldHG:OOQ

MWHHAHAHAHAAH
I HAVE MY PEEEEEEERMIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTT
I'm not sure whether to be sad or happy my hair is no longer considered "blonde".
HOWEVER.
It is cut, with a cute little bang.
This day has been FOR THE WIN.

The Squirrel of Death

I never dreamed, slowly cruising on my motorcycle through a residential neighborhood could be so incredibly dangerous! Little did I suspect.



I was on Brice Street - a very nice neighborhood with perfect lawns and slow traffic. As I passed an oncoming car, a brown furry missile shot out from under it and tumbled to a stop immediately in front of me. It was a squirrel, and must have been trying to run across the road when it encountered the car. I really was not going very fast, but there was no time to brake or avoid it -- it was that close. I hate to run over animals, and I really hate it on a motorcycle, but a squirrel should pose no danger to me. I barely had time to brace for the impact.



Animal lovers, never fear. Squirrels, I discovered, can take care of themselves!



Inches before impact, the squirrel flipped to his feet. He was standing on his hind legs and facing my oncoming Valkyrie with steadfast resolve in his beady little eyes. His mouth opened, and at the last possible second, he screamed and leaped! I am pretty sure the scream was squirrel for, "Banzai!" or maybe, "Die you gravy-sucking, heathen scum!"



The leap was nothing short of spectacular... He shot straight up, flew over my windshield, and impacted me squarely in the chest.



Instantly, he set upon me. If I did not know better, I would have sworn he brought 20 of his little buddies along for the attack. Snarling, hissing, and tearing at my clothes, he was a frenzy of activity. As I was dressed only in a light T-shirt, leather riding gloves, and jeans this was a bit of a cause for concern. This furry little tornado was doing some damage!



Picture a large man on a huge black and chrome cruiser, dressed in jeans, a T-shirt, and leather gloves, puttering at maybe 25 mph down a quiet residential street, and in the fight of his life with a squirrel.



And losing.



I grabbed for him with my left hand. After a few misses, I finally managed to snag his tail. With all my strength, I flung the evil rodent off to the left of the bike, almost running into the right curb as I recoiled from the throw.



That should have done it. The matter should have ended right there. It really should have. The squirrel could have sailed into one of the pristinely kept yards and gone on about his business, and I could have headed home. No one would have been the wiser.



But this was no ordinary squirrel, this was not even an ordinary angry squirrel. This was an EVIL MUTANT ATTACK SQUIRREL OF DEATH! Somehow he caught my gloved finger with one of his little hands and, with the force of the throw, swung around and with a resounding thump and an amazing impact, he landed squarely on my BACK and resumed his rather antisocial and extremely distracting activities. He also managed to take my left glove with him! The situation was not improved. Not improved at all. His attacks were continuing, and now I could not reach him. I was startled, to say the least. The combination of the force of the throw, only having one hand (the throttle hand) on the handlebars, and my jerking back unfortunately put a healthy twist through my right hand and into the throttle.



A healthy twist on the throttle of a Valkyrie can only have one result. TORQUE. This is what the Valkyrie is made for, and she is very, very good at it. The engine roared and the front wheel left the pavement. The squirrel screamed in anger. The Valkyrie screamed in ecstasy. I screamed in .. well .. I just plain screamed.



Now picture a large man on a huge black and chrome cruiser, dressed in jeans, a slightly squirrel-torn t-shirt, wearing only one leather glove, and roaring at maybe 50 mph and rapidly accelerating down a quiet residential street on one wheel, with a demonic squirrel of death on his back. The man and the squirrel are both screaming bloody murder. With the sudden acceleration I was forced to put my other hand back on the handlebars and try to get control of the bike. This was leaving the mutant squirrel to his own devices, but I really did not want to crash into somebody's tree, house, or parked car. Also, I had not yet figured out how to release the throttle…my brain was just simply overloaded. I did manage to mash the back brake, but it had little effect against the massive power of the big cruiser.



About this time the squirrel decided that I was not paying sufficient attention to this very serious battle (maybe he was an evil mutant NAZI attack squirrel of death), and he came around my neck and got INSIDE my full-face helmet with me. As the faceplate closed part way, he began hissing in my face. I am quite sure my screaming changed intensity. It had little effect on the squirrel, however. The RPMs on the Dragon maxed out (since I was not bothering with shifting at the moment), so her front end started to drop.



Now picture a large man on a huge black and chrome cruiser, dressed in jeans, a very raggedly torn T-shirt, wearing only one leather glove, roaring at probably 80 mph, still on one wheel, with a large puffy squirrel's tail sticking out of the mostly closed full-face helmet. By now, the screams are probably getting a little hoarse.



Finally I got the upper hand ... I managed to grab his tail again, pulled him out of my helmet, and slung him to the left as hard as I could. This time it worked .... sort-of. Spectacularly sort-of ...so to speak.



Picture a new scene. You are a cop. You and your partner have pulled off on a quiet residential street and parked with your windows down to do some paperwork. Suddenly a large man on a huge black and chrome cruiser, dressed in jeans, a torn T-shirt flapping in the breeze, and wearing only one leather glove, moving at probably 80 mph on one wheel, and screaming bloody murder roars by, and with all his strength throws a live squirrel grenade directly into your police car. I heard screams. They weren't mine... I managed to get the big motorcycle under control and dropped the front wheel to the ground. I then used maximum braking and skidded to a stop in a cloud of tire smoke at the stop sign of a busy cross street.



I would have returned to 'fess up (and to get my glove back). I really would have. Really... Except for two things. First, the cops did not seem interested or the slightest bit concerned about me at the moment. When I looked back, the doors on both sides of the patrol car were flung wide open. The cop from the passenger side was on his back, doing a crab walk into somebody's front yard, quickly moving away from the car. The cop who had been in the driver's seat was standing in the street, aiming a riot shotgun at his own police car. So, the cops were not interested in me. They often insist to "let the professionals handle it" anyway. That was one thing. The other? Well, I could clearly see shredded and flying pieces of foam and upholstery from the back seat. But I could also swear I saw the squirrel in the back window, shaking his little fist at me. That is one dangerous squirrel. And now he has a patrol car. A somewhat shredded patrol car .. but it was all his. I took a deep breath, turned on my turn-signal, made a gentle right turn off of Brice Street, and sedately left the neighborhood. I decided it was best to just buy myself a new pair of gloves. And a whole lot of Band-Aids.