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Mama_G_Hugs
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Name: Renee
Birthday: 6/16/1961
Gender: Female
Interests: Traveling; Studying the Bible; Reading inspirational books and historical fiction about Europe; walking in the woods; running; motorcycle touring with my man; food and fellowship; hangin' out with teens
Message: message meEmail: email me
Member Since:
11/23/2005
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|  It's May and it has been four months since I posted on this blog, but the time is nigh! Today is May 1st and it is a holiday here in blooming verdant Germany and we shall ride the silver horse with friends to celebrate! However, in this resplendent splendor called Spring which conjours up emotions of hope and romance, there is an invisible war raging and we must not forget we are called to be soldiers of the cross! Oh, how I picture that deceptive toothless conquored lion called Satan enjoying this time too because we can get so distracted by non eternal things as we can all year long. May it not be so! The beauty around us and the lusty feelings of May are but shadows of what is to come when Christ returns to restore us and the earth to its full glory - something often hard to imagine in view of beauty around us! Here are some words to hopefully stir and keep fellow soldiers and sojourners on track - keeping eternity in view and our King of Heaven and the city of Zion our goal ever pressing onward for His glory!
"With heaven's commander, sacrifice is ever the order of the day. All who follow him must take up a cross and deny themselves( how we hate this in contrast to the selfish self-focused world we live in) There are many who drop out on the way. They find complete obedience to His commands too hard. For them there must be an easier round to travel. A picnic, not a battlefield, suits them better. (Hey, I am all for picnics, but this is about perspective!). Our heavenly Commander is incomparable in that he was the first to fall in battle against Satan and his evil hordes. In His supreme victory all His followers are secure and by His death gather inspiration and strength to fight the good fight beneath his blood-red banner."
"The gospel is brought to us in terms of battle - the sword, the shield, the armor,, the soldier, the enemy , the fight. It is God who teaches our fingers to war. (Not as the world wars - for ours requires submitting out pride and getting on our knees in prayer as well as rescuing those in dark dungeons of sin and fear and shame through love and light.) As soldiers of the cross we must manifest a militant spirit. We must dare to be Daniel. In these days of spiritual delusion, abounding iniquity, and actions hostile to God and truth, we have need to pray for more iron in our blood, more courage in our piety, more of the bracing north in our personal witness!" (Seasons of the Lord by Herbert Lockyer)
May we not become weary, my fellow soldiers and travelers and may we not get off track and off target of why we are here as God's marching children!
FOR THE KINGDOM AND FOR THE KING....ONWARD!
love you all,
Mama G
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|  "Even in laughter the heart may be in pain, And the end of joy may be grief." Proverbs 14:13
The last three days have been such precious gifts of fellowship and reunion. I never anticipated that the goodbye, the ache with the joy, would cut so deeply in my spirit making swallowing hard and words stuck in my throat. Watching the two precious sweethearts heading towards the BFA parking lot was such a sweet image that welled up my heart with joyful grief. Fred and Jen Inglis, two BFA alum, who courted and hung out a lot in our home back in those class of 03 days. They have been married now for three years and living in Oxford studying and abiding together. Fred was Josh's beloved forest adventurer and fellow bard back in the days of cross-country and nintendo overnights, dressing up and romancing the girls. Jen came her junior year and chose God in the first few weeks during Spiritual emphasis week. She was one of my girls. We laughed and cried together and did lots and lots of praying. Fred is brilliant and was valedictorian with his lovely british swedish accent and Hugh Grant air, relaxed and gentlemanly. They are both permanenetly woven into the tapestry of our lives and we will always love them. Last night we had a mixed gathering of old and new friends at our house. Andrew and Alyssa and Jen and Fred saw each other after five long years post grad. Rebecca and Deece and and aunt and uncle Beeh were also there as witnesses. Oh the reminisching and laughter, the former dorm sisters huddled together on the couch, all of them telling stories and asking questions. There was an aching missing piece...Josh, but he was certainly there in spirit if our memories alone were enough to conjour up his presence. So after a long walk to Holzen with Jen and Fred on Sunday, a warm reunion fellowship on MOnday and a sweet time of talk of the meaning of "home" and friendship and then a prayer today, my heart is full, but there is a sense of expectancy, of yearning, a time when there will be no more goodbyes and no more tears. I must choose to embrace the pain today celebrating the joy of today and tomorrow and eternity. Mama G misses you all... | | |
| I am backtracking a bit to include in this entry a passage quoted by Henri Nouwen, a spiritually insightful catholic priest. It was sent to many loved ones with a request for their personal response and have recieved some thought provoking words in return, so I thought to open it up further to anyone else....so journey with me, please. Here is the passage: Henri Nouwen on loneliness A Source of Beauty from The Wounded Healer We live in a society in which loneliness has become one of the most painful human wounds. The growing competition and rivalry which pervades our lives from birth have created in us an acute awareness of our isolation. This awareness has in turn left many with a heightened anxiety and an intense search for the experience of unity and community. It has also led people to ask anew how love, friendship, brotherhood and sisterhood can free them from isolation and offer them a sense of intimacy and belonging… But the more I think about loneliness, the more I think that the wound of loneliness is like the Grand Canyon – a deep incision in the surface of our existence which has become an inexhaustible source of beauty and self-understanding…The Christian way of life does not take away our loneliness; it protects and cherishes it as a precious gift. Sometimes it seems as if we do everything possible to avoid the painful confrontation with our basic human loneliness, and allow ourselves to be trapped by false gods promising immediate satisfaction and quick relief. But perhaps the painful awareness of loneliness is an invitation to transcend our limitations and look beyond the boundaries of our existence. The awareness of loneliness might be a gift we must protect and guard, because our loneliness reveals to us and inner emptiness that can be destructive when misunderstood, but filled with promise for him who can tolerate its sweet pain. When we are impatient, when we want to give up our loneliness and try to overcome the separation and incompleteness we feel too soon, we easily relate to our human world with devastating expectations. We ignore what we already know with a deep-seated, intuitive knowledge – that no love or friendship, no intimate embrace or tender kiss, not community, commune or collective, no man or woman, will be able to satisfy our desire to be released from our lonely condition. This truth is so disconcerting and painful that we are more prone to play games with our fantasies than to face the truth of our existence. Thus we keep hoping that one day we will find the man who really understands our experiences, the woman who will bring peace to our restless life, the job where we can fulfill, our potential, the book which will explain everything, and the place where we can feel at home. Such false hope leads us to make exhausting demands and prepares us for bitterness and dangerous hostility when we start discovering that nobody, and nothing, can live up to our absolutistic expectations.  Notice the rainbow in this picture of the Grand Canyon...thought that was pretty appropriate, what about you? There is more coming...
Joy in the Journey, Renee aka Mama G | | |
| Today while reading my textbook, Living By the Book, Howie, the author, mentions a hymn that is rarely sung anymore...I wonder why... Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;
Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word.
Make friends of God’s children, help those who are weak,
Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek. Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;
Spend much time in secret, with Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;
Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see. Take time to be holy, let Him be thy Guide;
And run not before Him, whatever betide.
In joy or in sorrow, still follow the Lord,
And, looking to Jesus, still trust in His Word. Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul,
Each thought and each motive beneath His control.
Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love,
Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above. by William D. Longstaff, 1882. (historical note: this writer was part of the Moody-Sankey evangelistic team in England and wrote this after hearing a sermon on 1 Peter 1:15, 16.) What does this passage say to you? Howie writes: "time is exactly what it takes to become holy. We can't be holy in a hurry! Yet, we live in an instant society and a distracted society...we barely have time to react, let alone reflect...but you can't 'download' spirituality." I find it interesting that William used the word "rushing" even in the 1800s. I find a lot of pure wisdom in this old hymn, how about you? What do you see? What does holiness mean to people these days anyway? wondering and pondering, Mama G | | |
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