Waking the Dead and Spanish Ponderings

I am currently reading this book. The summary of chapter one... which I think is so far one of my favorite chapters is as follows:

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the fullest- Jesus ( John 10:10)


We and the world, my children, will always be at war. Retreat is impossible. Arm yourselves. - Leif Enger

"In Mere Christianity, in the chapter he so rightly titled "The Invasion", C.S. Lewis tried to clarify our situation:

One of the things that surprised me when I first read the New Testament seriously was that it talked so much about a Dark Power in the universe - a mighty evil spirit who was held to be the Power behind death and disease, and sin. The difference is that Christianity thinks this Dark Powerr was created by God, and was good when he was created, and went wrong. Christianity agrees...... this universe is at war."

John Eldredge then goes on to say "Until we come to terms with war as the context of our days we will not understand life. We will misinterpret 90 percent of what is happening around us and to us. It will be very hard to believe that God's intentions toward us are life abundant; it will be even harder not to feel that somehow we are just blowing it. Worse, we will begin to accept some really awful things about God. That four-year old girl being molested by her daddy - that is God's will? That ugly divorce that tore your family apart - God wanted that to happen too? And that plane crash that took the lives of so many - that was desired by God?

Most people get stuck at some point because God appears to have abandoned them. he is not coming through. Speaking about her life with a mixture of disappointment and cynicism, a young woman recently said to me' "God is rather silent right now." Yes, it's been awful. I don't discount that for a moment. She is unloved; she is unemployed; she is under a lot. But her attitude strikes me as deeply naive, on the level of someone caught in a cross fire who asks, rather shocked and with a sense of betrayal, "God, why won't you make them stop firing at me?" I'm sorry, but that's not where we are right now. It's not where we are in the Story. That day is coming, later, when the lion shall lied down with the lamb and we'll beat swords with plowshares. For now, its bloody battle.

It sure explains a heckuva lot.

Before He promised us life, Jesus warned that a thief would try to steal, kill and destroy it. How come we don't think that the thief actually steals, kills and destroys? You won't understand your life, you won't see clearly what has happend to you or how to live forward from here, unless you see it as a battle. "............. End of my summary. :)

It is church for us tonight. Our new home style church has finally begun!!!! It has been a journey of visiting churches and trying to find a place that is our 'vision' of what church is for us personally.
I'm bringing my famous chocolate chip cookies and pizza rolls for the fellowship food after and I will bring up for discussion the above topic from the book, 'Waking the Dead'.

I feel like I am progressing in my Spanish. I will be enrolling in a beginners class in December and will continue on until I have a degree in the Spanish language even if I have to end up driving to UNT to do it!!!! I am so determined. But its been slow for me.
I wish my brain would just open up and fully just get it but... well, okay I guess what I am trying to say is I wish God would just bless me with being able to speak it and not have to do all this labor I am doing to learn it. I'd like a miracle to occur and all the sudden it all makes sense...the verbs... the everything. I have been reading children's books in Spanish, I just read Muy Bien, Fergus to Annah. I had to translate it online but each page only has a few words on it so its easy to learn ...such as one page just sais "Listo" which means "Ready".... It will be convenient when we move to the jungles of South America although I am sure the Guaymi's have thier own language...not necessarily Spanish. :)

So, off to make the house decent before we go. It will never be spotless but, I do like it to be all picked up. Even if the corners are full.... if its picked up, swept, dishes away, counters cleaned off...I'm happy with that. Although...this little area room that I type in... its just hopeless I think.