D~E~L~I~G~H~T: November 2005

This spoke to me today...

The more a saint loves God with a gracious love, the more he desires to love Him,
and the more uneasy is he at his want of love to Him;
the more he hates sin, the more he desires to hate it,
and laments that he has so much remaining love to it;
the more he mourns for sin, the more he longs to mourn for it;
the more his heart is broke, the more he desires it should be broke;
the more he thirsts and longs after God and holiness, the more he longs to long,
and breathe out his very soul in longings after God.
The kindling and raising of gracious affections is like kindling a flame;
the higher it is raised, the more ardent it is;
and the more it burns, the more vehemently does it tend and seek to burn.

-Jonathan Edwards, A Treatise Concerning the Religious Affections (1746)

Revelation 3:15-16

Revelation 3:15-16 (New International Version)
15I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

Revelation 3:15-16 (The Message)
15"I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You're not cold, you're not hot--far better to be either cold or hot! 16You're stale. You're stagnant. You make me want to vomit.

I was talking with my family today and sharing with them some things in my life I have been feeling like God has been nudging at me to change. I have been trying to listen and follow, but my struggle has been with staying consistent with those changes. While I was talking with them I think the Holy Spirit was putting this verse from Revelation on my heart once again. God's truth is powerful and can be very painful, it cuts right to the issue. It seems that my flesh can be very cunning with me. I will try and try to hold onto the things that satisfy my flesh, and will try to make justifications for it. But God is good to bring the right truth to show me my true heart in the issue, and will bring to light the harsh reality that I am Still loving myself far too much and living a luke warm life.

Shannytown's Wedding

I just got pictures back from my friend Shannon's wedding. We've been friends since we were 2 years old, and she is like a sister to me. In fact Shann's whole family is like my 2nd family. I love these people very much. Jesse, shann's hubsand, is SUCH an amazing man. I could not have picked anyone more perfect for Shannon. The first night Shannon met Jesse (our sophmore year in college) she came home that night and called her mom at 2 am and said, "mom I just met the man I'm going to marry." Their relationship is such a testament of God's goodness and love in two people coming together. From someone who can sometimes be a cynic :), Shannon and Jesse are definitely a real example to me that true love is very much real and possible!

Here's some pics from the day...

Shann and Jesse arriving at the reception

Shann's adorable niece, Trinity, and nephew, Quin

Me and Brianna (shann's sister)

Little brother

I'm at the parental's house right now and am on my brother's computer. I just found these pictures that made me laugh out loud...this is SO my brother...these pictures sum up a lot about him! He can have fun with anything, I love it! It's all about the simple thrills in life :).

Hawaii!

I just got home from a WONDERFUl trip to Maui. I went with 3 other girlfriends, and stayed at my friend Marta's (who I've known since pre-school) parent's condo in Kihei, Maui. It was such a refreshing time for me to get away from my schedule, to-do list, and hustle and bustle of day to day life. I had some good time of reflecting on life in this past year, and was able to gain re-focus in my goals in life and purpose. Mostly I walked away with a re-focus of just feeling blessed for where God has put me, the job he has blessed me with, and the people he has surrounded me with. I have lost sight of that lately and have felt like I deserve these things rather than the truth of the matter that God has blessed me immensley with them. I love the verse in 2 cor. that say something like this, "what do you have that you did not receive". It's just a good reminder that all we have is from God! So, I came back to work with a different focus yesterday, and it was good! Here's some pics from the trip...

This is Paluea Beach in Wailea, beautiful scenery!

Here we are at the top of Haleakala Volcano to watch the sunrise. We were picked up at 3 am and drove to the top, where it was FREEZING, and watched the sunrise. It was truly breathtaking, there was a stillness up there that I can't quite put into words, one of the moments that brings you to awe of God's creation!
Here we are on a break from our 38 mile bike ride down the volcano. It was all downhill...YES!

Here we are out at Tommy Bahama restuarant. We went out for dinner only 2 nights, and made dinner at the condo the rest of the nights!

By complete coincidence, turns out one of my co-workers was in Maui the same exact dates as me! He was staying at the Hyatt (above) and was very nice to let us have pool privledges there!

This is our last night in Maui :( ...we were all so sad to leave! Definitely could have spent another week or two or three there!

Halloween

So on Saturday night my roomie and I had a little halloween get together with dinner (including delicious pumpkin soup that my rooomie made), pumpkin pie, and we were going to do pumpkin carving but di
dn't get the chance! We had a great mix of people here, our new neighbor, some friends from church, and (my favorites) friends from cal poly and pondy!! It was really good to see everyone. Random group, yes, but really fun!
Then a group of us went over to a Halloween party some of our friends were having. I threw together my *80's* outfit! I couldn't dress in my real halloween costume twice because it invovled turning my hair green, so I figured OF COURSE...break out the 80's for saturday!
Here's my 1st halloween celebration...

Then on Monday night....I was Medusa, the Guardian of the Thresholds and the Mediatrix between the Realms of heaven, earth and the underworld. She destroys in order to recreate balance. She purifies. Her gaze could turn whoever she looked upon to stone....anyways....umm yeah, sounds a little out there? not quite my style?? I admit, I really didn't know much about Medusa at all until I decided to be her for Halloween. My friend Emily gets all the credit for my awesome costume (at least i thought it was awesome) she created the whole thing, and with the help of me basically coloring in the silver snakes she drew, and spraying my hair green, she was the mastermind behind it all! So here's pics from Monday night at the Retiro house...