"U" is for UTILITARIAN

This is week 21 of the Blogging Through the Alphabet Challenge by Through The Calm and Through the Storm and Adventures With Jude.  The letter is "U" and I chose the word "utilitarian".

• Utilitarian-designed to be useful or practical rather than attractive.

When I blogged the letter "M", I wrote about marriage and how opposite my husband and I are but that our marriage works because of our unity in Christ.  Well another way that Steve and I are opposites is that I really enjoy getting unexpected gifts.  Steve on the other hand doesn't like gifts at all unless I just happen to come upon one that is utilitarian.  He won't let you splurge on him with things that he might just enjoy, the gift has to be useful.  I have spent 26 years trying to figure out the "whys" of that.  It must be something from his childhood.  Perhaps he was really looking forward to a present and was disappointed?  Of course he can't remember anything like that, so I am just left to guess.

I have told him it just takes the "fun" out of giving when I can't surprise him.  And giving socks and underwear is not very exciting.  Every now and then I score by knowing something will be useful and he hasn't actually told me what to get.  A few times that has backfired, like the time I bought a clock that was suppose to recharge his phone and act as an alarm, only to find out his phone was one generation too old for the clock.  Since I ordered it from Ebay I couldn't return it.  

Steve is really hard on slippers, so it is a guarantee that every Christmas he gets a new pair of slippers.  When we first moved to Colorado it was easier because he didn't have much winter wear, so I had several items (hats, gloves, scarf, flannel, etc.) that I could give him :-)

Now unfortunately, I am not much into utilitarian gifts.  So when I got a crockpot and can opener for Christmas I had to be gracious and honestly tried to be thankful as they were things I needed, but I am confessing here, I was less than thrilled.  However, I really have enjoyed the remote control candles :-)

Anyway, this is probably the most boring of all my Through The Alphabet Posts, but it is all I could come up with for the letter "U".

The great thing about Steve is he is very easy to please.  I just have to make sure the item is UTILITARIAN :-)

"T" is for TOMB

This is week 20 of the Blogging Through the Alphabet Challenge by Through The Calm and Through the Storm and Adventures With Jude.  Only 6 more weeks to link up with these posts!  When I first joined I thought it would be fun to try to get back to blogging, by blogging through the alphabet.  I really didn't realize I was joining a homeschool group and that most of their posts would be about homeschooling, but I have found their posts to be full of creativity! They all definitely love their children and are doing their best to provide them with the best education possible!  So applause to all of you!!!

That being said, I have no children, so no school experiences or knowledge to share.  This week our letter is "T" and with Easter being this month, I couldn't think of a better word than TOMB, more exact the empty tomb.

According to Wikipedia there are more than 4,200 religions in the world. But for the purpose of this blog posts let's just  say there are 5 major religions: Christianity, Judiasm, Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam.  What makes Christianity stand out from those is that we claim to have a God who raised from the dead? All other leaders of any other religious movements are still in their graves.  For Christianity the tomb of our leader is empty. There is no current day shrine built there for people to go and worship because there were no bones on which to build a shrine.

I could blog about the reasons I believe in the resurrection, but I would not be able to do it , as well as explained here http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/historical-evidence-for-the-resurrection, so I will let you read that yourself, if you like.  But I will tell you the two most compelling reasons I believe in the resurrection of Jesus:

• Jesus appeared to women first.  In a culture where men dominated and women were not considered as equals but subservient, they would not have created a story where women were the first to see Jesus alive and much less be told by Him to "to and tell the others."
• The most impressive evidence for me is that out of His 12 apostles, TEN of them were martyred for continuing to teach about Jesus and His resurrection.  Who would die for a lie?  But Jesus did not just appear to His chosen few, he appeared to over 500 others! And the Bible isn't the only place where that is recorded, but there are other historical writers of that time that testified to that.

I know I said two reasons but here is a third.  The fact that the Jewish leaders that worked so hard to have Jesus killed cried out that his body was stolen, is also compelling.  Why would they admit that there was no body in the tomb, if indeed there wasn't one?  They would have wanted to keep it quiet. They had no other explanation than the body was stolen, and yet they had no proof of how anyone got past the guards and unsealed a tomb in order for that to happen.

Steve and I recently went to see the movie "Risen".  While it isn't based literally on the Biblical account of Jesus' death and resurrection, it was a great historical depiction of "what if".  We do know there was one who soldier who was convinced at the cross of Jesus and cried out "Surely this was the Son of God"(Mark 15:39).  This movie poses the possibility that perhaps another came to Truth after exploring the resurrection theory?  Of course we don't know, but the movie did a good job of explaining the times and the history of the story.

The bottom line?  What does it matter?  What difference does it make whether Jesus did or didn't raise from the dead?  Simply put, if he didn't...then our entire belief is for naught, we have based it all on a myth or a lie.  It might cause us to live a nicer life but in the end it makes no difference?  And that is why it matters!  If Jesus indeed rose from the dead and the tomb is indeed empty, then He was who He claimed to be, the Son of God and the words he spoke were true.  Mainly that I too will resurrect from the dead one day and will live with Him forever!

The tomb is empty and I hold on to the hope " I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also." (John 14:3) That fact allows me to celebrate Easter, declare the tomb is empty and say "Lord, come quickly!"

"S" is for SAINT

This is week 19 of the Blogging Through the Alphabet Challenge by Through The Calm and Through the Storm and Adventures With Jude.  This week our letter is "S" and I chose the word "SAINT".

First here is the definition of SAINT according to the Miriam Webster dictionary:
     -one officially recognized especially through canonization as preeminent for holiness
     -one of the spirits of the departed in heaven
     -one of God's chosen and usually Christian people

I want to begin by saying that according to 1 Corinthians 1:2 if we call on the name of the Lord we are all saints. There are actually 68 references to the word saint in the Bible.  67 times it is the plural saints and only once is it singular saint.  We don't have to wait and have that title conferred on us by a human entity, if we are in Jesus, God has made us holy and acceptable-a saint.

That being said I have found encouragement in reading stories of some of the Catholic saints (those are individuals who have been set apart or canonized for meeting certain qualifications; one is performing a miracle).  While I don't agree with the teachings of the Catholic church on sainthood, I do find encouragement in their faithful service to their Lord.  That being said, I just wanted to post some favorite quotes by some of the saints.

"Simply believing in the existence of God is not exactly what I would call a commitment. After all, even the devil believes that God exists. Believing has to change the way we live."-Mother Angelica

"The soul's true greatness is in loving God and in humbling oneself in His presence, completely forgetting oneself and believing oneself to be nothing: because the Lord is great, but He is well-pleased only with the humble;He always opposes the proud."-Mary Faustina Kowalska

"A Christian is: a mind through which Christ thinks, a heart through which Christ loves, a voice through which Christ speaks, and a hand through which Christ helps."-Saint Augustine

"Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you."-Saint Augustine

"Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words."-St Francis of Assisi

"Be ever engaged, so that whenever the devil calls he may find you occupied."-Saint Jerome

"While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart."-St Francis of Assisi

"Great occasions for serving God come seldom, but little ones surround us daily"-St Frances de Sales

"And it is the Lord, it is Jesus, Who is my judge.  Therefore I will try always to think leniently of others, that He may judge me leniently, or rather not at all, since He says: "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged."-Therese of Lisieux

I could keep going, but will spare you.  If you would like to read more you can find them here:
http://www.azquotes.com/quote/1070412

I also have a book I enjoy entitled "Saint of the Day" by Leonard Foley.

Saints challenge me to become a better person, but no one influences me more than my Lord, Jesus Christ.  He is the best example of all and the fact that He gave His life so that I could also call myself a saint truly boggles my mind.  I cling to the promise of 2cCorinthians 3:18 "And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit."