http://jamesheth.blogspot.com/2011/04/open-but-cautious.html

Favorite quote:

If you were to meet a stranger on the street – and they were to say “I’m open but cautious about Jesus.” What are the thoughts that jump into your mind? What are the conclusions you could make about their “relationship” with Jesus?

As someone who’s trying to become more like Jesus in my being and in my doing, I’m challenged by this. Part of living like Jesus is learning to “say what the Father is saying” and “do what the Father is doing.” That’s how he said he lived all the time. I find this call to in-the-moment obedience – to living life “2 steps behind the breath of God” – EVERYWHERE right now both for myself and many of those around me. I’ve certainly used the attitude of being open-but-cautious as a shield against childlike obedience to His voice. What do you think?

Here’s a thought. The Holy Spirit is a person and as such he has an agenda and in any situation he’s doing SOMETHING to make Jesus known and bring God’s kingdom reign to bear. I submit that what we’re really talking about when we talk about “presence” is when we become aware of that SOMETHING. Jesus said the Spirit is like the wind. The wind is often blowing and we have no idea unless we feel it or see a tree or grass being moved by it. The SOMETHING could be a weighty feeling, emotions and tingles, physical movement, peace, healing, conviction of sin, hope for change, understanding of scripture, compassion and mercy, reconciliation, or crazier things like gold dust, rushing wind, “the place they were praying was shaken,” etc.

We don’t always feel he’s present because we don’t recognize or are not open to the particular SOMETHING he’s doing or wanting to do. So we shouldn’t be camped out asking him to come be present when what he’s wanting to do is give peace and understanding of scripture. Nor should be we settle for those two things when he’s wanting to give joy and healing.

I was thinking about it like we’re following Jesus through traffic in a city. If he turns and we don’t then we’re left driving around on the roads we already know and we have no guarantee that he’ll be parked where we end up (there’s that “presence” terminology again). If he goes into a dangerous neighborhood and we refuse to follow, it’s the same deal. He may only be in that neighborhood for one block but we’ll never know. Maybe that’s why sometimes you’re sitting reading the Bible or in a church something and it’s going along great and all of a sudden it’s like all the life drains out it. Maybe he turned and we didn’t?

So that’s my current thinking on the subject. I could be wrong. I don’t feel like I have great language for it but I think there’s something there and I think that if we let ourselves off the hook by saying he’s everywhere and what we’re doing is all there is then we’ll be left driving around and around the roads we know wondering why we’re not getting anywhere and running out of gas. That’s not where I want to live.

(Download MP3)

I may not articulate some things the way they do, that doesn’t negate the beauty and power of what happened. I know several people who were present and still speak of those days with tears. Jesus is powerful and amazing.

John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.” But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you.” (Luke 9:49-50)

Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. (Luke 11:23)

It’s always been a little confusing to me that Jesus says both things. Make up your mind, dude. But I think there’s a difference between the “you” in the first one and the “me” in the second. In the first case it’s someone who does not “follow with US.” It’s someone who’s not in our group, doesn’t do things out way. In the second Jesus is talking to Pharisees who are accusing HIM of being from the devil.

That’s a real key to unity, I think. I’m not Jesus. If someone’s not with me it’s ok. As long as they’re not directly opposed to me I should assume we’re on the same team. If they’re not with him, though, that’s a problem. As far as I’m concerned neutral means together, as far as he’s concerned neutral means against. Very enlightening for me anyway.

Cedar is still a champion of cute. He’s started eating a bit of proper food, which brings all kinds of excitement. So far, he’s had sweet potato and avocado, along with the cereals. He’ll get banana tomorrow. He’s taken to everything just fine. Still has some work to do on keeping it in his mouth, but he seems to like it all well enough. And he gets really excited when he sees his bowl put in front of him. He’s done with his shots until he turns one. And he’s just gone up another size in clothes. He’s still a charmer and gets all kinds of coos from strangers.

I do have some fun sewing projects to work on these days. I’m doing a trade with a friend and artist living in Rostrevor. Stephanie is a graphic designer and also does really lovely drawing/watercolor. She’s making me a set of letters spelling “cedar” and I’m making her a laptop bag. I’ve properly worked out a design and I think it’s going to be really cool. I’ve got my sights set on making a few detailed, special things and seeing if a shop in town will carry them. I’m not sure what to expect there, but it’s worth a shot, right?

Mark and I just recently discovered an open mic night at one of the pubs in town. A friend stayed here with Cedar after church 2 weeks ago so we could go check it out. There were some pretty good musicians and we’re going to try to work up a couple of crowd-pleasing covers for a week and a half’s time. We aren’t sure yet if we can get a keyboard set up there or not. That will affect the song choice, but we’ll have a go at it either way. Any great suggestions for us?

My nose is alerting me that someone needs a little attention here. Maybe I’ll take some pictures of the laptop bag as it’s coming along. I’m pretty excited about that, as you can tell. Until then, my friends…

p.s. here are those videos I was talking about in the last post:

laughter is the best medicine

the jumper

Our newest, cutest addition is growing so quickly!

* just hanging out

He’s splashing in baths, playing with syllables, rolling over and really wanting to crawl. He’s finally settled into sleeping through the night again. He’s eating rice and porridge along with his milk. Does lots of laughing, especially with his Dad. And is generally AWESOME. We couldn’t have asked for a more spectacular boy. The more we get to see his personality, the more we like him and are glad he’s part of our family!

* all dressed up

I haven’t been doing lots of sewing, but I did put this little “tie” on a onesie for Cedar J. I possibly get a little too excited about it when he has it on, too. Oh, well!

* jump, jump

Probably the best 25 pounds we’ve spent has been on this jumper-thingy. Cedar loves it and we love how well he sleeps after all that jumping!

We had a visit from an old friend about 2 weeks ago, which was both seriously fun and really encouraging. Dan and Mark were close friends in college (and I’m good friends with Dan’s sister, Shelley). We made pizza, took in local sights, ate fish and chips (3 times), spent a day in Belfast, recorded music, made strange noises with our voices, watched Phantom of the Opera, worshiped, and generally had a wonderful time. We went to the Crown Bar in Belfast for lunch (they have the best steak & guinness pie ever, apparently) and finally got to sit in a snug!

* we love Dan

Bible study and house dinners have been a bit slow since we returned, so we’re re-evaluating how we’re going about trying to accomplish our goals here. It’s a bit discouraging to remember all that momentum last fall and see none of it left at all. But we’re still sure there are people here for us to love and introduce to Jesus. And we know that God is moving in our little family and all around us, too. Pray that we’d have wisdom and eyes to see the real needs of people here. We don’t want to spin our tires – we want to work hard where it will be effective!

We’re looking forward to some visits from family in the coming months, too. We’re quite aware now of the sacrifice of not living close to family! We’ve also got a niece or nephew joining us (not locally) in a few short months. Exciting times!

We’ve got some great videos of Cedar, but can’t seem to get them up here today. So there’s something to look forward to. Have a wonderful day!

We’re still trying to get a rhythm to our schedule “post-baby” and our blog has, as usual, been the first to suffer. But, we’ll start posting more I promise (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).

P.S. Bonus points to anyone who can identify the montage above…

We’ve been taking it really slow and have mostly kept to ourselves so far. We really want to see everyone, so please don’t be offended if you haven’t heard from us yet. We’ll get around to everyone eventually and don’t hesitate to get in touch if you’re going to be in our neighborhood!

Ange

Not as grand as his first view of it, I’m sure. But I love that it looks like the little rainbows you get all over a room when you have a prism in the window. I felt, looking at it, just like I did as a kid trying to catch those rainbows. Good for the soul, if you ask me.

This weekend was the Festival of Flight here in Newcastle. Mark met friends in town among a throng of thousands and thousands of people to watch the Red Arrows acrobatic pilots (I have no idea what the right term is, here). I wasn’t up for that much walking (after a bit too much physical activity last week that has left me bent-over when I try to stand – oops!), but watched the show from the sewing room upstairs and snapped these pics.

I was bummed to miss watching the show from the beach (or just across the road). The atmosphere in Newcastle is always so fun with loads of people in for a visit. Oh, well…

We’re getting the house ready tonight for Mark’s folks coming tomorrow. Can you say “excited”? That’s what we are! We don’t have any big plans, but I’m sure the 10 days we get together will be packed with goodness. They’ll probably introduce us to some new things here, too. You’d think we’d be the only ones doing that after living here for 2 years, but these 2 always have something great up their sleeves!

I’m still growing, which is to be expected, but still kind of shocking. I put on pyjama pants today that a friend loaned me. The first time I tried them on they just fell off. And today, they fit. It’s strange, and I love it. And there’s the pregnancy update for today.

Hope you all have a beautiful Monday!