Tuesday, September 28, 2004

The new Fad diet -- "The share Your Food with The Hungry Diet"

The share Your Food with The Hungry Diet



I could lose a few pounds and I live in a city where there are plenty of hungry people who would be glad to share my food. so I had the radical idea drift in my head... or was that a Biblical thought... I could split what I would eat at each meal or fast a meal and eat less calories... and share the calories that I really don't need around my waist with a hungry friend.

I will let you know here how it goes... Let me know if you are joining me in this... and let's start a whole new diet craze.

Monday, September 27, 2004

Gratitude and Staring Intnetly into Space...

I am in a season when I know that human life is not permanent. Every Day is a Gift. It is sad that it has taken me the death of many friends, the death of my grandmother, and now the struggle for life against cancer of my father-in-law... to finally take to heart the scriptures that say things like, "Lord, teach me to number my days".

Each day has become more valuable. Each moment of time is a gift. I find myself staring at trees, clouds, and sunsets more often... watching birds and watching children at play. There is a deeper joy found here...

I am not an old man... there is much I hope to still do in the world... but I am finding the tools to enjoy life more... and the first step for me is to not take any of it for granted.

This book, A Grace Disguised was key to opening my eyes again as I have walked through grief. I am finding that there is beauty in the sunsets of life... and a gift even in grief itself...

I also am finding a greater desire to share life with others in a more tangible and direct way...

Sunday evening I decided to drive with Jude to the ocean just to be together and to watch the sunset. We should have done this many more times than we have. I want to continue to proclaim the God of all life; I want to serve others as God intends faithfully and full of love; I want to realize life and the miracle it is while I live it.

This past Friday evening a friend caught me missing the forest for the trees... Another friend was sharing about his trip through Guatemala... and he had underestimated the cost of the trip by saying he only spent so much money to see all this... when he had put 10K miles on his car... I missed for a moment the wonder in his eyes at the landscape and the Mayan ruins he had seen while my mind was crunching numbers... Thankfully we went back to the landscape and the trip, rather than back to the dollars and cents... We live in a world of wonders that is as close as every heart beat... Learning to pay attention, and encouraging others to do the same is part of my life's work.

Thursday, September 23, 2004

Where Prayer might lead us.

The Rev. Cecil Murray, who just retired from the First African Methodist Episcopal of Los Angeles (FAME), is quoted in the LA Times as saying< "Sensitivity to the effects of prayer... was born in me. Each of us perhaps has a calling. That was mine." I find it refreshing that someone who publically is known as an activist and pastor -- Understands very well the importance of prayer. This Church was started by a tough faith filled Woman named Biddy Mason.

Tuesday, September 21, 2004

Standing at the Door.

My father-in-law, Mark Tiersma, is completely confident in his life being in the hands of God. He told us as a family that he has entursted Jesus Christ with his whole life. He is fighting cancer. Jude right now is with her family helping to care for her father. They have had an amazing reltionship of love and trust. Jude told me that her father never made a promise to her that he did not keep. She is profoundly shaped by her father in many ways.

We as a family are not ready to let go of such a man. While Mark has clearly pointed us as a family to Christ... the anchor of his soul.

We welcome your prayers in this season. We ask you not to ask too many probing questions. We will inform you about what is going on as we are able. Here we can inform you all at once as we know more.

Right now the doctors do not agree... some say we should just have hospice care at home... other's say we should try some other treatments.

Pray for discernment.

I am here in LA continueing our work here. Jude is teaching this quarter... starting on Monday... on top of her other responsibilities.

Pray in the end through all that we walk through that God will root us in His love: Ephesians 3:14-21. What a privelege to know such a love.

Tuesday, September 14, 2004

Here is my play Mix for Tues 9-17

1. Track 02 3:53 Julie Miller Orphans and Angels
2. Track 02 3:38 Johnny Cash
3. Gone 3:45 Switchfoot
4. Track 04 2:56 O Brother Where Art Thou
5. Living in the Land of Palm Trees 3:26 Zehnder A Broken Train of Thought
6. Track 07 9:27 Martin Luther King
7. Track 02 3:49 U2
8. Alienated 2:17 Rez XX
9. Track 01 4:02 Out of the Grey
10. Another Day in Limbo 4:30 Mark Heard Satelite Sky
11. Track 20 5:39 KRS ONE
12. peacemaker 4:28 Marie Brennan Whisper to the Wild Water
13. Track 03 4:51 Apt Core #2
14. Tu Primer Amor 4:00 Giovani Aniversaio
15. They All Fall Down 5:23 Grits
16. Track 12 2:57 5 Blind Boys of Alabama Spirit of the Century